ZIAD ASALI
JUNE 15, 2003

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 leave open a 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 as open to 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.