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Arab Americans Seek Partnership with Obama Administration
ormer President Bill Clinton told a gathering of Arab Americans on Saturday night that the increasingly interdependent world must learn to embrace diversity or risk perishing.
Alternating between humor and heavy philosophizing, Clinton pointed to scientific breakthroughs, spiritual texts, the recent economic meltdown and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to deliver a near 40-minute-long message that the world’s survival depends on people learning to take pride in their identity without putting down others.
Addressing the stubborn conflicts in the Middle East, Clinton said, “It’s all rooted in a sense of identity …. I hope you will tell everybody that your vision of America is one where you are deeply proud of who you are. And teach your children their ethnic heritage, their religious heritage, their cultural heritage, with no negative reference to anyone else. Because it’s the only shot we’ve got to make the most of our interdependent world.”
Clinton was the keynote speaker at the annual convention of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a 29-year-old advocacy organization.
The crowd had been told Clinton was running late. But when his silver mane suddenly appeared, people jumped to their feet to give the two-term Democratic president a standing ovation.
The ADC’s three-day convention is taking place at a moment when many Arab Americans feel buoyed by the election of President Barack Obama.
The conference’s theme — “From the Grassroots to the Nation’s Capital: Change for Our Future” — underscored the partnership that ADC hopes to secure with the Obama administration. Obama’s recent speech in Cairo to the Muslim and Arab world energized this year’s convention attendees.
Two Michiganians — Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, and White House press corps dean Helen Thomas — were honored at the dinner with lifetime achievement awards.
The ADC announced it is creating a scholarship in journalism at Wayne State University — Thomas’ college — to celebrate the woman path breaker. The amount of the scholarship has yet to be determined, ADC staffers said.
Clinton joked that he gave Thomas a kiss on the cheek and persuaded her that he wasn’t compromising her journalistic integrity because he’s out of politics. After his speech, he wrapped his arms around Dingell and the congressman’s wife Debbie and chatted at length.
In an interview before his award, Dingell said much work is needed by political Washington on behalf of Arab Americans. “We have to help the president achieve his goal of peace in the Middle East, and do a lot to help the people of Lebanon and Gaza, and the refugees in Iraq and out of Iraq,” said Dingell. “And we’ve got to continue our effort to see to it that we preserve and protect all of the nations there and that we come to a two-state conclusion to the problems that exist with regard to Israel and Palestine.”
Also receiving an award were Hasan and Shereen Newash of Grosse Pointe. The couple founded the Michigan Citizens for Palestinian Rights, an educational outreach group.
Before receiving their award, Shereen Newash said they look forward to “peace in the Middle East.” Hasan Newash said their group is also helping preserve Palestinian culture — “arts, poetry, music, all of that is being obliterated and denied.”
As excitement built over Clinton’s arrival, Dingell chatted at the head table with Saudi Arabian ambassador Adel A. Al-Jubeir. Meanwhile, as a line of 1,000 dinner guests streamed into the ballroom, consumer advocate Ralph Nader hawked his latest book. The security for Clinton delayed the start of dinner until after 9 pm, when waiters rushed in clanking dinner trays and ADC officials handed out final awards.
Before the former president arrived, ADC spokesman Yousef Munayyer said Clinton’s presence “is a stamp of legitimacy for our organization. To have someone who is part of the political elite at our convention is a high honor.”
The Clinton speech was the centerpiece of three days of workshops on such topics as civil liberties in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
At the group’s Saturday luncheon, a senior official of the Department of Homeland Security pledged “to continue to work with you” to protect civil liberties while combating terrorist threats.
DHS Deputy Secretary Jane Hall Lute said Obama’s Cairo speech “set the tone and the direction and the intent of this administration in turning a new page, and starting a new chapter in our relationship. One that is built on mutual respect, mutual regard, committed to listen and learn from each other.”
Obama’s efforts to deal with thorny issues left over from the George W. Bush administration were also praised by Kareem Shora, the executive director of ADC. Shora praised Obama for avoiding using the phrase “war on terrorism,” a signature phrase in the Bush era that many Arab Americans feel fanned fears of people of Arab and Muslim descent. Shora’s observation drew applause.
But Michael Wishnie of Yale University, who was awarded the ADC’s pro bono attorney of the year, criticized the Obama administration for not acting quickly enough to resolve concerns about “people wrongly detained, wrongly prosecuted, wrongly charged in immigration court and criminal court” in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Deb Price
The Detroit News