Ever
so often, certain partisan groups who claim to be grassroots
and no profit organizations use the freedom of expression
in the United States to attack the conduct of the other
active groups. In particular, The Arab American Institution
(AAI), headed by Mr. James Zogby, has repeatedly alleged
that measures taken by the Bush Administration to combat
terrorism have infringed on the rights of the Arab and
Muslim communities in the USA. While it is the right of
every American citizen to speak his/her mind, it is our
responsibility to correct the blatant misrepresentation
of our communities. We believe that the AAI’s statements
and actions have dual fallacies. The first is the AAI’s
portrayal of being the representatives of the whole Middle
Eastern community in America. Secondly, its allegations
of US abuse of Arabs and Muslims, which are false, unethical,
and politically motivated. Thus far, Mr. Zogby has failed
to provide any tangible evidence of its claims and allegations.
Therefore, it is only fair to conclude that his objections
to the US Administration’s war on terrorism and
to the Patriot Act are not due to his concern about Arab-American
rights and civil liberties, but rather for his political
ideology and financial means.
Political
Ideology
Mr.
Zogby adamantly opposed the Patriot Act and its associated
necessary security measures, which the US Congress overwhelmingly
passed to prevent another attack on our soil similar to
September 11, on the grounds that such laws discriminate
against Arab-Americans and Muslims and harm their civil
liberties. For example, on January 6, 2006, Mr. Zogby
asked the U.S. government to end its Security Entry/Exit
Registration System[2] (NSEERS) claiming that Arabs and
Muslims paid dearly for such measures."[3] While
these allegations are very serious ones, he failed to
have the courtesy to provide a single proof.
Furthermore,
Mr. Zogby blindly opposed the US war on terrorism and
the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan claiming that these
wars cannot be justified, despite the fact that 25 million,
Iraqis and 18 million, Afghanis have been freed from the
tyrant regimes of Saddam Hussein and the Mullahs of the
Taliban’s. It seems that, as a committed democrat
and as a member of the American Civil Liberty Union (ALCU),
Mr. Zogby is obliged to fight the Republican Bush Administration
regardless of what’s at stake if the Administration
lost its war on terrorism. His objection is ridiculously
vicious stretching from election campaigning to spreading
anti Bush propaganda. For example, in his article: Why
Arab-Americans should vote for John Kerry, published
in the Daily Star on October 27, 2004, Mr. Zogby said:
I'm a Democrat” and “[t]his November, I will
vote for John Kerry for President of the United States.
I will do so, confident that it is the right thing to
do for my country and my community.”[1] While Mr.
Zogby claims that the Democratic Party’s policies
better serves the interest and the vision of the Arab-American
community at home and in the ME, he, however, fails to
mention what President Bill Clinton said before a Jewish
audience when he was reaffirming his willingness to defend
Israel by asserting: "The Israelis know that if the
Iraqi or the Iranian army came across the Jordan River,
I would personally grab a rifle, get in a ditch, and fight
and die."[4] Second, Mr. Zogby fails to acknowledge
that President Bush is the first and only sitting President
to affirm the right of the Palestinian people to govern
themselves in an independent state.
Financial
Gain
On
March 14, 2005, Mr. Zogby sent a letter
to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In it, he complained
about the Department of State recognizing the Middle Easter-American
communities as such instead of Arabs, for there are some
organizations which do not support his political and ideological
views. He referred to these organizations as “exiled
groups.” While he did not elaborate on their status,
we find it necessary to explain that these groups are
exiled simply because they want freedom and are civil
right activists who refuse to live under the oppressive
and tyrant regimes in the Middle East. These are the same
undemocratic regimes, which back and
finance the AAI. Mr. Zogby went even further to complain
about the Director of Public Diplomacy for Middle Eastern
and MEPI Affairs at USAID the Honorable Walid Maalouf
asking him “not to label the Arab Community”
each according to his/her ethnicity. What Mr. Zogby is
seeking here is nothing but a continuation of the annihilation
of these Middle Eastern minority groups who suffered death
and destructions at the hand of the tyrant leaders of
the Arab community which Mr. Zogby claims to represent.
