Abu Hatem أبو حاتم

Why Arab and Muslim American should Support Ron Paul

Writing by abuhatem on Monday, 17 of December , 2007 at 2:52 am

Never in the history of the United States has any candidate espoused Arab and Muslim American values like Ron Paul. A fervent follower of politics and international news for many years, I never believed I would actually vote in a Presidential election, not due to apathy, but due to the inherent flaws in both political parties and their candidates.

As Arab Americans we have found that no candidate truly serves us. Much of this changed in the Presidential campaign of 2000, when a young Governor named George W. Bush graced our television screens arguing for the repeal of the secret evidence law, free trade, free market economics, low tax rates, and the absence of nation building in foreign policy.  Arab Americans were shocked. This was indeed the ideal candidate for Arab American values, and the vast majority of Arab Americans voted for President Bush in 2000.

After Bush was elected however, everything changed. The passage of the PATRIOT Act, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the increase of spending and big government through the creation of the Department of Homeland Security made Arab Americans further disenchanted with the political process.

Then came 2004, a great proportion of Arab and Muslim Americans did not vote, and those that did end up switching to the Democratic party did so reluctantly. Democrats not only opposed withdrawal from Iraq - the one issue which Arab Americans looked towards them favorably - but they also stood for many values which Arab Americans stood against such as socialized medicine programs, big government spending, increasing taxes on Americans, and abortion. The Democratic party was also highly endorsed by pro-Israel organizations in the United States which in many cases perfered them to the Republican party.

Arab Muslim Americans such as myself, upset and discontent with the realities of contemporary American political culture, believed that there would never really come a candidate who supported our values and beliefs. And then came Ron Paul.

I first learned of Ron Paul watching CSPAN. I remember being excited that there was a free-market Republican against the war, however I was skeptical. Even if this was the case, I thought, Paul would probably be the same sugar coated package we have been so used to having as Arab Americans. I did not look Paul up at the time nor did I truly care to.

However, Ron Paul’s supporters had more in store. All over Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, and political blogs came images of Ron Paul. It seemed as if you could not click a page on the internet without seeing his face. So one day, reluctantly, I tuned into one of his videos - and then it came, I was hooked.

Paul’s message of non-interventionism in foreign policy and his discussion of blowback really struck me. His recommendations of the books of Robert Pape, Michael Scheuer, and others truly blew me away, as these were authors I had read consistently as well. I did more and more research and truly found that Ron Paul was the only candidate in the history of American politics who truly catered to the values of Arab Americans. I continued my research only to read dozens of Paul’s articles, and read many of his books, to truly find that he is the only candidate I could ever vote for. And now, i’m on board.

Arab Americans who are undecided on Paul should research his message, and they will no doubt be convinced. I have listed the following issues as central to the values of Arab Americans and reasons to support Ron Paul.

(1) Ron Paul is non-interventionist in his foreign policy

Ron Paul opposed the war in Iraq from the start. Paul argued that the reason that the terrorists attacked us on 9/11 was United States oppression of the peoples of the Middle East, a concept called blowback. He is the only candidate to ever run for President in modern times that has supported cutting off all foreign aid to Israel. He wants free-trade with Arab states, and opposes sanctions or war with Iran.

Paul, in his writings, has stated that the only just war is the defensive war. He opposes interventionism and aggression and meddling into the affairs of other nations. He has advocated returning to the views of the founding fathers such as Alexander Hamilton who wrote in the Federalist Papers that the United States would set an example being the first country who would not engage in aggressive wars.

(2) Ron Paul supports the free-market

Arab Americans have long been supporters of the free-market. Living under decades of socialist rule which only led them further into poverty, Arabs immigrated to the United States in search of economic opportunity. Such opportunity has made Arab Americans one of the most successful communities in modern American society. Arab Americans are known as engineers, doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. Paul opposes the tax-and-spend policies of big government. He believes that people have a natural right to the property they earn which the government cannot take away from you. He is the only candidate to have never voted for a tax increase, and he has even opposed taking the congressional pension. A doctor by trade, Paul has himself tasted success in the free-market, and thus opposes the unjust policies of the death tax which destroy the savings which parents work so hard to give to their children.

Paul supports the ideas of the well known Austrian school of economics which argued that the quality of life of all people increased in the free-market. The free-market is the only economic system which leads to products and services being created based upon the needs and desires of the people.

Muslim Americans have a long history supporting free commerce. Muslim scholars such as Ibn Khaldun - the great Muslim jurist, religious scholar, and sociologist - argued in the 14th century that cutting taxes gave the state more wealth, an idea which was propogated by Ronald Reagan who quoted Khaldun many times. Historians tell us that the first stock market existed in Egypt in medieval times - and that the economic situation in the medieval Muslim world could truly be described as a free market. The Prophet Muhammad being a merchant, Muslims have a long tradition supporting commerce and free trade.

(3) Paul supports civil liberties

Ron Paul opposed the PATRIOT act from the start. He has always argued for the importance of civil liberties in a democratic society. Paul is against the government spying on its citizens and the national ID card. He has worked his entire life to ensure liberty was protected in accordance with the American constitution.

(4) Paul supports sound money

Muslim Americans throughout the world have long supported a return to the gold standard. The gold standard, it has been argued, would provide sound money to combat inflation. Malaysia has been instrumental in this, advocating Muslim countries return to the gold standard and share a common currency. Muslims have used the gold standard for centuries - and the gold standard has its roots back in the times of the Prophet Muhammad himself.

(5) Paul has the best plan on health care

Another place where Paul supports the values of Arab and Muslim Americans - which include a large proportion of doctors and nurses - is health care. Ron Paul opposes the fallacy that people have a “right,” to health care - for this right infringes upon the natural right for one to own the property they earn or are given. Paul’s health care plan is actually the only one which will bring down the costs of health care and improve its quality through the vehicle of competition in the free market.

Dr. Paul advocates the return to the “pay per service,” system where everyone would pay out of pocket for all health care expenses. Doctors under this system used to find great advantage in keeping the prices low. Churches and charities would provide health care for the poor. Medicare is a great portion of our current budget, and by being gradually phased out it would decrease the taxes which hamper down American taxpayers. Eliminating government bureaucracy is the only way we can make health care more affordable. The fallacies of socialized medicine only bring up the cost of health care, decrease its quality, and eliminate innovation. It has been the free-market which has been the impetus in making health care better and better, and innovative medicine has saved the lives of millions of people. It is by enhancing such innovation, not decreasing it, that our health care system will continue to be the best in the world. Dr. Paul is the only candidate who has proposed such a plan, which is central to the values of a large portion of Arab Americans who work in medicine.

In conclusion, there has been no candidate who has ever - or perhaps will ever - run for President in the history of the United States who has supported the values of Arab and Muslim Americans so deeply. Ron Paul deserves our support. Major Arab Americans activists have already came out in their support of Dr. Paul, and I urge all of those reading this to spread the word and message to others and get out the vote!

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Category: American Politics, Islam

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