Arab-Americans Back U.S. Policy on Hussein but Say He’s No Hitler

A spokesman for the nation’s largest Arab-American group, holding its first national meeting since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait last month, said that it is wrong for U.S. officials to compare Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to Adolf Hitler and that the crisis has spawned increased anti-Arab violence in this country.

Leaders of the National Assn. of Arab Americans, which claims more than 2 million U.S. residents in its membership, also denounced Iraqi “military aggression” and said most Arab-Americans support sending U.S troops to Saudi Arabia.

Still, they fear that the crisis will “reinforce stereotypes” in the United States about Arabs and increase ethnic friction.

“What is dangerous is when political leaders and particularly people in the media manipulate a situation to increase their popularity by playing on fears,” said Khalil E. Jahshan, associate executive director of the group, during a press conference Friday at the the Anaheim Marriott.

“Some members of the community have been exposed to physical violence and harassment,” he said. “We are not going to sit still and say they are isolated incidents. We take them seriously and are reporting them” to police.

Jahshan said comparisons of Hussein to Hitler--such as those made several times by President Bush--tend to “demonize all Arab-Americans.”

“Equating Hussein with Hitler is wrong, objectively,” he said. “I don’t think he has done things that compare with Hitler.”

He also said many in the Arab-American community think that Washington is guilty of a double standard in demanding withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait but giving different treatment to Israel’s occupation of disputed lands.

“The NAAA believes . . . that no nation should ever again be permitted to seize or occupy the territory of another by force of arms,” stated a resolution adopted by the group’s board of directors. “Implementation of this principle not only requires that the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait be ended, but it also requires that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian territory should be ended.”

White House assistant press secretary William Harlow said Friday that Bush’s comments were not intended to “reflect on Arabs in general” and that it would “distract from the current situation to connect Iraqi actions to the Palestinian question.”

Members of the Arab-American group are scheduled to meet with Bush in Washington on Monday to discuss the crisis.

Despite their concerns, Jahshan and other Arab-American leaders offered mostly praise for Bush’s handling of the crisis, calling the President’s response “sound and principled.”

“The objectives of achieving the withdrawal of Iraqi forces, the restoration of the legitimate Kuwaiti government, protection of the security and stability of the region and securing the release of American hostages reflect a sound and appropriate response to the Iraqi invasion,” said an association statement.

The association had scheduled its 18th annual convention long before the Iraqi invasion but rearranged its events and speakers to address the crisis. A highlight of the three-day conference is expected tonight, when Prince Hassan bin Talal, the crown prince of Jordan and younger brother of that nation’s King Hussein, will address the convention via satellite.

The events in the Persian Gulf have sparked emotional turmoil for many attending the conference and made their union uneasy--especially Americans of Iraqi and Kuwaiti descent.

On Friday, Mejdi Al-khateeb, an Iraqi-American, offered a harrowing account of being held hostage with his 9-year-old daughter for more than a month in his homeland.

The Virginia computer consultant had traveled to Baghdad in July to visit relatives when the invasion occurred. He was prevented from flying out of the country and was turned back at both the Turkish and Jordanian borders. He and others with Western passports were finally allowed to leave Sept. 3.

“It was a very tense situation in Baghdad,” he said at a morning press conference. “The army was was on the streets, and there were beginning to be food shortages. Foreigners were gathering in hotels, seeking any way out.”

Iraqis have mixed emotions about the invasion, he said: Many believe that Iraq has a traditional claim on Kuwaiti territory, but many others increasingly believe that Baghdad’s military action was wrong.

His remarks drew an emotional reaction from Abdul Majeed Al Shatti, a Kuwaiti scientist who has been stranded in the United States since the invasion.

Shatti, director of the economics department at the Kuwaiti Institute of Scientific Research, said he has been unable to contact his family in Kuwait since the day of the invasion but has heard about extreme hardship from others in the country.

He said reports of widespread looting of Kuwaiti resources appear to be accurate: “I am told they have turned a school into a prison and have taken many Kuwaiti men there. Iraqi soldiers are shooting people in front of their families.

“I have lost much personally but, more importantly, the whole Arab world has lost so much by this aggression.”