So they are making an impact. In Canada and the US, the Arab and Muslim political activism is being noticed. Political establishments are showing some nervousness, prompting them to reach out to woo, Arabs and Muslims with greater vigour.
Still limited
The ability of Arabs and Muslims to flex political muscles is still limited. The powerful Jewish lobbies in Canada and the United States have the money and the contacts and still rule the roost. But for the first time, Arabs and Muslims in both countries are making a difference.
With 3.6 million in seven US states crucial for winning the presidential race, and 1.2 million Canadian Muslims in two of the country's major provinces, they feel they can swing close elections their way. That is, if they can organise themselves to vote together and mark ballots with their usual regularity.
To achieve that, Arabs and Muslims are banding together and speaking with one voice. In the past, that was a problem. There was no such thing as a single Arab or Muslim voice, or unified concern. Now they have.
Their post 9/11 situation has brought them together and propelled them to a new unity of purpose. They want an end to the undermining of their rights under the Patriot Act in the US and the Anti-Terrorism Act in Canada, and they feel the most effective way is through the ballot box.
Although the elections are still a year away they are organising themselves as never before. Plans are to exercise their vote to secure changes to the two acts to end the double standard - one for locally-born American and Canadian citizens and another for foreign-born Muslim Americans and Muslim Canadians.
Can they do it? "I think we have a 50-50 chance," says Faizal Mohamed, a Toronto Muslim activist who says he has seen enough harassment of Muslims by the security agencies.
"People are hungry for change, and we have the numbers in Ontario and British Columbia to tip the scale in a close election. Ruling Liberals know it will not be cake-walk next time and there is nothing called a 'safe seat' anymore. The government shouldn't take us for granted. They have to listen to our grievances, or risk being booted out."
Most people agree that Arabs and Muslims have good reason to feel aggrieved. "The detention of Arabs and Muslims was the largest of a foreign-born US population since Japanese-Americans were detained in camps during World War II," Georgetown University professor and author David Cole, says. "Targeting of foreign nationals is always a precursor to what a government will do to its other citizens."
As in Canada, the Arab American determination to let their voices heard at the next presidential election was very much in evidence in the heart of Arab America in Dearborn, Michigan, last week.
An Arab forum, dubbed 'Vote 2004,' brought together more than 500 Arab activists from across the US, including leaders from 20 states. It was specifically held for the purpose of drawing up an Arab agenda and presenting their civil liberties as a voter issue at the 2004 presidential election.
The Arab American Institute, which organised the forum, did not stop at bringing American Arab leaders together, it threw open the forum to all the presidential candidates to come and address them. It was an invitation that the presidential aspirants could not spurn.
Not only eight of the nine Democratic presidential candiates made a point to going there and explaining their policy positions, but also President George W. Bush sent his re-election campaign committee chairman, Marc Racicot, to buttress Bush's case for support of Arabs and Muslims.
Impressive display
All in all, it was an impressive display of Arab American political muscle, and showed how far the Democrats and Republicans are willing to go to woo them in this new election cycle.
The unusual importance given to the forum was also evident in the presence of hundreds of reporters, many of them from major American television networks, covering the forum. It looked as though they were there to document an important change in American politics, the emergence of Arab Americans as an influential voting block.
Al-Azeera was there to document it as well. Arab Americans expect to organise similar forums in other states, which have large concentrations of Arab and Muslim populations between now and next November.
Canadian Arabs and Muslims are doing the same. They too say they have had enough of the governments taking them for granted, and plan to organize themselves as a political force, taking the lead from their brothers and sisters across the border.
"We have to fight for our rights or we are going to get swamped," Faizal Mohamed said. "We have to fight back."
The writer can be contacted at nihal_kaneira@yahoo.com
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