Politics Are Means to My Ends

• Published in: The Washington report on Middle East affairs 1992-09, Vol.XI (3), p.52
• Main Author: Alamoudi, Abdurahman
• Format: Magazinearticle
• Language: English
• Subjects: International relations; Politics
• ISSN: 8755-4917; 2163-2782

Second, as an American Muslim I have a special duty to serve my co-religionists as I strive for the well-being of all Americans. The U.S. has a Muslim population of about five million. A large number of us, especially those belonging to the African-American community, are not economically well-off. I feel I ought to strive for government efforts to promote education, employment and racial harmony, all of which especially concern American Muslims. The way to go about it is through the political process -- supporting candidates who identify with these issues and keeping pressure on the executive and legislative branches to work for the betterment of all Americans. The U.S. went to war to establish democracy in Panama and to liberate Kuwait, and is spending billions to reinforce democracy in Russia. But it looked the other way when an Algerian military junta canceled the country's first-ever national elections and unleashed raw terror on democratic forces. It fumbles when the Serbian war machine visits death and destruction on helpless Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina. These are policies that contradict the American spirit of freedom. These policies are also counterproductive, and can put the U.S. on the side of repression instead of freedom. Unless they are changed, the United States may be faced with half a dozen more Irans in the Middle East, while the Muslim world could suffer setbacks in its march toward freedom and democracy. As an American, it is my duty to work for the evolution of an American policy that would help foster democracy in the Arab-Muslim world. And again, American democratic institutions are the best vehicles that I have to pursue that objective.