islamicate

I wonder if she's married?

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown does it again. Build bridges people, not a common pattern of oppression.

American History is not about Americans

So says Lynne Cheney.

World Health

Do you want to help with drug development and distribution for third world diseases?

www.oneworldhealth.org

A new charity. Will be added to the side shortly.

From a blue stater to red staters

I did not write this letter, nor do I know the individual who did. It seems to be something floating on the ether, but I'm happy to give attribution if someone can tell me who to give it to. John Stewart said last week that being in New York he clearly knew nothing about terrorism and he was glad that the red staters were there to tell him about it. This letter is much more eloquent. Just for the record, my mother used to work in the WTC - thankfully she moved out long before 9-11 happened - and I spent many summer days there. I was born in NY and never knew NY without the WTC.

I am writing this letter to the people in the red states in the middle of the country -- the people who voted for George W. Bush. I am writing this letter because I don't think we know each other.

So I'll make an introduction. I am a New Yorker who voted for John Kerry. I used to live in California, and if I still lived there, I would vote for Kerry. I used to live in Washington, DC, and if I still lived there, I would vote for Kerry. Kerry won in all three of those regions.

Maybe you want to know more about me. Or maybe not; maybe you think you know me already. You think I am some anti-American anarchist because I dislike George W. Bush. You think that I am immoral and anti-family, because I support women's reproductive freedom and gay rights. You think that I am dangerous, and even evil, because I do not abide by your religious beliefs.

Maybe you are content to think that, to write me off as a “liberal” -- the dreaded “L” word -- and rejoice that your candidate has triumphed over evil, immoral, anti-American, anti-family people like me. But maybe you are still curious. So here goes: this is who I am.

I am a New Yorker. I was here, in my apartment downtown, on September 11th. I watched the Towers burn from the roof of my building. I went inside so that I couldn't see them when they fell. I had friends who were inside. I have a friend who still has nightmares about watching people jump and fall from the Towers. He will never be the same. How many people like him do you know? People that can't sit in a restaurant without plotting an escape route, in case it blows up?

I am a worker. I work across the street from the Citigroup Center, which the government told us is a “target” of terrorism. Later, we found out they were relaying very old information, but it was already too late. They had given me bad dreams again. The subway stop near my office was crowded with bomb-sniffing dogs, policemen in heavy protective gear, soldiers. Now, every time I enter or exit my office, all of my possessions are X-rayed to make sure I don't have any weapons. How often are you stopped by a soldier with a bomb-sniffing dog outside your office?

I am a neighbor. I have a neighbor who is a 9/11 widow. She has two children. My husband does odd jobs for her now, like building bookshelves. Things her husband should do. He uses her husband's tools, and the two little girls tell him, “Those are our daddy's tools.” How many 9/11 widows and orphans do you know? How often do you fill in for their dead loved ones?

I am a taxpayer. I worked my butt off to get where I did, and so did my parents. My parents saved and borrowed and sent me to college. I worked my way through graduate school. I won a full tuition scholarship to law school. All for the privilege of working 2,600 hours last year. That works out to a 50 hour week, every week, without any vacation days at all. I get to work by 9 am and rarely leave before 9 pm. I eat dinner at my office much more often than I eat dinner at home. My husband and I paid over $70,000 in federal income tax last year. At some point in the future, we will have to pay much more -- once this country faces its deficit and the impossible burden of Social Security. In fact, the areas of the country that supported Kerry -- New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts -- they are the financial centers of the nation. They are the tax base of this country. How much did you pay, Kansas? How much did you contribute to this government you support, Alabama? How much of this war in Iraq did you pay for?

I am a liberal. The funny part is, liberals have this reputation for living in Never-Neverland, being idealists, not being sensible. But let me tell you how I see the world: I see America as one nation in a world of nations. Therefore, I think we should try to get along with other nations. I see that gay people exist. Therefore, I think they should be allowed to exist, and be treated the same as other people. I see ways in which women are not allowed to control their own bodies. Therefore, I think we should give women more control over their bodies. I see that people have awful diseases. Therefore, I think we should enable scientists to try to cure them. I see that we have a Constitution. Therefore, I think it should be upheld. I see that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Therefore, I think that Iraq was not an imminent danger to me. It seems so pragmatic to me. How do you see the world? Do you really think voting against gay marriage will keep people from being gay? Would you really prefer that people continue to die from Parkinson's disease? Do you really not care about the Constitutional rights of political detainees? Would you really have supported the war if you knew the truth, or would you have wanted to spend more of our money on health care, job training, terrorism preparedness?

I am an American. I have an American flag flying outside my home. I love my home more than anything. I love that I grew up right outside New York City. I first went to the Statue of Liberty with my 5th grade class, and my mom and dad took me to the Empire State Building when I was 8. I love taking the subway to Yankee Stadium. I loved living in Washington DC and going on dates to the Lincoln Memorial. It is because I love this country so much that I argue with my political opponents as much I do.

I am not safe. I never feel safe. My in-laws live in a small town in Ohio, and that town has received more federal funding, per capita, for terrorism preparedness than New York City has. I take subways and buses every day. I work in a skyscraper across the street from a “target.” I have emergency supplies and a spare pair of sneakers in my desk, in case somethng happens while I'm at work. Do you? How many times a month do you worry that your subway is going to blow up? When you hear sirens on the street, do you run to the window to make sure everything is okay? When you hear an airplane, do you flinch? Do you dread beautiful, blue-skied September days? I don't know a single New Yorker who doesn't spend the month of September on tip-toes, superstitiously praying for rain so we don't have to relive that beautiful, blue-skied day.

