James Zogby, Iowa City 4/15/07

James Zogby, Iowa City 4/15/07

About 50 people here at the Iowa City library for Arab-American Institute president James Zogby. Starting off with a video on the 30 year history of the organization. The video ends up with the Bachman-Turner Overdrive reference.

Newman Abuissa, my Iowa City 22 precinct captain, is introducing. Newman says it was hard in the `70s for immigrants to become active and AAI was his yay in. He sees his role as bridging the gap between Arab and American culture. Newman was a national delegate in `04.

Zogby is on. AAI is proud of its history - but Zogby is depressed because the debate has gotten worse. The debate has been shut down and the consequences are real - not only to the middle east but to America.

We are better than our polices, and I don't believe we can be proud of the mess we've made. Not one leader or one party has made this mess - it's a history of bad decisions. Al Quada has grown way beyond what it was before 9/11, had sprung up many places - including Iraq (where it wasn't before), now playing the role Afghanistan once did. More Iraqis dying now than before surge, beyond Baghdad.

Afghanistan could have been solved, but resourced diverted to Iraq. Has reverted into anarcho-state with Taliban re-emerging and attacks up.

News from Israel-Palestine is horrifying. "Worse than Soweto" said Ron Brown. Gaza most densely populated area on earth. No work on infrastructure during occupation. A million people had no paved roads, lakes of sewage. Two weeks ago five people died in a sewage flood. Why? Israelis refused to allow construction materials in.

If we don't do something about the failed policy it will not change. The way out is there, but hard to see. I could have given this same talk in 1988, but I could have been optimistic then. Not now. When the hole gets this deep it's tough to get out. Candidates have to face hard truths.

Iraq is not gonna get better any time soon. Two time bombs: 1) civil war - We could go from thousands dying to HUNDREDS of thousands. Lebanon exploded within two weeks. It could happen. Second time bomb is ticking here with American patience getting thin. If the debate is nothing more than surge vs. set date to get out, that's simplistic and indecent.

Story leading to "this is our baby." We are responsible, we did this. Walking away is no better than going in was in the first place. A candidate who says "it's not our job" is as cold as Bush. Baker-Hamilton set a path: we have to leave but we have to prepare the political ground.

We have to make this part of the debate. "We gotta leave" is a cheap applause line. Don't let a candidate get away with it. We need an answer. And maybe America can't be par of the solution but we need to help prepare.

Using phrases like "I have to be honest with you" a lot.

I stopped doing TV a long time ago because they put me up against "experts who aren't." Where are the teach-ins on Iraq? How can we remake a country whose history we don't know? We don't even know how they see us.

We have to pay a price and we have to know what we're doing. If we can't ADMIT what we did there's no way out.

Israel-Palestine: AAI was hopeful in `88, as late as `96. It was not as tough 12, even 6 years ago. The damage done has been enormous. While peace was on agenda in Clinton years, West Bank settlements doubled. And the wall is insidious because of what it does. It creates all these little pockets, miles in, cutting Palestinian villages off. It's making an unbearable life even worse. Has literally destroyed the physical structure of Palestinian daily life. There's nothing left to declare a "state." Cut up into little pieces.

Terrorism has hardened Israeli attitude. The leaders say there's no solution, "they're genetically coded to hate us." Gaza unemployment (under age 30) is 80%. Means no hope, no opportunity. Means life is over. Death has replaced honor. Suicide bombers are a symptom of a sick society - killing yourself looks like a real option. There's no job, no college, no way to start a family, no income. 3/4 on UN food relief, while Israel per capita income is $17,000. Palestine = 80% on 50 cents a day. That would mean a civil war here.

Fear won't end overnight - neither will cult of death. Will take time and leadership - and we've had no leadership. Asymmetries of compassion and pressure. Israel gets compassion, Palestine gets pressure. Spoiled children on one side, abused children on the other. And it can. get. worse.

This conflict, combined with Iraq, has done enormous damage to US in Middle east. Our policies have hurt us. It's now about US. Middle Easterners like Americans. It's not that America's stuff is better - it's that people like our culture. Germans and Japanese and Chinese export products, we export a way of life.e

"It's not that we don't like you - it's that we feel you have no respect for us." We've treated them badly. Palestine and Iraq are central to our relationship to the whole region. We are ignorant of history and culture, but with effort we can figure out WHY Iraq and Palestine are so important.

We're ready for enormous change. People in US want change, we just don't know what to think. The question for which Obama was bashed is incredibly important. This election process needs to be about ideas. And Iowans have the ability to shape the debate. Iowans get to do what the rest of America wants to do - ask the questions. Make the candidates understand that the opinion is out there that we need a different direction.

The people playing "who loves Israel more" aren't helping make Israel safe. If you care about Israel, you need to make a lasting peace. But candidates won't care unless they think there are votes in it. And they don't know that there are votes in it. Asking the questions empowers the candidates to change the policy.

We need to deal with Israel/Palestine in a creative way that creates real reconciliation. The only way to defeat extremism is to remove the conditions that create it.

When you go into cultures you don't understand, be very careful.

There are opportunities. Americans want to leave Iraq, but leave responsibly. Baker-Hamilton is a thoughtful way out. Israel-Palestine: 3/4 of Americans want US to be even-handed. You Iowans need to be vocal and insistent. Every Iowan who asks a question speaks for tens of thousands.