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FAREWELL
ADDRESS FROM OUTGOING ADC PRESIDENT ZIAD J. ASALI, MD.
ADC CONVENTION, JUNE 15, 2003
Today, we have cause to celebrate. First, we have just completed
another election in which the victorious candidates have, by a
democratic process, joined the ADC Board of Directors through a
vote of confidence from ADC's membership across the nation. New
faces have emerged on the national scene and some continue to
serve, while others make way for the new.
Secondly, the outgoing ADC president stands to welcome and embrace
the new one, with affection, best wishes and offers of support on
demand. No transition could be smoother or more correct. This is
an Arab American tradition that has taken root at ADC. Every one
of us should take pride in this process.
We have had a rough time during the past couple of years. Our dual
missions of civil rights at home and peace with justice abroad
have never faced greater challenges. Crude, and on occasion
lethal, discrimination continues to threaten our community.
Government, as well as private, institutions, and media have been
abused to promote discrimination against our community. The
foundations of our American legal system: the presumption of
innocence, respect for due process and rejection of guilt by
association, the very concept of equal treatment under the law,
have been undermined because of overarching concerns for security
in an atmosphere of fear.
On the global stage our government waged wars; adopted new
strategies to strike preemptively; and gave other nations a choice
between being, as they put it, "with us or against us."
The Palestinian people, still enduring the longest military
occupation in the modern era, persist in their dream of freedom
with indomitable determination. The media in our country, with few
scattered exceptions, served to equate the cause of Palestine with
terrorism in the American mind, occupation and injustice no more
than a faint shadow in the background.
What was ADC to say to our fellow citizens who suddenly viewed our
community with suspicion if not outright hostility? And how could
we deal with an administration that seemed content to let General
Sharon pursue total war against the Palestinian people he occupies
and besieges?
We started out with the fundamental assertion that we are
first-class American citizens and would yield nothing on this. We
had to defend our rights under the constitution, indeed defend the
constitution itself when it came under attack. But we also had to
express, in no uncertain terms, our commitment to our nation's
security and opposition to the terrorists who attacked us. We had
to tell our fellow citizens and the world that these hideous
crimes hurt us as Americans, particularly as Arab Americans. There
is no moral or political ambiguity in our stance. We condemn all
acts of violence against civilians no matter who the perpetrators
or victims may be, and we accept no justifications or
rationalizations.
The constants for us in foreign policy are simple. We support an
independent, viable and constitutional state of Palestine, a free
democratic and constitutional Iraq, and an expanding genuine
democracy with accountability and transparency across the Arab
World. Our ultimate foreign policy goal is to have a prosperous
Arab World as free of dictatorship as it is free of foreign
domination.
As American citizens, we asked our government to uphold the law.
Hate crimes, discrimination and inequality cannot be tolerated. We
published the definitive document on hate crimes and
discrimination against Arab Americans during the backlash. We
applauded our government when it fought against hate crimes as it
has done with a new determination. We praised officials from the
President on down when they denounced discrimination and arrested
vigilantes and hooligans. We asked our community to work with the
authorities to enhance our security, and engaged in a nation-wide
campaign to educate law enforcement officials about Arab Americans
and their culture.
At the same time, of course, we raised our voices in the media,
and went to court when we thought the authorities crossed the
line. We spared no official from the Attorney General on down from
unambiguous public criticism of policies which abridged our rights
or comments which damaged our reputation. We sued the airline
companies that discriminated against Arabs and Muslims, and the
Department of Transportation has followed suit. We joined other
civil liberties groups in a host of legal actions against the
government to defend constitutional rights. We have earned our
reputation in this country and across the globe as a credible
voice for Arab Americans. When ADC talks, people listen. Two and a
half million hits a month on our website testify to that.
To defend the interests of our community, ADC has stretched its
resources to the limits in a wide spectrum of activities which I
do not have time to detail here. However I want to ask the members
of staff to please stand up to be acknowledged. No finer group of
overworked and underpaid people has ever been assembled. I want
now to call on our interns to stand up. Our future. I want to
thank the heads of departments and their staff: Khalil Jahshan and
Anne Hingely on their work in government relations; Hussein Ibish
and Laila Al Qatami on their work in media and publications;
Marvin Wingfield and Hanaa Rifaai on their work in education;
Kareem and Nawar Shora and Carol Khawly on their legal work;
Jeanine Shama, Margot Andrews, Raafat Dajani, Kate Yamashita, and
Lamis Hasan on their work in administration; Nabil Mohamad on his
work in organizing; Nino Kader, Sami Abulghanam, Hilal Sobeh on
their work on the website and telecommunications. I want to thank
the staff of the Michigan office Imad Hamad, Rana Abbas, Maysoon
Khatib, Sue Hachem and Nina Bazzy and the New York office Monica
Tarazi, and the San Diego office Samer Shihabi, to all these men
and women, to the chapter presidents and to members across this
nation goes all the credit that ADC has earned.
Although it might be wiser to say thank you, congratulations and
goodbye, duty compels me to say more.
