Countdown

AAI Challenges US Government on Raids on Islamic Groups

Volume III, No. 13
Posted on Wednesday March 27, 2002

Arab Summit Skirts Difficulties; Offers Israel Land for Peace with Normal Relations

Arab leaders overcame a number of obstacles to unanimously adopt a Saudi sponsored resolution on peace with Israel. While neither a conclusive nor detailed document, the clear statement by Arab governments of principles based on UN Resolution 242, adopted after the 1967 War, was well received by the Bush administration. In his speech presenting the resolution, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah said “I would further say to the Israeli people that if their government abandons the policy of force and aggression and embraces true peace, we will not hesitate to accept the right of the Israeli people to live in security with the people of the region.” The next step is for the Arab League to present its proposal to the UN Security Council “based on normal relationships and security to Israel and parallel with an independent Palestinian country with its capital Jerusalem and the right of Palestinian people to come back to their country.” Overlooked in the immediate aftermath of the Beirut summit was the approval of an agreement to normalize relations between Iraq and Kuwait and the rejection of any attack on Iraq. It is not clear how the overall peace initiative will affect the efforts of Mideast Envoy Anthony Zinni.

AAI Challenges US Government on Raids on Islamic Groups

AAI President James Zogby is calling on the Treasury Department Inspector General to review the procedures that led to the raids on Muslim offices and homes in Northern Virginia and Georgia last week. Calling them “a challenge to our basic constitutional protections,” Dr. Zogby noted that the USA Patriot Act allows for sealed affidavits to be used by law enforcement officials with little or no recourse for the parties targeted. In interviews with several of the individuals who were visited by members of the Task Force, a pattern of secrecy and excessive force emerges. The specter of secret evidence proceedings has raised grave concerns among Islamic groups who feel targeted by the “guilt by association” provisions of the USA Patriot Act. A Muslim leader whose organization was raided said he felt violated by the intrusive methods used by the Task Force. “We are American citizens who are very respectful of the laws. They could have come to us and asked for our records and whatever information we have, we would have given them. Now, we are being treated like criminals and our neighbors think that we support terrorists. This is frightening everyone in the community and we are wondering, “Who’s next?”

Promises – Oscar Nominated Film, Looks at Impact of Mideast Conflict on Young

Nominated for an academy award for Best Documentary, PROMISES explores the reactions of seven Palestinian and Israeli children from Jerusalem over a four years including the current intifada. Enthusiastic reviews commend the film for its dramatic and emotional insights into what it’s like to grow up in the charged and complex city of Jerusalem. “Though they live only 20 minutes apart, the seven children exist in completely separate worlds; the physical, historical and emotional obstacles between them run deep. PROMISES…tells the story of a few children who dared to cross the lines to meet their neighbors.” AAI is cosponsoring the Washington, D.C. debut with Search for Common Ground.

Florida Legislation Dies: Polls Show Support for Peaceful Resolution in Mideast

Jamal Baadani, President, APAAM, an organization of Arab American members of the US armed services, worked with AAI to defeat in committee a Florida state legislative bill that would have prohibited state support to nonresident aliens from countries on the State Department’s supporters of terrorism list. Baadani engaged in a highly visible exchange of correspondence with Rep. Dick Kravitz about the appropriateness of the bill and its potential violation of the equal protection class of the Constitution. Responding to an Action Alert produced by AAI, members and friends sent messages to the leaders of the Florida legislature and Governor Bush asking that the legislation be removed from the docket. A CNN-USA Today-Gallup Poll released this week found that 58 percent of respondents feel that finding a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a very important US foreign policy goal, and more than 75 percent support US economic and diplomatic pressure on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority in terms of his work on a reasonable solution to future relations between Israel and the Palestinians