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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 2000, Pages 86-90 Arab-American Activism AAI 1999 Conference Stresses Arab Empowerment“The substantive speeches [from national leaders to the Arab-American community] mean we’ve arrived,” said president James Zogby of the Arab American Institute (AAI) in Washington, DC, as he reflected on the annual AAI Conference in the Detroit area. More than 300 participants gathered for the conference, held Nov. 5 to 7 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dearborn. Secret evidence, airport profiling, Palestinian rights and Iraqi sanctions were among the many subjects discussed. The conference, deemed a success both by organizers and attendees, also strongly reinforced the conference theme, “Campaign 2000: Empowering Arab-Americans.” The theme of voter registration, adopted by all member groups in the Conference of Presidents of Arab American Organizations and of the American Muslim Political Coordination Council (AMPCC), was emphasized throughout the proceedings. David Nassar, AAI national field organizer and key coordinator of the “Yalla Vote” campaign, noted the need for all Arab Americans to register to vote. “If we don’t vote, we don’t count,” he said. “If we don’t count, then it doesn’t matter what the community thinks about various issues.” Conference speaker and 1998 Republican congressional candidate Leslie Touma agreed. “One of the most important issues is voter registration,” said Touma, an Arab American who lost her congressional bid in a race with Democratic incumbent Sander Levin. “We identified over 5,000 Arab Americans in my district who were not registered. Five thousand votes could decide who wins an election.” Touma added, “It’s important that Arab Americans recognize the power they have.” “Yalla is about empowering the Arab community,” said Zogby. Apathy and downright suspicion are pervasive in the Arab-American community, but “if we work together, we can overcome the doubts and frustrations.” Zogby reminisced about the pariah status of the Arab-American community in the past. “In the 1980s, it was not uncommon for campaign donations to be returned to Arabs. But this doesn’t happen anymore.” Zogby stressed that two presidential candidates appeared via satellite, Democratic Vice President Al Gore and Republican Sen. John McCain, and there was attendance by nine members of Congress and the chairs of the Republican National Committee, Pat Harrison, and the Democratic National Committee, Joe Andrew. Conference participants had many workshops to choose from throughout the weekend, ranging from “Political Freedoms at Risk,” featuring ACLU legislative counsel Greg Nojeim and Republican Congressman Tom Campbell, to “Arab-Americans and Census 2000,” featuring Census Advisory Board member Dr. Samia El Badry, Working Group on Ancestry Adviser Helen Samhan, and Bureau of the Census director Kenneth Prewitt. The Gala, held on the evening of Nov. 5, was attended by more than 600 people and featured several members of Michigan’s congressional delegation. Standing ovations were given to Democratic Congressmen David Bonior, John Dingell, and John Conyers for their past and continued support of Arab-American issues. During his remarks, Congressman Conyers said of the U.S.-imposed United Nations sanctions on Iraq, “You can’t punish one human being by punishing a whole civilization!” To thunderous applause, Representative Conyers added, “The sanctions are a war by other means. We’ve got to stop waging war on the people of Iraq!” At a second banquet the following night, the Reverend Jesse Jackson was the keynote speaker. To enthusiastic accolades throughout his witty speech, Jackson noted that “Israeli security and Palestinian justice are inextricably bound. There must be mutual security, mutual recognition, and mutual respect.” On the progress of Palestinian status in the U.S., he said: “As we look back over 20 years of work, we are winners. Arafat goes in and out of the White House, and Hillary goes to the Middle East….We are changing America every day for the better.” On the subject of secret evidence, Jackson expressed incredulity at “this idea of sending people out of the country without a trial on secret evidence. That is beneath the dignity of the American promise.” As for the sanctions on Iraq, he said, “The whole idea of being the most humane nation on one hand, and starving Iraqi children on the other—that’s irrational.” The annual conference, held in Michigan for the first time in its history, was seen as successfully focusing attention on a state that boasts the largest Arab community outside the Middle East, and sending the message that Arab Americans need to continue working toward empowerment through voter registration. The AAI was organized in 1985 to represent Arab-American interests in government and politics. Besides providing leadership training and strategies in electoral politics and policy issues that concern Arab Americans, the institute serves as a clearinghouse for Arab-American participation in national, state and local politics. —Sherri Muzher Arab American Institute Examines Candidates, Platforms on Mideast Issues“During the past 25 years, the United States has sent more troops, sold more weapons, lost more lives, spent more money in foreign aid, and had more national security interests at risk in the Middle East than any other region in the world,” according to Dr. