Nadia Hijab's Obvious Agenda

There has been a bit of kerfluffle in the Arab-American community about the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee's (ADC) actions in a recent festival they have held. The ADC did not allow Malek Jandali to perform one of his most famous songs. Huffington Post blogger Nadia Hijab weighed in on it, and took the opportunity to take many shots at Israel and its "occupation."

"The Arab Spring, as these struggles are collectively known, build on and reinforce the Palestinian people's struggle for freedom from Israel's 44-year military occupation -- during which two generations have been born into captivity -- justice for the Palestinian refugees and equality for the citizens of Israel.

"I still plan to moderate the Sunday brunch at which the former Palestinian ambassador Afif Safieh is the keynote speaker as well as the subsequent Town Hall on "Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions as a peaceful, legal, and just campaign" for freedom, from ending Israel's occupation, justice for Palestinian refugees, and equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel. And I will endeavor to ensure that all voices that speak with respect are heard, including my own, no matter how difficult or controversial the message, as we struggle to build a different future in which all human rights are upheld."

This may not seem like very much, but considering that the Arab revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, etc, only get one sentence (or one word) each, the contrast is quite clear. The rest of the article is just general speechifying about freedom of speech.

Now, contrast that with the original Politico link that Ms. Hijab used for her story. In that story, we seen that Mr. Jandali's song is not about "Palestine" at all, but about the Arab Spring, and that is why he wasn't allowed to write. Israel barely appears in the article at all, since the issue was really never about them. Contrast further with James Zogby's article on the same topic, and then take a look at some of the talkbacks for the Politico article:

It seems to me that Ms. Hijab had the chance to really say something here, but took the easy road instead and went with Israel bashing and generic "pro-freedom" weasel words. I guess she knew what the HuffPo wanted.

And by the way, notice how the comments on her article have been closed. Now why would they do that?