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| American Arabs Abuse Patriotic Soldier |
| 2004-01-07 |
| The phone rings. âHello,â Moufid El Khatib says, but no one answers. âHello?â Only silence. He hangs up. âI donât know what they mean by that,â Moufid says. âIs it a marketing company or some Arabic guys?â Living in Dearborn, amid the highest concentration of Arabs outside the Middle East, Moufid is caught in a web of conflict and tension. For Moufid, who was born in Palestine, raised in Lebanon and later lived in Kuwait, the mysterious phone calls could mean several things. Maybe some local Arabs are upset that Moufid would let his son join the U.S. military. In his house, an American flag is displayed in a living room corner. A portrait of his son, Sgt. Talal El Khatib, 24, wearing his Army uniform, hangs on the wall. Talal, who was born in Kuwait but is a U.S. citizen, is a member of the Army Reserve and was called to active duty last summer. Or maybe some Arab men are upset that Talal is stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, at a prison for Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorism suspects. There are about 20 Muslim members of the armed forces at the base in Cuba. Four workers from the base have been arrested as part of an investigation into possible security breaches at the prison. One is from Dearborn. The phone calls make Moufid wonder, playing with his emotions. Moufid has never heard any negative comments about his sonâs involvement in the U.S. military, but he can sense it from some Arabs in Dearborn. âTheir eyes talk,â Moufid says. Sitting on his couch in a small, tidy bungalow filled with pictures of his children and paintings that he did himself - it was always his dream to be an artist - Moufid looks out the window at his neighborhood. âMy neighbor, there, is American,â he says, pointing out the window. âMy neighbor there, Don, is an American. Believe me, when they know my son was leaving to Cuba, they came to say good-bye. They came and hug him and this and that.â He pauses. âNone of the Arab guys come to say hi or good luck or wish you the best,â Moufid says. âThey feel my son is Arab. He is from the Middle East. He is not supposed to be in the U.S. Army. It is the wrong feelings. âYou come to this country. You are American, as we say, like it or leave it. Either you have to be American or not. There is nothing in between in such cases... Loyalty is the cement of nations. If Arab American Muslims are working on behalf of the countryâs enemies, they should be treated as a traitor-class. |
| Posted by:Paris Airhead |
| #9 B-a-r - oops! I was clacking keys while you posted. Apologies for the overlap -- great minds think alike! 8-) |
| Posted by: .com 2004-1-7 2:26:41 PM |
| #8 The hyphenation myth. You are either an American, in spirit and substance -- or you're not. When some group, whether based on ethnicity or race or religion or any other superstition or imaginary pivot point, refuses to integrate itself with the American Society (or philosophy, as Mike pointed out), then it declares itself a tumor on the body of America. Allowed to flourish, and multiplied by the number of such asinine distinctions, it can eventually become deadly - whether politically or economically or socially. In fact, though it has no actual substance, it is the one insidious notion which can actually threaten us - far more than weapons or ideologies. Rainbow crap and cultural diversity - this is the real danger posed by PCism and mindless liberalism. Pfeh. Talal and Moufid deserve the ultimate compliment - that they are simply Americans. And good Americans, at that - I'd like to meet Moufid and buy him dinner. "Schway, schway", bubba - you're not alone. Those "local Arabs" in Detroit that the article refers to, if they are hounding Moufid, are actually a stupidity tumor and should be excised... painfully, if possible. Local police should investigate - and stomp on them with jackboots if they are responsible for this harassment. Dubya said it so clearly and so well: "Either you're with us or you're against us." Us. Melike simplisme. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-1-7 2:17:37 PM |
| #7 ..it's a philosophy. Then lose the hyphenating, which draws lines based on some attribute, like ethnicity or religion. They're either Americans or they're not. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-1-7 2:05:40 PM |
| #6 Hmmm...there's something missing here. Like, say, any actual abuse? I didn't see any claimed name-calling, vandalism, anything. Just "their eyes talk". And mysterious hang-up phone calls. Uh huh. Get on the Do Not Call list, Moufid. That'll take care of those phone calls. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2004-1-7 1:59:02 PM |
| #5 Careful with those broad brushes and buckets of tar there, guys. Moufid and Talal are living proof that there are loyal Arab-Americans and loyal Moslem-Americans. (Hell, these guys are more loyal than Mikey Moore or James Earl Peanut!) "American" is not a race or an ethnicity, or even necessarily a description of citizenship -- it's a philosophy. All those who wish to stand with us are welcome. |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-1-7 1:05:58 PM |
| #4 Moufid, change your name to Mike Collins. Move away from the angry, seething, scum and never look back. Suggest to your son to becom Ted Collins and do the same. No baggage, no problems. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-1-7 12:32:12 PM |
| #3 On the other hand, when I get a phonecall and there is nobody there, just silence, I hang up before the computer kicks over to a marketing company. They allude to this in the article but then continue with the darker story without providing any real foundation. |
| Posted by: ruprecht 2004-1-7 11:17:25 AM |
| #2 He pauses. âNone of the Arab guys come to say hi or good luck or wish you the best,â Moufid says. âThey feel my son is Arab. He is from the Middle East. He is not supposed to be in the U.S. Army. It is the wrong feelings." This is the result when nothing matters except race. Look around; it's more prevalent than you might think. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-1-7 10:16:48 AM |
| #1 Paris,I'm glad I saw your secound post,I was just about to slap all Muslems living in America with a very broad,dirty brush. |
| Posted by: raptor 2004-1-7 6:11:25 AM |