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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, September-October 2008, pages 54-57 Arab-American Activism ADC’s Annual National Convention
“SECURING THE Principles of Liberty” was the theme for this year’s American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee‘s annual convention, held June 13 to 15 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC. The first day, Dr. Hussein Ibish, executive director of the Hala Salaam Maksoud Foundation for Arab-American Leadership, held a workshop on Arab-American leadership and advocacy. He outlined the most effective arguments and techniques Arab Americans can use to make their case on foreign policy and domestic issues. Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) gave the keynote speech at Friday’s lunch on Capitol Hill, hosted by ADC president and former congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar for convention attendees. Dr. Jack Shaheen emceed Friday’s Gala Banquet and awarded four students Jack Shaheen Mass Communications Scholarships. Former Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) was given the ADC Courage in Congress Award and gave a riveting speech. Acclaimed international singer and songwriter Chantal Chamandy and her dance troupe provided spectacular entertainment.
Panel discussions on Saturday provided superb talks by experts on such subjects as “U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East,” and “Getting Involved in U.S. Politics.” Poet Nathalie Handal, whose anthology Language For a New Century: Poetry From the Middle East, Asia & Beyond is reviewed on p.68; Evelyn Shakir, who wrote Remember Me to Lebanon: Stories of Lebanese Women in America; Susan Muaddi Darraj author of The Inheritance of Exile: Stories from South Philly; and Susan Abulhawa, who wrote Scar of David, reviewed in the December 2007 Washington Report on p. 72, discussed their inspirations during a panel on “Arab-American Authors and Literature.” This writer planned to cover two other simultaneous panels but could not tear herself away. (My beach bag is now packed with their books, available from the AET Book Club.) The authors discussed the obstacles Arab-American writers and readers face in post-9/11 America, and read excerpts from their stories and poetry that made audience members weep or smile.
The panel on “The Iraq War: The Human Tragedy” discussed the Iraqi refugee crisis and its impact on Iraq and its neighboring countries. Syrian Ambassador Imad Moustapha described his country’s efforts to deal with the influx of refugees. Elizabeth Campbell, director of the Refugee Council USA, and Sarnata Reynolds of Amnesty International USA described the dire situation facing refugees both inside and outside Iraq. Attendees enjoyed screenings and discussions of “Arna’s Children” with filmmaker Juliano Mer Khamis and the director of the Jenin Freedom Theater, Mervat Aiash; “A Dream in Doubt” with filmmaker Tami R. Yeager and Preetmohan Singh; and a superb documentary entitled “Knowledge is the Beginning” with Mariam Said, vice president of Barenboim Said Foundation. Attorney Avi Kumin joined hate crime victims in a panel called “From the Victim’s Mouth” and, in another panel, award-winning journalist David Marash discussed the media.
The Saturday evening Gala Banquet featured keynote speaker Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), who told the predominately Arab-American audience that all Americans have the duty to influence their country through the political process. “We’re living in a time of great transitions…in a combustible world, where everything is possible,” the retiring senator said. The greatest challenge facing man today is despair, Hagel said, and Americans can help by providing hope and economic aid instead of war to combat terrorism. “We must reintroduce America to the world,” he asserted. “We could lead the world into a cul-de-sac of disaster if we are not wise enough,” Hagel warned. “There is no margin of error.” Presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who gave a superb speech, was the only presidential candidate in sight. Mariam Said was presented with the Rose Nader Award, and Ambassador Clovis Maksoud presented the Hala Maksoud Award to Lucille Ablan, in memoriam (see July 2008 Washington Report, p. 79). Albert Mokhiber, Esq., former ADC executive director, was presented with the Alex Odeh award. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, emir of the State of Qatar, received ADC’s Global Leadership Award for leadership, and his wife, Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, received the ADC Global Humanitarian Award for her efforts in the areas of education, science, community, health and cultural heritage. —Delinda C. Hanley The Myths and Realities of Darfur
During the ADC panel discussion entitled “Darfur: The Myths and Realities of a Human Tragedy” held on June 14, Prof. Alex de Waal, a program director at the Social Science Research Council and author of Famine that Kills, told his audience that he had been in Darfur two months earlier and spoken with people now living in refugee camps. “They are unable to go home and are receiving relief without human dignity,” Prof. de Waal said. The U.N. estimates that about 300,000 people have been killed and some 2.5 million displaced due to the conflict. Ninety percent of the deaths occurred from 2003 to 2004, when militias known as the Janjaweed, in cooperation with the Sudanese government in Khartoum, conducted massacres against the local population of Darfur. De Waal said it was simply not true that the conflict was a case of Arabs from north Sudan doing the bidding of the government and joining in the slaughter in Darfur. The conflict was not an organized war or an ongoing massacre. International journalists and communities have demonized the Arabs, de Waal said, the majority of whom were never involved in the massacres. Nor is an end to the conflict in sight, he went on to say, as long as the world continues to shame and humiliate those in power in Sudan. Meanwhile, an atmosphere of insecurity