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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 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. The "Arab-American Institute" -- AAI -- is little more than a hollow-shell calling-card for Zogby and cronies to make their way around town; even as Zogby personally is usually 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.
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