A map of the Arab League chief's stateside mission, which begins this Saturday
(cairolive.com, October 19, 2001)
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa is heading to the States on Saturday for a visit that will include meetings with US administration officials, as well as members of the Arab American communities in several US cities. Moussa plans on making the trip's focus improving relations between the Arab world and Arabs in the US. With administration officials, he plans to focus his discussions on the general anti-Arab and anti-Muslim climate that has overtaken the US in the wake of the September 11 disaster, and the subsequent harassment of Arab and Muslim citizens there.
A senior Arab League official told cairolive.com that the League is concerned about the way Arabs in the West -- who are integral members of the societies they belong to -- are being blamed by association, and bearing much of the brunt for what happened September 11.
Amongst the measures the League is taking to both help the situation as well as encourage stronger ties between Arab-Americans and their motherlands is the establishment of an Arab Immigrants Unit, which will monitor complaints of harassment against Arabs living abroad and consult with responsible governments or international agencies to try to solve the problem.
With media and other forces avidly trying to categorize the current war as one between Islam and the West, a sort of clash of civilizations, the league has also felt compelled to establish a board of Arab intellectuals and thinkers whose mandate is to encourage dialogue and defend the image of Arabs and Muslims worldwide.
Arguing against the prevalent notion in the West that the Islamic world hates America, a senior Arab League official says, "We admire the American way of life. We just wish Americans would apply those same principles of freedom and justice equally around the world. All we want is for Israel and the Arab world to be treated equally by the Americans."
Also on the agenda, of course, in Washington, will be a discussion of the Palestinian-Israeli crisis. According to the Arab League official, "the problem is the double standard regarding the US's treatment of Israel." The official agrees with Egyptian President Mubarak that if you solve the Palestinian-Israeli problem, you will probably then eliminate the cause of up to 60 per cent of the world's terrorism.
Stay tuned to cairolive.com all next week for continuing coverage of Amr Moussa's US tour
