It’s what I feared: Barack Obama and his campaign are so afraid of a “sensitive political climate” that they will eagerly disassociate themselves from anything Muslim, even if it goes against all the highbrow Obama talk about running a clean, dignified campaign to bring all Americans together. Case in point: the removal of two headscarf-clad young Muslim Obama supporters from behind the podium of where Obama was about to speak, so that they would not be seen standing behind him, cheering for him, on camera.
Here’s the story: At a Detroit rally for Obama on Monday, Hebba Aref and Shimaa Abdelfadeel were among 20,000 supporters amassed to see Obama give a speech. Aref and Abdelfadeel said the groups they were with were separately invited by Obama campaign volunteers to sit behind the podium. But soon after other volunteers told the women, who wear hijabs (Muslim headscarves), that they were excluded from the invitation.
The reason? A volunteer told Aref (who’s a 25-year-old lawyer) that there was a “sensitive political climate.” Soon after Obama spokesperson Bill Burton said the volunteer’s statement was “not the policy of the campaign,” adding that “It is offensive and counter to Obama’s commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run. We sincerely apologize for this behavior.”
Gee, thanks for the apology. (Disclosure–I am a hijab-wearing, born-in-the-U.S.A., on-the-fence Obama supporter). What I don’t get is that if Obama simply does not run that kind of campaign, then why did it happen in the first place? Sure, campaign volunteers are prone to make mistakes. But folks, this was a big one. Obama is already dodging many bullets for his tenuous ties to Islam (let me first say it folks–he is NOT Muslim), but the last thing he should be doing is running so far in the opposite direction that Muslim-Americans end up feeling the back of his hand.
In an earlier post, I asked, “What’s so bad about being Muslim?” Obama, you want to make sure that the voting public knows you are not Muslim, that you are a strong Christian? Fine. Absolutely fine! But this need to reject your Muslim supporters hurt. I said once, and I’ll say it again: Why is a six million-strong voting contingency considered to be political pariahs?
Dilshad D. Ali, Islam Editor