Congratulations you have won

With peaceful Palestinian elections behind us, and the Iraq elections looming ahead in the darkness, let us consider democracy in these unusual, even forced, conditions. According to Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Palestinian Legislature, “This is a unique case of a people under occupation being asked to hold free and fair elections when they themselves are not free…I think it’s unique in history. But this is a nation adamant to vote. It’s an important internal test, and I think it’s a turning point.”

It may be that empowering the Palestinian people to voice its opinion in this nonviolent way will force neighboring nations to take them more seriously. Perhaps it will support a sense of order and self-respect that has been missing in the crisis conditions of occupation and intifada. And perhaps if we are very optimistic the same thing will happen in Iraq. Perhaps the US will be forced to listen to the Association of Muslim Scholars, who have insisted that there be a phased withdrawal of US troops in exchange for its support for elections. Perhaps.

It may seem absurd to force democracy on a people, but there are many forms of consensus, consultation and community decision- making. And what is the alternative? Is it to force religion on a people? We must be patient with the process of learning.

It is too simple to insist that the Shariah should be imposed on those who are not ready or willing. There are some jihadis who only understand violence and have no patience for living in a pluralistic society as we do. They write, “ This western tool, democracy, is not our way to have the Tamkeen. We have to follow the path of Allah and listen to his word, 'Make ready against [the enemies of Allah] with the utmost of your power.' …An Islamic state has not and will not be formed through peaceful solutions or through the Assemblies of Polytheism. It will be formed as it did through the written words and the gun, through the word and the bullet.”

The Washington Jihadis and Wahabbi Jihadis sound too much alike. They think that in order for us to win, others must lose. This is not always true. We can work in such a way that everyone wins. I am not speaking about false promises—the emails that arrive from nowhere with the title “Congratulations you have won”. You usually win a virus…or a scam. But true promises build relationships of trust and can create opportunities for everyone. Do we have to wait for a disaster for us all to help each other across ethnic, class and religious boundaries?

The Pakistani government has printed new machine-readable passports in line with international standards, which do not include information about religious affiliation. This has caused a furor. “It is an attempt to secularize Pakistan and strip it of its Islamic identity,” fumed Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of the Majlis e Amal; “We will never let them do this.” Yet others, like Kamila Hyat of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, worry that statements of religious affiliation, introduced by Zia ul-Haq, lead to discrimination and ethnic profiling; “All citizens should be treated equally.” Surely, secularism and pluralism are not the same. We can allow all good people to participate in pluralism. Yet democracy is never enough. The people must be educated, be engaged, be awake.

But sometimes it is hard to win, in any system. Since 9/11 many US states have faced pressure to take away a variety of immigrant rights in the name of national security. For example, this year alone, 25 states faced proposed legislation to restrict driver’s licenses. Many (like Illinois, and even Florida) have refused to pass these new restrictions, which is why a sinister bill that will affect the entire nation is currently gathering signatures in Congress. This bill is soon to be introduced by the infamous Congressman Sensenbrenner.

That’s right, he’s back. After the intelligence reform bill passed last month without immigrant driver’s license restrictions and other anti-immigrant provisions, Chairman Sensenbrenner (R-WI) announced that he would introduce a separate bill with these same measures in the last week of January 2005. This bill will 1) prevent states from providing driver’s licenses to immigrants who cannot prove lawful presence for five years in the U.S., 2) further limit the definition of lawful presence to certain immigration categories, 3) make it more difficult for people to obtain asylum, requiring asylum seekers to prove the "central motive' of their persecutors, 4) relax environmental requirements for a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, and, finally, 5) would impose tougher deportation rules.
Many politicians, local police departments, and faith-based advocacy groups object to this collection of restrictions. In recent testimony before the New York State Assembly, Elizabeth Sholes, Director of Public Policy, of the California Council of Churches, explained, “We support all measures that make our residents more uniformly part of our society with the responsibilities as well as privileges that go with living here. Assuring that people who drive are qualified to do so will help diminish accidents and ensure higher standards of responsible behavior by those with motor vehicles.”

“All treated equally.” But since some immigrant and minority communities do not yet have the number of votes or the influence, may Muslims need help from allies across the nation. However, there is something you can do. You too can pressure your representative not to cosponsor Sensenbrenner’s bill. Simply call the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Representative’s office. Ask them to write you a letter explaining exactly what position he or she is taking on these important issues. And if they respond well, then you can tell them, “Congratulations, you have won.”