August 1988, Page 17

Focus on Arabs and Islam

By Ann Lynn Foster

Arab Americans at the Democratic Convention

More than 50 Arab Americans held official posts at the Democratic national convention in Atlanta July 17 to 21 as either delegates, standing committee members, or members of campaign or state party staffs. This marks a significant increase from the four representatives of the Arab/American community who participated in the 1984 Democratic convention in San Francisco.

According to James Zogby, executive director of the Arab American Institute, Arab Americans became "invigorated" by the Rev. Jesse Jackson's presidential campaign. "We voted in record numbers and raised over $700,000 for the presidential campaign," he said.

Among this year's Arab-American convention delegates were Sammie Odeh of Orange, CA., brother of slain southern California American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC Director Alex Odeh; and radio personality Casey Kasem, also from California. Nine Arab Americans were elected to national delegate positions from that state, while another two came from Massachusetts. Commented one of them, Mary LaHaj, "Every minority should have this opportunity, and I feel I am representing both Arab Americans and American Muslims. We insist on being a part of this process; nothing is going to stop us."

Mohammed Said, a Palestinian-American doctor who was one of five Arab Americans on the party platform committee, led the effort to pass a resolution, supporting Palestinian statehood at the Washington state Democratic Party convention. Washington's was one of 11 state Democratic parties to adopt resolutions supporting Palestinian rights; five state parties (in Illinois, Maine, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington) passed resolutions explicitly calling for the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

According to Evan Hendricks of the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA), whose president, George Moses, attended the convention, although the number of Arab Americans participating in the convention increased significantly over that of 1984, the party's new platform does not specifically address the issue of Palestinian rights.

"Mondale looked like a prisoner of special interest groups," Hendricks said. "So the party made a decision not to let so many single issues into the platform." South Africa is the only specific foreign policy issue mentioned in the document. However, "platforms really don't influence presidents or policy," Hendricks said. "The emergence of a new Arab/American political force is more important than any platform."

Eyewitness Israel

Members of the second delegation of "Eyewitness Israel," a program sponsored and partially funded by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), held a press conference July 5 on their return from the Israeli-occupied areas in an attempt to help correct misinformation in the US surrounding the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"People are woefully misinformed here (in the United States)," said Laurence Oulette, a free-lance journalist from West Rockport, ME. He and 14 other members of the group attributed this misinformation to the American media's superficial coverage of the uprising.

"The media report that children are throwing stones, but it's much deeper than that," said Joseph Roach, news and broadcast producer for a Salt Lake City affiliate of National Public Radio. "Palestinians are not organizing a revolt, they're organizing their society."

In defense of the efforts of the journalists covering the uprising, members of the group noted the difficulties involved in reporting the situation in the occupied territories. Israeli soldiers harass journalists, and the media are barred from certain areas of the occupied territories, said Tara Siler, a participant and reporter for Pacifica News.

The delegation went to the occupied territories to monitor and document human rights conditions there. The objective was to collect firsthand information, compile reports, and prepare formal affidavits and testimonies of human rights violations. The participants, from a wide range of professions and occupations, stayed for three weeks with Palestinian families in the West Bank and Gaza.

Senate Committee Discusses Anti-Arab Violence

ADC National Chairman James Abourezk was one of 12 witnesses testifying before the Constitution Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee June 21 in support of three Senate bills dealing with hate crimes. The bills would require the attorney general to publish an annual report on crimes based on racial, ethnic, or religious prejudice. Specifically addressing anti-Arab violence, Abourezk explained that the widespread use of such terms as "Arab terrorists" in the US, coupled with international events such as the Achille Lauro incident and the US bombing raid on Libya, create an atmosphere in which crimes against Arab Americans are committed by people who think their actions will go unnoticed. He cited the 1985 murder of ADC Southern California Regional Director Alex Odeh as an example. "It was in this political surrounding that whoever planted the bomb that killed Alex Odeh must have believed ... there would be no popular outcry against it," Abourezk testified.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has passed a bill which specifically lists mosques as property protected by federal statutes, representing the first time that mosques have received such protection. The bill places all religious institutions under federal protection, making it a federal crime to cross state boundaries for the purpose of religious defamation or desecration of religious property.

Arab-American Issues Agenda Published

The Arab American Institute has published a 24-page booklet entitled "Who We Are, What We Want," outlining a political agenda for Arab Americans. After conducting a survey of more than 10,000 Arab Americans, the authors included four policy areas: education, civil and political rights, economic opportunity, and foreign policy. They say US policy in the Middle East remains a major concern for Arab Americans. Describing current US policy in the region as "flawed," the agenda includes in its recommendations a call for a peaceful, negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, under the auspices of a UN-sponsored international peace conference. Guidelines are also offered for US policy toward Lebanon and the gulf war. For a copy of the agenda, contact the Arab American Institute, 918 16th St., NW, Suite 501, Washington, DC 20006.

Call for Pentagon Official to Resign

NAAA has renewed calls for the resignation of Pentagon Deputy Assistant Secretary Stephen Bryen, describing him as a "security threat." Bryen is under pressure to resign for approving the transfer of a sensitive radar tracking device to Israel against State Department wishes. Since 1981, Bryen has been the Pentagon official in charge of technology transfers.

In 1978, NAAA provided an eyewitness account of Bryen, then a congressional staffer to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, offering classified Pentagon documents to Israeli defense officials. Although the incident set off an espionage investigation, it was abruptly closed two years later with no charges being brought. NAAA has now obtained portions of the 1,000-page espionage file, after a five-year Freedom of Information Act court battle, and claims the documents confirm Bryen's close ties to Israeli defense officials. NAAA is also calling for a full congressional inquiry into Bryen's actions.

Ann Lynn Foster is managing editor of the Washington Report.