The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) states that it is "the largest Arab American grassroots civil rights organization in the United States."ADC President Mary Rose Oakar letter to Congressman Rahm Emanuel , November 11, 2008. According to its webpage, it is open to people of all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities and has a national network of chaptersADC Regional office and Chapter List, at ADC web site. and members in all 50 states. It claims that three million Americans trace their roots to an Arab country.
The ADC seeks to "empower Arab Americans, defend the civil rights of all people, promote Arab cultural heritage, promote civic participation, encourage a balanced US policy in the Middle East and support freedom and development in the Arab World." ADC has a number of programs to combat discrimination and bias against Arab-Americans, including stereotypes of Arabs in the United States.About ADC at ADC web site.2008 ADC Board Resolutions at ADC web site.List of ADC press releases 2002–2006 at ADC web site. The ADC is a member of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and holds a seat on the Leadership Conference National Board of Directors.Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights web site executive committee listing .
Organization The ADC Legal Department offers counseling in cases of discrimination, defamation and hate crimes and provides assistance in selected litigation. Since the September 11 attacks, ADC attorneys have addressed hundreds of cases against airlines and employers for discrimination on the basis of ethnicity and national origin and against the United States government for discriminatory detentions of Arabs and Muslims without probable cause.ADC Defending Civil Rights at ADC web site.
The Government Affairs department works with the United States Congress, the White House, the United States Department of State and Department of Justice, as well as other government agencies to promote the interests of the community. US citizen members of ADC can contribute to the NAAA-ADC Political Action Committee (PAC) to support political candidates for federal office.NAAA-ADC Political Action Committee at OpenSecrets.org.
Convention speakers have included government officials like Department of Homeland Security civil rights officer Daniel W. SutherlandRemarks by Daniel W. Sutherland at American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s Silver Anniversary National Convention , Department of Homeland Security web site, May 28, 2005. and then-United States Secretary of State Colin L. PowellRemarks at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's National Convention Banquet, Secretary Colin L. Powell, U.S. Department of State web site, June 14, 2003.
History 20th century During the 1970s American Arabs' concerns about negative media images grew as a result of the Arab–Israeli conflict and Arab countries' defeat in the 1967 Arab–Israeli War grew.Michael W. Suleiman, Arabs in America: Building a New Future, Temple University Press, 1999, 247, , ADC was founded in 1980 by James Abourezk, the first Arab-American United States senator, and Arab-American political activist James Zogby.Kevin Zeese, Interview with James Abourezk , CounterPunch, April 16, 2006. Abourezk initially was motivated by unfair stereotyping of Arabs in media, anti-Arabism in general and the Abscam sting where Federal Bureau of Investigation agents posed as Arabs. He helped bring together more than 60 Arab leaders from around the nation who agreed to form the committee. Abourezk stated: "When we started up people used to ask us why we started. Now they ask us for our opinion on things.”Mohamed Kadry, James Abourezk: Father of the Arab American civil rights movement, The Arab American News, June 24, 2007.
After the 1982 Lebanon War, ADC began organizing demonstrations and marches. The war increased Arab Americans' willingness to speak out in general, as well as groups' use of the term "Arab American" to self-identify.John D. Buenker, Lorman Ratner, Multiculturalism in the United States: A Comparative Guide to Acculturation and Ethnicity, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005, 55,
In 1985, ADC offices suffered a series of violent attacks. On August 16, a bomb exploded in the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee office in Boston, severely injuring two police officers.The Boston Globe Page 1 Metro Section 8/17/1985 "DETONATION HURTS 2 IN BOMB SQUAD; DEVICE FOUND IN FRONT OF WEST ROXBURY BUILDING" Steve Marantz On October 29 an arson fire damaged the ADC office in Washington, D.C.Harvey W. Kushner, Encyclopedia of Terrorism, SAGE, 2003, 192–193 . On October 11, the day after the Achille Lauro incident where a Jewish American was shot and thrown overboard, Alex Odeh, ADC's west-coast regional director, was killed in an explosion when he opened the door to his office. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) suspected Jewish Defense League and Jewish Defense Organization members.Judith Cummings, "F.B.I. says Jewish Defense League may have planted fatal bombs," The New York Times, November 9, 1985.
Although Jewish Defense League leader Irv Rubin, who lived in Southern California, made controversial statements about the bombing,Tom Tugend, "Never Say Never Again", The Jerusalem Post, December 27, 2001.Jewish Defense League FAQ page . the investigation focused on Robert Manning and his wife Rochelle who fled to Israel. They eventually were prosecuted on another bombing charge and Manning is serving a life sentence on that charge.
