‘BLUE MUSLIM WAVE’ AIMS FOR US
Americans galvanised by Trump’s anti-Muslim speeches are for the first time seeking high political office
American Muslims tend to keep their heads down when times are hard. Like many communities under threat, they hope that going about their business and quietly contributing to society is enough.
Not any more, says Kareem Kandil, an engineer from Pittsburgh.
“On the national level, Trump sort of proved that wrong,” Mr Kandil said, describing how the election of US President Donald Trump gave vent to a xenophobic view that Muslims were dangerous outsiders. “I want to turn that around.”
When voters turn out next month for the Democratic primary to select the party’s candidates for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Mr Kandil’s name will be on the ballot.
He joins what has been called a “blue Muslim wave” inspired by a reaction against Mr Trump.
As many as 120 US Muslims are standing in elections at every level, from the senate to school boards, says Jetpac, a political advocacy group offering them training and support.
The issues they face were pointed out just last week. On Wednesday, US Supreme Court justices hinted they would not overturn Mr Trump’s restrictions on entry of nationals from eight countries, even though critics say it amounts to a “Muslim ban”.
A day later, the Senate confirmed Mike Pompeo as US Secretary of State, despite concerns about his links to anti-Muslim figures and his history of saying that Islamic leaders had a special responsibility to denounce terrorism.
Mr Kandil said he hoped his policies of single-payer health care and stricter environmental regulations would appeal to all voters.
“It seems to me that there is a new need for immigrant communities, Muslim communities and minorities to speak for themselves instead of waiting for someone else to speak for them,” he said.
American Muslims have a low profile in politics. They hold just two of the 535 seats in Congress, despite having a population of 3.3 million.
Only 44 per cent of them say they voted in the 2016 election, well below the national turnout of 58 per cent of registered voters. That looks like changing, as a new generation of political figures draws energy from Mr Trump’s election.
Shaun Kennedy, co-founder of Jetpac – an organisation offering training and guidance for Muslim campaign novices – said the group had a waiting list of more than 100 people.
“Donald Trump is certainly a catalyst. His anti-Muslim policies, his anti-Muslim cabinet, the Twitter storms that he goes on, have certainly made Muslims realise how vulnerable they are and prompted them to take this final step,” Mr Kennedy said.
“But I think it has been moving towards this point for a while.”
Jetpac’s “playbook” includes the fundamentals of strategy, fundraising and social media.
At its core is a philosophy that focuses on maximising the often overlooked Muslim vote and encouraging turnout instead of the more orthodox approach of persuading frequent voters to switch sides.
“It is about people-powered fundraising, small donations, not accepting special interests’ money, to try to build a campaign and a platform that really speaks to people who at the moment are disenfranchised,” Mr Kennedy said.
And it is getting results. Of its 28 trainees, 24 have run for office and 12 have won – to date. But there have also been plenty of reminders of the challenges.
In Massachusetts last year, Sarah Khatib ran for one of two seats on the Walpole town planning board. The three-way race made headlines for the wrong reasons.
One of the candidates, George Hodges, was accused of Islamophobia and asked to stand aside after it emerged he had posted inflammatory comments on his Facebook page.
“If there’s a rag on your head, you want Americans dead,” read one post about six months before the election.
He insisted the comment had been taken out of context but finished a distant third.
Some candidates are making their impact at a local level, on party committees or town councils. But a slew of runners have their eyes on national prizes.
Jesse Sbaih in Nevada and Deedra Abboud in Arizona are campaigning to become the first Muslim senators.
And Sameena Mustafa in Illinois, Nadia Hashimi in Maryland, or Rashida Tlaib and Fayrouz Saad in Michigan could become the first Muslim women in Congress.
None faces an easy ride. Ms Abboud, a lawyer who went through Jetpac’s training, has had abusive comments posted on her campaign website. And Mr Sbaih has complained of prejudice and obstruction even within the Democratic Party. They also face competitive primaries before their names reach the ballot paper.
Even unsuccessful campaigns can improve visibility and remind Americans that minorities are doing their bit, said Mansoor Shams, better known as the “Muslim marine” who travels the US teaching Americans about his religion and explaining how it informed his decision to serve in the country’s armed forces.
“The fact of the matter is that if we want to see change, or a change of direction, we have to step out of our comfort zones,” Mr Shams said.
“We have to put ourselves out there. Until we are involved, in whatever capacity that might be, we don’t have as much power.”