Author: Seth Gitell
Publication: Boston Phoenix
Date: October 5-11, 2001
URL: http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/this_just_in/documents/01848515.htm
It's Norquist's alliance with Alamoudi,
that's raising eyebrows now.
During his presidential campaign
and his first months in office, George W. Bush had no stronger supporter
than Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform. During
the New Hampshire primary, Norquist's group ran television ads that morphed
the face of Arizona senator John McCain into that of President Bill Clinton
(see " New Hampshire Diary, " News and Features, January 12, 2000). When
Bush finally took office, Norquist became a key ally in the president's
tax-cut quest. In its May 14 issue, the Nation highlighted the relationship
in a piece titled " Grover Norquist: 'Field Marshal of the Bush Plan.'
"
But now, as Bush embarks on a war
against terrorism, the president may find Norquist more of a liability
than an asset: the tax reformer has emerged as one of the leading conservative
critics of the administration's legislative response to terror, the Anti-Terrorism
Act of 2001. Certainly, Norquist is no defender of terror or terrorists.
Still, he has, in a political and a business capacity, befriended those
who have failed to renounce terror. And if you don't toe the party line
on terror these days, you're not in the party.
The Protestant Norquist is a founding
director of the Islamic Institute, a socially conservative Muslim think
tank that eschews international issues in favor of domestic issues such
as tax cuts and faith-based initiatives. In addition, Norquist's lobbying
firm, Janus-Merritt Strategies LLC, was officially registered as a lobbyist
for the Islamic Institute as well as for Abdurahman Alamoudi, the founder
and former executive director of the American Muslim Council. Public records
show that Alamoudi has done more than $20,000 worth of business with Norquist's
firm, on issues relating to Malaysia. One source says the lobbying involved
efforts on behalf of reformist Islamic leader Anwar Ibrahim, imprisoned
in Malaysia, whose cause has been taken up by Amnesty International, among
others.
To be sure, the bulk of Norquist's
work on behalf of American Muslims merely falls in line with the American
tradition of targeting ethnic voters - a tradition that goes back to the
days of urban machine politics and before. To that end, Norquist and Khaled
Saffuri, the executive director of the Islamic Institute and former director
of government relations at the American Muslim Council, brokered meetings
between Muslim and Republican leaders during the 2000 presidential campaign.
These meetings led Bush to come out against secret evidence (evidence in
certain immigration and national-security cases that the accused can't
see) and ethnic profiling by police - tools that some law-enforcement experts
now want in the fight against terror.
It's Norquist's alliance with Alamoudi,
however, that's raising eyebrows now. In recent days, some in the press,
most notably Salon's Jake Tapper (on September 26), have raised questions
about certain Muslim American advocacy organizations (including the American
Muslim Council), charging that they have been " tacitly ... supportive
of extremist groups guilty of terrorism. " Take Alamoudi, who attended
an anti-Israel protest outside the White House on October 28, 2000. Alamoudi
revved up the crowd, saying: " I have been labeled by the media in New
York as being a supporter of Hamas. Anybody supporters of Hamas here? "
The crowd cheered. " Hear that, Bill Clinton? We are all supporters of
Hamas ... I wish they added that I am also a supporter of Hezbollah. "
(Both groups are on the State Department's official list ofterrorist organizations.)
In his September 20 address to a
joint session of Congress, Bush laid down the law on terrorism: " Every
nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with
us, or you are with the terrorists. " Norquist's own response to a question
at an October 2, 1999, meeting of another Muslim group, the American Muslim
Alliance, doesn't look as good when examined in this new context. One questioner
asked Norquist about then-candidate Bush's " agenda to portray Muslims
as peace-loving nice people instead of being terrorists. " Norquist condemned
unfair labeling and told the group that Bush felt the same way: "Bush is
very cognizant of the problems we've had in the past, where too many American
politicians have taken dirty shots at Muslims and at Muslim countries."
But he was strangely silent on the question of real terrorism against the
United States, some of which emanates from Islamic fringe groups. (This
speech was delivered a little more than a year after the African embassy
bombings, in which Osama bin Laden was the prime suspect.) Norquist even
mentioned Afghanistan, but not in connection with that nation's harboring
of terrorist groups. "A lot of Republicans and conservatives watched the
fight against the Soviet Union, and I think that changed some hearts, "
he said. Neither Norquist nor Alamoudi would respond to repeated requests
for comment.
As President Bush carries forward
the war on terror, it will be interesting to see whether Norquist can persuade
Alamoudi and others to condemn all terrorist groups - including Hamas and
Hezbollah.
