Press Room

AAI in the News

Change in Policy Needed to Fight Terrorism

By James Q. Lynch
The Cedar Rapids Gazette
Posted on Tuesday November 4, 2003

CEDAR RAPIDS—Searching for terrorists is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and unfortunately, the Patriot Act and other so-called tools to fight terrorism have only added more hay to the stack, says James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute.

However, Zogby, a member of the Democratic National Committee, said that unlike the candidates for his party’s nomination who would repeal the Patriot Act, he believes it can be fixed with legislation.

Standing in front of posters calling for repeal of the Patriot Act, Zogby told his Mount Mercy College audience Monday that some parts of the legislation, which Congress enacted in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, are worthwhile.
“But you have to remember,” Zogby said, “none of the arrests or convictions on terrorism-related charges has been the result of the Patriot Act or any of (Attorney General) John Ashcroft’s programs. They’ve been the result of old-fashioned law enforcement work.”

Provisions in the law that remove judicial oversight and review from the process and “sneak and peek” provisions that allow law enforcement to carry out searches without warrants “are worse than what King George did to us,” Zogby said.

A lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues, U.S.-Arab relations and the history of the Arab-American community, Zogby called for changes in U.S. policy in the Middle East to make Israel more secure and offer Palestinians hope.

What’s needed are policies that give young Palestinians hope in their future, so they don’t become suicide bombers.

“Terrorism is the result of bad foreign policy,” Zogby said. “Why do we have a culture so deformed that being a suicide bomber is not only acceptable but honorable?”

What’s needed is “bridging aid”—similar to what the Federal Emergency Management Agency would provide after a disaster and programs similar to the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration, Zogby said.

“People need cash in their pocket and something to do every day,” he said. That would create an environment in which leaders could negotiate peace agreements “because the pressure from below would be off.”

The United States’ lack of active involvement in the Middle East peace process “supports the extremists on both sides who don’t want peace,” Zogby said.

Zogby also spoke at the University of Iowa and met briefly with Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry at the Islamic Center.