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AAI in the News

Despite Iraq War, Arab-American Republicans Stand Behind Bush

Agence France Presse
Posted on Wednesday September 1, 2004

Many Arab-Americans in the Republican Party say they are sticking by President George W. Bush despite the Iraq war that has stirred up anger worldwide, and their votes could prove to be crucial.

With Bush locked in a tight battle against Democrat John Kerry, the race could hinge on a few key swing states such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida, which have some of the highest concentrations of Arab residents.

Bush`s Arab-American supporters reject all suggestion that they should jump to the Democratic Party because of the unpopular war or the controversial Patriot Act which has left civil-liberties groups up in arms.

“It`s very anti `free` to characterise certain types of people, saying you should be Democrat or Republican. This country is about choice,” said George Assad, a consultant who helps businesses bridge cultural gaps abroad.

“In this day and age, with what we`re up against and with the challenges of this country and the world, I think the Republican Party has a lot to offer,” he said.

Arab-Americans account for a small part of the population—1.5 million people according to US statistics, at least twice that much by the count of Arab-American groups—but backed Bush over Al Gore in the 2000 election.

Anger over the Iraq war is likely to lessen that support but, as if to prove the old adage that all politics is local, many Arab Republicans point to money at home, rather than policies abroad, in explaining their support of the party.

“The Republican Party has a president that has embraced immigration reform that makes a huge difference to first and second generation families,” Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire, who is of Lebanese descent.

“The Republican party has stood most aggressively for entrepreneurship, for opportunity for those very same immigrants,” he told AFP. “The ideal of America as a melting pot and as a very participatory democracy is absolutely correct.”

George Ajjan, a Republican candidate for Congress from New Jersey, said that “high Democratic taxes” were the main concern of voters in his district, not questions of foreign policy.

But he stressed that his Arab background, and in particular his knowledge of the Middle East, could be useful in Washington.

“I`m more familiar with the region than most of the members of Congress, I would say,” he said.

The men spoke on the sidelines of a meeting of Arab-American Republicans held at the Republican national convention, where several politicians rejected criticism that Bush policies were enflaming the Arab world.

Darrell Issa, a congressman from California, which has the highest population of Arab-Americans in the United States, said that nobody prefers war but insisted that Arabs knew that Iraq could not be changed without it.

“Every Arab understands that Saddam Hussein was not going to be cajoled into democracy,” Issa said.

Consultant Assad agreed, and dismissed Kerry`s talk about trying to wage a more “sensitive” war against terrorism.

“To engage with other nations is not just to reach out and be friendly,” he said.

According to the Arab-American Institute, the largest concentrations of US Arabs are found in California (650,000), New York (410,000) and Michigan (400,000).

There are also significant numbers in Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia, it says.

The Institute hosted the Arab-American Republican meeting and, unlike so many other events at the convention this week, drew only a very mild protest: Lelia Kawar and a friend, with a sign in Arabic that read “Shame On You.”

“The Bush administration does so much harm in the Middle East that any Arab-American who encourages Bush`s re-election should have his or her head examined,” she said.