that prevents people on all sides from getting on with their lives remains. Omer Ismail, co-founder of the Darfur Peace and Development Organization, said he had not been in Darfur for some time due to the policies of the present Sudanese government. In September, he visited the refugee camps in Chad, where people were not living but were simply “warehoused.” Acknowledging that the international community was spending billions of dollars on the refugees, he asked to what end. Ismail asked the audience to remember the Palestinian refugees of 1948, noting that many of them died still refugees. He agreed with de Waal that the Darfur Arabs were also victims who now bear the stigma of aiding the enemy, while in reality the majority had nothing to do with killing. “The Janjaweed did the killing, burning and raping,” he said, “but they could not have done it without those sitting in the government in Khartoum.” Samer Abdelnour, a founding member of the Foundation for Sustainable Enterprise and Development, travels frequently to Darfur. He said he has found a lack of communication between the international community and the local population. “Massive work is being done to warehouse the people,” he said, “but few resources are being used to assist those still on the ground.” The West views the present government in Khartoum as pursuing an Arab-Islamic state that will dominate the whole country. de Waal said, but ”I don’t believe that. The state is quite weak and internally divided.” Its militias are unreliable and their loyalty goes to the highest bidder, he noted. Saying he’d heard the government referred to as Nazis, de Waal said he sees them more like a mafia. “I would not describe them as pursuers of a grand agenda of genocide,” he stated. “They just want power.” Ismail respectively disagreed. “From day one, June 30, 1989, the banner [of the present government] was ‘Jihad.’ Those who came to power with the coup in 1989 wanted to rebuild the country into an Islamic state.” Ismail reminded his audience that the Sudan stretches across a million square miles, which is equivalent in the U.S. to the land east of the Mississippi River. Its population of 40 million speak 350 dialects or languages. There is no army in the Sudan, but there are 52 militias set up by the government. The new Sudan never materialized and now, according to Ismail, the government survives on a “souq mentality.” Abdelnour viewed the conflict in more economic terms, likening Sudan’s situation to that of Lebanon where loyalties could be bought. To make matters worse, he said, the Sudanese government has pitted one militia against the other. In addition to all its internal problems, Abdelnour added, the Sudan is surrounded by nine countries, six of which are having their own struggles. “Sudan has always been known as Bab al Afrika (the door to Africa),” Abdelnour concluded. “If Sudan is unstable, that results in the bordering areas being unstable.” —Jamal Najjab Between Pluralism and Sectarianism In the Arab World
It can be “deceptively easy” to attribute many of the Arab world’s problems to sectarianism, according to Prof. Bassam Haddad. He was one of three Middle East experts participating in the June 14 panel, “Between Pluralism and Sectarianism in the Arab World,” as part of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) annual convention. The director of the Middle East Studies Program at George Mason University and visiting professor at Georgetown University, Haddad was joined by Michael Hudson, professor of international relations at Georgetown University, and Prof. Juan Cole, who teaches history at the University of Michigan. ADC communications coordinator Tony Kutayli moderated the panel. Instead of blindly attributing many of the divisions in the Arab world to sectarianism, the panelists agreed, one must analyze the conditions under which sectarianism thrives. It can be fueled by external powers, as pluralism descends and classes overlap with sects to create volatile combinations. Haddad also mentioned the role the media play in the “institutionalization and popularization of sectarian discourse.” As far as Iraqis are concerned, he noted, such institutionalization of sectarianism creates the impression that Iraqis have no national aspirations beyond sects. On the contrary, however, Professor Cole cited examples of how, during the 1950s and ’60s, Iraqis mobilized on non-ethnic bases. Professor Hudson agreed, noting how sectarian discourse can wipe out other pre-existing realities. In discussing the emergence of Pan-Arabism during the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s, and the subsequent collapse of this movement, Hudson considered the possibility that pluralistic, liberal ideas of what it means to be Arab may still exist. Although sectarianism is not as pronounced among Arabs in America as it is among those in the Arab world, the panelists alluded to how the external and domestic tensions facing the Arab world sometimes translate into divisions within the Arab-American community. They agreed that by using their expertise and resources, the Arab-American community has positive roles to play in eroding such divisions. “We have been clouded by discussion of democracy,” stated Haddad. What is more pertinent to issues of domestic tensions and sectarianism in the Middle East, he went on to say, is that young Arabs in the region face poverty and high unemployment rates—a topic often excluded from most discussions. Professor Hudson reinforced Haddad’s point by noting that “Sectarianism thrives when general insecurity prevails.” Many in the audience nodded their heads in agreement. While the panelists addressed the realities concerning the institutionalization and dynamics of sectarianism, they continued to look toward a hopeful future of a region that currently is divided and occupied. —Asma Jaber The Nakba Never Ended
