American Muslims are among the most diverse and heterogeneous national populations of Muslims in the world, made up of many different communities with different histories and priorities, yet American Muslim community leaders regularly refer to American Muslims as a singular community with a shared political agenda. Given the sociological fact of their diversity, consensus among American Muslims, particularly on controversial and divisive religious and political questions, is not a tenable goal. American Muslims do not need to achieve perfect consensus in order to effectively organize around particular political issues of shared concern and speak in a collective voice.
Consider the issue of racial/religious profiling. Although some American Muslims are more aggressively policed and profiled than others, a shared opposition to racial/religious profiling in principle allows American Muslim leaders to organize a diverse range of Muslim communities on this issue. Their collective opposition to racial/religious profiling certainly represents the perspective of the vast majority of American Muslims, although there are American Muslim outliers who defend such discriminatory practices.
In terms of American Muslims’ political investments in the Middle East, historically, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been another unifying political issue with a wide range of American Muslim communities standing together in shared opposition to both the Israeli occupation itself and the US government’s long-standing role as Israel’s chief ally and source of aid. Unfortunately, they have had very little impact on US policies related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. American Muslims’ political impotency on this issue was made manifest at the recent annual White House Ramadan Iftar: President Obama insultingly reaffirmed the US government’s unequivocal support of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza during his short address to American Muslim leaders and other dignitaries including Israel’s ambassador.
As American Muslims debate how best to challenge the US government’s unconscionable support of the ongoing massacre of civilians in Gaza, they are also debating the roles and responsibilities of American Muslim leaders in representing their point of view and how they should interact with Israeli Zionists.
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