"There is already a lack of Muslims
in government positions,” a Muslim woman, who works for the US government, told The New York Times on Wednesday, August 8, on condition
of anonymity.
"But now this debate just shows no
matter how loyal you are, some people will always attack you because you are
Muslim.”
As the United States is preparing for the November election to
elect a new president, US Muslims have faced a new level of campaigns
questioning their loyalty.
Last month, Republican
Representative Michele Bachmann said the appointment of Huma Abedin, a Muslim,
as a close aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was a sign on the
Islamist infiltration of the Obama administration.
Abedin is not the first American
Muslim to face accusations questioning their loyalty.
Samar Ali, a White House fellow,
was accused by the right-wing Tea Party of financing terrorism.
The Tea Party cited Ali’s in-depth
knowledge of Islamic banking practices as a basis for claim that the Muslim
woman was disloyal to her country.
Ali, who was born in the United
States to a Palestinian father and a Syrian mother, was one of the first in her
area in Tennessee to speak out against the 9/11 attacks.
Linda Sarsour, a community worker
from Brooklyn in New York City, was also the focus of allegations questioning
her loyalty after her appointment at a neighborhood advisory panel.
Right-wingers claim that Sarsour,
32, who has received a "Champion of Change” award from Obama, had links with
Hamas in Gaza and that members of her family had been arrested for aiding the
Islamist movement.
For "Michele Bachmann and some
people of the Tea Party movement — the fact that we are Muslim means we are
disloyal to our country and have hidden agendas,” Sarsour said.
