Press Room

AAI in the News

Zogby: Push candidates on Middle East issues

By Ben Fornell
The Gazette
Posted on Sunday April 15, 2007

James Zogby is bringing his ideas to create peace in the Middle East to Coe College today, and urges Iowans to use the personal interactions of Iowa’s caucus system to bring their Mideast concerns to presidential candidates.

Zogby is the president of the Arab American Institute in Washington D.C., an organization which serves as the political and policy arm of the Arab community in America. He is scheduled to speak at 3 p.m. Sunday at Hickock Hall at Coe College, 1220 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids, and at 6 p.m. in the Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St. He also will speak in Des Moines on Monday evening at Plymouth Congregational United Church.

In a Gazette interview Saturday night, Zogby said he would call for American leadership to bring peace to Israel and Palestine.

“An American president has to stand up and say ‘this is the plan.’ Not an ultimatum from either side, but an ultimatum from America,’’ Zogby said.

Zogby added that America has interests in the Middle East that go beyond securing oil, noting the hundreds of thousands of Americans who live in the region, and the
Arabs who live in this country.

“This is about what America needs to happen. And until we take that kind of attitude and see that this is us, this is not Israel, this is not Palestine, this is what America needs,” Zogby said. “If you look at the end of Vietnam until now, we’ve sent more money, sent more weapons, fought more wars, lost more lives, had more at stake and invested more political capital, and yet, we can’t even have a debate about it in a presidential election.’’

Zogby compares the negative image of America in the Middle East with the image of a jilted lover.

``It’s the story of betrayal,`’ Zogby said, speaking from his experience polling the Palestinian people with his brother’s company, Zogby International. ``People like American people in the Middle East.

They like our culture, they like our way of life. They don’t think we like them, and that’s why our ratings are so low.

``One guy said to me, `the reason we’re so angry at you, is because it’s like a jilted lover. We’ve done everything we could… to almost mimic you, we send our kids to
school there, we do our business with you, we don’t go to China where it’s easier, we want to do business with you even when you slap our face.

”’But what we feel like is that you’ve turned your back on us, and when it comes to the most important issues that face us, you make our lives miserable.’‘’

Zogby missed his appearance at the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids Saturday night due to a problem with a flight connection.