I think this connection is not as arbitrary as you make it out to me.
The intersection between muslims and Arabs is pretty large. I'm not sure the same secular identity politics exists in the Middle East as exist in America.
Beyond that, the Civil Rights movement in America had 3 feet in Islam. I think the comparison is an appropriate one.
Orthodox Islam, to the extent that it was effective in the US Civil Rights movement in the 60s, had its start with Malcolm X and its end with Clarence 13x and his founding of the Five Percent Nation, which is a rejection of Islam at its most fundamental level: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_13X It replaces the "Mystery Spook" Allah and the Prophet Muhammed with the individual himself "A.l.l.a.h" (arm, leg, leg, arm, head) which is an acronym of a human being. There is no god, other than the living person. This is nothing more than atheism with a healthy dose of Randian objectivism. I fail to see the "3 feet" you mention here.
The intersection between muslims and Arabs is pretty large. I'm not sure the same secular identity politics exists in the Middle East as exist in America.
Beyond that, the Civil Rights movement in America had 3 feet in Islam. I think the comparison is an appropriate one.