Press Room

AAI in the News

Candidates Woo Virginia's Arab American Voters

By Barbara Ferguson
al-Jazeera.com
Posted on Monday September 26, 2005

ARLINGTON, VA. — Candidates turned up in force Sunday for the Arab-American Institute’s 17th Virginia Candidates’ Night. The bipartisan event featured a broad array of politicians — from gubernatorial hopefuls to state’s delegates.

Virginia is one of two states that will hold gubernatorial races in November. Nationwide, Republicans hold a majority of governorships, outnumbering Democrats by a 28 to 22 margin. Hoping to avoid any further losses, Democrats are working hard to pick up votes wherever they can, while Republicans are seeking to cement their majority.

In Virginia, Arab-Americans have become a visible political force, with over 135,000 residing and voting here. Additionally, the number of Virginians who claim Arab descent have increased four-fold since 1980.

AAI members underscored the need to work with the system: “Single-handedly, we can’t get anyone elected ourselves, but we can made a definite difference when we work with other communities,” said Saba Shami, director of the Virginian Task Force for Business Development with Near East, Office of the US Secretary of Agriculture.

“It’s not easy for us, especially since 2001, to pretend everything’s okay, it’s not. Many of us have been harassed, intimidated and profiled, and I’m looking forward to when America can return to treating all it’s citizens in a respectable way again.” said Shami, also Chairman of the New Americans for (Democratic Governor-elect Tim Kaine).

“We want to make sure our community is involved, it’s part of being an American citizen and part of the democratic process — and the politicians who are elected will, in turn, affect how we are treated in the community. Therefore we want to be part of the electoral process,” said Samiah Bahhur, an energy regulations specialist based in Northern Virginia.

“Basically we’re all here for the same reason, we want to make sure that everybody’s rights are protected and everybody is treated fairly,” said Bahhur, who is also president of El-Direh Palestine Society in the greater Washington DC area.

This said, Republican participation was thin at the AAI Candidates Night reception.

“Although the AAI event was very well represented, the Republicans’ representation was limited because they know that no matter what they do, there is nothing they can say to impress people here after the foreign policy decisions made by the Bush Administration,” said Khaled Bori, a medical researcher in Virginia. “Not only because of the war in Iraq, but because of human rights issues here, including the Patriot Act, which specifically targets the Arab-American community.”

Some candidates did not sidestep this dilemma. Tim Kaine, currently the Democratic Lt. Governor running for governor, told the audience: “I want to thank Arab-Americans for their involvement in the political process. We must never become an anti-immigration society, it is very important to balance respect for everyone in the community.”

To ensure that respect, the audience was reminded of the need for their monetary support of the candidates.

“Arabs are not used to political philanthropy, but it’s important for our candidates to have contributions to get their messages across,” Marwan Burgan, chief aide to Mason District supervisor for Fairfax County, told the audience.

“Through your involvement, you can advocate for our community. Twenty percent of your income taxes go the country, the rest goes to the state. When you’re involved, you have some influence in deciding how this money is used.”

Leila Thamer, a public defender, defense attorney, and board member of ADC for 20 years, agreed that political involvement by the community is essential.

“There’s a growing awareness that, as a community, we need to be involved and safeguard civil rights, political and voting rights — all our constitutional rights. We can’t depend on other communities, or the government, to protect our community. After 9/11, it seems our community realized the importance of getting more involved in politics and civic activities due to the hostile environment Arab-Americans found themselves in after 9/11.”

Commenting on the number of politicians who attended this event, Thamer said: “In the past 4-5 years, they understand that Arab-American influence is growing and that our community has become active in the political process.”

Regarding the issue of harassment for some local politicians who accepted checks from Arab-Americans, and who mentioned it at the AAI event, Thamer said: “It’s very troubling that in a country as diverse as the United States there is a stigma attached with political leaders forming an alliance with Arab-Americans — it has a chilling effect. I’m glad to see candidates are open about it, and refuse to be cowed because of it.”