Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, November 2011, Page 48
Arab-American Activism
ADC Policy Conference Explores Impact of 9/11
AN AMERICAN-ARAB Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) policy conference held Sept. 8 at ADC's Heritage Center in Washington, DC focused on the impact of 9/11 on civil rights and liberties, especially for Muslim and Arab Americans. National security and counter-terrorism policies now include racial profiling at airports, surveillance of "suspect" events, specifically Muslim religious gatherings, and recruiting informants to spy on citizens.
Speakers discussed how specific policy changes affected and continue to affect the lives of Arab Americans by infringing on their rights, specifically in terms of racial profiling and employment discrimination. Panelists emphasized the importance of building coalitions and mobilizing Arab- and Muslim-American communities in the fight for civil rights. Urging participants to battle discrimination as a unified front, they also agreed that Arab Americans could become more vocal and engage in social issues like the economy, and not restrict themselves to issues of national security or be limited by an inferiority complex.
Before the community can fight for its civil rights, individuals should embrace their identity and reject the subconscious—and at times conscious—belief that Arab Americans are not entitled to the same rights as other "true Americans," panelists emphasized.
A unified community should highlight commonalities between Arab Americans and be proactive, engaging in direct communication with government organizations.
As a nation based on democratic institutions, panelists agreed, the U.S. should not violate its principles in the name of national security.
—Deena Zaru
ADC Panel Looks at "Coalition Building in the Post-9/11 Era"
Over the past 10 years the Arab-American community has developed a deeper understanding of how to navigate the American political system. More importantly, explained panelist Suehaila Amen, vice president of the Lebanese American Heritage Club, it needs to form coalitions with other communities who have been affected by past discrimination in order to better voice its concerns and benefit from each other's activism. According to Egyptian-American Khaled Beydoun, co-founder of Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN), the Arab-American community also needs to embrace the ethnic and religious diversity of the Arab world and pay more attention to the broader Arab world, not just the Levant, if it wishes to strengthen its community's voice.
Margaret Huang, executive director of Rights Working Group, also called for the mobilization of the Arab-American community, which she said should cross community and ethnic boundaries in order to help end discrimination.
—Jean-Pascal Deillon
ADC Panel Examines Civil Rights and Liberties
Since 9/11 the assault on civil liberties has been evident and still persists, with discrimination affecting the Arab-American community. Sahar Aziz, associate professor at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, argued that all citizens are entitled to the same treatment, no matter what background they may come from. No citizen should have their loyalty questioned because they are part of a certain racial group or religious community. While the panel emphasized the progress the government has made in combating discrimination, Aziz stressed that "eternal vigilance is the price of freedom," because the government is not a dependable entity in combating discrimination.
Ehsan Zaffar, policy adviser at the Department of Homeland Security, Civil Rights and Liberties Division, explained that, from his experience, the Arab-American community needs to talk to government, question policy and engage regularly with government officials to affect immediate change. As part of the coalition building effort Rajdeep Singh, director of the Sikh Coalition's Law and Policy Office, shared mutual grievances that the two communities can work together to rectify.
For more information on ADC visit <www.adc.org>.
—Jean-Pascal Deillon
