March 1991, Page 68a

Arab-American Activism

By Catherine M. Willford

Protests Against FBI Activities Continue

A nationwide coalition of Arab-American and civil liberties activists has continued to respond to recent FBI "counter-terrorism" procedures, including interviews of Arab Americans about possible terrorist activities relating to the Persian Gulf crisis. On Jan. 29, Congressman Mervyn Dymally (D-CA) introduced H.Con.Res. 56, which seeks to protect Arab Americans from unwarranted governmental investigations and to encourage federal and state enforcement agencies to monitor and counter hate crimes against Arab Americans.

The Dymally legislation, referring to recent FBI investigations of Arab Americans, states that political beliefs, activities, and affiliations are protected free speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution. The resolution further states that recent FBI actions "unfairly arouse suspicion of Arab Americans, label the Arab-American community as disloyal, and encourage hate crimes against Arab Americans." Noting that as an ethnic group Arab Americans have been the victims and not the perpetrators of domestic terrorist activities, as well as the objects of various forms of constitutional violations, the resolution asserts that Arab Americans are "entitled to respect as peaceful and law-abiding citizens of the United States."

Co-sponsors of the legislation as of this writing include Representatives Thomas A. Andrews (D-ME),Barney Frank (D-MA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Charles Hayes (D-IL), James P. Moran (D-VA), David Bonior (D-MI), Ronald Dellums (DCA), Mary Rose Oakar (D-OH), Nick Joe Rahall (D-YY'V), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Don Edwards (D-CA), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Robert Torricelli (DNY), James Walsh (R-NY), Bernard Sanders (I-VT) and James Traficant, Jr. (D-OH).

Khalil Jahshan, executive director of the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA), announced the formation of a "coalition of church, civil rights, and ethnic groups who believe in the universal protection of human rights," to support the legislation and "to seek protection for Arab Americans from hate crimes inspired by the Gulf war."

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) continued to meet with FBI officials to discuss concerns regarding the investigations, and held a joint press conference with Representative Don Edwards (D-CA), chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights, to discuss possible civil liberties violations.

San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos also condemned recent FBI activities, stating, "We must not allow our fear of war to cost us our humanity. Last year, 45 years after the end of World War II, Congress granted reparations to the families of Japanese Americans who were wrongly placed in internment camps. We must never allow our generation to repeat that mistake and we can only stop it by speaking out now."

The National Association of Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA) received reports from several campuses which were asked to provide lists of Arab students to the FBI, and, in one case, to a local police department. NAFSA has alerted its members that many institutions have well-defined procedures in the event of FBI inquiries, following the legal limits established by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), also known as the Buckley Amendment. Students have the right to specify the time and place to respond to questions, as well as the right to have a foreign student adviser or other party present during the interview.

American Task Force for Lebanon Conference

Responding to recent dramatic and promising events in Lebanon, the American Task Force for Lebanon (ATFL) will hold a major international conference on Lebanon which will bring together leaders from the Lebanese-American community, US and Lebanese government officials, representatives of major Lebanese political organizations and leading scholars and experts on Lebanese affairs.

The conference will be held April 11- 14 at the Hyatt Regency in Washington, DC with the theme "Unity, Independence and Peace for Lebanon."

In announcing plans for the conference, Steering Committee Chairman James Sams said, "The many friends of Lebanon in the US and other countries welcome the end of violence in Lebanon and the start of national reconciliation and reconstruction. By helping leaders of our community better understand the needs in Lebanon, we will be in a better position to mobilize support in the US for assistance to Lebanon."

For information contact ATFL at 2550 M St., NW, Suite 305, Washington, DC 20037 or call (202) 233-9333.

Arab American Institute Releases Demographic Study

As part of an effort to define the growing Arab-American constituency and to better represent its concerns and needs to politicians and policymakers, the Arab American Institute (AAI) has released a national study titled Arab America Today: A Demographic Profile of Arab Americans. The report was written by AAI board member John Zogby, president of a Utica, NY-based marketing research, polling, and public relations firm.

Though there is a growing body of work on the Arab-American immigrant experience, Zogby points out that "what has been missing from this expanding body of scholarship and popular literature has been the weight of official statistics on demographics to offset the stereotypes left by images in popular culture."

According to the report, during the 1980s the Arab world as a whole was the 10th largest source of immigrants to the US. If this trend continues, the report predicts that Arab Americans will be a "significant portion" of the new majority of non-European-origin Americans by the year 2030.

The study also found that Arab Americans as a group are better educated, more affluent and more likely to be self-employed than the national average.

AAI intends that Arab America Today, based on data from the 1980 US Census, will replace negative stereotypes with an accurate, scientifically based picture of the ethnic group and "set the table for what promises to be a more detailed picture to emerge from the 1990 US Census."

Gibran Memorial Garden Dedication

Construction is almost complete on the Kahlil Gibran Memorial Peace Garden in Washington, DC. The memorial to the Arab-American immigrant poet, author of The Prophet, is set on federal lands across from the British Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue and near the Washington Cathedral. The Peace Garden, scheduled for dedication in May, is the project of the Kahlil Gibran Centennial Foundation, established in 1983 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the poet's birth in Besherre, Lebanon. The Foundation decided that a garden would be the most fitting tribute to Gibran's work, which often takes inspiration from reflective contemplation of nature. The garden features three 30-foot cedars of Lebanon, fountains, and stone benches with Islamic script. The federal lands for the memorial were allocated by the 98th Congress in 1984.

For information on dedication events, which will include a formal banquet, poetry readings and an evening of performing arts, all scheduled between May 23 and 27, contact the Foundation offices at 1738 N St., NW, Washington, DC 20036 or call (202) 331-7741.

Catherine M. Willford is the circulation director of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.