I heard this testimony yesterday, on the radio while driving to a meeting. I was very moved by it – not only because it was an excellent
speech on a very important topic and right on target, but also because after almost seven years of George Bush’s “War on Terror”, I had not previously heard such a speech given by an Arab-American.
The parallels between the situation of today’s American Muslims and American Communists during the Cold War are remarkable, and should hold an important lesson for those willing to look.
Both are identified by an ideology. Both are minorities that face (or faced) a great deal of prejudice and hatred against them in our country, with tragic consequences.
Communism (or “Totalitarian Communism”) provided the focus for the Cold War. Islam (or “Radical Islam”) provides the focus for the “War on Terror”. In both cases, the
perceived danger was/is way out of proportion to the
actual danger. In both cases, those who held power in our country greatly exaggerated the danger. Both ideologies have served as an excuse for massive expansion of our
Military Industrial Complex, to the great detriment of the American people and to the great benefit of a small few.
Communism served as an excuse for us to
overthrow or help to overthrow dozens of governments throughout the world, replacing many a democratically elected government with a brutal, repressive dictatorship. It also served as an excuse for our long involvement in the Vietnam War, which resulted in 58 thousand American dead and the deaths of over two million Vietnamese. Under the guise of defending freedom we destroyed many a sovereign nation and destroyed or ruined the lives of many millions of people.
“Radical Islam” served as an excuse for the Iraq War, which has been similarly destructive of the lives of Americans and innocent foreign peoples – though the number of lost lives is not yet as great as during the Cold War. If the “War on Terror” continues in its present form it will spread to many more countries and eventually take more lives than did the Cold War, possibly leading to a holocaust such as the world has not yet seen.
Within our own country, during both wars the civil and Constitutional rights of our despised minorities were greatly curtailed. Many thousands of American Communists lost their jobs or suffered indignities during Cold War. Although a lesser percentage of today’s American Muslims have suffered serious abuse, such as loss of a job or violence committed against them, than American Communists did during the Cold War, thousands have been detained indefinitely and without charges in U.S. sponsored prisons and
suffered repeated torture. Thus, abuse against yesterday’s American Communists was more widespread, whereas abuse of today’s American Muslims is more severe.
I am neither a Communist nor a Muslim. But I am greatly disturbed by the abuse that my country has heaped on both of these groups of people. It is un-American in the deepest sense of the word. And as such, it will eventually ruin our country if it continues.
Testimony of James Zogby to the Democratic Platform Committee – August 1, 2008Dr. James J. Zogby is founder and president of the
Arab American Institute (AAI), an organization that serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. Since 1985, Dr. Zogby and AAI have led Arab American efforts to secure political empowerment in the U.S. through voter registration, education and mobilization.
Here are some excerpts of Dr. Zogby’s testimony:
I am Arab American. My family came to this great country from Lebanon almost a century ago. They, like hundreds of thousands of other Arab immigrants, came because of the freedom America promised, and the opportunity it provided… Arab Americans fanned out across the country… Despite the hardships they endured and because of the sacrifices they made, they were able to provide their children with the better life they had hoped to find when they arrived on our shores… Today there are almost four million Arab Americans… Though a diverse community, we share two core beliefs: a love and appreciation of the greatness of America, and a respect for and an attachment to the heritage of our ancestors.
Domestic failures of the Bush administrationWe approach this election, profoundly aware of its importance. Like most Americans, we believe the past eight years have been devastating for our nation. The recklessness and neglect demonstrated by the Bush Administration have taken a toll. At home we face a shrinking economy. Our industrial base continues to erode, leaving broken communities in the wake of factory closures and the exportation of jobs overseas. Confidence in our financial institutions is at an all-time low as a result of corporate scandals and financial crises that threaten the pensions and homes of millions. In the broader economy, the rising costs of healthcare, education, energy – and, now, even food – coincide with the decline in income for the middle class. And in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, we lost confidence in the ability of our government to care for our people’s most basic needs.
As a result, for many, the American dream that inspired millions is in danger of becoming out of reach. And many Americans are no longer confident that their children will be able to match their standard of living.
In the face of these great challenges, the Bush Administration has displayed the characteristics that have become their hallmarks: neglect when action might have made a difference; ignoring reality and, instead, imposing ideologically-based policy when they do act…
Foreign policy failures of the Bush AdministrationNowhere has misguided Bush Administration policy been more evident than their behavior in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11th. In the wake of this horror, the American people were united, and the world community rallied in support. But in response to this crisis, the Administration undertook domestic and foreign policies that have shredded our Constitution and squandered international goodwill, while engaging in an ill-conceived unilateral war that has left us at greater risk in a world that has rejected our leadership.
The plight of Arab AmericansAs Arab Americans, we feel the effect of these misguided policies acutely…. We are stung by anti-American anger, and the disgrace brought to our nation by Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and torture. At the same time, recent Arab immigrants have been profiled, detained and deported without due process. The values that we once projected to the world and protected at home, we now see degraded.
