John McCain's Arab-American problem

The blogger who made the accusations, Debbie Schlussel, did so on grounds of guilt by association. She charged, without proof, that Jawad was a "key agent of the terrorist group in the Detroit area." She said that Jawad had met with Hezbollah party officials on a trip to Lebanon, and had visited Shiite villages like Bint Jbeil and Nabatiya that are politically dominated by Hezbollah. Jawad replied that he had met with a cross section of Lebanese politicians with the knowledge of the U.S. Embassy. Schlussel provided no evidence that Jawad had provided material support to Hezbollah.

Jawad is a native of Southern Lebanon and, like virtually all Lebanese Shiites, sees Hezbollah as a legitimate political party. As a Michigan-based contributing editor at Daily Kos has noted, "Lebanese in Dearborn view Hezbollah with much the same mix of distrust mixed with nationalist pride and identity that Catholic residents or former residents of IRA-controlled neighborhoods in Belfast or Derry view the IRA." Indeed, Hezbollah has large numbers of seats in parliament and will form part of the national unity government under the just-concluded Doha accords. There is a difference between such a stance on Hezbollah's role in Lebanese politics and support for terrorism. Jawad said in 2003, "Killing innocent people -- we reject that ... Hezbollah does not fit this category. It has protected its people." In other words, Jawad, who says it is important to follow U.S. law, rejects terrorism.

When the McCain campaign threw Jawad under the bus, it admitted that it had done so because of the unsubstantiated "Hezbollah rumors." Osama Siblani, president of the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC), reacted angrily to Jawad's dismissal at a recent press conference in Dearborn. "The Michigan Republican Party and the McCain campaign," said Siblani, "need to be reminded that the blood of Arabs is red and the color of their money is green." He emphasized the extensive philanthropy of Jawad, who came to this country in 1976 from southern Lebanon. "We do not want a president," Siblani said, "who makes a decision ... based on false information ... This is an insult to every Arab-American and Muslim-American in the country."

The dumping of Ali Jawad was hardly the first point of friction between McCain and the Arab-American community. The incident demonstrates the way in which the embrace by the GOP of elements of the Zionist right and fringes of Evangelical Christianity have made it hard to hold on to the growing Arab-American and Muslim-American vote. The minority of Arab-Americans who are Muslim have been disturbed at McCain's constant use of the adjective "Islamic" when referring to terrorists. (Muslims use the word "Islamic" to refer to the ideals of their religion, and so might refer to a "Muslim criminal," but an "Islamic criminal" would be a contradiction in terms.) McCain's campaign says he will continue to use the word. (This obstinacy recalls his vow in 2000 to continue to use the word "gook" when referring to the Viet Cong, a term that offended Asian-Americans. At length McCain relented and dropped the slur.)

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a major Muslim-American lobbying group, slammed McCain for having said last year that he wanted the U.S. presidency to be in Christian hands, complaining that he was attempting to introduce a religious test for high office. Muslim-Americans were also disturbed that McCain sought the endorsement of evangelical preacher Rod Parsley, and that McCain had referred to him as a "spiritual guide." Parsley has called for Christians to make war on Islam and terms Islam "a false religion." Last week, when McCain repudiated both Parsley and John Hagee over their hate speech, CAIR applauded the Arizona senator, noting that he specifically complained about Parsley's comments on Muslims. Whether McCain's having distanced himself from the two hate-mongering reverends will be enough to repair his strained relations with Muslim-Americans has yet to be seen.

Ultimately, though, issues are more likely to drive Arab-Americans' voting decisions than McCain's missteps with the community. McCain is dedicated to keeping U.S. troops in Iraq and to fighting on until "victory." He displays obvious partisanship toward the Israeli right, making clear his inability to play the role of honest broker in Israel's negotiations with its Arab neighbors. His GOP has become hostage to anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate-mongers among the televangelists. These considerations disturb many American voters, but Arab-Americans above all.

My own conversations with some Facebook friends suggest Arab-Americans are already looking elsewhere. Hazem Tabbaa, a Michigan native now studying at the Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, slammed McCain for "criticizing Senator Barack Obama's 'negotiating with the enemy' tactic." He calls McCain a "war first politician." He also has lingering resentments over McCain's willingness to seek an endorsement from Hagee. He views McCain as "pretty much the same" as Bush. Laila Shereen, an Arab-American poet and digital artist, told me, "I think anyone concerned about social justice in the Middle East must necessarily support Obama." Maybe that's why Zogby polling has found that a strong majority of Arab-Americans now favor Obama.