June 1995, Pages 69-72

Arab-American Activism

By Richard H. Curtiss

Oklahoma Bombing and Counterterrorism Legislation Spotlight Arab and Muslim American Leaders

The important role of Arab-American and Muslim-American organizations was illustrated this spring. For better or for worse, leaders of these groups garnered more media exposure during the period from mid-April to mid-May than they normally receive over a year. Predictably, however, the media interest focused on issues causing deep pain to the communities they represent.

Prior to April 19, attention focused on House of Representatives hearings on the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995, to which critics of American Muslims such as self-described "terrorism expert" Steven Emerson were invited, but not representatives of the organizations and communities most likely to suffer if the legislation is not carefully prepared. Then the tragic Oklahoma City explosion opened the most harrowing 50 hours in the history of both communities in America.

Although both the Clinton administration and many U.S. newspapers and networks commendably cautioned the public not to rush to judgment, many did. One Arab American from Oklahoma City who had chosen that day to depart for the Middle East first was interrogated in the U.S. and then detained in the U.K. In many parts of the U.S., individual Arab and Muslim Americans actually kept their children out of school, fearing a possible backlash of suspicion and hate.

Emerson and former Oklahoma Rep. Dave McCurdy were among the minority of "commentators" who had no qualms about going before the television cameras immediately to stoke the fires of hysteria. Rep. Charles Schumer, House sponsor of the counterterrorism legislation and indefatigable proponent of congressional pro-Israel initiatives, predicted his legislation would now be put on the congressional "fast track."

The tension for Arab and Muslim Americans broke abruptly with the revelation that former U.S. Army infantryman Timothy McVeigh, a gun enthusiast with strong anti-government views who had been stopped by an Oklahoma state trooper for driving without a license plate within a few miles and a few minutes of the blast, was a likely suspect. Heads of Arab-American and Muslim-American organizations then held an April 24 press conference that was televised live on C-SPAN, and from which excerpts were televised and broadcast repeatedly.

Subsequently many of these leaders were invited for individual interviews and widely quoted, while Emerson and others who had rushed to judgment were criticized. The events also had a sobering effect on the congressional committee considering counterterrorism legislation, which took it off Schumer's fast track. At the April 24 press conference were Abdurahman Alamoudi of the American Muslim Council (AMC), Nihad Awad of the Council on American Islamic relations (CAIR), Khalil Jahshan of the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA), Rudaina Milhem of the Association of Arab American University Graduates, Albert Mokhiber of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), and James Zogby of the Arab American Institute (AAI).

A particularly hopeful development during the period was the tendency of the various groups to work together to organize press events, rather than leaving the media to self-described spokespersons voicing soundbites not representative of the real sentiments of the majority of Muslim Americans or Arab Americans. Some of the many events occuring during this dramatic period are described in this and the following Muslim-American Activism column.

ADC Hosts Arab American Returned From Heathrow

On April 26, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) held a press conference with Abraham Ahmed, the Jordanian American interrogated by the FBI in Chicago and subsequently detained by British authorities at Heathrow Airport in the immediate aftermath of the April 19 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City. Mr. Ahmed, a U.S. citizen living in Oklahoma City, left on a business trip to the Middle East on the day of the bombing. In London's Heathrow Airport he was held by British security officials and his name was released to the press as a possible suspect.

During the press conference, Mr. Ahmed described for journalists his family's contrasting experiences with residents of Oklahoma City. Of particular concern to him was the way his wife had been tormented by people driving by their house yelling obscenities and throwing trash on their lawn. On the other hand, after it became clear that Mr. Ahmed was not involved in the bombing, he and his wife were besieged with flowers, phone calls, letters, and apologies.