We feel personally the trauma of Iraq, as one-fifth of that country’s population have become refugees or internally displaced persons. 25,000 Arab Americans visiting family members in Lebanon were trapped, and waited too long for help in evacuating, during the war that devastated that country in 2006. And Palestinian Americans, who had such great hope in the prospects of peace during the 1990s, saw this Administration neglect that process…
The importance of the 2008 presidential electionThis election provides more than a choice between two candidates. What we will decide is whether or not we profoundly change direction, reclaim our values and restore our image around the world. From the incredible excitement he generated during the primaries to the enthusiastic reception he received during his recent nine nation overseas tour, we believe that the election of Barack Obama will send the much needed message that America is back.
The Platform you are writing will send a message, both to the American people and the world. More than just a political document, it will describe the policies we will pursue and the values on which we will stand. It can, we believe, reinforce the hopes of so many that change is on the way.
RecommendationsFor my part, I want to focus on some of the critical issues I noted above that uniquely affect my community. Because we have become so deeply concerned by the erosion of basic civil liberties and the loss of civility in our national discourse, we urge you to:
1) Make clear that we will work to restore the balance between protecting civil liberties and national security at home, and that abroad we will honor American values and our treaty obligations. We should specifically call for an end to all racial, ethnic and religious profiling. We must also make clear our commitment to the rule of law including an end to torture, the closure of Guantanamo Bay, and an end to warrantless surveillance.
2) Make clear we will reject the demagogues who seek to divide us, and who specifically target Arab Americans and American Muslims; that hate crimes should be punished; and that efforts must be made to strengthen our sense of national community by promoting respect for all faiths and ethnicities.
Zogby then goes on to make several foreign policy recommendations, including ending the Iraq War and greater diplomatic involvement in an attempt to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, before ending with this:
For generations, millions have been inspired by our great nation and its values. As we acknowledge the damage that has been done, we must remain cognizant of the responsibility that has fallen on our shoulders to restore that hope.
The fundamental difference between the Cold War and the “War on Terror”I believe that the biggest difference between the Cold War and the “War on Terror” is that: The American elite had (and still has) a deep and sincere hatred of Communism, which they spread downwards to the American masses; whereas they have no intrinsic hatred of Muslims, but they use the fear of terrorism to encourage hatred among the large number of Americans who are susceptible to that kind of bigotry, in order to enhance their power. Thus, hatred of Communism is mostly a top-down type of phenomenon, whereas hatred of Muslims is more of a grassroots phenomenon among those with bigoted leanings. I can attest, for example, that as a subscriber to Ann Coulter’s electronic newsletter, I am continuously bombarded with hate e-mail directed against Muslims.
The
American elite hatred of Communism is easy to understand. They believe that it, and anything remotely resembling it, threatens their wealth and power. Thus, their hatred is not by any means limited to pure Communism. John McCain represented their view well when, during the May 2007
Republican Presidential primary debate, he responded to a question about national health care, his voice dripping with contempt, by explaining that the provision of health care by our federal government would constitute “socialism”.
The word “socialism” is so stigmatized in our country that no explanation was needed or given. Of course, socialism is not Communism. But the rabid right wing elite considers it close enough that it may as well be the same thing. And by the same token, liberalism is so close to socialism that it may as well be Communism. Their bottom line is that any government intervention to give the poor or working or middle class a break by leveling the playing field is Communism or at least on the slippery slope leading to Communism.
In contrast, I don’t think that the Bush/Cheney administration or most of the elite cheerleaders for their “War on Terror” particularly hate Muslims. But they do encourage the fear of Muslims in order to enhance their power.
Relevance to the 2008 presidential electionOur country must let go of the idea that it needs a scapegoat to feel good about itself. It must let go of the idea that we must, or even that we have the right, to spread our system and our influence to all parts of the world at the point of a gun. It must understand that if we want to lead and have the respect of the rest of the world we must give up our imperial bullying and instead get back to the ideals expressed in our Declaration of Independence. In order to earn their respect we must show respect for
them by taking seriously the idea that
all people, not just us, have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Barack Obama indicated during his recent
overseas tour that he intends to follow this path:
Tonight, I speak to you as… a proud citizen of the United States, and a fellow citizen of the world… There is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one… No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone…
While the 20th century taught us that we share a common destiny, the 21st has revealed a world more intertwined than at any time in human history… The burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity… Now is the time to join together, through constant cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice, and a global commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
The way in which Obama spoke of Muslims in that speech indicates that using them as scapegoats is the furthest thing from his mind:
The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down… If we could win a battle of ideas against the communists, we can stand with the vast majority of Muslims who reject the extremism that leads to hate instead of hope.
I disagree with many of Obama’s positions. But he has made it quite clear that he intends to use diplomacy, rather than war, as his primary means for relating to the rest of the world, which represents 95% of the world’s population.
John McCain on the other hand routinely frames the Iraq War in the simple minded terms of a school child who understands nothing but “winning and losing”. Yet he has never explained what it would mean to “win” the Iraq war. Since McCain
has said that “No one has supported President Bush more than I have on Iraq”, it appears very unlikely that his approach to the war will differ appreciably from Bush’s approach. He has
consistently opposed any plan for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. He has said that
we should stay in Iraq for a hundred or even maybe a million years.
I believe that James Zogby is correct when he says “This election provides more than a choice between two candidates. What we will decide is whether or not we profoundly change direction, reclaim our values and restore our image around the world.”