July/August 1993, Page 65

Arab American Activism

By Catherine M Willford

Ohio Arab Americans Successfully Oppose Israeli Bond Investment

A coalition of Ohio Arab Americans, including local chapter members of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the Arab American Political Caucus of Ohio (AAPCO), have succeeded in persuading the Ohio state legislature to rewrite State Bill 64 (S.B. 64). As originally written by Ohio Senate President Stanley J. Aronoff (R-Cincinnati) and passed by the state senate, S.B. 64 would have allowed the state treasurer's office to invest public funds in Israeli Development Corporation bonds. The bill, still pending in the Ohio House of Representatives at this writing, no longer contains any specific mention of Israel and limits to only one percent the amount of money from the state's inactive portfolio that may be invested in foreign bonds.

Seventy people attended a May 21 hearing before the Ohio House State Government Committee, with 19 testifying in opposition to the bill. Only two people testified in favor of the bill at a similar hearing on May 12. Commenting on the May 21 hearing, ADC President Albert Mokhiber said "the fact that Jewish Americans, Arab Americans, and Americans of European descent from Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, Youngstown and other parts of Ohio took time off from work and school to tell lawmakers in person that they did not want their tax dollars invested overseas should be a glarin~ ~i~nnNo those invested with the public

According to a June 3 article in the Columbus Dispatch, Arab Americans "complained that Ohio taxpayers' money ought to be invested in Ohio to help the state economy, that Israeli bonds are risky investments and that by buying them Ohio could be perceived as supporting human rights violations in the Middle East."

The Arab American Institute (AAI) and AAPCO commissioned a public opinion poll showing 71.9 percent of those registered voters polled were opposed to the Israeli bond legislation. In addition, 43.3 percent of those polled said they would be less likely to support the re-election of Governor George Voinovich if he signed the legislation into law.

Los Angeles Arab-American Experience Focus of Cornerstone Theater Production

Cornerstone Theater Company is collaborating with the Los Angeles-based Arab arts organization Al-Funun Al-Arabiya in a four-month residency project with Arab Americans of greater Los Angeles. The residency will culminate with the premiere of "Ghurba," a play which will explore and celebrate the Arab experience in Los Angeles. The production will be presented at UCLA Sept. 9-26 as part of the Los Angeles Festival.

Directed by Los Angeles writer-director Shishir Kurup, "Ghurba" will be performed in English and Arabic, and its text will blend classic and contemporary literature with oral histories drawn from interviews with members of the Arab community. The play will also examine perceptions and stereotypes, the role of women, and sustaining traditions and cultural identity.

"This community is unlike any our company has worked with before,'' Cornerstone Artistic Director Bill Rauch says. "The half-million Arabs in the L.A. area are highly dispersed yet share profound cultural ties. They're Muslims, Christians and Druze from North Africa to Saudi Arabia, and they occupy every strata of L.A. Life."

Auditions, open to all, with or without previous theatrical experience, will be held July 6-11 throughout the Los Angeles area. For more information, contact Cornerstone at 1653 18th Street, #6, Santa Monica, CA or call Leslie Tamaribuchi at (310) 449-1700.

Save Lebanon Observes 11th Anniversary

More than 400 people attended a May 26 banquet celebrating the 11th anniversary of Save Lebanon, Inc. at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Pentagon City, VA. Founded in 1982, Save Lebanon is a nonprofit humanitarian organization dedicated to helping the children of Lebanon.

Two women deputies in the Lebanese parliament, Mrs. Nayla Moawad, a Maronite Christian, and Mrs. Bahiyya AlHariri, a Sunni Muslim, were honored at the banquet with humanitarian service awards presented by former Rep. Mary Rose Oakar and Save Lebanon Executive Director Khatmeh Osseiran-Hanna.

Mrs. Moawad, wife of assassinated Lebanese President Rene Moawad, stressed the need to consolidate peace in Lebanon through the pursuit of new policies and to develop a strong central government to prevail over factional movements and sectarian tendencies. "Only a renewal of the state, and its modernization, will lead to a profound evolution, the results of which will be the institutionalization of peace and economic development," she said.

Mrs. Bahiyya Al-Hariri, sister of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri, spoke of the lessons learned through the years of civil war and called upon American Lebanese and the U.S. government to assist Lebanon to rebuild. She exhorted the audience to support the bid "to build a strong national state that is capable of maintaining law and order on Lebanese territory and for the re-emergence of Lebanon as an international center for political, economic and cultural relations."

Fifth Annual Palestine Aid Society Walkathon

More than $30,000 was raised by the 5th Annual Palestine Aid Society (PAS) Walkathon held Saturday, June 5th in 16 cities throughout the United States and Canada. According to PAS, almost 1,000 people participated in this year's event, including more than 150 people in San Francisco and more than 100 in Chicago.

The annual walkathon raises funds for humanitarian organizations and projects in the occupied territories and Lebanon. Recipients this year include Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza and Association Najdeh in Lebanon.

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