Beyond Tea and Curry

Many New Yorkers are becoming distracted by the impending visit of the Republican National Convention, and related protest plans. Some people I know are even fleeing the city for the week. But many others are busy-- organizing press conferences and other events to bring local issues to the attention of the national media.

We certainly hope the new American Muslim Taskforce coalition will think beyond tea and curry in the AMT hospitality suite at the convention. There are so many issues we care about that are being marginalized in this close campaign, as both main candidates compete for the undecided, the alienated, and the uninformed.

Muslims should appreciate that we do have many passionate and principled allies in the American civil rights and immigrant rights communities. And while these groups will be well represented in the rallies on the 28th and the 29th, there will also be the “Still We Rise March and Rally for Justice” starting at noon on Monday, August 30th. Organized by local community-based groups, this weekday rally will bring a united voice to a number of social justice issues: immigration, housing/homelessness, healthcare/AIDS, education, criminal justice/civil rights & liberties, and welfare reform.

If you can take off work for at least a few hours that day, and are interested in the immigrant contingent, it will gather for the march at noon in Union Square near 15th Street and Union Square Park West - look for large orange balloons. To sign on as a group you may wish to visit www.stillwerise.org. And to obtain updates about other rallies, permits and locations, listen to WBAI radio at 99.5 FM or check out www.indymedia.com)

Yet-- however important the Presidential election will be to our future, we should not let ourselves be distracted from the utter incompetence in our state government. The 227th annual session of the New York State Legislature has just ended with the latest, most expensive budget in state history. As the New York Times stated, “It was the 20th year in a row that the Legislature failed to pass the budget on time, and lawmakers marked the anniversary by breaking the record for lateness, passing it 133 days after the fiscal year began April 1” (NYT 8/21/04). The effect of this lateness on funding crucial services across the state is extremely disruptive.

Moreover, Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican; Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat; and Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, a Republican - missed the court-imposed deadline to come up with a mandated education plan. The related political gridlock also kept them from lessening Rockefeller-era drug sentences or passing new ethics laws to tighten regulations on the state's $100 million lobbying industry. The Legislature did finally pass a law to raise the state's minimum wage to $7.10 an hour from $5.15, but Governor Pataki vetoed it and the Republican-led Senate has so far hesitated to override his veto. Only 271 bills have passed and been signed into law this year, out of over 17,000 bills introduced by the Legislature! Yet we keep voting for these idiots!

Faced with the widespread fear of terror, the state government has increased penalties for money laundering; replaced the state's Office of Public Safety with an Office of Homeland Security and tightened security around chemical plants and airports. Perhaps related, they have decided to expand the state's DNA databank, adding nearly 100 new crimes, including some misdemeanors, to the list of offenses that require DNA samples.

Our so-called representatives in Albany have correctly passed a bill that requires vendors to disclose the basis for labeling food kosher, together with consumer protections against false claims. However, the lawmakers failed to pass a bill that would have prohibited falsely labeling food as compliant with Islamic dietary restrictions, or halal.

Where are our Muslim organizations? I suspect that there are Muslim, Arab, African American, South Asian business groups that have access to power in Albany. What I doubt is whether they share access or help the diverse Muslim community sufficiently or effectively. Please prove me wrong. I would like to know if Muslim groups are working together to access officials effectively.

Meanwhile, George Pataki is introducing the Republican National Convention in the coming week. And the man he has asked to introduce him is former mayor Ed Koch—nominally a Democrat—who is voting for Bush because of his boundary-shattering support for Israel in all things. Mr. Koch was quoted in the local “Villager” newspaper last week as saying that there are hundreds of millions of Muslim terrorists.

I always thought Koch was a dim bulb, but he must run on Ever-ready or Duracell batteries, as he just doesn’t quit being dim. But brothers, if your beard becomes a storm cloud, let your smile be the sunshine. Same to you sisters, without the beard. We have to have humor to get us through the nonsense!