When George Bush was elected the President of the United States a spontaneous burst of euphoria broke out in the Muslim community. After all, they had endorsed him for the office and supported him through contributions and their votes. Estimates indicate that over 70 percent of the Muslims nationwide voted for the Republican candidate despite their overwhelming attachment to the Democratic Party.
Bush won the White House by a mere handful of votes. His margin of victory was based on 560 votes in Florida giving him that state’s entire electoral slate. Many Muslims contend that close to 90 percent of their community voted for Bush thus giving him the necessary edge for victory.
Upon the assumption of Presidency Muslims expected Bush to be accessible to them and responsive to their concerns. Unfortunately, to this point the community has been disappointed on both counts.
Just three weeks after inauguration President Bush demonstrated his resolve by launching surprise air strikes on radar installations in Iraq. During the operation several Iraqi civilians were killed but the White House had no comment. Muslim Americans were aghast that Bush had decided to follow the Clinton policy towards Baghdad. Their point of view remains still to be conveyed to the new Administration.
On the issue of Palestine, Muslims had expected fresh ideas to enable the Palestinians to achieve a state of their own. Much to their horror the White House decided to wash its hands off of the whole thing and disengage from the active role. The Administration’s position was made clear by Colin Powell who blamed Yasser Arafat for the violence before a Jewish audience, and indicated that the resolution of the conflict is exclusively in the hands of the two sides.
When Ariel Sharon visited the United States in May he was feted at the White House and at a much-publicized picture taking session, while cozying up to the Israeli Prime Minister, Bush blamed the other side for violence. He listened sympathetically to Sharon’s demand that Arafat, or any other Palestinian, be not invited to the White House.
Much to the chagrin of the Muslims, President George Bush had clearly moved into Israel’s corner. He had clearly become its benefactor just as much as was Clinton.
Ironically, only a handful of Jewish voters had cast their ballots for Bush in the national election (maybe about 10 percent) and in Florida over 90 percent of them had supported Gore. (During 1996 election 88 percent of them voted for Clinton).
The Muslim hope for evenhandedness on the Palestinian issue is now dashed on the rocks of despair.