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AAI's Annual Leadership Conference
Aref Assaf

November 1, 2007

I attended the Annual AAI sponsored conference held this past weekend in Dearborn, Michigan. My estimate is that no less than 400 people representing over 20 organizations attended all or parts of the conference. No less than 10 people represented New Jersey. I had a chance to visit the Arab American Museum. I also enjoyed the renowned Egyptian national Orchestra's memorable performance singing Umm-Kulthoum's songs among others at the ornate Detroit Opera House. I came home much more hopeful than going in. It was a time however a paradox of conflicted emotions. The atmosphere was both a requiem and a celebration of where our community is on the political spectrum. While it true that we often belittle our political accomplishments, we also recognize that our road is along and at best a troubled one.
We laude the American Arab Institute for continuing to argue that a more engaged community is our best weapon for empowering our people and ensuring that our concerns and issues are dealt with by those who want our votes and money. The fact that except for a third-tier candidate, Ron Paul, no Republican candidate bothered to even send in an emissary or a lousy video tape. This should be clearly understood that the Republican Party to the disgust of many lifelong Arab Republicans is not actively seeking our vote. Democratic candidates, however, would be mistaken to take for granted our votes in November 08. They have along path to cross before earning our votes.
While I like Hillary's Clinton electability factor, I am most distressed by her positions on the Middle East. Of note is the striking absence of the words Palestine or Lebanon from her taped message. Her message was so generic (i.e., politically safe) that I spent the three minutes of her tape checking my emails.
Several news stories covered the three-day conference. One article stood out because of its serious accusations about AAI financiers. This blogger named Debbie Schlussel is a known Arab hater and her unabashed insults continue to permeate the digital world. This is an area which was covered by the Conference workshops and where it was affirmed that our community has but a minuscule presence. We at the AAF are keenly aware of the significance of the Internet in circumventing the obstacles posed by editors of newspapers and producers of TV shows. We are making tangible strides in New Jersey as all the major newspapers have solicited or accepted our views and published them in the prominent op-ed sections of their respective newspapers. But this is a task that must continue to expand nationwide and we look forward to working with AAI and other Arab American groups to share our success stories. Except for C-Span, I am not aware of any national TV outlet that covered the AAI event. AA

Read Detroit Free Press Coverage

Read second article by Detroit Free Press

Read US Department of State report