Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was recently in Libya promising U.S. support in rebuilding and establishing political stability. I disagreed with the military support used against Gaddafi’s forces, but I think that engaging in the remaking of the Middle East is wise. The British Telegraph reported that Clinton met with Mahmoud Jibril, Libya’s prime minister and interim leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil. She pledged $11 million in additional aid bringing the total since the rebellion against Muammar Gaddafi began in February to $135 million. Part of the new aid money is for educational programs and seeking ways to diversify the economy beyond oil. State Department weapons experts are already in Libya working to find and destroy shoulder fired surface-to-air missiles.

The overall situation in the Middle East certainly remains volatile. Libyan rebels continue to hammer Mummar Qaddafi’s home town of Sirte, although they have finally captured Bani Walid.  Coptic Christians in Egypt continue to be attacked (see the posting dated May 17), protestors continue to be killed in Syria, etc.

Tunisia will be the first test of a country moving from dictatorship to democracy since the “Arab Spring” or “Jasmine Revolution” began with elections scheduled for late October. A New York Times article describes Tunisia “…as the most European country of North Africa, with a relatively large middle class, liberal social norms, broad gender equality, and welcoming Mediterranean beaches.” The negatives were that the government of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was repressive and corrupt. The elections will choose a constituent assembly while a new constitution is being drafted. The elections have been delayed at least twice to give political parties time to organize and to get millions of people registered to vote. There is of course concern that the well-organized Islamic extremists will win enough votes to give them a strong voice in establishing the path forward.

I hope that world Muslims look at the model of how Muslims view life in the United States where there is freedom of religion and the freedom to prosper. Electra Draper published the results of a poll of 1033 American Muslims in the Denver Post, and I hope the State Department advertises the results. Most of those participating in the poll reject Islamic extremism, although 21 percent reported seeing some support for it in their communities.  There was 61 percent that expressed concern about the rise of Islamic extremism. Only 4 percent of them believed support for extremists is increasing. Perhaps the most encouraging statistic is that 82 percent said they were overwhelmingly satisfied with their lives,79 percent said their communities were good or excellent places to live, and 56 percent said Muslims immigrants  want to adopt American ways of life.

Something I didn’t realize until I made some internet searches is that there were Muslims in American before there was a United States. They weren’t immigrants; they were brought here by slave-traders. It has been estimated as many as 30 percent of enslaved blacks were Muslims. Some of them fought in the Revolutionary War.

We had a British-born visitor at a recent gathering of our book club, and she told a much different story of her experiences with Muslim immigrants in England than what she has seen in America. She said there are very few who assimilate into British society. Most live in enclaves where non-Muslims are not welcome. We should celebrate that the Muslim immigrants to our country have taken a different approach.