Instead of Responding to Community Criticism, AMT Opts for Self-Congratulation & Misinformation

By Muqtedar Khan

"Those organizations [AMT], frankly speaking, don't represent their constituencies, and I think they made a terrible mistake... I think they are not paying any attention at all to what their constituencies are saying. I'm sorry, politics dictate that I should be gentler, but I think it's important to tell the truth." -Jim Zogby, Executive Committee, Democratic Party

In an interesting move, revealing the pressure that the American Muslim Task Force has been feeling from the criticism that its endorsement is receiving from moderate and progressive Muslims, the self-appointed political spokespersons for the community have responded to their critics and tried to explain their actions.

Unfortunately, the response is indicative of the highhanded manner with which these bodies seek to run Muslim affairs even as they claim that they are representative and consultative in their approach.

My response to their response has two parts. The first part includes a general assessment of their justification for the manner of the endorsement and the second part deals directly with the response's efforts to deal with some of the specific criticisms I have made of their modus operandi.

Part I: Self-Congratulatory and Pompous

The response written by Tahir Ali, a member of the American Muslim Alliance whose inability to raise money to maintain even a one person office in Washington DC has been the butt of jokes for years in Muslim organizational circles, uses language that is remarkably self-congratulatory and pompous. Consider the following gems from the piece:

"AMT inked itself in history." I guess from now on along with the discussions of the Philadelphia constitutional convention, the Declaration of Independence, the Boston Tea Party and the civil rights movement, American history text books will also devote a chapter to the epoch making American Muslim Taskforce's presidential candidate endorsement in election 2004.

"AMT has brought national organizations in synch with the American Muslim community." If this is a reference to national American Muslim organizations, then I appreciate his confession that the constituents of AMT were indeed out of sync with the community that it purports to speak for. I only wish that he would acknowledge that this is still true as evidenced by the need he feels to re-justify AMT's decisions and glorify it. Such a defensive posture for an organization that claims to be in sync with its representatives is revealing for its insecurity, not its synchronicity.

The best example of the self-glorification is the claim that "AMT has built a stable bridge to the American mainstream." The claim is fantastic. AMT has already achieved the post 9/11 goal of the entire American Muslim community. It has single-handedly built a bridge, and mind you a "stable bridge." We need not worry about Patriot Act II and such, even if George Bush is reelected, since now we have a stable bridge with the American mainstream. I wonder why only Ralph Nader would give them the time of day and why John Kerry refused to meet with the body that is so firmly bridged to the mainstream of America.

Tahir Ali must consider the American Muslim community, the best-educated sub-community of the global Umma, as pretty dim-witted if he thinks they will accept such exaggerated self-praise from him. Aslam Abdullah , an expert on Muslim electoral politics and editor of The Minaret and The Muslim Observer, has repeatedly advised this very body not to under-estimate the political sophistication of the community, but they are so convinced of their own "sophistication," "agility," "skills," "strategic" and "historic" importance (as Ali repeatedly informs us his article) that they continue to discount the suggestions and criticism coming from within the community.

Ali claims that AMT has "received direct and indirect appreciation for its skill and sophistication" in national and international coverage of their endorsement. He unfortunately fails to quote a single source that has directly or indirectly appreciated their "skill and sophistication." His only reference to this supposed media adulation is to Saturday Night Live, a comedy show.

However, serious and critical analysis of their decision has been articulated in some of the most widely read American Muslim media and weblogs, including this site and Altmuslim.com (which is edited by Shahed Amanullah, who was part of the AMT deliberations), as well as international media such as Pakistan's Daily Times. Ali completely ignores these criticisms in his review of the press coverage of their decision. The Daily Times, for example, not only carried my critique but also published a report on how their endorsement was being criticized.

It is interesting that Ali does not address the substantive criticism of the "protest vote" idea. Critics have pointed out that the language of the endorsement, not the endorsement itself, will alienate John Kerry. Has the Kerry campaign welcomed the endorsement? The AMT website does not report any such welcoming statement. Tahir Ali neither reports nor deals with Jim Zogby's comments reported on the top of the page, an unusual oversight from someone who scours "national and international media" and comedy shows in search of praise for AMT's "sophistication and skills." Zogby is probably the top ranking member of the Democratic Party who is most sympathetic to American Muslim issues, and he seems to have no respect for the political and coalition building skills of AMT.

Also, why would Kerry work with AMT when it says "we are voting for you only as a protest against Bush." Ali has no answers. His strategy seems to be, ignore all the criticism and latch on to any praise, even if it comes from comedians. The reality is that many Muslim voters intend to vote for Kerry because they support his stands on issues. As Aslam Abdullah writes:

Contrary to the appeal of AMT asking Muslims to cast [a] protest vote, Muslim masses are supporting Kerry for his agenda and integrity. In a poll conducted by the Muslim Observer of its readers before endorsing Kerry… some 65 percent of likely Muslim voters support Kerry for his domestic agenda including health care reform, fiscal discipline, no taxation policy, education reform, social security preservation, and Supreme Court… appointment[s]. They also identify with his approach to deal with the Patriot Act in order to protect the civil liberties of all Americans. A vote for Kerry is based on the understanding of Muslim voters of his agenda and programs.