ADC ended its convention on June 15 with a riveting luncheon speech on the Nakba by Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative. In reality, Barghouthi said, the Nabka never ended; it has been continuing for the past 60 years. The Israelis have established three historical records, Barghouthi said: the fastest ethnic cleansing in modern history; the longest occupation in modern history; and the establishment of an apartheid system which—according to those who lived under South Africa’s apartheid government—is much worse. During Israel’s 60th anniversary commemorations, Israelis and Palestinians competed for places in the Guinness Book of World Records. Palestinians created the largest key in the world, which represented their aspirations for the right of return. Palestinian refugees living in Syria sewed the largest Palestinian flag, which represented their longing for freedom and independence. Residents of Bethlehem wrote the world’s longest letter, to Palestinian prisoners, expressing the hope that they would soon be free. On the other hand, Barghouthi noted, Israelis made the largest plate of hummus. After taking Palestinian land, he pointed out, Israelis also want to control the region’s history and traditions. Barghouthi said he believes Israel is not ready for true peace, and that its objective is to break the will of the Palestinian people. The Annapolis peace talks, he added, were a reflection of Israel’s real intentions, as they defused any chance for real peace and gave Israel more time to expand settlements. Annapolis became a trap for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which, he fears, in the end will capitulate or be accused of responsibility for the plan’s failure. In fact, the Palestinian doctor said, Israel has not changed its position since 1967, and will not allow the Palestinians to have a viable state in the West Bank and Gaza. “They are attempting to liquidate the right of return, the rights of Palestinians in Jerusalem, the sovereignty of a Palestinian state and, most importantly, they are trying to kill the unity of the Palestinian people,” he charged. Barghouthi considers Oslo the beginning of the separation of the Palestinians in the occupied territories from their supporters in the Palestinian Diaspora. The Israelis began to separate Jerusalem from the West Bank, and are now attempting to completely separate Gaza from the West Bank. “This policy of division and dividing the Palestinian people is very dangerous,” he warned. Israel wants the Palestinians to accept an area of land carved from 45 percent of 1948 Palestine, down to 22 percent, then to 18 percent, and now only 11 percent—divided into clusters or bantustans. This is the true narrative, Barghouthi said, which is not being told to the world. “It did not happen by chance or because the Palestinians resisted the occupation or by violence. It happened because it was planned,” he said with visible anger. The groundwork was set in place in 1968 by Israel’s then-Foreign Minister Rafael Gideon and implemented step by step over the years, regardless of whether the Palestinians fought or negotiated. Barghouthi went on to discuss the situation on the ground in Palestine. Since the beginning of the Annapolis talks, there have been 2,254 Israeli attacks on the Palestinian population: 1,039 in the West Bank and another 1,215 in Gaza. The Israelis claim the attacks are in response to missiles fired into Israel from Gaza, but 45 percent of the Israeli attacks were in the West Bank, from where no missiles have been fired. Since Annapolis, Israel has killed 479 Palestinians, 66 of them children, and injured 1,678 Palestinians, 93 of them children. Israeli attacks on Palestinians have increased by 300 percent since Annapolis. “We want everybody to live happily,” Barghouthi said. “I don’t want to see any person die, especially children, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli.” He wondered why Israelis and Americans speak only of the security of Israel, and not of the Palestinians. From 2000 to 2005, he pointed out, four Palestinians were killed for every one Israeli; in 2006, 30 Palestinians were killed for every Israeli; and in 2007, 40 Palestinians died for every Israeli. Since Annapolis, the ratio has risen to 45 Palestinians to every Israeli. “You can’t have security for one side and not for the other,” he said. Barghouthi described Gaza as a great humanitarian disaster. Israelis never really left Gaza, he stated, “they simply changed the form of occupation. They created the first digital occupation.” Israelis say the wall they are building is for security reasons, but Barghouthi argued that it is simply a land grab, pointing out that “the wall is not separating Palestinians from Israelis, the wall is separating Palestinians from Palestinians.” When finished the wall will be 500 miles long—three times the length of the Berlin wall, which American helped bring down. Americans are not talking of tearing down Israel’s wall, which is being built with U.S. taxpayers’ money,” he said. “I am not here to make you feel bad,” Barghouthi said, “but to show you that the situation is so bad that something has to be done.” The Palestinians need a strategy that will stop the division among the Palestinians, he emphasized. “Let’s be honest,” he said, “for 20 years we have not had a united leadership.” He called for the end of corruption, nepotism, and quota systems in the Palestinian government. Barghouthi’s solution is the Palestinian Initiative that he established six years ago, a movement ”that believes in nonviolence, the power of democracy and the greatness of the power of people’s participation in contradiction to the elitist approach of the present leadership.” Wherever he speaks, Barghouthi said, he is asked, “What can we do to help?” His answer is simple, “Join us in bringing the truth to the world”: speak to the media, lend financial support to those in Palestine, and volunteer for the cause. He invited everyone in the room to come to Palestine to see the situation for themselves. “Don’t lose hope,” he urged them. “The impossible is easier than the difficult.” In conclusion, he pleaded with everyone to participate in the U.S. political system. Their vote, he said, is the greatest contribution they can make to Palestine. —Jamal Najjab |
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