On Tuesday evening, U.S. President George W. Bush held a feast for the ambassadors of Muslim states and the leaders of U.S. Muslim communities, on the occasion of the holy month of Rama’dan, which commenced this week.
Although the feast is a regular annual event at the White House, Sate’ Nour A-Din, a columnist in the widely distributed Lebanese daily A-Safir, claimed that the meal is merely an attempt to appeal to the Muslim community through their stomachs.
“As he usually does in such circumstances, Bush was wearing a mask of faith, inasmuch as tears were practically pouring down his cheeks,” writes Nour A-Din. “Bush’s participation in Rama’dan folklore is indeed an honorable gesture, but the things he said during the meal and several hours beforehand at a press conference, again raise doubts regarding his attitude towards Islam and Muslims…”
“Bush took advantage of the fast-breaking meal to demonstrate that the U.S. respects Islam, values American Muslims and the part they play, and that the U.S. does not have any resentment towards [the world’s] 1.5 billion Muslims.”
He continues, “This message could have been put across, if only the President hadn’t said during the meal that, ‘the U.S. opposes any kind of religious fanaticism.’ This comment has turned, during his time in power and via his conservative administration, into a political doctrine and a daily conduct, regarding Islam and Muslim with much hatred and resentment.”
Nour A-Din further claims that in his comments Bush, in effect, maintained that the Islamic states “generate religious fanaticism and propagate it…While in fact,” Nour A-Din argues, “the religious fanaticism exists in the American Administration itself, and is fueled by the current alliance between the radical messianic right and the extreme Jewish stream.”
He adds that this alliance has made the Bush Administration look like a gang of warriors who just popped out of a history book. This gang, says Nour A-Din, is not even trying to conceal its hostile tendencies and views towards Islam and Muslims.
Nour A-Din scorned Bush’s attempt to reverse his image by spreading a feast. He claims Bush would have done better if he had agreed to the request of his guests at a press conference earlier that same day, and removed Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Lt. General William Boykin from his post.
In January, Boykin quoted Somali warlord Osman Atto as saying to him, “Allah will protect me.” Boykin then added that, “I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol.”
On another occasion, Boykin said, “We are a Christian nation, because our foundation and our roots are Judeo-Christian…and the enemy is a guy named Satan.”
In his remarks, Nour A-Din claims, Boykin publicly dishonored the Muslim tradition and provoked many Americans, both Muslims and non-Muslims. Bush, instead of removing Boykin from his post or condemning his statements, chose another tactic – to appeal to the Muslims through their stomachs.