WRONG  DEVICE

      When Kurt Waldheim, former Secretary General of the United Nations, was ac­cused of serving as a Nazi officer during World War II, he was denied entry to the U.S. despite the fact that he was then the President of Austria, a friendly nation to the U.S.

       The reason given at the time was that the Administration preferred not to offend the American Jewish community or hurt the feelings of millions of Jews around the world.

        But, last month this logic was not applied. President Clinton offended one billion Muslims when he briefly met Salman Rushdie while the latter was in town for a speaking engagement. In order to justify his action, the President said that he met with Rushdie “to make a point, not that I agree with the attacks on Islam in the hook Mr. Rushdie wrote, but that in our country.. freedom of speech includes the willingness to respect...the life of or the rights of people who write things that we do not agree with.’ Then the President said: “I hope I will not be misunderstood. I believe that I made the right decision.

         It seems that we have another case of inconsistency, double standards, and discrimination. However, let us this time review the issue from a different angle. What made the President decide to meet with Rushdie, and what made him believe that he made the right decision? To an­swer the first question ,we have to under­stand how things are done in Washington and how this issue was presented to the President. A possible scenario is that some interest groups approached one of the Presidents advisors who in turn pre­sented it to the President as a good oppor­tunity to assure the world that the United States will not compromise the values that it stands for and a meeting with Rushdie was the cheapest and least costly way to convey this message. A divided Muslim world is not in a position to react effective­ly in a way that would force policy makers to take their feelings and interests into consideration.

         Why does the President believe that he made the right decision? The answer is very simple: nothing happened to change his mind. The reaction of the Muslim community and the rest of the Islamic world was less than satisfactory. In Washington, not a single Muslim diplo­mat submitted a letter of protest to the Department of State or even criticized the President’s move. The response consisted only of a few letters to newspapers and some statements released by Muslim or­ganizations urging the President to con-suit with them and listen to their opinion whenever there is an issue concerning Muslims.

         The latest move by the President is not a new development. It is another link in a chain of events hostile to Mus­lims. If the Muslim community does not rise up to the occasion, its political future in this country will be hard to predict. We already know the President’s personal opin­ion when it comes to Jerusalem as well as his hostile foreign policy towards many Muslim countries. To avoid continued humiliation, there is only one prescrip­tion: unity and openness. Muslim organi­zations should join efforts to make their voices heard in their struggle against dis­crimination and racism. Individual Mus­lims should participate in all aspects of political life, and help their organizations take part in the political process.