April/May 1997, pgs. 57-65

Arab-American Activism

“Images of Lebanon” on Display at Cannon Rotunda

“Images of Lebanon,” a photo exhibt by American photographer Sallie Dean Shatz, was displayed Feb. 2 to 15 in the Rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, DC. The exhibit was organized by Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL) and co-hosted by Representatives John Baldacci (D-ME), Patricia Danner (D-M0), Christopher John (D-LA), Nick Rahall (D-WV), and John Sununu (R-NH). Also attending the opening reception was Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-MI).

Photographer Sallie Shatz, whose images of Lebanon were exhibited in the spring of 1996 by the U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC and have been shown in the U.K. and other U.S. venues, first went to Lebanon in 1993 as a member of a multinational peace-medical mission.

For guests at her Washington exhibit she noted that her earlier preconceived notions of Lebanon as a country in the throes of civil war had not prepared her “for this intriguing country that I have come to know and love.”

“I am in awe of her beauty, and have incredible respect for her people,” Shatz said. “They welcome strangers into their homes for a cup of coffee or just to show their family photo albums. Every person has a story to tell. Yet these people, through all their hardships, have developed an appreciation for life that seems to be missing elsewhere in today’s world. Families are close and neighbors take care of each other.

“Lebanon is the home to the world’s oldest society, whose ruins can be seen at the coastal town of Byblos. Great minds like that of philosoplher Khalil Gibran were born and nurtured in her mountains. The creations of transparent glass and the color purple are credited to Lebanon’s history.

“For many years Lebanon has been without an infrastructure and with uncertain public utilities like garbage pickup, electricity, or reliable phones. Since ‘peace,’ Lebanon has been undergoing a massive transition. This past summer electricity was restored to be available 24 hours a day in Beirut. Within the past two years garbage dumpsters and pickup have been available. The whole country is under construction. In downtown Beirut, the rubble of the remains of the civil war have been cleared, unveiling civilizations back to the Bronze Age, making a large part of downtown Beirut an archeological dig. In the past four years I have been documenting the transition of this country which is the size of Rhode Island (only 120 miles long) and the home to 16 religions.”

Shatz also is working on a photographic book depicting the cultural and historic life of Lebanon sponsored by Lebanon’s Ministry of Tourism and Middle East Airlines.

—Richard Curtiss

AUB Researcher Questions Lebanese Construction Efforts

Trying to repair its crumbling buildings and infrastructure, Lebanon is moving at full speed to build and renovate. Despite the new apartment houses and office buildings, the question still remains: what is Lebanon building itself up to be?

Fawwaz Trabulsi, an author and research fellow at the American University of Beirut, said that Lebanon should not just be reconstructing buildings, but it should be investing in its people and its society. “We need to rebuild our society, our economy, our political system and our culture,” he said at a Middle East Institute lecture March 3. “These things are most important but the current reconstruction goes against this point...Civil unity is least taken into consideration.”

Trabulsi, who is currently writing a book called the The Political Economy of Modern Lebanon , said a large share of the reconstruction funds are going into projects directed at serving foreign businessmen and tourists. The development seems to be directed at recreating Beirut’s former role as the international gateway to the East, rather than a stable, prosperous city. “What is being reconstructed?” Trabulsi asked. “A role or a country?”

The new airport near Beirut is expected to serve 10 million visitors each year and, he said, the government plans to have 4 million square meters of office space in the downtown area. This new building continues despite high vacancy rates in many offices and apartments in Beirut. “You don’t build an international city center with hope or an assumption,” Trabulsi said. “You build on a concrete structure.”

All this is being accomplished with little attention being paid to the poor and middle class outside the city. “We are getting a dispossessed countryside and suburbs with a thriving city,” he said. “Whole sectors of the population are being marginalized and impoverished.”

While Trabulsi said there is a definite need to rebuild Beirut and improve infrastructure, he added that reconstruction cannot be made at the expense of the middle and lower classes. He added that it was this disparity between the urban rich and the rural poor that was partly responsible for the civil war in 1975.

“The poorer sections of the Lebanese economy are financing services that help the more well-off sectors,” Trabulsi said. He added that tax laws and the financial system must be reformed so the brunt of expenses won’t be placed on the lower classes. According to Trabulsi, one-third of Lebanese are living below poverty level.

“Reconstruction is much more complex than just building offices,” Trabulsi added. “Culture and economics play a much more important role” than the government is willing to admit.

—Geoff Lumetta

Campaign Finance Reform: Will Israel’s Lobby Get the Same Scrutiny as China?

On Jan. 21 at the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine, Ambassador Andrew I. Killgore, one of seven complainants in an ongoing legal complaint against the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), discussed the history and ramifications of the eight-year case. The gist of the complaint, he said, is that AIPAC acts like a political action committee, or PAC, and should have to register as such and fully disclose its financial records to the public. So far, AIPAC has refused to do so.

Amidst the furor over possible Chinese influence-peddling in the White House and Congress, it is surprising that not one mention of “Israel’s lobby,” as The New York Times has called AIPAC, has made it into the mainstream media. “The 700-lb. gorilla” is how AIPAC is known in Washington, DC circles, according to Ambassador Killgore, referring to its political clout. He also described AIPAC as a “night flower” which would wither in the “sunlight” of open discussion and full disclosure.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has been extraordinarily lax in enforcing election laws against AIPAC, according to Killgore, publisher of this magazine. The complaint was filed with the FEC on Jan. 9, 1989, specifically against AIPAC itself, 27 pro-Israel PACs (understood to be under AIPAC 2's guidance) and their treasurers. Two years of inactivity, with some legal discovery taking place, followed and then, at the end of 1990, the FEC informed the 27 PACs they were no longer under investigation.

The seven complainants then took the case back to the FEC to compel it to make a ruling. When it came, the FEC fudged it, claiming that, yes, AIPAC crossed the $1,000 campaign donation threshold, but that electioneering was only a small percentage of AIPAC’s overall activities, so it didn’t matter.

The seven then filed a third complaint against the FEC for having “legally erred” with its “shallow argument.” The DC Circuit Court of Appeals, however, ruled in favor of the FEC by two to one. The seven appealed the decision and, on Dec. 6, 1996, 10 justices of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals finally ruled eight to two in favor of the complainants. Now the FEC presumably must either force AIPAC to disclose its records or appeal this ruling to the Supreme Court.

The far-reaching impact of such public disclosure by AIPAC, which would have to account for the sources of its $15 million budget, and its expenditures, may be seen from an anecdote Ambassador Killgore related. During the 1988 Senate election campaign in Rhode Island, the incumbent, Senator John Chafee (R-RI), was challenged by Richard Licht, who had heavy backing from AIPAC-established PACs. This backing was detailed in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Citizens groups then placed ads in local newspapers exposing the pro-Israel PAC backing for Licht and other candidates. The ads in turn generated news stories that culminated in a Mike Wallace exposé on “60 Minutes” which aired nationally two weeks before the election.

Senator Chafee kept his Senate seat. His campaign manager attributed his come-from-behind victory to the “60 Minutes” piece.

“Imagine the impact of full disclosure,” said Killgore. “AIPAC has a lot to hide if it refuses to disclose its financial records.”

Asked about his expectations, the former ambassador noted that the circuit court’s ruling and its ramifications promise “to clean up politics a little bit.” He speculated, too, that AIPAC will want to keep a low profile, avoiding this year’s congressional hearings on campaign finance reform.

 —Deirdre L. Boyd