Javid Hassan, Arab News Staff

RIYADH, 12 June 2003 — The Washington-based Arab American Institute and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) will take up the cases of some 13,000 Arabs and Muslims, some of whom have been targeted by the US government for possible deportation.

“We are concerned about the selective prosecution. They are not illegal, as they have a change in status pending. So we want to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to have their cases heard carefully,” Dr. James Zogby, founder and president of the Arab American Institute, said here yesterday. He was addressing a press conference at the headquarters of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth. WAMY Secretary-General Dr. Saleh Al-Wohaiby was also present.

At a briefing held earlier, Dr. Al-Wohaiby affirmed that various organizations in the US were being consulted to see what could be done to prevent discrimination against Muslims.

Dr. Zogby said Muslims formed only part of some three million illegal immigrants in the US. A larger group were 600,000 Mexicans. A discriminatory attitude toward Muslims was disturbing, he observed.

He pointed out that the events of Sept. 11, 2001 and May 12 this year underlined the need to close the gap between the Arabs and the Americans. “This goes beyond placing advertisements in the US media emphasizing ‘shared values.’” His reference was to the publicity campaign mounted by the Saudi Embassy in Washington aimed at improving the Kingdom’s image in the US media.

Dr. Zogby, now in Riyadh on a short visit, said the events leading up to Sept. 11 and May 12 highlight the information gap that exists on both sides. “We have to do things differently and try to understand each other. The fact is that we know too little about Arabs. We need to know more about them in the US.”

Responding to a question from Arab News whether the US administration realizes that the Arabs dislike its policies rather than its people, Dr. Zogby said the realization was beginning to dawn. “One evidence of this was President Bush’s statement spelling out clearly that Israel’s use of force against the Palestinians would not guarantee its security. Such a statement marked a shift in the rhetoric coming out of Washington,” he pointed out.

Even so, he pointed out that the statements of US Attorney General John Ashcroft showed there were elements in the US administration trying to project the crisis as a clash of civilization and as a war against Islam. Evangelists such as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and Franklin Graham have also joined the hate campaign by discussing Islam parading their own ignorance and prejudice.

Dr. Zogby agreed with a questioner that the US should address the root cause of the problem if it really wants to reduce tension in the Middle East and eliminate mutual suspicion and hatred. “This calls for a change of attitude in the media on both sides and there should be an end to editorials and cartoons portraying each other in a bad light. Two wrongs do not make a right,” he added.