Here are my notes from the Public Policy Panel. Please keep in mind that this is a stream of consciousness capture of my interpretation of what they had to say. (sorry for the terrible formatting – no time to fix it right now)
panelists
- jocelyne cesari – facilitator
- charles dunbar
- amaney jamal
- muqtedar khan
muslims and public policy
charles dunbar
- islam AND america, not necessarily IN america
- interested in relations between muslims and america
- 6 concerns about short term relations between muslims and the
rest of society - 1 conflicted relationship between the muslim world and
the west (US in particular) - Muslim resentment of the west because of its domination
- 2 stereotyping
- orientalist myth that in islam, the state and the
mosque are one in the same - muslims were, as a result, unable to benefit from the
enlightenment - american orientalism by douglas little is a good book
- these perceptions color the views of other americans
- 3 9/11
- action of 19 deranged young men has widened the chasm between
the muslim world and the west - strenghthened the hand of both sides of the extreme that
believe in this clash - crisis of authoritarian regimes
- widening of divide caused by american government efforts to
protect americans - cutting off of contact between foreigners and this country
(esp students) - 4 Israel and American policy toward current Israeli policy
- little coverage of US attitude/support toward unilateral pull
out - israel and palestine will remain burning focus of both sides
- 5 democratizing the middle east
- pain of being democratized by Americans
- he sees no conflict between democracy (political pluralism)
and islam - iraq was a mistake, not because of iraq, but because of what
we should be doing in the world - “We can do better than that” Richard Perl on Hosni Mubarak
- patronizing attitude is problematic
- 6 american muslim reaction to the reality in the middle east
- Muslims in the US are mistaken at not getting in and playing
in the american political arena - exception James Sogby and his group has learned to play in
this arena - representation
- Muslims outnumber Jews in the US, but don’t approach the
level of representation - 4 things in closing as prospects for a better future for the
relationship and for islam in america - 1 US government position towards Islam and
Muslims in America has improved - 2 Muslims are “catching up” in heft in the
American body politic - 3 raccrochement between US and Libya is
quite remarkeable - 4 maybe iraq will turn out fine
muqtedar khan
- giving speeches is like making babies (joke)
- so much fun to conceive, but difficult to deliver
- having delivered his own child, he knows
- after 9/11 try to get muslims to create a metaphor of thier
muslim/american identity - I am an American because . . .
- this is extremely difficult for most peole
- america like my wife, i share two children with them
- according to CAIR
- 2/7 Muslims go to the mosque
- 7million total
- within 2
- Muslims in America (negatively), Mosque Centered
- deeply engaged in Islam and America
- embrace faith and politics
- within 7
- Muslims who are in America
- Americans who are Muslims
- American Muslims?
- 1 What role do they play
- 2 How are they affected by
- 3 How are they affecting
- very few participating in significant positions
- present in 2nd circle of power, but not in the first circle
of power - think tanks, working for senators, etc
- categories of Muslims with involvement
- Media
- Fareed Zakaria
- Think Tanks
- Muqtedar Khan
- Fund Raising
- Rangers/Pioneers for the Bush Campaign
- Leaders of representative organizations
- systematic indifference to domestic policies that are not
designed to affect them directly (ie USA Patriot Act) - take the idea of public goods for granted
- american muslims in this sense are free riders
- they get involved when something inconveniences them
- muslims are not engaging in universal arguments, only
parochial/selfish politics - islam is adament that we should participate in these
- enjoin good and prevent evil
- muslim impact on policy
- african american muslims, vs african americans, vs american
muslims - is there a policy priority difference?
- role of identity shapes our desires and preferences
- we’re a foreign policy community with views even narrower than
those of George Sorous - we care about two things only
- Palestine
- Kashmir
- sometimes spills over into Chechnya and Bosnia
- no articulation of domestic policy whatsoever
- parents concerned about the impact on their children
- american muslims never raise more than 5 million dollars for
political action - plenty of money for construction and development of mosques
- millions of dollars
- used only on fridays
- money could be better spent on the community itself
- pre 9/11 we were only a foreign policy community only
- concerned about our muslimness
- 9/11 made us look internally
- concerned about our americanness
- we engage in political debates, but not policy
- two issues
- islam is fastest growing religion in america and the world
- its a threat that we’re becoming powerful
- efforts to create a voting block
- efforts to promote abrahamic view
- includes muslims with christians and jews
- looking for dual engagament on domestic and foreign policy
amaney jamal
- Muslims in New York Project
- roles of mosques in the civic and political incorporation of
Muslim Americans (Brooklyn New York) - looking at a Turkish Mosque and an Arab Mosque
- why Mosques?
- do they marginalize Muslims from the community?
