The Bombings of U.S. Embassies and U.S. Rocket Attacks on Afghanistan and Sudan: Arab Americans Must Condemn All Purveyors of Hatred

The U.S. response to the attacks on its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania was morally, politically and legally wrong. The U.S. cruise missile strikes on Sudan and Afghanistan have further enflamed segments of Arab and Muslim public opinion, only serving to exacerbate tensions, putting U.S. allies and interests in the Middle East at greater risk. I've said all this already. But having said this in no way lessens my clear condemnation of those who carried out the U.S. embassy bombings, those who ordered these attacks, organized and funded them and those who also continue to issue threats of more attacks in the name of religion or the Arab cause. While FBI and U.S. State Department annual reports clearly establish that anti-U.S, violence originating from Arab or Muslim groups only accounts for a very small fraction of all such attacks both worldwide and domestically, the propaganda mills of our detractors have painted a very different picture. But more than just defaming us, our enemies have used the fear created by the World Trade Center bombing to push their negative stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims into legislation and public policies that threaten the civil liberties of our communities in the United States. To a great extent, the "double standard" that exists is a function of the imbalance that exists in U.S. domestic politics. We will not see a just and balanced U.S. foreign policy until we create more balance in U.S. politics -- and that will require hard work and commitment from Arab Americans and American Muslims.