Opinion Editorials, October 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people
Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah
Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
The news is good ... this week
George S. Hishmeh
Jordan Times, Saturday, October 25, 2003
WASHINGTON — The news about the Arab world and its major concerns, national or international, is often depressing, particularly as it is reported or interpreted here, not to mention the usually outlandish official reaction. The same is true about the inability of Arab Americans or Muslim Americans, to say nothing about Arab diplomacy, to make a significant dent in the body politic at large. But last week was a commendable exception. Founded in 1985, The Arab American Institute and its indefatigable founder-president, Dr James Zogby, have scored a major triumph last week. The institute's National Leadership Conference, held annually in Dearborn, Michigan, hosted the major candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, as well as a few key officials of the Republican Party. All were obviously vying for the Arab-American vote in pivotal states that could spell success or failure for a candidate.
Major television stations and American newspapers, like The New York Times and The Washington Post, devoted several columns about the event on two consecutive days. About 400 Arab-American leaders, including elected officials from 25 states, were present. But what makes the Arab-American community significant this year is their presence in large numbers in make-or-break states like Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida, where the two major political parties are almost even in strength; hence the Arab-Americans' added value.
Zogby, whose origins are Lebanese, has been an effective force on the Arab-American scene for more than 30 years, since he first launched the Palestine Human Rights Campaign in the late seventies and later helped co-found, with Senator James Abourezk, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. His goal, throughout, has been to secure political empowerment for the community, which numbers about 3 million, through voter registration, education and mobilisation. And his achievements have been quite impressive, as attested by the turnout of the presidential hopefuls and the coverage in the media.
The first American presidential aspirant to address the Arab-American political gathering in 1984 (and again in 1988) was Rev. Jesse Jackson, who had a large following among Arab-Americans. To his credit, he was instrumental in registering Arab-American voters and electing record numbers of them as delegates to the Democratic Party's National Convention.
Now, of course, there were several disappointments along the way to this remarkable achievement. In 1984, Democratic Party presidential nominee Walter Mondale returned Arab-American contributions and the 1988 Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis turned down Arab-American endorsements. In 1996, the Republican nominee, Senator Bob Dole, also refused to meet with Arab-American Republican leaders, although he had earlier addressed their convention in Dearborn.
“In many respects,” noted The New York Times, “Arab-Americans are still reeling from the effects of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and practices like ethnic profiling and tougher immigration policies that they say disproportionately affect their communities.” The paper added: “Many participants in the conference said Arab-Americans had emerged from the turbulent period more politically energised.”
Former Governor Howard Dean, obviously the favourite among the group, received repeated ovations after he criticised the Bush administration's policies in the Middle East and especially the anti-terrorism tactics of Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, The Washington Post reported. He also said that of all Arabs, the Palestinians “have the best opportunity to create democracy” and that he had met Palestinian leaders who were committed to that goal.
“Twenty years ago, Arab-Americans could not even have discussions on the Middle East with candidates,” Zogby was quoted as saying. “Today we have candidates standing before us, supporting a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israel conflict.”
The American-Muslim community was also praised this week in a front-page article in The Washington Times for the donation of 6,900 sets of 18 books on Islam, as well as tapes, DVDs and videos to public libraries, which number 16,298. This effort was launched by the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in response to what the paper said, was a “consistent message” they received to give Islam a “fair representation” at public libraries. This Library Project, when completed, will have cost almost $2.5 million.
CAIR's website promises American Muslims that for a $150 donation they can send the collection to their local library, provided the library is interested in Islamic resources. “You can help educate your fellow Americans about Islam as a religion of peace and justice that has a rich civilisation and culture,” the web page declared. All the librarians interviewed by the paper have praised the grassroots effort.
A CAIR spokesman was quoted as saying that no foreign government is financing the project and CAIR's goal is to move on to university libraries after public libraries are serviced
Last, but not least, among the good news this week was the report by the Philadelphia-based Palestine Media Watch (PMWatch), a three-year-old voluntary group that monitors the media in order “to promote fair and accurate coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict”. Ahmed Bouzid, the president, reported that The Charlotte Observer acknowledged, after a four-month effort by its Charlotte, North Carolina, director Edie Garwood, that it had erred in its reporting.
The paper published this clarification on Oct. 19: “A map of Israel in the June 12 Observer did not fully describe who controls the Golan Heights, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The map incompletely showed the Golan Heights; it should have outlined the political borders, which Israel has occupied since the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. In addition, the map oversimplified who is in control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Palestinians have some control in those areas; Israel also has some control. The Israeli military has made incursions into these areas. The map also should not have marked Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Israel considers Jerusalem to be its capital; the United Nations and the United States don't recognise Israel's claim.”
Well done, AAI, CAIR and PMWatch!
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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