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. “At the same time, the unresolved problems that have plagued the region have required significant attention from every U.S. president, from Nixon to Clinton.” The problem, Zogby said at a Jan. 18 press conference at his Washington, DC headquarters, is “there has been little serious political debate amongst the candidates on critical Middle East issues, and virtually no press scrutiny of the candidates’ positions on these issues…More often than not, when candidates displayed real ignorance of the Middle East, or espoused dangerous views or where they dramatically contradicted their previously held positions—they were given a pass in the press, or cynically and casually dismissed as playing ‘politics as usual.’” “Pandering before pro-Israel audiences has substituted for serious policy discussion,” Zogby complained. Nevertheless, “with regard to the Middle East there is a new political environment in the United States today. U.S. public opinion…now tends to see the Middle East with greater balance than it did a generation ago.” Polling conducted for AAI, Zogby told journalists, reveals that Americans now see both Israel and the Palestinians as sharing responsibilities for any delays in achieving Middle East peace. Illustrating this, Zogby cited these poll results:
Other results illustrating a more balanced public view of the Middle East show that by a margin of five to one Americans oppose Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; by a margin of four to one Americans support the right of Palestinians to statehood; a plurality of Americans believe that Jerusalem should be shared by both Israelis and Palestinians; and Americans view several Arab countries favorably and see the defense of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt “as important as the defense of Israel.” If all these are positive developments in the evolution of U.S. public opinion, Zogby pointed out, a significant negative development has been “the emergence of the religious right as a potent force in U.S. politics.” Some in this movement, Zogby said, share televangelist Pat Robertson’s “exotic theology which teaches the necessity of supporting the ingathering of the world’s Jews into Israel as the precursor to a chain of events (including the conversion of the Jewish people to Christianity and nuclear Armageddon) leading to the return of the Messiah. It is disturbing that this belief system and the political leaders who share it have not been scrutinized by the press. Nevertheless, the impact that they have had on the Middle East policy debate have been significant.” Zogby pointed out that the presence of these “born again” Christians, largely in the Republican Party, now skews poll results on Middle East policy. Asked how the next U.S. president should relate to the Middle East, 82 percent of Democrats said he should strike a middle ground, while 7.4 percent said he should be pro-Israel and 1.2 percent said he should be pro-Arab. By contrast, because of the presence of the religious right in their ranks, only 71 percent of Republicans said the president should strike a middle ground, 22.2 percent said he should be pro-Israel, and 0.9 percent said he should be pro-Arab. How this plays out in terms of party platforms and the positions of individual candidates is not clear. Traditionally, candidates running for office have vowed to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, but upon their election they have chosen to exercise a national security waiver to keep Congress from forcing them to carry out any such pledge. In the case of the George W. Bush campaign, the candidate’s instincts seem somewhat sounder than those of his handlers. Unlike all of the other candidates, on two occasions Governor Bush has refused to make the usual Jerusalem pander, saying that it “might screw up the peace process.” But his campaign staff later issued a statement saying that what “he really meant was that he intends to set the process [of moving the embassy] in motion as soon as he becomes president.” On still another occasion Bush himself said he would move the embassy, and he called Jerusalem the “undivided and eternal capital of Israel.” Zogby said perhaps typical of Republican presidential candidate John McCain was the fact that while he made his Jerusalem pander before Jewish audiences, he also pledged to move the U.S. Embassy in a speech before an Arab-American audience. “On the Democratic side, Al Gore and Bill Bradley, while having established strong pro-Israel records during their Senate careers, have taken more cautious stands in this election,” Zogby said. Gore, as a member of the Clinton administration, supports Clinton’s stand on waiting until final status negotiations are completed before making a change in the embassy. Bradley’s statement: “As a practical matter, each country designates its own capital. For this reason, I believe the United States should move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The move should, however, be timed so as not to disrupt peace negotiations.” As for other issues, Zogby saw little difference in positions of the Republican and Democratic candidates on Iraq. He also pointed out that candidates from the Republican and Democratic parties have reversed positions on applying pressure to Israel to trade land for peace. In