Arab American News Focus

News, August 2003, www.aljazeerah.info

Arab American Institute

8/18/03

President Bush Expected to Appoint Pipes During Recess
"President Bush is expected to sidestep Congress and appoint a Middle East scholar who has been derided by critics as anti-Muslim to a federally funded think tank," congressional sources told Reuters this week. "Bush's recess appointment of Daniel Pipes could spark a backlash from some Muslim-Americans and Democrats in Congress, who oppose his nomination to serve on the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, which was created by Congress to promote peaceful solutions to world conflicts. Pipe's nomination has been stalled for months in the Senate, where Democrats objected to his statements and writings defending racial and religious profiling and suggestions that mosques in America should be targets of police surveillance. Bush has stood by his nominee and, according to sources, plans to issue a recess appointment as early as this week. In so doing, Pipes would bypass the

Senate confirmation process and could serve on the institute's board through next year." Please contact President Bush and urge him to withdraw Pipes' name from consideration for the Board of the US Institute of Peace. You can contact President Bush about this issue online at http://capwiz.com/arab/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=2963031

Biden Decides Against Presidential Run
Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) announced this week that he will not enter the race to become the Democratic Party's nominee to challenge President George W. Bush for the White House, which, Biden stated, would be "too much of a long shot." He also stated that, "At this moment, my instincts tell me that the best way for me to work to enhance America's national security and to fight for economic security for the middle class is to remain in the United States Senate." Biden was one of two possibly significant candidates speculated to have been considering a run. The other, retired General Wesley Clark, has not yet declared his intentions.

Arab American Named National Press Secretary for Graham Campaign
Arab American Mohammed "Mo" Elleithee has been appointed to the post of National Press Secretary for Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bob Graham of Florida. Elleithee, the son of native Egyptians, was, until being hired onto the Graham campaign, managing the campaign of Blair Hull, a Democrat who is running for the United States Senate in Illinois. Prior to that, Elleithee worked on the campaigns of Janet Reno for governor of Florida and Mark Warner for governor of Virginia.

American Jewish Community Split Over Security Wall
The British daily Telegraph reports that a "furious row has erupted between Jewish leaders in America over Israel's construction of a security fence...The row, which has drawn in prominent politicians from America and Israel, has been caused by a letter sent to President George W. Bush by Edgar Bronfman, ... president of the World Jewish Congress. The letter was co-signed by Lawrence Eagleburger, the former secretary of state under President Bush Senior." In the letter, the authors "criticized the security fence, describing it as a 'separation wall,' and asserted that the continuing construction is 'complicated and potentially problematic." They also urged the American president to exert pressure on Israel and apply 'the same straightforwardness' with the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, as the American leader had shown with the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas." It goes on to state that a copy of the letter was passed on to Isi Liebler, "a hardliner who, as senior vice-president of the WJC, is Mr. Bronfman's deputy... went on the offensive against Mr. Bronfman." In a letter to the Jerusalem Post, he writes, "It would be obscene at any time for the president of the World Jewish Congress to lobby the president of the United States to resist policies being promoted by the government of Israel. But on a security issue such as the security fence, one that impacts on the life and death of Israelis, your intervention - irrespective of whether you formally used your presidential title or not - can only be described as an act of perfidy which will not be swept under the carpet."

New White House Deputy Secretary Learned Ropes at AIPAC
The Forward reports that "Jewish Republicans are pointing to the pro-Israel credentials of President Bush's new deputy press secretary, Dan Senor, as evidence that Jewish concerns are being noted regarding that position now that Ari Fleischer has left his post as press secretary. Senor got his start in politics in 1993 as an intern at the lobbying powerhouse the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. 'Whether I was learning the ins and outs of Washington with my fellow interns or attending briefings on Capitol Hill, my internship at AIPAC prepared me for my work in politics,' AIPAC's Web site quotes Senor as saying. More recently, Senor served as deputy press secretary for the top American administrator in Iraq, Ambassador L. Paul Bremer."

Heard Around Town...
Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) on the Bush Administration and Iraq: The White House "failed to grasp the complexity of rebuilding Iraq before going to war and ignored concerns that the U.S. was leaping before it looked." He was also quoted as stating that, "In other words, the basic assumptions ... simply were inadequate to begin with."

Jonathan Pollard, the U.S. Navy Intelligence analyst who was convicted of spying for Israeli operatives in 1985, from a letter he has written to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon: "If you only feared G-d half as much as you fear the enemies of Israel, you would find the courage and the determination to do that which is right and that which is needed without hesitation. Only one who has no fear of G-d, and no sense of Jewish history or Jewish destiny could so thoroughly ignore the moral imperatives that are the foundation of our faith and the bedrock of our nation. Recent events in Israel demonstrate that you have an uncanny ability to tolerate the agony of our people at this excruciating time in our history. Be aware that this ability to block out their cries and ignore their suffering is no more than an extension of your ability to tolerate the agony of one Israeli agent. After all, 5 million is just 5 million multiplied by one. Until you master your fear and learn to trust in the Creator of Heaven and Earth, your fear of man and your lack of resolve not only hurts me, but also threatens to bring the Nation of Israel to the brink of disaster."

Of Note:
Today the Arab American Institute launched its Iowa Arab American Leadership Council (IA-ALC) during a press briefing, where IA-ALC leaders will announce their plans for a year-long campaign of identifying, training, and activating Iowa's Arab American community in preparation for the 2004 presidential elections. As part of this effort, the IA-ALC will recruit and train Arab Americans to run as delegates to county, state, and national conventions. Representatives from IA-ALC will also detail the community's position on a number of issues including homeland security, civil liberties, Iraq, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The group will use its voice to encourage candidates to debate these issues throughout the campaign. As part of its campaign, IA-ALC members will travel to churches, mosques, and community centers throughout Iowa to register Arab American voters. Registration efforts will begin following Friday prayers (between 2 -2:30) at the Islamic Center of Cedar Rapids on First Ave.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

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