- in Michigan, it wasn’t the case
- post 9/11 feelings
- pattern
- arabs live concentratedly around the mosque
- turks live more spread out
- experienced verbal insults
- arabs 43%
- turks 13%
- experienced increased discrimination
- arabs 76%
- turks 41%
- were concerned future issues facing my family
- arabs 70%
- turks 55%
- feel like america is my home
- arabs 86% said no
- turks 96% said no
- felt respected by society
- 60% agreed
- 40% disagreed
- that that americans have been respectful and tolerant?
- 31% respectful and tolerant
- 69% disrespectful and intolerant
- want people to know your ethnicity
- arabs 67
- turks 67%
- want people to know you are muslim
- arabs 83%
- turks 60%
- would you vote for a candidate supportive of muslims
- arabs 85%
- turks 70%
- believe the media to be biased against islam
- arabs 85%
- turks 85%
- think US foreign policy biased against islam
- arabs 67%
- turks 71%
- have confidence in mosques
- 48%
- have confidence in police
- 42%
- have confidence in government in DC
- 10%
- have confidence in political parties
- 6%
- have confidence in islamic advocacy groups
- 24%
- 40% would vote according to their mosque endorsement
- 43% would not
- 16% neither agree nor disagree
- key center of pan muslim incorporation if we can overcome ethnic
differences - mosques and mosque patterns are being monitored
- outlandish claim by some that 85% of mosques in the united states
are involved in terrorism - the link for muslim political/public participation is the mosque
Q&A
- american muslims need to add an element of authentication that
those from the muslim world need not add - some american muslims are remote controlled by movements back
home which is often a barrier of our legitimacy here - there is an influence of the context on muslim points of view
- Cardawi
- islamic celebrity figure
- fatwa generator
- influencing fiqahi council of the US
- concerns of parents here
- what will my children’s future be
- fledgling participation of people in politics around the mosque
- collective action methods
- coercion (required)
- collective identity
- same people will donate to the same people for mosques,
but not for anything else - belief that if you build a mosque God will make a space
for you in heaven - national muslim organizations have seemed to fail in protecting
muslims, so people are taking matters into their own hands at the level
of the mosques - post 9/11 mosques have gone both ways
- conservative become liberal
- liberal become conservative
- mosques have goodwill, resources, people, and fear on their side
Professor Mahmoud Ayoub
- for Dr. Khan
- infrastructure of jewish community
- muslims, not monolothic, they need infrastructure
- they need a place for their life stage rituals
- PM built a mosque first in Medina
- big, elaborate mosques are good
- he doesn’t get invited to iftar dinner at white house
because he doesn’t belong to a mosque - no central authority in islam
- lucky to have sheik yusuf al-cardawi
- one of few muslim leaders with a good islamic
education - everyone who can read the quran thinks they can give
fatwas - brought back jurisprudence for immigrants (ali sistani)
- brought back from Iraq
- study of tazia
- quran and its interpreters
- 2 volumes, commentary on commentaries, viewed with
diversity
dr. khan’s response
- other immigrants can make a choice
- greek, greek american, american
- italian, italian american, american
- muslims can convert other people to islam
- problem with “proper” islamic education
- its my funeral
- i want to own my interpretation
dr. jamal’s response
- mosques are not really being used for missionary activity
- there is not a national muslim majority
- muslim politics vary everywhere
- locals are marginalized at the grassroots level
what about american born muslims?
- khan
- white wannabe’s (parents) vs. black wannabe’s (children)
- children are looking for a different identity than
their parents - identity is spontaneous, but not as strong as that of
their parents
african american muslim question?
- why marginalizating of african american muslim communities?
- racism within the muslim community
- immigrant vs. non-immigrant communities
shiraz hajiani’s questions on policymaker’s view
- dunbar
- there was no view of the american muslim community
- post 1993, when he left the state dept, there has been a
change - if the muslim community chooses to act on the us govt in
the same way that the jewish community does, it’ll be interesting - 5 million dollars is nothing, especially for a richer
community - jamal
- 9/11 has given people an opportunity to criticize within
their own muslim communities - last 20 yrs, american muslim voice was static
- post 9/11 there is a platform for people to speak
- how does the arab israeli conflict affect us here?
- one unifying element of the worldwide ummah (that’s
pretty sad my own input) - khan
- struggle of who can interpret islam
- fikh al-akliyyat?
- memo to american muslims
- article by khan
- the american muslim community expanded as a result of 9/11
- those outside the voice have come back in
- voices within have been promoted
- big change lets here the marginal voice before we
dismiss it - leonard
- citing voices being considered
- asani, wadud, abou el fadl
- jamal
- if you’re an enemy from within, then even your
participation is looked at as suspect - therefore, it’s important for the muslim community to
rehabilitate its image before it pursues influence