Being an outspoken advocate for peace, justice, understanding, I was troubled by the January 24th 2007 editorial "Life in a Fishbowl." First because of how I was misrepresented and secondly because of the suggestion in it that SA (Student Association) officials are not entitled to express their own opinions.
The Spectrum falsely claimed that on my Facebook I villainized a group of people, called President Bush the devil, and misrepresented my constituents, without any proof. What made this worse was that by drawing my picture and not placing my name in the editorial, and then sensationalizing and misrepresenting my Facebook content, Spectrum did not give students the chance they deserve to see and judge for themselves my Facebook content, forcing readers to take what you wrote at face value. That was wrong. As now the readers can see for themselves, in reality, I have never ever engaged in villainizing any group of people on or off Facebook. People can see my Facebook for themselves. Furthermore I have never called President Bush the devil, regardless of his actions, he is not the devil nor have I made such a claim. Finally, I have never ever misrepresented my constituents at the University at Buffalo.
It is astonishing and worrisome that The Spectrum would either lie about such facts or not properly do its research. As these allegations are false, it is not my duty to defend myself, my record speaks for itself and the burden is on the accuser. Nonetheless, I will say, all those who have interacted with me on a personal level can attest that I have always called not for mere understanding, but love and unity of all humanity while at the same time condemning both states and individuals which engage in terrorism. That is what my faith, Islam, teaches me.
Upon investigation I have discovered that what led Spectrum to misrepresent my views was my critique of the Israeli government, which is really speaking to a larger issue altogether. Thus I will make the following clear. I have every right to and will continue to condemn Israel for its war crimes, as I will America for its war crimes, as I will condemn Syria (my birthplace) for its crimes-as I will condemn any official...be he Israeli, Arab, American, or anything else, who unjustly takes the life of an innocent human being. With that said, that is in no way an attack against the people of Israel, or of America, or of the Middle East. As a practicing Muslim, I love and respect all human beings regardless of race, nationality, faith, or color, and thus condemn any state which acts unjustly against a fellow human being. If Spectrum is concerned because they believe my condemnation of a state is against it's people as well, then that is unfounded and they should contact me to clear this misunderstanding. If however Spectrum is concerned because I do condemn states such as Israel for its war crimes, while simultaneously condemning Arabs for their war crimes as well, then know that such is my principle which my constituents knew I stood for when they elected me.
Regardless, Spectrum should have criticized me not for my beliefs regarding world politics, but as to how I have acted as Senate Chairman which actually has an impact on the students. Fortunately, since Spectrum could not find any reasonable fault in my three years of student service, it chose to attack my personal political viewpoints which I am entitled to.
As to Spectrum's argument that as an SA official I must "choose to stand for the student body, or choose to promote personal views." I must thus ask, why are these two things mutually exclusive? As a matter of fact, my opinions do indeed reflect UB students who are champions of tolerance, love, and justice. When students elect an official they elect him or her and their beliefs, values, morals, and political opinions. My Facebook profile and the views therein were certainly online when I was elected, so voters could have, and probably did, take that into account. Thus me as a whole was elected into office and I was given authority to express and act upon my beliefs.
Nonetheless, as to Spectrum's claim that SA officials should not express their political opinions even privately, I must say, this is a university campus - every day, there are serious discussions taking place about everything from geology to accounting to politics and international affairs - up to and including our involvement in Iraq, and Israel's policies in Palestine. Students, even if they happen to be elected officials for an extracurricular activity (like SA), cannot be expected to exempt themselves from intellectual, academic pursuits and expression. Especially, when the opinions expressed were done so outside of the realm of SA, as I did. It is people's prerogatives and right in the US to express their viewpoints and that right cannot be limited because of extracurricular work they are involved in, especially in a university setting.
It may have been inappropriate for me if (1) I had made remarks in SA, or as an SA official during an SA event, or at an officially sanctioned event which I was attending as a representing SA, and those remarks were immoral and not supported by the majority of students. Or (2) I made comments which were hateful or bigoted against a group of people (criticizing a state for war crimes does not count) and acted in an undignified manner. Even then, technically I am not representing SA students if I did that in my private time, however, the prying media could attempt to reflect that upon my constituents and thus such actions would have been inappropriate. I however did neither. Spectrum was attempting to criticize me and called me "asinine" merely for daring to express my personal opinions during my own time, to my personal group of friends, while not wearing my SA cap, nor representing SA. I may be Senate Chairman, but that position does not take away my right to speak freely on what I believe in my own free time as anyone else. And since Spectrum misrepresented me, it should do the morally right thing and apologize.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