the 1992 election Democratic challenger Bill Clinton criticized the George Bush administration for pressuring Israel. In the current campaign, Republican challengers, particularly Steve Forbes and Gary Bauer, both pandering for support from the religious right, are criticizing the Clinton administration for doing the same thing. —Richard H. Curtiss AAUG Re-invigorated by 1999 Convention in New YorkThe annual convention of the Association of Arab-American University Graduates (AAUG) was held in New York City on Oct. 23 and 24 on the theme, “The Arab World: Toward Rebirth and Renewal in the 21st Century.” Speakers and participants of Arab origin convened from across the United States and Canada to discuss topics ranging from Arab Opposition Movements, Women’s Role in the Future, and Traditions in North Africa (the Maghreb), and participate in roundtables, panels, and a banquet complete with a Rai band. The Saturday evening banquet was introduced by outgoing AAUG President Dr. Nabil Khoury. His successor, Dr. Kamal Khalaf al-Tawil, spoke briefly about his vision of the association as the “brain reservoir of Arab-America.” He expressed his desire for the AAUG to expand its activities and publications to become an Arab-American think tank providing relevant, in-depth research on Arab-American affairs and working with similar organizations in the Arab world. To that end, the AAUG already has begun preparations for its next convention, to be held in Beirut, Lebanon, June 26-28, 2000 in conjunction with the Center for Arab Unity Studies. Keynote speaker at the banquet was Dr. Azmi Bishara, a member of the Israeli Knesset and a founder of the Nationalist Democratic party. His address, entitled, “Nationalism and Citizenship: An Arab Perspective From Within,” examined Arab nationalism and identity and the political situation in Israel today. Dr. Bishara said Arab nationalism is still important and the Arab identity is the only modern identity available to Arabs in Israel today. He added that the failure of Arab nationalism to date rested upon the failure to understand that the cornerstone of the nation is citizenship and the individual. Bishara went on to criticize Israel for establishing a state for the Jews, not for all of its citizens. Speakers at the AAUG Sunday Brunch were Ambassador Khaled Abdalla, Arab League representative to the United States, and British author Patrick Seale. Speaking on the history and constraints of Arab economic cooperation, Dr. Abdalla pointed out that the first attempt at Arab economic cooperation within the framework of the Arab League was the establishment of the Economic Unity Council in 1960. He dismissed the current Israeli approach to regional economic integration as one that would make Israel the center of activity and create an Arab world dependency on Israel and Israeli technology. He emphasized that the process of globalization depends on economic equality, within and among countries. Patrick Seale said that Syria is Israel’s last major adversary and that any peace between them would have great strategic implications. He said that Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad wants peace, but not at any price, and that he refuses to concede any further strategic advantages to Israel. Through his stance, Syria has resisted the preponderance of power and hegemony that Israel seeks in the military, economic and political spheres vis-à-vis Arab countries. According to Seale, Assad believes that an imbalance in power causes war and a balance of power keeps peace. The convention opened with a roundtable discussion on the networks of Arab-American students, and which topics should guide students as they create a vision for co-operation between different universities and beyond. The roundtable, attended by many of the younger generation, was filled with new ideas and enthusiasm for the future. The luncheon speaker was Karin Roxman, representing Miguel Moratinos, the European Union special envoy to the Middle East peace process, who could not attend. Roxman, the consul general of Sweden in Jerusalem, spoke about the historical and current European approach to the conflict from a diplomatic perspective and said, “Europe is committed to support the parties to the peace process in order to bring about a lasting and firm peace in the Middle East.” To listen to the complete proceedings of the convention in Real Audio format, or for more information about the association, please check the AAUG Web site: www.aaug.org. —Randa Kayyali Arab American Young Professionals Meet in DearbornThe Detroit metro area-based Arab American Young Professionals (AAYP) celebrated its first anniversary with a formal social and business dinner on Nov. 5, 1999 at Bint Jebail Center in Dearborn, MI. The non-profit AAYP was founded by Bassam Hajamad and Turkia Awada Mullin with a membership of 50, which in its first year has grown to more than 200. In addition to constructing a strong social and business network among young professionals, it plans a mentoring program for young college-bound students. Members hope to build a résumé bank and connect graduates and existing professionals to job opportunities. Open to all Arab Americans and operating under guidelines banning religious or ethnic discrimination, AAYP officers hope to see it expand into a national organization. For more information or a schedule of events call (313) 506 4675. —Delinda Hanley |