MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - January 8, 2003:    For years now Jim Zogby has been politically scaming everyone he can in Washington and the Middle East.   Zogby has become known as something of a political hustler parasite constantly feeding off the Palestinian conflict from all sides; always to his own personal benefit and actually causing far more harm than help for the Palestinians.  Just a few years ago in the Clinton "Peace Process" years it was the Congressionally-funded "Builders For Peace" project -- resulting in millions to Zogby and friends but in the end not one single completed project to benefit the Palestinians!   Zogby also managed to place his son in the top echelon of the State Department working with his friend Martin Indyk, a political pay-off for so much Zogby help over many years as Indyk climbed from head of the Israeli-Jewish lobby think-tank to the top rungs of power in Washington.   Now in the Bush terrorism-war years Zogby has come up with some new sordid tricks.

Heavily promoted by the Saudis  Zogby is actually quite widely despised, even hated, by many Arab Americans -- especially the most active and knowledgeable grass-roots.   He's considered at best a kind of p.r.-hack for the Saudis and the Arab 'client-regimes' in Washington.  Zogby-created his "Arab-American Institute" more than a decade ago now after he was unceremoniously booted out of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) by its founder, former Senator James Abourezk.  AAI is in reality though even today little more than a hollow-shell calling-card for Zogby and cronies to make their way around town; even as Zogby personally is nearly always shunned and hardly ever even invited to any Arab-American function he doesn't himself arrange and help sponsor.

Zogby's latest scam is taking place soon this month in Washington.  Using a guillible simple-minded post-student Palestinian from Ramallah as his front-man Zogby is still further miserably exploiting the vacuum caused by the near-total collapse of Arab American organizations in Washington (also with considerable thanks to the Arab 'client-regimes' in under-the-table combination with some in the Israeli-Jewish lobby).

This latest political scam -- complete with another help-them-out photo visit to the White House (oops...may be now canceled) -- is being called the "1st Annual National Arab-American Professional Conference".   Anyone with any dignity and smarts will stay away...far away; but there are always those eager to cash in for themselves, as well as those who just don't know whom they are dealing with and how maddeningly tragic the whole predicament in Washington has become.

Indeed a variety of corrupt and slippery Arab American business-types are now expected to attend as usual.  But because Zogby and chums can't otherwise manage to get enough bodies to come -- even with the financial subsidies they've arranged and advertised far and wide -- it's all being combined with what is called by Zogby side-kick Hanna Hanania the "5th Annual Arab-American Conference".   And in addition they decided to piggy-back the whole thing onto the anti-war demonstration taking place on Saturday the 18th, hoping to find a few more lost souls willing to stick around for their little gathering; which Zogby will then of course use to raise still more funds from the clueless Arabs funders in the oh-so-backward-still Middle East.  

Ineed, while the Palestinians back home are being shot, starved, bombed, and curfewed the little Zogby/Hanania crowd is going to be wined, dined and screwed -- complete with live band, DJ, and a couple each nearly-free breakfasts, lunches, and dinners plus a "grand party" and banquet hoopla (hey students, it's all for just 25 bucks, so come on down cause the organizers are promining 'bustling nightlife in Georgetown'!).    Hardly any serious or even  notable persons are expected (thank God!); and in fact Zogby and company have not even announced whom the Banquet speaker will be or any other specifics for that matter.

What a despicable (yes, we come back to that particular word) travesty it all is, with Jim Zogby personally (along with one of his key patrons, Saudi Ambassador 'Prince' Bandar) surely the most despicable character in the ongoing charade.  Thus it's a fitting time to recall this spoof newsletter that was distributed by in-the-know Arab American students a few years ago hoping to expose and embarrass Mr. Jim...but sadly to little avail it seems.