FOCUS Sada Alwatan LCOK FOR OUR OPENING Continued from preceding page Soon at the CROSSWINDS MALL The World Class Shopping Mall 18,000 TITLES TO CHOOSE COMPUTERIZED SELECTION ONE DAY TURN AROUND FOR MOST OUT OF STOCK ITEMS LOWEST POSSIBLE PRICE! DELIVERY* • COMPETITIVE PRICES • • LISTENING STATION • • SPECIAL ORDERS • • PORTABLE CD PLAYERS • (Panasonic) "When it comes to your compact disc selection — we deliver" WIDE SELECTION OF CLASSICAL-POP-ROCK-NEW WAVE Disclaimer: Delivery in out of stock items within a 2 mile radius • HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 11-9 PM Sat. 10-6 Sun. 12-5 I 4310 Orchard Lake Rd. Crosswinds Mall, West Bloomfield Siblani's latest crusade is against the Hyatt hotel chain. "Israel confiscated land in Arab (east) Jerusalem and they gave it to Hyatt to build on it," he says. "We're putting out the story so next time people will not have their convention at the Hyatt." Hyatt officials say that the land on which their Jerusalem hotel was build was not previously Arab-owned. Not all the Arab communi- ty has heeded Siblani's call to boycott. A convention of the American-Arab Anti- Discrimination Committee was held recently at the Dear- born Hyatt. According to Siblani, ADC President Ab- deen Jabara evaded a Sada Alwatan reporter's question about why the organzation had not followed the boycott. S O PREMIERING SOON OUR NEW STORES: CROSSWINDS MALL Orchard Lake at Lone Pine TWELVE OAKS MALL in Novi LAKESIDE MALL In Sterling Heights VISIT OUR OTHER FINE LOCATIONS: BIRMINGHAM Downtown on Maple DEARBORN Fairlane Town Center MILANO FUR & LEATHER FOR MEN & WOMEN iblani is confident that the influence of both his newspaper and his com- munity are in the ascendent. Print and television jour- nalists call on the 32-year-old publisher to take the pulse of the Arab-American community. That community includes Arabs of Lebanese, Iraqi, Palestinian and Yemeni des- cent. They are Christians as well as Sunni and Shi'ite Moslems. Siblani says that his newspaper's focus on Israel is not designed to pro- vide a common denominator of interest for the disparate local community or to steer attention away from divisions in the Arab world. "I don't believe there is ten- sion in the Arab world or in the Arab community here," he says. "We have differences of opinion. If you call that dissension or fighting among Arabs, then we should say the Jews are fighting against each other. In the Israeli cabinet, we see that Shamir and [Foreign Minister Shimon] Peres do not get along!' The political squabbles bet- ween Shamir and Peres pale in comparison with the recent fighting in Lebanon between rival Shi'ite forces, in which hundreds died. How did Sada Alwatan cover that story? "We have touched on it," Siblani answers. "We have criticized it, but probably not as much in English as we should have!' Much of the work of Arab advocacy organizations — Sada Alwatan included — is to loosen the bonds between America and Israel. Why doesn't the newspaper argue for more aid for the Palesti- nians instead of less military and economic aid to Israel? "My concern as an Arab American is what my govern- ment — the U.S. government — is doing," Siblani says. "Israel occupies Palestinian land and the U.S. supports Israel in its occupation!' He contrasts the fighting between Arabs and Israelis in the Middle East with rela- tions between Arab Americans and American Jews. "At least here we can communicate without having sandbags." By working together, Arab and Jewish Americans could bring Arabs and Israelis closer to peace, Siblani says. "We send billions of dollars to Israel from American Jewish lobbyists. You cannot underestimate the American Jewish influence on Israel. "At the same time the Arab American influence is not as One cartoon depicted Uncle Sam, tied to the ground like Gulliver by Lilliputian-sized Israelis. powerful. But they represent some kind of mainstream politics overseas. "You could really have an international peace con- ference here in Detroit. Now whether [those in the Middle East] will abide by our message is not our problem. We don't want to kill each other over there. We say, `These are our views. If you don't listen to us, then we aren't going to support you! " He says the constructive local dialogue he envisions hasn't yet happened, despite the existence of Arab-Jewish discussion groups. Siblani dismisses as smoke screens Israeli peace pro- posals from Camp David to the Jordanian option. "It's like treating cancer with Tylenol. The only solution is to give the Palestinians their homeland, to give them their kind of integrity and passport. "We don't have any pro- blems with the Jews," he con- tinues. "Judaism is a religion that we recognize and respect. Judaism and Zionism are not the same thing." Although he argues for Palestinian self- determination, Siblani says Jews are members of a religion, not a nation. He im- plies that Jews have no right, and no interest in self- determination in Israel.