I am lonely. I feel that we, as a nation, have alienated all our friends and further provoked our enemies. I feel unprotected. Most of all I feel alienated from my fellow citizens, because I don't understand what you are thinking. You voted for a man who started a war in Iraq for no reason, against the wishes of the entire world. You voted for a man whose lack of foresight and inability to plan has led to massive insurgencies in Iraq, where weapons are disappearing into the hands of terrorists. You voted for a man who let Osama Bin Laden escape into the hills of Afghanistan so that he could start that war in Iraq. You voted for a man who doesn't want to let people love who they want to love; doesn't want to let doctors cure their patients; doesn't want to let women rule their destinies. I don't understand why you voted for this man. For me, it is not enough that he is personable; it is not enough that he seems like one of the guys. Why did you vote for him? Why did you elect a man that lied to us in order to convince us to go to war? (Ten years ago you were incensed when our president lied about his sex life; you thought it was an impeachable offense.) Why did you elect a leader who thinks that strength cannot include diplomacy or international cooperaton? Why did you elect a man who did nothing except run away and hide on September 11?

Most of all, I am terrified. I mean daily, I am afraid that I will not survive this. I am afraid that I will lose my husband, that I will never have children, that I will never grow old and watch the sunset in a backyard of my own. I am afraid that my career -- which should end with a triumphant and good-natured roast at a retirement party in 2035 -- will be cut short by an attack on me and my colleagues, as we sit sending emails and making phone calls one ordinary afternoon. Is your life at stake? Are you terrified?

I don't think you are. I don't think you realize what you have done. And if anything happens to me or the people I love, I blame you. I wanted you to know that.

ethnics, religics and electics

So the Muslim community got itself organized to vote. Not convince though that the article makes it sound like the Muslims knew what was as stake. I would imagine there are easier ways of getting deported than voting for Bush, but what do I know. I'm a member of the liberal elite. Is part of the problem, at least for Pakistanis, is that they aren't watching “must see TV?” I actually the argument has a lot of potential. To be fair, just because Indians might be more organized at the political level, doesn't mean they are aware of the issues facing them in this country either.

On a more positive note, Mayor Bloomberg does a good thing by reminding the NYPD that they are not immigration officers and they exist to protect and serve everyone. He didn't need to, and the fact that he did in this climate needs a double “alhamdulillah.”

Also in NY, Columbia had its conference on Muslims in NY. Somebody besides the readers of this blog knew about it and did a short write-up of it. I wonder if they'll do a follow-up study about the election.

On a Jewish Tip

The Union for Reform Judaism is encouraging its members to refuse money from the Dept. of Homeland Security because it violates the separation between church and state. That's a bold stand, and I wish it would have gotten picked up by the mainstream media. This debate is one that needs to take place, and urgently. Faith based initiatives will become a bigger issue for Bush once he comes back from his man date.

Also, a group that specializes in the settlement of Russian Jewish immigrants in NY has made a Latino, presumably Catholic, its president. I can't imagine any of the current national Muslim organizations choosing the best person to head them, just the best Muslim.

Film on Muslim Homosexuals

The NY Times is reporting on an upcoming (2006) film about Muslim homosexuals. I think it's a necessary film, because the reality is that they do exist, and how do we as a religious community deal with them, especially when the issue of religion and homosexuality is getting more important internationally as it becomes a wedge issue in the US.

I like his last point, an obvious one, about a vocal minority hijacking the faith.

Unfortunately, it will be this same vocal minority who will scream “Zionist conspiracy,” and “Jews trying to destroy Islam,” because of his work with a Jewish director. I of course see it as bridge-building over common areas of concern.

International Observers

Joi Ito found a good article on the International Herald Tribune about what international observers are saying about our election process. Joi's comment on the last two paragraphs is good. I'm one of those Americans who travels internationally. I don't do it because I have affiliation to another country (unless we finally get the New York succession movement going), but because I have friends and family overseas, I like to travel and because of work and research. When you leave the farm you realize how small the world is. I know it's trite, but it's true. The sad thing is that the debate about our place in the world mimics the debates we had in this country about the development of urban centers; it's about contact with the “other.” The problem with Empire is that it is all about the “other.” Can't eat your cake and have it too, and I don't think the Republicans have understood that yet. I'm waiting for the rebirth of a conservative movement in this country. Isolationist and xenophobic makes much more sense than expansionist and xenophobic.

Iranian sues for First Amendment Rights

And not just any Iranian, but Nobel Prize Winner Shirin Ebadi. Link via al-Muhajabah. Cross-posted at Title VI.

Keeping Hope Alive

I'm still keeping hope alive. Kerry may have conceded, and Bush maybe President at last, after four years, but I am hopeful.

I was disappointed and depressed, but that is the way of failure. I'm glad the election came when it did, because Laylat ul-Qadr is coming up this Saturday, and that's a time when I think and pray about the type of world I want. However, there's the old proverb, “trust in God, but tie your camel” (different from the new proverb, “trust in God, but carry a 9.”) This is a time for me to do something about the world I want to live in, and hopefully the rest of the liberals and progressives will feel the same way.

Over 51% of the country said Bush is doing such a good job that they want him to continue doing it. I don't. I believe in the idea of America, an idea that I believe this administration is fundamentally opposed to, and I will continue to fight for that idea and that ideal. More money will go to progressive groups; more writing will happen; my lecturing will get more political; networking will go in new directions.

I was trying to decide whether to enter the academy or try policy work when I finish. I'm not sure I have a choice anymore. As I flail around, if people know about places where I could my knowledge about Islam to use, drop me a line, or comment.