Focus on Arabs and Islam

By Catherine M. Willford

Sununu and Mitchell Source of Ethnic Pride

Arab Americans applauded the appointment of New Hampshire Governor John Sununu (R) as White House chief of staff and the election of Senator George Mitchell (D-ME) as Senate majority leader. Both leaders are proud of their Arab heritage. Their new positions provide them the opportunity to become a source of pride for their 2.5 million Arab-Americans fellow citizens.

Rallies Celebrate Palestinian State

Rallies and demonstrations were held in major cities throughout the United States to celebrate the Palestine National Council's Nov. 15 declaration of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. In Brooklyn, NY, a Nov. 16 rally gathered some 900 chanting, flag-waving Palestinians and their supporters to hear a number of speakers including Ambassador Clovis Maksoud, the Arab League's observer at the United Nations. "After many years of struggle, this declaration gives us hope," rally organizer Neal Saad told the Brooklyn celebrants. "The US and Israel should respond positively to the declaration if they really want peace in the area."

In Washington, DC, a Dec. 10 automobile caravan celebrated Palestinian independence and commemorated the first anniversary of the intifadah. The caravan ended with a rally at the Israeli Embassy which included a ceremonial raising of the Palestinian flag and talks by representatives of national Arab-American organizations.

Arab Americans Oppose Denial of Arafat Visa

The National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA) and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) protested Secretary of State George Shultz's decision to deny a visa to Yasser Arafat. NAAA Chairman Alfred Shehab said the denial "severely undermined US credibility and prestige in the Arab world and elsewhere." ADC Chairman James Abourezk termed the rejection, "embarrassing and against American interests."

Volunteers for Palestine

The Chicago-based Palestine Human Rights Campaign has helped organize Volunteers for Palestine (VHP), a project designed to bring professionals to work under the direction and invitation of Palestinian institutions in occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. VHP is looking for educators, psychologists, farmers, computer technicians, journalists and labor leaders, among others. Volunteers spend anywhere from one month to a year in their positions. They must provide their own living expenses. For more information write Volunteers for Palestine, 220 South State Street *1308, Chicago, IL 60604.

ADC Shelves Michigan-Israel Trade Bill

ADC Detroit members succeeded in shelving Michigan House Bill *5780, which sought to establish a "Michigan-Israel Commercial Horizons Board" to "promote trade and foster cultural, scientific, and technological cooperation" between Israel and Michigan. The Detroit chapter organized a phone campaign stressing the inappropriate timing and intention of the bill in light of ongoing Israeli human rights violations. The members also asked for a consistent stand on human rights, as the state of Michigan recently divested from the apartheid regime in South Africa and had taken a position against religious discrimination in Northern Ireland. ADC was invited to testify at hearings on the bill, which were later cancelled. The bill must now be reintroduced in January. Virginia, Texas, Connecticut, and Massachusetts currently have trade boards similar to the one at issue in Michigan. ADC has encouraged its members to monitor their state legislatures for similar initiatives.

AAI Launches Petition Drive

The Arab-American Institute (AAI) has launched a national petition campaign urging the US government to recognize the "right of Palestinians to self-determination and independent statehood in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, alongside and at peace with Israel." This is the first stage in garnering support for a new congressional resolution on the issue to be introduced in 1989.

"Palestine, USA"

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee arranged for six mayors of US municipalities with the name Palestine, Hebron or Bethlehem to spend eight days in occupied Palestine in December as part of a special ADC Eyewitness Israel delegation entitled "Palestine to Palestine." ADC organized the tour to enable the mayors to meet their counterparts in Hebron and Bethlehem, visit many of the holy sites of the region, tour the Israeli Knesset and Holocaust Museum, and meet with the US Consul General in Jerusalem. Before the trip, ADC President Abdeen Jabara called it "a unique opportunity to create conditions for increased understanding and good will between the American and the Palestinian people." The municipalities represented were: Palestine, OH, Bethlehem, CT, Palestine, TX, Palestine, AR, Hebron, ND, and Hebron, IN.

ADC President Barred From Jerusalem

When ADC President Abdeen Jabara flew from Geneva, where he had attended the UN General Assembly session on the Palestine problem, he was detained at Ben-Gurion Airport Dec. 16 and barred from entering Israel. Despite the intervention of US diplomats, who pointed out that ADC has a chapter in Jerusalem and that Jabara had visited Israel twice previously in 1988, Israeli authorities held him at the airport police post overnight and forced him to board a New York-bound plane the next morning.

ADC Commemorates Intifadah Anniversary

ADC has published Issue Paper *21, The Uprising in Cartoons in commemoration of the first anniversary of the intifadah. The booklet containing 95 of the best of US and Canadian editorial cartoons on the uprising, costs $3. To order contact the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee at 4201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20008 or call (202) 244-2990.

NAAA Hails Reagan Administration Dialogue With PLO

President George Moses of the National Association of Arab Americans hailed the Reagan administration's decision to initiate a dialogue with the Palestine Liberation Organization. "All Americans, and especially Arab Americans, have reason to be proud of their country today for living up to the principles upon which it was founded," Moses said.

Washington DC Symposium on Palestinian Uprising

Some 400 Middle East specialists attended a symposium sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC on Dec. 8. Entitled "The Palestinian Uprising and the Search for Peace: One Year After," the event was chaired by Ambassador Robert G. Neumann of CSIS and supported by the American Arab Affairs Council and Arab-American organizations.

Catherine M. Willford is a free-lance journalist and circulation director for the Washington Report.