Aiming for a Unified National Movement

On Jan. 25 of this year, Washington, DC experienced a unique influx of Arab-American university students from across the United States, who gathered at the George Washington University to participate in the fourth annual National Arab-American Student Conference, sponsored by the Union of Arab Student Associations (UASA). More than 300 young people from Sacramento and Syria, Philadelphia and Palestine filtered into the registration area, bringing with them an air of comfort and camaraderie that would set the tone for the three-day event, which opened with a Capitol Hill luncheon among strangers, and ended with hugs and good-byes from new friends.

According to UASA president Mais Abousy, although the conference was attended mostly by Palestinian and Lebanese Americans, for the first time a nice spread of demographics existed, she said, “and that’s what makes it work.” By no means were Arabs the only group represented at the conference; Iranian-American Danesh Mazloomdoost said he was there to support the “common cause” shared by people of Middle Eastern descent. “We tend to separate ourselves,” he said. “That’s crazy.”

Other attendees seemed to agree, many noting that this year’s conference was by far the most organized, inclusive, and informative yet.

The UASA was created in 1996 by a group of friends studying in the national capital area. Founder Hanna Hanania, then in his third year of study in the U.S., was sitting with friends in a Washington, DC restaurant when someone proposed setting up a network of student groups, with the aim of increasing activism among young Arab Americans. A few months later, in April 1996, the UASA was formed. As Abousy noted, the organization was then “brought to life via e-mail and the Internet.” It “adopted” the annual conference as a good means of identifying and organizing students on a national level.

At the Conference

Many of the topics addressed at this year’s conference—including the effects of sanctions on Iraq, media bias, post-Sept. 11 civil rights, and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East—seemed like old hat to many attendees. The event shone most when it departed from the norm of Arab-American politicizing. This was most evident in the emphasis placed on activism and the seeking of practical solutions to problems facing the Arab-American community. “We’re educating ourselves,” said Abousy, “while emphasizing practical results.”

Medical student Amer Ardati, who organized the first conference, was back this year to lecture on “building an effective student movement with national clout.” He focused on organizing at national, regional and local levels, with frequent correspondence between groups. “Never doubt that a group of committed citizens can change the world,” he told his audience, “It’s the only thing that ever has.”

Also present was Nicholas Wiggins, a representative of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples (NAACP), who spoke on building coalitions to attain greater political effectiveness. “Don’t be afraid of working with an organization you don’t fully agree with,” he advised, “just cater movements to specific issues.”

A prime example, brought up later by American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) co-founder Albert Mokhiber, is that of South Africa. “We saw that there was an injustice occurring similar to what the Palestinians have experienced,” Mokhiber said of early Arab-American activists, “and joined our friends at the NAACP in speaking out.” Arab Americans, he noted, were some of the first people arrested during protests to end South African apartheid.

In his speech, Mokhiber stressed the need for unity among Arab Americans. “We’re Arabs,” he said, “not Syrians, Palestinians, Lebanese, etc. And even ‘Arab’ issues are too narrow. We’re dealing with Arab-American issues.” He urged the students to read the USA Patriot act (the administration’s new anti-terrorism law), to understand exactly the dangers threatening the Arab-American community. “Educate yourself first,” he said, “and then educate America.”

With regard to the Sept. 11 attacks and subsequent backlash against people who are or appear to be of Middle Eastern descent, Mokhiber noted that he was a fourth-generation Arab American, and that every previous generation in his family had participated in some branch of the U.S. armed forces. “I don’t need to prove to anybody that I’m as good an American as the next person,” he said. “We cannot allow the administration to bully us, to make us cower.”

UASA president Abousy agreed. “We don’t have to defend or justify anything,” she said. Along with Mokhiber, however, she noted that a difference exists between recent immigrants and Arabs who have long since established themselves in the U.S. Before Arab Americans can tackle the issues as a unified front, Mokhiber advised, it is important that they educate their own public first.

This leads to another unique aspect of the conference, namely the focus in some discussions on problems that exist within the Arab-American community. Of these, none was mentioned more frequently or with as much concern as the issue of Arab-American women’s equality. In a speech titled “Lessons in becoming a revolutionary,” Samar Malek outlined some of the various elements affecting the daily lives of Arab-American women. Being female, she said, “gives you a natural revolutionary quality,” as does being Arab-American, “due to dissenting opinions that you do not share with the general American public.” Being an Arab-American female—“the double whammy”—often means living under a double standard, as young men seem to be afforded more leniency by parents in Arab-American households. “In the U.S.A.,” Malek continued, “you’re exposed to American ideals that are different from your parents’. This facilitates discussion and leadership,” resulting in what Malek terms “a petri dish for activism.”

Every one of those aspects was tested after Sept. 11, Malek continued. “We had to defend who we are.” Males especially, she noted, have come under fire from the administration, and it is Arab men who seem to be viewed more harshly by the public. “This means that it is up to women more than ever to take leadership positions and champion the cause,” she told the audience.

But attorney Alia Malek, who works for the U.S. Department of Justice, insisted that “there will be no Arab-American liberation until issues within our own society are addressed.” Patriarchy, she noted, “is a Western value. We can create a new community, one that argues against all forms of oppression.”

At the Party

After a long day of lectures and workshops, the students were more than ready to unwind and have a good time at a special banquet held in the splendid Hotel Washington. Abousy’s assertion that “we represent a balance, taking the good from both sides of our dual identity,” was exemplfied in the non-stop dancing as the music changed from popular Arabic to popular American and, finally, a techno-blend of the two that set the party on fire. Even while celebrating, most students were still willing to discuss the many issues brought up over the course of the day. Salem Samra, a student at the University of Pennsylvania, noted regarding the issue of Arab-American women’s equality that Arab Americans are “forced to turn the microscope on ourselves. We can’t dismiss disagreeable things as culture or tradition. We have to make conclusions about the past, and set an agenda to go forward.”

That agenda, adopted at the conference’s final Town Hall meeting, included establishing annual regional conferences nationwide, with the hope of increasing general attendance and participation. According to UASA founder Hanania, “local activism is what’s needed. The UASA is trying not to get into a hierarchy system, but a loose agenda does exist.” April is Arab American Awareness month, Hanania noted, and several events are planned.

Since January, some progress has been made toward meeting the conference agenda. Amal El-Sheemy, former president of New York University’s Arab Students United (ASU), said that students from New York were “affected greatly” by the atmosphere of support at the conference. They returned to New York and formed a chapter of the Network of Arab-American Alumni and Professionals, and are working with other chapters to become a national group. Things are very much in the theoretical phase, she said, “but we work fast.” Example: in its first month, the New York NAAP attracted 77 members.

Progress has been made in coalition building, as well. Heba-Alla Nassf, current NYU ASU president, mentioned a solidarity rally held in mid-February for the people of Iraq. “Seventy people came,” she said, many of them new faces, including members of NYU’s Asian and Hispanic communities.

And, according to Hanania, work is underway toward organizing regional conferences that, hopefully, will encourage Arab Americans unable to attend the national conference to participate however they can. Things are moving slowly, but that doesn’t seem to bother UASA president Abousy: “Before you can run, you have to walk,” she said. “Before you can walk, you have to crawl. Right now, I’d say we’re walking.”

—Nizar Wattad