US election: Arab-American views

BBC News Online has been asking Arab-American voters for their thoughts on the upcoming US presidential election.

Mark Shalaby: Washington DC "I'm not excited about the choices" Courtney Jaser: Worcester, Mass "I'm disgusted there's no real liberal" Ahmed Najar: Detroit, Michigan "I feel Bush would be a good president" Michelle Deering: Los Altos, California "It should be about the little people"

Satar Al-Kutayfi: Grand Island, Neb "Nader favours peace over war" H El-Meligy: NYC, New York "Bush betrayed US Arab voters" Abraham Asoli: New Jersey "Nader is best to represent me" Saed Atshan: Philadelphia, PA "People are voting to get rid of Bush"

The Arab-American community has become increasingly active in the US political arena, although demographically they do not represent a large voting bloc in the country.

About 1.2 million Americans - or 0.4% of the total population - are of Arab ancestry, according to the US 2000 census. The Arab-American Institute puts the figure higher, at more than 3.5 million.

After the 11 September attacks, many became increasingly concerned at the backlash against Arab-Americans, with issues of racial profiling, discrimination and intimidation becoming key domestic issues.

Foreign policy concerns, meanwhile, remain dominated by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iraq.

BBC News Online spoke to eight Arab-Americans about their views on the elections.

We asked what issues were most important to them, what they felt about the candidates and whether their heritage influenced how they voted.

We also want to hear what you think, so send us your comments using the form after each person's views.

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The reader's panel has been selected from as wide a cross-section of people as possible and may not be representative of wider US public opinion.