http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/10/22/4178e1db4effa?in_archive=1

By Hatem Abunimeh

Arabs, Muslims endorse Kerry
Posted 10/23/2004
I feel that it was pitiful for the Arab American & Muslim organizations to endorse Senator Kerry for the office of the President of the United States of America.Mr.Kerry's endorsement sends the wrong message to the parched Arab & Muslim American constituents who were eagerly looking forward to their leaders to provide them with a sound endorsement decision.Mr.Kerry has never bothered reaching out to the Arab and Muslim voters,his flip flop position was most evident on the apartheid separation wall,first he stated that the wall was an obstacle to peace & then few months later he stated that the wall was necessary for the security of Israel.By comparison,President Bush has never wavered from his firm stand on the two state solution,one Palestinian and one Israeli living side by side with one another.I recall that Mr.Bush got the road map going for a while during the short reign of Palestinian prime minister Abu Mazen,but when Abu Mazin resigned under intense pressure,the dialogue went into an impasse and still as such until our present day.Mr.Bush if he gets reelected he will be under no pressure to run for a third term,his vision of cementing democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan will be his primary goal,in addition to completing the rest of the political as well as the economic reform processes that had already started in most countries of the Middle East .Mr.Bush is committed to bringing the Palestinian and Israelis negotiators back on the table not to prolong the discussions but rather build on and finalize some of the existing accords like the road map,and the Geneva plan,and the Clinton plan.Mr.Bush will definitely be a much better choice for the Arabs and Muslims,Arab and Muslim voters ought to ignore the endorsement and vote their conscience.Freedom of choice is a right and not a privilege.No one should be a partisan hack.Hatem AbunimehChicago,IL.abunimeh@uic.edu