In recent months, issues of foreign policy, on terrorism,
Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine have exposed the raw nerves of the
various segments of our community, and unleashed a cacophony,
rather than a harmony, of voices. Decisions we made, which were
based on the priority we placed on defending the interests of our
community and our country generated intense reactions, both pro
and con. Arab Americans tend to lash out at each other because we
are powerless to make a genuine and immediate impact on realities
we abhor. Let us react to this challenge by embracing our
diversity.
Our community is divided. We have Arabs in America, who live in a
self imposed ghetto with little contact with other citizens of
their community. They watch Al Jazeera and know more about Gaza
than they do about their own school districts, or the names of
their congressman. Then, we have Americans of Arab heritage who
have vague familiarity with kibbeh, debkeh and Arabic music with
dim memories of their immigrant grandparent's accents. Then there
are the Arab Americans who share affection for both America and
the Arab World and are trying to play an active role as a bridge
between these two cultures. Our community has people who come from
twenty-two countries and multiple religions, ethnicities and
cultural patterns. Add differences in education, socioeconomic
status as well as political orientation and you can readily see
that it is not always possible for one voice to speak on behalf of
all these groups on all issues. It is a common-place complaint in
our community that there are too many organizations with too
little coordination. I submit for your consideration the heresy
that, in reality, more Arab-American organizations are needed. A
level of coordination will emerge, whether planned or not,
regardless of personalities and turf battles, as we, as a
community, gain maturity and confidence in the greatly contested
American political scene. I would like to make another point, a
central one in my view. Regardless of the personal success of so
many members of our community, we collectively are far from
powerful or effective. Although we are empowered by the presence
of the Secretary of State amongst us tonight, let there be no
doubt in anybody's mind that we have hardly had any impact on
national decision- making, especially on foreign policy where the
stakes are highest. Our negligible impact on decision-making is a
reflection of our standing on the power scale. Is there anyone who
doubts that we need an upgrade?
We invited all the Democratic presidential candidates to this
convention to address our community. Only one candidate accepted,
a few politely declined and the rest failed to even acknowledge
our invitation. Something is wrong with this picture: candidates
snubbing voters in America. Eager to please politicians, forever
anxious to kiss babies and promise the moon, have found it less
costly to ignore than to engage our community. Obviously these
folks do not take us seriously either as voters or as donors.
We, collectively, have failed to act in a manner that reflects an
understanding that all American politics is local. Our members
must be active in the civic, social, educational and political
lives of their own local communities. We have to know our elected
officials and they have to know us. We have to contribute to their
success or to their failure. We have to vote and to trade our
collective votes. We have to contribute financially, as others do,
as an investment in the political process. We cannot sit idly by
complaining about policies produced by a process in which we have
failed to involve ourselves.
I want to especially address the young people in this audience
tonight. Engage in the political system and do not leavea
vacuum that is easily filled by those who have an opposing agenda.
Democrats, Republicans, Independents and Green party politics
always have room for volunteers and activists. As you pursue your
dreams of making the world a better place, do not chase the pipe
dream of dismantling the system. With time, toil and engagement,
we will be able to have an impact if we engage with seriousness
and forge the right alliances. Our pointless alienation from our
own country's political system is a gift that we hand our
opponents on a silver platter. The system is asto us as it
is to others. It is our duty to put an end to our own voluntary
disenfranchisement.
Having no experience in democracy in the Arab world, our immigrant
community needs learn from its own mistakes and those of others.
ADC does offer this community a democratic organization, imperfect
but authentic. Layers of elections and accountability are in
place. It is absurd that some people single it out for criticism
for lack of democracy while giving a pass to other organizations
that neither have the appearance nor aspiration of democracy or
accountability. Differences on questions of policy should not be
allowed to masquerade as campaigns for democratic reform.
ADC is not a political party. It is an American institution, an
organization that represents an ethnic community. Its main
attribute is that it is secular and democratic. Its main
obligation is to defend the interests of its membership and its
main asset is the support of those members. ADC has its own
by-laws, accounting procedures, professional staff, and discipline
that need to be respected. It must conduct its affairs like any
other American membership organization with respect for the law
and for its own by-laws.
The past thirty-two months have presented me with challenges that
far exceeded my expectations. I am grateful for the support of so
many good and thoughtful people, and I have learned to accept the
criticism of friends and others with respect. The overriding
purpose of my tenure as ADC President has been to try at all times
to empower this organization and this community. No reward is
richer to me than my own sense that I have discharged my
responsibilities as best as I knew how. To see that reflected in
the words of my colleagues is a high honor that I will forever
treasure.
Two individuals deserve special praise, the previous chairman of
the Board, Dr. Ahmad Sbaiti, and the present one Dr. Safa Rifka.
You both have served your community selflessly, responsibly and
with honor. My personal respect is conveyed to you in public and
in private.
Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar is an embodiment of our goal of
working within the system to empower our community. No other
person could have so happily fulfilled our expectations. There is
no doubt in my mind that she will lead this organization and this
community to new heights. It is my pleasure to have her beside me
at the podium and to her excellent and trustworthy hands I pass
the baton of leadership.
A personal note if I may. Allow me to address my best friend,
thank you Naila.
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