Part II: Misinformation and Subtle Deception

Tahir Ali's response, which has so far only appeared on the AMT website, seeks to challenge my criticism that AMT is not representative and is self-appointed. He tries to achieve this by saying that:
(1) We are a united and representative group that has reached a consensus in a very sophisticated and skill full manner
(2) According to surveys 81% American Muslims support our agenda.

As I have mentioned above, Ali glosses over the strong criticism of the endorsement from many quarters in the Muslim community, and from Democratic Party activists like Jim Zogby.

He also tries to suggest that the "protest vote" was reached unanimously. "Every decision was made unanimously," he writes. This is an outright lie. There was no consensus. On October 19, Rachel Zoll of the Associated Press reported that AMT was leaning against endorsement. Then MPAC, considered by many as the most influential Muslim political action group in Washington, dissented from AMT's reluctant endorsement of Kerry. MPAC has subsequently decided to not issue an endorsement and I applaud their decision. Their publicly issued dissenting opinion clearly belies Tahir Ali's claim that "every decision was based on consensus." Consensus emerged by excluding everyone who disagreed!

Dr. Aminah McCloud, a prominent African American Muslim scholar of Islam and community leader, told me in an interview that the American Muslim Taskforce does not include the American Muslim Society (African American), the single largest American Muslim group in North America. She also had interesting thoughts on the issue of the protest vote and the qualified endorsement of John Kerry. She said:

Many in the African American Muslim community see problems with both candidates but they would not say that we would normally vote for Bush but since we are upset with him we will vote for Kerry, this is not their sentiment at all.

I also interviewed Faizan Haq, the General Secretary of the Pakistan American Congress, the largest Pakistani umbrella group. He told me:

Pakistan American Congress trusts the Pakistani American community to make an informed decision and has decided not to endorse any candidate. Also we do not consider the American Muslim Taskforce as an organization that represents us.

In response to my article, American Muslim Leaders Insult John Kerry and Alienate George Bush, which criticizes AMT's ill-advised protest endorsement, Shahed Amanullah, who participated in the AMT deliberations, made this comment:

Muqtedar, I argued many of these same points at the AMT meeting, but to no avail. The Muslims working within and for the Kerry campaign, including myself, couldn't agree with you more.

This also exposes the lack of consensus within AMT. He suggests that AMT's backhanded endorsement of John Kerry is embarrassing Muslims who are working for the Kerry campaign. I think it is clear that there was neither a consensus within AMT, nor was there a carte blanche granted to AMT by the American Muslim community. They do not represent two of the largest American Muslim groups, The American Muslim Society of Imam Warith Deen Muhammad and the Pakistani American Congress. I could go down the line and call all other communities, the Iranians, the Turks, the Bangladeshis, but that would be overkill.

Further, both AMT and Tahir Ali point to the Zogby /MAPSProject poll to claim that 81% of American Muslims support "AMT's election plan." This is a deliberate attempt to mislead people into believing that a large percentage of people actually support AMT's strategies and follies. The poll says that 81% of Muslims support their "agenda," but both Ali and AMT report that they support their "plan," implying that Muslims support AMT's endorsement decisions. This is a misrepresentation of the truth.

AMT's stated agenda—promoting civil and human rights, and peace with justice—is certainly worthy of support. In fact, I am surprised that Muslims did not respond with 100% support. I also support it completely, and so will a majority of people in America, who might also think that members of the AMT do not represent American interests. Senator Carl Levin a few days ago, made comments supporting this agenda in one of my classes; would he also support AMT and their plan?

This shameless ploy alone is indicative of the duplicity of the members of AMT. Why didn't they ever conduct a survey asking whether American Muslims trust them and will take their advice? When 8,000 people reportedly attended their session at ISNA, couldn't they have distributed a questionnaire?

Conclusion

American Muslims realize the importance of civil rights and have therefore shown support for candidates from the Democratic roster in this election. American Muslim support for John Kerry is a positive vote for Kerry and a recognition that the forces on the right in this country are a threat to their civil rights. Groups aligned with Bush, some evangelical Christians, many neoconservatives and anti-immigration groups, are advancing Islamophobia in this country. The American Muslim taskforce does not represent a large section of the community. Even those it claims to represent were appalled by the nature of their endorsement recognizing that it does more harm than good for American Muslims. Do not take my word for it—call Muslim groups and leaders and listen to them express anger, anguish and despair at the lack of sophistication, lack of skills and political acumen of those who claim to represent us.

The best thing for the Muslim community to do is to avoid swinging from one party to another like monkeys chasing bananas, work with both parties, individually vote your conscience, and above all, understand and appreciate the democratic spirit of this nation. I have discussed the merits and problems with block voting in detail and maintain that not endorsing while being deeply engaged at many levels is a better strategy. Some groups like MPAC and the Pakistani American Congress, and most groups in America, seem to understand this.

PS1. Memo to John Kerry: All the best and may you win next week, God Willing. Many American Muslims have worked with you, contributed to your campaign and will vote for you. Those of us who support you, support your agenda and our vote for you is a positive vote.

PS2: Memo to President Bush: You have been unduly harsh on us, but still some of us support you and will vote for you. If you win, we hope that your second term will demonstrate a greater sensitivity and concern for our community, which is part of the fabric of this country.

M. A. Muqtedar Khan is Director of International Studies and Chair of the Political Science Department at Adrian College. He is a non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution.