June 24, 2008

Congressman Keith Ellison

MUSLIM VOTERS DETECT A SNUB FROM OBAMA

By Andrea Elliot
New York Times, 6/24/08
Click here to read the entire article.

As Senator Barack Obama courted voters in Iowa last December, Representative Keith Ellison, the country's first Muslim congressman, stepped forward eagerly to help.

Mr. Ellison believed that Mr. Obama's message of unity resonated deeply with American Muslims. He volunteered to speak on Mr. Obama's behalf at a mosque in Cedar Rapids, one of the nation's oldest Muslim enclaves. But before the rally could take place, aides to Mr. Obama asked Mr. Ellison to cancel the trip because it might stir controversy. Another aide appeared at Mr. Ellison's Washington office to explain.

"I will never forget the quote," Mr. Ellison said, leaning forward in his chair as he recalled the aide's words. "He said, 'We have a very tightly wrapped message.'"

When Mr. Obama began his presidential campaign, Muslim Americans from California to Virginia responded with enthusiasm, seeing him as a long-awaited champion of civil liberties, religious tolerance and diplomacy in foreign affairs. But more than a year later, many say, he has not returned their embrace.

While the senator has visited churches and synagogues, he has yet to appear at a single mosque. Muslim and Arab-American organizations have tried repeatedly to arrange meetings with Mr. Obama, but officials with those groups say their invitations -- unlike those of their Jewish and Christian counterparts -- have been ignored. Last week, two Muslim women wearing head scarves were barred by campaign volunteers from appearing behind Mr. Obama at a rally in Detroit.

In interviews, Muslim political and civic leaders said they understood that their support for Mr. Obama could be a problem for him at a time when some Americans are deeply suspicious of Muslims. Yet those leaders nonetheless expressed disappointment and even anger at the distance that Mr. Obama has kept from them.

"The community feels betrayed," said Safiya Ghori, the government relations director in the Washington office of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

Even some of Mr. Obama's strongest Muslim supporters say they are uncomfortable with the forceful denials he has made in response to rumors that he is secretly a Muslim. (Ten percent of registered voters believe the rumor, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center.)

In an interview with "60 Minutes," Mr. Obama said the rumors were offensive to American Muslims because they played into "fearmongering." But on a new section of his Web site, he classifies the claim that he is Muslim as a "smear."

Throughout the primaries, Muslim groups often failed to persuade Mr. Obama's campaign to at least send a surrogate to speak to voters at their events, said Ms. Ghori, of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

For Ms. Ghori and other Muslims, Mr. Obama's hands-off approach is not surprising in a political climate they feel is marred by frequent attacks on their faith.

"The joke within the national Muslim organizations," Ms. Ghori said, "is that we should endorse the person we don't want to win."

ISLAMOPHOBIA IN THE ELECTIONS

KLAA - AM 830, 6/24/08

MPAC Executive Director Salam Al-Marayati discusses the political climate of fear in the current election on KLAA AM830's "Insight" show hosted by Brian Oxman and Catherine Malosky.

Click here to listen to the interview.

MUSLIMS LAUNCH U.S.-WIDE CENSUS

By Omar Sacirbey
Religion News Service, 6/17/08
Click here to read the entire article.

A team of Islamic advocacy groups and statistical organizations will start a nationwide census of American mosques this summer that organizers hope will paint a more accurate picture of the size and ethnic composition of U.S. Muslims.

The study is planned for release in early 2009. The Council on American Islamic Relations released a similar study in May 2001 that counted 1,209 U.S. mosques and about 2 million Muslim adults and children associated with them.

Other groups sponsoring the census include the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim American Society, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Hartford Institute of Religion Research, and the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.