Press Room

AAI in the News

Man Spotlights Arab-American Point of View

By Deidre Bello
Iowa City Press-Citizen
Posted on Sunday October 31, 2004

Newman Abuissa of Iowa City refuses to sit on the sideline.

As the nation sits on the edge of its seat in the final days before the presidential election, Abuissa has become something of a national barometer for Arab-American views on the election, views he thinks Americans should be aware of. The foreign press has interviewed him, and he is a regular interviewee on BBC radio.

“It’s energizing to me because of my position and my feeling that I’m doing something at least to express myself instead of being a bystander,” said Abuissa, 43, of being in the spotlight. “I feel involved and feel more effective this way. I do feel that Americans are open to our point of view because I think that the Arab-American point of view is not covered in the media in this country fairly.”

He was the only Arab-American Iowa delegate at the Democratic National Convention in Boston this summer. Abuissa said the position instilled in him the confidence to be recognized for his nationality and speak for the estimated 4,400 people of Arab descent in Iowa, including 450 in Iowa City, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. There were 57 Iowa delegates and 46 Arab-American delegates at the convention.

The main issue he tried to convey to fellow delegates was that the Israeli and Palestinian conflict is central to the United States’ understanding of the Middle East, and Americans won’t have an opportunity to solve any other problems in the region if there isn’t a solution there first.

A native Syrian and Orthodox Christian-Arab, Abuissa became a U.S. citizen 12 years ago. In 2000, he voted for President Bush. Two years ago, however, a trip to Washington, D.C., to protest the war in Iraq changed his views about the Bush administration and the knowledge that there are refugees suffering from war-torn regions across the Arab world stay with him today. Despite his calm demeanor, the political spirit in him had been lit.

“At that time, I just couldn’t believe we were preparing to go to war with Iraq,” Abuissa said. “I knew the Middle East, I grew up there. I grew up in Syria and came to this country about 20 years ago. I just couldn’t understand why we would have war there, so I thought the best thing for me was to become active politically.”

In between raising his family and acting as Iowa City area district engineer for the Iowa Department of Transportation, Abuissa started stumping for Democratic presidential contender John Kerry weeks before the Iowa caucuses and continues to support the Democratic Party by volunteering at local events.

“I like Kerry’s stand on civil liberties issues,” Abuissa said. “I understand that the Patriot Act is needed at this time because of the difficult environment, but I do realize that there are some deficiencies that need to be repealed, and I think Kerry understands that.”

Two weeks ago, his wife, Kristi, and their four children watched as airport security searched through their belongings. The family was delayed a half-hour and needed special clearance because their last name is Arabic, Abuissa said. He said he expects searches but since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, hadn’t felt singled out before this.

Abuissa said he thinks most Arab-Americans oppose the Bush administration because of the support it is giving Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and for “keeping the course” in Iraq. He supported the president in the war in Afghanistan, but when the war started building up in Iraq, he disagreed that it was an organized approach.

“The way we see it, with us being in Iraq, the more animosity we create,” Abuissa said. “And Arab-Americans are losers on both ends because they are Arabs and they are Americans.”

As a member of the leadership council for the Iowa chapter for the Arab-American Institute, Abuissa’s role is to educate people about the election and voting process.

“My role is to activate the Arab Americans in Iowa to vote and to be present on the political scene and to contribute our views to the American society,” Abuissa said. “I think that it is valuable to the American society, who need to understand that for their involvement in the Middle East to be more successful. ... We need to gain the confidence of moderate Arabs to defeat terrorists and extremists, and behaving in a way to alienate (ourselves) is not helpful to our policy and the American people.”