Among those present at the press conference were Hamzi Moghrabi, the ADC chair; Nihad Awad, CAIR; former ADC executive director Albert Mokhiber; and ADC legal director Mary Ramadan. The primary topic of discussion at the press conference, building on the experience of Abraham Ahmed, was the way in which the mainstream American media indicted the American Muslim and Arab communities in the Oklahoma City attack before the composite sketches of Timothy McVeigh and "John Doe No. 2" were released. At the press conference CAIR Director Nihad Awad, who attended the Oklahoma City memorial service for the victims addressed by President Clinton, stated that the Oklahoma City disaster made it clear that "crime and terrorism have no culture, no religion, no faith. . ."

Coalition Speaks out Against Counterterrorism Act

As "terrorism expert" Steven Emerson testified before the House Judiciary Committee on the April 6th opening day of congressional hearings on HR 896, the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995, representatives of four Arab-American and Muslim-American groups who were not invited to testify at the hearing held a press conference to voice their concerns about the controversial legislation. The groups were the AMC, AAI, CAIR, and the Palestinian American Congress (PAC). (NAAA Executive Director Khalil Jahshan had participated in two previous press briefings on the legislation Feb. 15 and 16, reported in the Washington Report' s April/May issue.)

At the press conference, held before the Oklahoma City bombing, AAI President James Zogby said he was "shocked" at the Clinton administration and at Congress for their support of HR 896. He said that as drafted it contained measures common to repressive regimes throughout the world. Saying the act was in fact aimed at opponents of the Middle East peace process, he called its motivation "political" rather than "anti-terrorist."

PAC Acting President Dr. Najat Arafat Khelil described the legislation as a "scare tactic" which would have a disastrous effect on charities working in the West Bank, Gaza and southern Lebanon. Under HR896, it would be illegal to send funds to schools, women's groups and other social programs in the West Bank, Gaza and southern Lebanon affiliated in any way with an organization deemed "dangerous" by the president.

CAIR national Executive Director Nihad Awad said HR 896 would create an atmosphere of hate and fear in the United States, targeting "mosques...women in Muslim dress, men who have beards, and people like me who have accents."

AMC Executive Director Abdurahman Alamoudi, comparing the atmosphere this legislation would create with the harassment of politically radical Jews during the era of Red-hunting U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, called on the Jewish community in particular to join in the fight against the Omnibus Counterterrorism Act. The American Civil Liberties Union is heading a national coalition opposed to HR 896.

Missing Libyan Human Rights Leader Honored at Georgetown

The Libyan Human Rights Commission and Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies nearly filled the University's Intercultural Center auditorium for a March 24 symposium on the disappearance in Cairo on Dec. 11, 1993 of former Libyan Foreign Minister Mansour Kikhia while attending a conference on human rights in Cairo. Kikhia, who was 62 at the time of his disappearance, was a Libyan diplomat prior to Libya's 1969 revolution. He served the revolutionary government as deputy foreign minister and then foreign minister for three years before resigning in 1972 to pursue private law practice. He returned to government service in 1975 and served as Libyan representative to the United Nations until 1980, when he resigned in protest of flagrant human rights violations in Libya.

Kikhia, who had U.S. resident status, was a member of the advisory board of Georgetown's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and, during the 1980s, was a vocal advocate for human rights, dialogue and multi- party democracy. During this period he founded the Libyan National Alliance, a political group, and was a founding member of the Arab Organization for Human Rights. It was in the latter capacity that he was attending the conference in Cairo when he disappeared. His friends believe he was seized by Libyan government agents in Cairo and driven to Libya in an automobile bearing Libyan diplomatic plates. His wife, Baha Elomary, received information that he had arrived there, but has learned nothing further about his whereabouts or condition.

The symposium, on the 10th anniversary of the Libyan Human Rights Foundation, was attended by Mrs. Kikhia and the four Kikhia children, son Rashid and daughters Jihan, Besan and Maya. One of the symposium action items was a letter requesting a meeting during Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's April visit to Washington, DC. The Egyptian president agreed to meet with members of the Libyan Human Rights Commission in Cairo, but not with representatives of the other international human rights organizations that had joined in the request.

