WASHINGTON, 22 February – Washington’s daybook has been full of Middle East events. Arab-Americans and Jewish-Americans have turned up the volume on the Middle East crisis, though the Administration and Congress seem determined to remain turned in to just one voice.
Amr Moussa, secretary-general of the League of Arab States, recently appeared in Washington to address a well-attended and well-heeled banquet dinner organized by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the ADC. Moussa’s words were timely and perceptive, but his audience was mainly limited to those well familiar with the woes of the Arabs in the region.
Moussa eloquently defended the deplorable situation of the Palestinians. “Occupation, by its very nature, breeds resistance. We cannot call on the Palestinians alone to stop violence without addressing the other party to stop its atrocities and illegal occupation.”
He also echoed the call of many leaders in the Arab world for the US to return to its former role of ‘honest broker’ and mediate “this century-old antagonism between the Arabs and Israelis.”
He applauded Israeli Army reservists who have refused to serve in the occupied territories, and read their recently released statement: “We will no longer fight beyond the Green Line for the purpose of occupying, deporting, destroying, blockading, killing, starving and humiliating an entire people.”
Moussa said the Arab world had a big job ahead of them, and stressed the Arab League is calling on the Arab-American community to “act as a formidable bridge between the Arab world and America.”
What made this statement newsworthy was his announcement that the Arab League had decided to “establish key focal points as liaison with the Arab League in the US ... with members of the Arab-American community.”
Moussa then introduced Nasser Baydoun as the Arab League’s first liaison and who will be based in Michigan. He said other Arab League representatives would soon be named in the US, to “lay the ground work for a better dialogue and a more productive working relationship between the Arab World and the United States.”
The head of the Arab League said he had traveled to Michigan twice at the end of last year to meet with members of the Arab community over the issue of liaisons and better representation.
He added that plans to soon name a permanent ambassador to the Arab League office in Washington, which has had no permanent ambassador for “far too long.”
And, “to fully unleash the Arab economic potential,” Moussa said the Arab League was preparing to host the first Arab Economic Conference at the league headquarters in Egypt in mid-June, which would be “the first-ever international economic conference focused on the Arab private sector.”
