According to data analysis conducted by NewPolicy.org, Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans have contributed more than $1 million to Congressman Keith Ellison in the three-year period between 2006-2009, according to the Federal Election Commission website.  This large sum of money is almost twice as much as JStreetPAC , the moderate pro-Israel, pro-peace lobby, has contributed to all its candidates in the 2008 elections, although JStreetPAC supported 41 Congressmen during those elections with  a sum of $578,000.

Moreover, the contributions of Arab-Americans and Muslim Americans to just one Congressman are almost a third of the contributions made by all Pro-Israel PACs in the 2008 election, which according to the Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs come to about $3.5 million. These pro-Israel PACs are affiliated with the hard-line pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.

Although NewPolicy.org represents pro-peace Americans from all backgrounds, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans form an important constituency for the PAC. The high level of engagement by this constituency is good news to NewPolicy.org and to all Americans.

This research was done by looking for Arabic and Muslim names of contributors to Congressman Keith Ellison in the 2006 and 2008 Congressional Elections on the Federal Election Commission website.  Individual contributions by Muslim Americans and Arab-Americans to Congressman Keith Ellison constituted more than two thirds of his total contributions. Interestingly, the vast majority of his contributions (also about two-thirds) came from outside the state of Minnesota, suggesting a national level of involvement by Arab-Americans and Muslim Americans.

This important analysis deflates some common myths in the American political landscape.

1.            Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans do not understand the American political system and thereby are not actively engaged in it. In fact, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans are highly politically savvy and understand the importance of campaign contributions to full representation in the American political system.

2.            Contributions by Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans pale to those of their compatriots. Again, this is not the case when contributions of Arab-Americans and Muslim Americans are viewed on an individual basis. Per capita contributions by Arab Americans and Muslim Americans are, in fact, quite high.

However, this data does confirm the lack of a political organization to better distribute the contributions of Arab-Americans and Muslim Americans among a larger group of Congressional Candidates. While NewPolicy.org is a strong supporter of Congressman Keith Ellison, he is, after all, one Congressman with one vote. If JStreetPAC could help 33 of its 41 candidates get elected with only $578,000, then New Policy PACwould be able to help elect twice that number by collecting contributions from pro-peace Americans, including Arab-Americans and Muslim Americans.

Similarly, if hard-line pro-Israel PACs can muzzle Congressional candidates by distributing a meager $3.5 million dollars to over 550 Congressmen, then the widely touted success of AIPAC is more a matter of having an open field than raising large sums of money. AIPAC is unopposed. New Policy PAC can definitely compete by funding candidates who support an end to the Gaza siege, a settlement freeze and a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.