File Photo: Supporters cheer as a speaker talks during an election night gathering in Dearborn, Mich. AP
This was the theme of this year’s Forum of Assilah in Morocco, which brought together scholars from Lebanon, Libya, Tunisia, Palestine, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco. My own contribution focused on Arab communities in the US and was entitled “Will Arab-Americans become an influential lobby group?”
Opening with a brief account of the history of Arab immigration to the US, starting in the late 19th century, I pointed out that Arab-Americans hailed from different countries of origin and different socioeconomic and religious backgrounds. As a result, the Arab-American community has been fragmented and ineffective in pressing for its concerns. In the late 20th century and especially since 9/11, the rise of terrorist groups claiming to represent Islam put this community under constant scrutiny and suspicion. As a result, their political and social freedom of movement was limited, and they were constantly under pressure to defend themselves against the widespread, baseless negative stereotyping. Even non-Muslim Arabs in the US found themselves in this position.
I then turned to the remarkable change that has occurred since Israel launched its brutal aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza in October last year. The scale of the atrocities stirred the conscience of broad swathes of public opinion in the West while uniting Arab- Americans of all backgrounds. This newfound unity enabled them to shift from the defensive to concerted political activism, benefiting from the growing tide of grassroots support which had been jolted into the realisation of the nature of the Israeli occupation and the justice of the Palestinian and Arab cause. Mass demonstrations swept major US cities calling for the freedom of Palestine and, for the first time, US presidential candidates specifically addressed Arab- American voters in attempts to win their support.
The Arab-American community and Arab communities in the West, in general, are at a crossroads. They can either remain united and work together to maximise the current opportunity to strengthen their collective power, or they can revert to their previous division and political marginalisation if the current outpouring of grassroots support for Palestinian/Arab causes wanes. In my presentation, I called for the creation of an Arab-American general council, along the lines of the American Jewish Committee, to defend their community, represent its interests and sustain its unity through the most effective channels available to it.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 31 October, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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