Speakers at the symposium were Dr. Amin El-Huni of the Libyan Human Rights Commission, novelist Dr. Halim Barakat of the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, A. Omar Turbi of the Libyan Human Rights Commission, Ambassador Clovis Maksoud of the American University in Washington, DC, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights John Shattuck, Dr. Naseer Aruri of the University of Massachusetts and Holly Burkhalter of Human Rights Watch/Middle East, Joe Eldridge of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, and Dr. Abdul Hussien Shaban of the Arab Organization for Human Rights. At a reception following the symposium guests viewed a documentary film directed by Mohammed Makhlouf, who attended the program, entitled "NAME: HUMAN."

ADC Convention Events Attract Heavy Attendance

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee ended a year of severe organizational downsizing with a rousing and well-attended 15th anniversary convention May 4 to 7 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel near Washington, DC's National Airport. Speakers at the first day's events, centered on congressional visits and media workshops, included Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), freshman Sen. Spence Abraham (R-MI), counselor to Sen. Abraham Randa Fahmy, Chris Mansour, chief of staff to Rep. Dale Kildee, journalist Dora Hasan, legislative counselor Gregory Nojeim of the American Civil Liberties Union and ADC directors and staff including chairman Hamzi Moghrabi, board member Norm Assad, educational director Marvin Wingfield, media director Anne Marie Baylouny, and organizing director Ghada Mansour-Barakat.

Second-day speakers and moderators included ABC Television anchor Sam Donaldson, Okaz Washington bureau chief Mohamed Hakki, Sam Husseini of Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, Bob Ray Sanders of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, ADC board members Farouk Hamouda, Adnan Mourany and Dr. Safa Rifka, Prof. Kenneth Cragg of Oxford University, educational archivist Samira Hussein, AMC Executive Director Abdurahman Alamoudi, Prof. Samia El-Badry of the University of Texas, Suzann Evinger of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Nampeo R. McKenney of the Census Bureau, authors Khaled Mattawa, Diana Abu-Jaber, Etel Adnan, Joseph Geha, Greg Orfalea, D.H. Melhem, and Mowaffac Allaf, Syrian delegate to the Middle East Peace Talks.

Third-day speakers not previously mentioned included Prof. David Khairallah of Georgetown University, president Ziad Asali of the AAUG, former president George Younan of the Arab American Medical Association, ADC board members Naila Asali and Cheryl Faris, former president of the ADC Chicago Chapter Nader Amr, former president of the ADC Los Angeles chapter Don Bustany, President Samar Sakakini of the ADC Austin Chapter, Sami Suleiman of International Financial Services, Dr. Philip Salem of St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, former ADC president Albert Mokhiber, Prof. David Cole of Georgetown University, U.S. State Department coordinator for counterterrorism Philip Wilcox, ADC and Seeking Common Ground activist Ruba Moghrabi Sabban, Dr. George Bitar of Albert Einstein Hospital in Philadelphia, students Hebba Hassanein of Georgetown University, Wadi Fouad Muhaisen of Metro State College, Colorado, and May Shallal, Widener University, educational consultant Bonny Cochran, author Mounir Farah, ADC New Hampshire chapter president Nabil Migalli, Palestinian human rights activist Hanan Ashrawi, calligrapher Mohammad Said Saggar and human rights activist Norma Odeh.

Fourth-day speakers included Ambassador Clovis Maksoud of American University in Washington, DC, Arab League chief representative Ghayth Armanazi, Prof. Samih Farsoun of American University, Chairman Faisal Husseini of the Arab Studies Society in Jerusalem, ADC board member Halim Awde, Prof. Walid Khalidi of Harvard University, computer scientist Husni Samih Sayed and Prof. Farouk El-Baz, director of the Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University.

Films presented at the convention included parts one and two of Robert Fisk's "Beirut to Bosnia" entitled "The Martyr's Smile" and "The Road to Palestine," and "Tales From Arab Detroit," directed by Joan Mandell. Awards were presented to George Atiyeh of the Library of Congress and ADC's founder and chairman emeritus, former Sen. James Abourezk.