Democratic presidential candidates are courting Arab-Americans, in some cases unsuccessfully, reports Khaled Dawoud from Dearborn, Michigan While Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean received a standing ovation from Arab- Americans who gathered in Dearborn, Michigan to coordinate their stand in the 2004 presidential elections, Senator Joseph Lieberman, another contender, was heckled and booed when he refused to describe Israeli practices against Palestinians as a form of terrorism. Two senior representatives of the Republican Party and eight out of the nine Democratic candidates seeking to win their party's presidential nomination were present at the conference organised by the Arab-American Institute (AAI), and which ended on Sunday. This was the second National Leadership Conference hosted by the AAI ahead of the race for the presidency, reflecting the growing strength of Arab-Americans as a voting block in several key states like Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida. In his opening speech to the conference, AAI President James Zoghby recalled the stark difference between the situation in 2003 and the mid- 1980s when presidential candidates would not even accept donations from Arab-American groups and associations, let alone deign to address them. "All of this represents steady, frustratingly slow progress towards the political recognition of Arab-Americans," Zoghby said. Dearborn, Michigan has over 400,000 Americans of Arab origin, representing the largest Arab-American community in a single state. With the situation in Palestine and Iraq increasingly volatile, foreign policy was the dominant issue of the conference. The treatment of Arabs and Muslims following 9/11, and the laws passed by Congress under the banner of combating terrorism, were other issues of great concern to those who attended the meeting. Lieberman, who ran for the post of vice president alongside Al Gore in 2000, was the first Democratic presidential candidate to address the meeting. His speech gained the widest media coverage because of the reception he received from the audience. Being the only Jewish candidate among the contenders, and following statements in which he criticised Dean for demanding an "even-handed" US policy towards the Arab-Israeli conflict, Lieberman could not have expected the warmest of welcomes. His attempt to win the hearts of the audience by stating at the opening of his address "I'm Joseph, your brother," did not apparently win anyone. Although he criticised the discrimination that some Arabs and Muslims suffered in the United States following the 11 September attacks, winning some applause, the tide turned as soon as he started tackling the thorny issue of the Palestinian- Israeli conflict. While stating his support for a two-state solution, "Israel and Palestine", a woman in the audience started shouting: "What about the wall?" She was referring to the segregation wall Israel has been building to encircle major population centres in the West Bank, confiscating more Palestinian land and adding to their misery. Lieberman responded that the wall could be a temporary issue and could be brought down when peace is achieved between the two sides -- an answer not likely to be satisfactory to the Arab audience. He also indirectly blamed Palestinians for the violence, saying peace could only be achieved when Palestinians elect a leadership that uproots organisations that practice terror. Lieberman was again booed and heckled when he answered a question about whether Israel's destruction of Palestinian homes should also be considered a form of terrorism. He said it was not. "It's not terrorism, but it's destruction, it's regrettable. Terrorism is the killing of innocent people for a political purpose," he said. Lieberman later told reporters that he expected to face criticism from the crowd. "I was not going to pander or waffle to please a crowd," he said of his defence of Israel. "Israel is a victim of terrorism ... We have to respect what Israelis do to try to protect their people from terrorists." Dean and the six other Democratic candidates who addressed the conference -- Senator John Kerry, General Wesley Clark, Senator John Edwards, Representative Richard Gephardt, Representative Dennis Kucinich and former Senator Carol Moseley Braun -- were all careful in picking better words while talking about Israel, though emphasising the special relation it has with the US. All candidates agreed that the US should revive its role, extended under former Democratic President Bill Clinton, as the primary Arab-Israeli mediator. Dean said one of the first things he would do if he became president would be to send Clinton to the Middle East to renew the US diplomatic effort. Kerry, who together with Dean and Clark is a front-runner in the campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination, criticised the suffering of Palestinians who have to queue for hours to be able to pass through Israeli checkpoints. General Clark, while expressing support for a more active US role, set a more conservative tone when stating that "Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism." Turning to domestic issues and the post-11 September laws that mainly harmed Arabs and Muslims, former Vermont governor, Howard Dean, won the loudest applause. While pointing to an American flag, Dean said: "It does not belong to General Boykin, or John Ashcroft, or Rush Limbaugh or Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson. This flag belongs to every single American, including every single American in this room, and is the hope and aspiration for many others who are not yet citizens." Ashcroft, the US attorney general and a prominent spokesmen for America's conservative and religious right, along with Lieutenant General William Boykin, the senior Pentagon intelligence official who has told Christian gatherings that Muslims worship an "idol", Limbaugh, a right-wing radio presenter who enjoys wide popularity, and Evangelican priests Falwell and Robertson, known for their critical statements of Islam and dubbing it as a "terrorist" religion, are among the most unpopular figures for Arab and Muslim Americans. Dean also strongly condemned violations of civil liberties, racial profiling and the abuse of authority under the US Patriot Act -- the anti- terror legislation championed by Ashcroft after the 11 September attacks. Hundreds of Muslims and Arabs were detained in round-ups after the attacks, and Dean said the detentions and deportations of an untold number of immigrants based on secret evidence were unlawful and should be repealed. "Today we see another shameful chapter in American history. Because John Ashcroft touts the Patriot Act around this country does not make John Ashcroft a patriot," he said. "The war on terror cannot become a war on civil rights and freedoms. We should not have to chose between securing our homeland and securing the blessings of liberty. We can have both, otherwise the terrorists have won, and we will not permit that." Marwan Kreidie, an activist from Philadelphia, warned the audience, however, that Arab- Americans should not only be concerned with foreign policy issues. "We should also talk about jobs, health care and education, and tackle issues of concern to the average American voter," he said. His point was not ignored, yet a recent poll by Zoghby's AAI showed that 68.5 per cent of Arab-Americans felt that a candidate's Middle East policy was most important factor in determining their vote, while 53 per cent believed that civil liberties and the treatment of immigrants are also important. If that's how they feel, candidates must adapt. It will be a lightning rod of Arab and Muslim American influence to see how much they do.
