I am a proud member of the Christian
Ramallah family. I am proud that my
family has been organized since 1958 as the American Federation of Ramallah,
Palestine (AFRP) in the United States. I
am proud that for over 50 years my family has helped pay for the education of
thousands of Palestinian students, Christians and Muslims alike. I am proud that the fabric of our family has
been retained for all these decades in a land where we live so far apart
because of the geographical makeup of the United States. I am proud that my family has donated
tremendously to the health and wellbeing of our hometown, Ramallah, Palestine.
As the oldest and largest Palestinian-American
organization in the US the AFRP can wield so much power. In 1979, it was the only Arab-American
organization to be invited to the White House State Dinner for Pope John Paul
II. Yet in its 50 plus years of
existence, this invitation is the pinnacle of its glory. While it has 2 seats on the Palestinian
National Council, which were assigned by the PLO about 30 years ago, its
influence within the PLO is negligible and inconsequential.
Taunting the excuse that it is has a
501 (c) (3)[1]
status granted to its Education Trust Fund, it does not speak out in support of
Palestinian human rights with any meaningful or powerful manner. This restriction to act politically only
applies to the Educational Trust which is separate and apart from the main
organizational body of the AFRP. Thus the AFRP can and should speak forcefully
on behalf of Palestinian human rights.
To its credit, AFRP has over the years
met with State Department officials and were part of briefings at the White
House but again not with any dignity to represent its 40,000 Ramallah-American
membership base.
AFRP
also silently claims that because the AFRP is mainly concerned with keeping the
fabric of the Ramallah family together, it cannot be involved politically. Most of the Ramallah elders who are in their
senior years are politically apathetic mainly caused by centuries of being
subjected to occupying powers in our homeland. This apathy has been handed down
to their children and grandchildren. I
have been to many Palestinian political events in the Chicago area where I was
not only the only person from Ramallah but the only Christian. There are only a handful of Palestinian
Christians who participate in any meaningful way in Chicago are politics—several
of which are so old that they do not participate anymore. The same is true with national Palestinian organizations.
This
is tragic. The apathy of AFRP in the
political realm is disturbing as in the final analysis it will also only be
seen as acquiescence to the apartheid practices of the Israeli regime. I know that this last statement is a severe
criticism of the AFRP but one that I am prepared to defend.
The
Ramallah people are highly successful.
They are living the American dream in an atmosphere which does not seem
to reflect any concrete concern for the plight of the Palestinian people. Many Ramallah members will on an individual
basis condemn the actions of apartheid Israel but they do so to their cousins
and friends. They are not encouraged to
speak out publicly. Very few Ramallah
people dare to speak up in any public fashion.
To
its credit, in the minutes to its annual convention, the AFRP did sponsor a
Palestinian Youth Cultural Tour this past summer and has been supportive of Project
Loving Care. In July, 2011 AFRP members
held a White House briefing about Middle East peace efforts and then held a luncheon
at Capitol Hill to meet members of Congress but this only happened because the
annual convention was held in Washington, D.C.
With
an organization that represents 40,000 Palestinian Americans, one would think
that they would have an annual pilgrimage to Washington D.C to lobby members of
Congress. The Annual Mid-Year Meeting should
be held in Washington, D.C. with the aim to have a White House briefing and
follow up meetings with the State Department and Members of Congress. Additionally,
delegations of members can lobby their members of Congress at the district
offices but the AFRP is not geared up to this kind of political work. It should.
I
believe that the AFRP members would welcome leadership in this direction. The
fear is that involvement in the political realm would alienate one segment of
its members, the elders, at the expense of dismantling the Ramallah
Family. I do not see this at all.
At the 50th anniversary of the AFRP in Dearborn,
Michigan in July, 2008, I witnessed the youth of Cleveland, Ohio who sang and
danced in the lobby of the hotel to the cheering Ramallah onlookers. I wrote the poem Our So Secure Future in
which I wrote the following words:
On Friday night, a
show was put on by the shabab of Cleveland
In the lobby of the
Dearborn Hyatt they kicked up the band
The tubla and
the flute did set the tone
The music filled the
atmosphere so passionately known
Ramallahites listened
and praised them with merit
As these children of
Ramallah did exalt the spirit
That is what brings us
to our Ramallah Conventions
That is what
rejuvenates our spirits for our traditions
To see teenagers
singing
As our musical
instruments they are playing
Fills us with pride
and joy all around
Making us happy that
our future is so sound
Sound in our elders’
mind
Secured in that our
traditions do bind
I
am not as worried about our future as do some of the elders of my family. I am sure that the AFRP will be around for
many years to come and I will always continue to be proud of being a member of
the Ramallah family. The issue is
whether the AFRP future will be strictly as social organization or as a political
force or both. I would think that it can
be both.
The AFRP needs to speak
up. It needs to get involved in the
political realm.
( © Copyright, Fadi Zanayed. Publication or distribution of this material is allowed provided its content is not altered and the source and its author are cited.)
[1]
501 (c) (3) status is a designation by the US Treasury Department which allows
donors of non-for-profit organization to deduct donations from their individual
and corporate tax returns. One restriction on these organizations is that they
cannot politically influence governmental agencies.
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