----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2003 7:05
AM
Subject: [Sndbox] Arabs like Dean`
Dean Gets Standing Ovation from
Arab-Americans
Sat October 18,
2003 06:09 PM ET
By Tom Brown
DEARBORN, Mich. (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean
received a standing ovation from an Arab-American audience on Saturday when he
attacked leading conservatives and figures from the religious right.
Dean, one of seven Democratic presidential candidates to address the Arab
American Institute's national leadership conference in Dearborn, pointed to an
American flag and named some of the people he said it did not belong to.
"It does not belong to General Boykin, or John Ashcroft, or Rush Limbaugh
or Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson," the former Vermont governor said to cheers
in the packed hotel conference room in the Detroit suburb which is home to one
of the highest concentrations of Muslims and Arabs outside the Middle East.
"This flag belongs to every single American, including every single
American in this room, and is the hope and aspiration for many other folks who
are not yet citizens," he said.
The message was warmly received by the crowd of about 300 as Dean named
Ashcroft, the U.S. Attorney General and a prominent spokesmen for America's
conservative or religious right, along with Army Lt. Gen. William Boykin, the
senior Pentagon intelligence official who has told Christian gatherings that
Muslims worship an "idol."
His speech was repeatedly interrupted by applause as he condemned
violations of civil liberties, racial profiling and abuse of authority under
the USA Patriot Act, the anti-terror legislation championed by Ashcroft that
passed after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Hundreds of Muslims and Arabs were detained in roundups after the attacks
and Dean said the detentions and deportations of an untold number of
immigrants based on secret evidence were unlawful and should be repealed.
"Today we see another shameful chapter in American history. Because John
Ashcroft touts the Patriot Act around this country does not make John Ashcroft
a patriot," he said.
"The war on terror cannot become a war on civil rights and freedoms. We
should not have to chose between securing our homeland and securing the
blessings of liberty. We can have both, otherwise the terrorists have won and
we will not permit that."
Dean also won applause by reiterating his recent promises to send former
President Bill Clinton to the Middle East as his peace broker if he is elected
next year.
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