During the 1991 Gulf War, ADC president James Abourezk expressed concern that Arab Americans would be targeted. He claimed a violent anti-Arab telephone message had been left on an ADC answering machine.Felicity Barringer, Confrontation in the Gulf; With Loyalty Split, Arab-Americans Fault Hussein, but Question U.S. Too, The New York Times, August 16, 1990. ADC documented more than 100 hate crimes against Arab-Americans committed from August 1990 through March 1991, including arson against a Detroit restaurant and the planting of a bomb in a San Diego mosque.ADC Bibliography of Anti-Arab Discrimination, Stereotyping, and Media Bias at ADC web site.Jim Naureckas, Gulf War Coverage, The Worst Censorship Was at Home Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, 1991.
In 1993, ADC and the American Civil Liberties Union settled a lawsuit against Pan American World Airways for their detention of a man of Iranian descent during the 1991 Gulf War. The groups and individual shared in the $110,000 settlement.Pan Am Settles a Bias Suit Dating From the Gulf War, The New York Times, January 22, 1993.
In 1993, ADC protested the characterization of Arabs and song lyrics in the 1992 Disney film, Aladdin, leading Entertainment Weekly to describe Aladdin as one of the most controversial films in history.The 25 Most Controversial Movies .
In 1993, twelve civil rights groups led by the ADC and the National Lawyers Guild filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles alleging that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) had spied on their political activities and shared information with police. They demanded that ADL release its surveillance information and pay punitive damages.Meredith Jane Adams, "Anti-Defamation League may have broken records laws", Chicago Tribune, May 3, 1993. They also sued the police and sheriffs' departments of San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.Rachelle Marshall, Arab Americans Spied On by ADL Sue Three Police Departments, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, September/October 1993, 14.
Then communications director Hussein Ibish claimed that ADL was gathering information "systematically in a program whose clear intent was to undermine civil rights and Arab-American organizations."Julie Wiener, ADL settles with Arabs, others to wrap up 6-year lawsuit, Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, October 1, 1999. In 1999 ADL agreed to purge certain personal information about the plaintiffs, pay $175,000 for the plaintiffs' legal fees and contribute $25,000 to a community relations fund to advance good relations among Arabs, Jews and others.*Elaine Catherine Hagopian, Civil Rights in Peril: The Targeting of Arabs and Muslims, Pluto Press, 2004, Chapter 1,
In 1996, the U.S. Congress passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, which increased regulation of fundraising that might benefit terrorists and made it easier to bar or deport individuals with suspected terrorist affiliations.Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996: A Summary , Charles Doyle, American Law Division, Federation of American Scientists, June 3, 1996. It also passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act allowing deportation of immigrants for minor offenses, even those committed decades ago, and even if individuals had American spouses and/or children. It also allowed secret classified evidence and denial of bond for those under threat of deportation. ADC began campaigns to contest these laws and even dilute or overturn them through legal action.ADC Update: ADC Submission to the National Commission on Terrorism , ADC web site, March 6, 2000.Secret Evidence Repeal Act to be Reintroduced , ADC web site, March 26, 2001. One lawsuit by Arabs claiming they were targeted for deportation because of affiliations with an unpopular political group, in violation of their First and Fifth Amendment, reached the Supreme Court, in Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee .Summary of RENO, ATTORNEY GENERAL, et al. v. AMERICAN-ARAB ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE et al., FindLaw. While the ruling cast doubt on the role of secret evidence, many observers interpreted it as restricting First Amendment rights of all non-citizens, including legal immigrants.
21st century In 2000, ADC supported a congressional letter to President Bill Clinton, signed by 68 members of Congress, calling for economic sanctions against the people of Iraq to be lifted. ADC's press release noted that the United Nations estimated that over one million civilians, mostly children, had died from malnutrition and disease due to the embargo.Arab-Americans Applaud New Congressional Letter on Iraq Sanctions , reprinted in Common Dreams, February 1, 2000.
In 2004 ADC signed on to a letter affirming the Palestinian Right of Return in response to President George W. Bush's declaration of support for the policies of Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon which allegedly denied that right.Civil society response to Bush declaration on right of return, Electronic Intifada, May 6, 2004.
After the September 11 attacks, ADC concerned itself with "an unprecedented backlash in the form of hate crimes, discrimination and various civil liberties violations" against the Arab American community, as well as against Muslims. It also addressed the October 2001 passage of the Patriot Act which increased federal law enforcement surveillance abilities, eased restrictions on foreign intelligence gathering within the U.S., expanded regulation of financial transactions and enhanced law enforcement abilities to detain and deport immigrants merely suspected of some relation to terrorists. Under the Act law enforcement immediately targeted mainly Arab-Americans and South Asians, including "massive secret detentions," selective enforcement through "voluntary" interviews, deportation of Middle Eastern men and further restrictions on immigration by Arabs and Muslims.ADC Fact Sheet: The Condition of Arab Americans Post-9/11 , March 27, 2002.