Mr.
Zogby’s own poll contradicts his own allegations
and proves that Mr. Maalouf’s conduct is proper
and true. In his article, Good news in Saudi Arabia and
Lebanon, published January 3, 2006, he affirms that in
the second half of 2005, Zogby International poll, which
covered six Arab countries, found that “[s]ignificant
changes are taking place in public opinion, especially
in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, which warrant special attention.”
Mr. Zogby wrote:
"One
final area where a dramatic change occurred in Saudi opinion
was in how Saudis identified themselves. In 2002, they
indicated a preference to self-identify as "being
Arab". Today, they prefer describing themselves as
"Saudi". All this points to a growing sense
of self-confidence, satisfaction and commitment to their
country.” He added: “The best news for Lebanon,
however, is the degree to which the Lebanese, from all
groups, identify with the country — higher than
in any other Arab country When asked to describe their
principal identifier, more than 70 per cent say "being
Lebanese" — double the number in 2002.”
We
should have the courtesy to respect the wish of the people
to label themselves as they desire and not as he deems
fit. Furthermore, we urge him to take an advice of his
own polls. In addition, the AAI mission statement claims
that “AAI is a membership organization based in
Washington, DC that represents the policy and community
interests of Arab Americans throughout the United States…”
It will be of great help for the State Department to make
a decision regarding his claim had Mr. Zogby defined Arabism.
However, a link on his website does the work for him,
which also contradicts Mr. Zogby’s claims. In his
article, Arab Identity: E Pluribus Unum, scholar
Halim Barakat explains:
The prevailing view is that only a small minority of the
citizens of Arab countries does not speak Arabic as their
mothertongue and lack a sense of being Arab; this minority
category includes the Kurds, Berbers, Armenians, and the
ethnolinguistic groups of southern Sudan. Fewer still
are those who speak Arabic as their mother tongue without
sharing with the majority a sense of nationhood, a trend
that may exist among the Maronites of Lebanon in times
of conflict. Most other minority groups, such as the Orthodox
Christians, Shi'ites, Alawites, and Druze, consider themselves
Arabs with some qualifications and reservations….Yet,
most Arabists, especially today in response to the emergence
of Islamic fundamentalism, continue to assert the complementarity,
if not the synonymity, of Islam and Arabism [sic].[5]
Accordingly,
we believe that Mr. Zogby et. al. should respect the rich
diversity of Middle Eastern-American communities by referring
to them as such, unless he is referring specifically to
the Arab-American small community, which represent only
22% of the Middle Eastern-American communities. In such
case, he should be specific and clear.
Conclusion
The
AAI claims to be a “non-profit organization committed
to the civic and political empowerment of Americans of
Arab descent.” Such claim is unfounded. The AAI
is not a grassroots organization fighting for the public
interest as Mr. Zogby claims, but rather a lobbying group
fighting for interest groups, i.e. Arab regimes, which
fund Mr. Zogby’s activities, in coordination with
the Democratic Party and the ACLU. Thus, Zogby is misleading
the US and the Middle Eastern communities by feeding the
public false information and biased studies.
As
for blaming the American media and Hollywood for the “misfortune”
of Arabs and Muslims, we believe that the American people
did their part by accepting the Arab and all other communities
in their homeland. Now it is up to these communities to
adapt and to adopt the American way of life and its great
values.
Regarding
President George W. Bush’s policies, the American-Lebanese
community stands behind you and supports your war on terrorism,
as well as your doctrine to spread freedom and democracy
in the greater Middle East region for this is the best
gift anyone may offer to our American and Middle Eastern
people.
We
are Lebanese-Americans, Assyrian-Americans, Kurds-Americans,
Aramaic-Americans, and some are Arab-Americans. Therefore,
the inclusive, sensitive, and politically correct term
to use when referring to all these groups is the Middle
Eastern-Americans. Thus, we ask Mr. Zogby not to label
us according to what suits his interest, for we have already
labeled ourselves each according to his/her ethnic background.
Pierre
A. Maroun
Secretary General
American Lebanese Coordination Council
www.alcc-research.com
(727) 641-9764
February 10, 2006
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