March 1995, pgs. 71-72

Arab-American Activism

By Richard H. Curtiss

ADC Elects New Chairman To Succeed James Abourezk

Former South Dakota Senator James Abourezk has stepped down after 15 years as chairman of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which he founded in 1980. He will be replaced as chairman by Hamzi Moghrabi, who built hotels, industrial plants and major highways throughout the Middle East before relocating from Kuwait to Colorado in 1985. He is president of the Consulting Engineering Group in Colorado and is a frequent lecturer and writer on civil rights, coalition building and Middle East politics.

"I feel pangs of regret that I'm leaving ADC, but I'm confident that it is in good hands with Hamzi Moghrabi," Abourezk said. "I will always remain available to help ADC when I am needed." Abourezk, who has been practicing law in Rapid City, SD, with his son, Charles, for the past few years, will retain the title of chairman emeritus, and will be honored at ADC's annual convention.

"We are sorry to see Senator Abourezk leave this organization which he nurtured over the years," Moghrabi said after his election as chairman of ADC's board. "Arab Americans are indebted to James Abourezk for helping us maintain our self-esteem and dignity amidst discrimination and stereotyping. I have big shoes to fill, but will do my very best to lead ADC in that same dedicated manner."

ADC has had funding problems in recent years, and has made deep cuts in its headquarters staff. Its long-term executive director, Albert Mokhiber, resigned last October after 11 years with ADC to practice law in Alexandria, VA. Following the Jan. 20 board meeting at which Abourezk tendered his resignation as chairman, ADC's new executive director, Candace Lightner, also stepped down.

New chairman Moghrabi is working now on plans to expand ADC's grassroots activity. These will be elaborated in the forthcoming issue of the ADC Times, which is mailed to all ADC members.

ADC Amman Chapter Calls For Support for Chechnya

In Jordan, members of ADC's Amman chapter met with a delegation of the Jordanian committee for the support of the people of the independent Caucasian Chechen Republic. Members of the Chechen committee included Sa'd Binu, a former Jordanian cabinet member, and Mrs. Toujan Faysal, a member of Jordan's lower house of parliament. Both are prominent members of Jordan's Chechen community. (There also are sizable Chechen communities in neighboring Syria.)

The Chechen committee described the current situation in Chechnya as an "invasion by the Russian forces of an independent sovereign state" and not an "internal crisis within the Russian federation." Following the meeting ADC's Amman chapter called upon the ADC Washington office "to follow up this serious matter at all levels of the U.S. administration to rally support for the Chechen people."

AAUG Moves to Washington, DC

The Association of Arab-American University Graduates moved its national office from Illinois to Washington, DC in January. The organization, which was based in Massachusetts for several years before moving to Illinois, now is headquartered at 2121 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Suite 310, Washington, DC 20007.

President of the AAUG board of directors is Ziad J. Asali. Peter Lems, AAUG director since July 1994, announced that this year's annual conference will be held in Washington, DC during the last week of October 1995. The organization also remains committed to international conferences. It held a conference in conjunction with Birzeit University in the West Bank in 1993 and with the University of Jordan in 1994.

AAUG has published the Arab Studies Quarterly since 1979 and also has a book publishing program. Its newest publication is U.S. Policy on Palestine From Wilson to Clinton, edited by Michael Suleiman, presenting a scholarly analysis of the impact of U.S. foreign policy on the Palestinians and the Arabs.

AAUG's telephone is (202) 337-7717; fax is (202) 337-3302; and e-mail is aaug@igc.apc.org

Tunisian Minister Honored At American University

Dr. Neziha Mezhoud, Tunisian Minister of Women and Family Affairs, was guest of honor at a Jan. 25 luncheon at American University in Washington, DC hosted by Dr. Clovis Maksoud, director of the university's Center for the Study of the Global South. In her talk, the Tunisian minister noted that it has "become a ritual" in scholarly studies of the Middle East to refer to the accomplishments of Tunisian women. The references are to gains in the rights and legal status of Tunisian women and also in regard to vocational, educational, and child and maternal health statistics. However, Dr. Mezhoud pointed out, women have played unique roles throughout the history of her North African country. Carthage, near present-day Tunis, was founded by a Phoenician queen. The minister cited the Kahina, a woman leader of Berber tribes in their struggle for independence from the Romans, and the Jezzia, a woman story teller associated with the Arab Hilalian epic, who recounted tales from the early centuries of Islam in North Africa.

In the 20th century, Tunisian writers have been in the forefront of the struggle for women's rights, along with famed Tunisian reformer Taher Haddad, former Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba and current President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The result of such traditions, she said, is Tunisia's Code of Personal Status, issued in 1956, which established the equality of men and women under the law. It abolished polygamy in Tunisia, prohibited forced marriage and set up codes for legal divorce. Today 92.5 percent of girls between 6 and 13 years of age are attending school and 41.2 percent of students in institutions of higher education are female.

NAAA Seeks to Educate Congress On Jerusalem

Following reports that new House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) supports moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the National Association of Arab Americans has announced a campaign to educate Congress on long-standing U.S. policy on Jerusalem.

In a Jan. 19 letter to Gingrich, NAAA executive director Khalil Jahshan noted that such "a radical change in U.S. policy toward Jerusalem...would seriously undermine the peace process by prejudicing future negotiations on the status of the city." The letter continued:

"The U.S. government has also taken a consistent position that unilateral actions on the part of any state in the region will not be recognized as changing the status of Jerusalem. This has been a wise and judicious policy that should be continued."

The NAAA letter also quoted an Aug.16, 1983 statement by State Department spokesman Alan Romberg saying:

"We've had a consistent Jerusalem policy for three decades. We do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. We have never recognized unilateral actions by any state in the area as affecting the status of Jerusalem. We regard East Jerusalem as occupied territory within the meaning of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 and subject to applicable international law and conventions."

Arab and Muslim Americans Condemn Israeli Minister's "Deceit"

Representatives of 10 Arab-American and Muslim American organizations demonstrated outside the headquarters of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy on Jan. 31 to protest the appearance of Israeli Housing Minister Binyamim Ben-Eliezer for a speaking engagement. The demonstration, coordinated by the Arab-American Institute, took on a particularly bitter note because, a year ago, the Arab American groups had accepted an invitation to have a luncheon discussion with the minister. A statement signed by the 10 groups noted:

"At that luncheon Minister Ben-Eliezer informed us that he shared our commitment to make peace work and understood our concern that continued Israeli settlement building on Palestinian land would negatively affect the peace process...[He] did, in fact, express his government's commitment to build no new settlements during the 'interim period' of the peace process. Clearly Ben Eliezer did not tell us the truth. He deceived us. His policies are contributing to the destruction of the peace process."

The statement noted that "since the Sept. 13, 1993 signing, over 30,000 dunums of Palestinian land have been confiscated and over 17,000 new housing units have been built or are planned for construction" and that "without consulting with the Palestinians, the Israeli government has confiscated large swatches of land to build roads to connect settlements with each other (bypassing Arab towns) and carve the West bank into small and dismembered enclaves." The joint statement also charges that "Minister Ben-Eliezer's commitment to a 'Greater Jerusalem' is an effort to extend Israeli control far into the West Bank and includes plans to build in 1995 an additional 4,000 housing units in the occupied Palestinian lands in direct violation of the rules of Madrid and the agreement of September 1993."

The joint statement was signed by the American Muslim Council; American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine; Arab American Institute; Arab Women's Council; Bethlehem Association; General Union of Palestinian Students; National Association of Arab Americans; Palestinian American Congress; Palestinian Women's Union; and ROOTS.