Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, August 2009, page 48
Arab-American Activism
ADC Conference Draws Record Crowds Despite Economic Downturn
THE AMERICAN-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) held its 29th annual convention at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington, DC from June 12 to 14. More than 1,000 attended the sold-out Saturday evening gala to watch Helen Thomas, dean of the White House Press Corps, receive the Lifetime Excellence in Journalism Award. Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) presented the Hala Maksoud Memorial Award in memory of Marwan Burgan (see June 2009 Washington Report, p. 79).
President Bill Clinton accepted ADC’s Global Leadership Award and delivered the keynote remarks. Clinton—who was not paid for his speech—focused on people’s identity in an interdependent world. The U.S. is no longer just a black-white country, nor a country that is dominated by Christians and Jews, he said. Growing numbers of Muslims, Hindus and other religious groups are making their marks. By 2050 the U.S. will no longer have a majority of people with European heritage, Clinton said. In an interdependent world “this is a very positive thing.”
Clinton also urged the audience to push government leaders for a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to invest in West Bank businesses. “I think it is important to give the Palestinian people something to look forward to in the morning,” he concluded.
Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute and Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) spoke at the annual civil rights awards luncheon on June 13.
A June 13 panel examined “Pathways Out Of the Global Financial Crisis.” Michael Mussa, a senior fellow at The Peterson Institute for International Economics, noted that the world’s GDP decreased by 6 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. AFL-CIO Middle East and North Africa director Heba El-Shazli pointed out that many non-oil producing Middle East states depend on remittances from families working abroad. Due to the economic crisis, many workers are returning home, putting an added strain on countries like Lebanon and Egypt.
—Delinda C. Hanley
