31)•
been significant withdrawals on the
Arab governmental and American cor-
porate levels) are expecting a return on
their investments of time and money.
When no one benefits, as is assured,
the integrity of the community will be
questioned."
Lo, lo, to
L00000w.
Pivotal Event
David Gad-Harf, executive director of
the Jewish Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit, said the confer-
ence "is seen as a pivotal event in the
development of U.S.-Arab ties."
However, he added, "The main
obstacle to economic development in
the Middle East is the fact that the
Arab countries have not made peace
with Israel. When that happens, there
will be an explosion of economic
growth because of the potential of
business partnerships between Israel
and its neighbors."
The forum will offer programming
on human development as well as eco-
nomic issues, including panel discus-
sions and presentations on civil rights,
women's rights and
education. ACCESS
will coordinate these
activities because, as
Executive Director
Ismael Ahmed said,
"In the real world,
business and tech-
nology are not sepa-
Gad-Hal
rate from human
development.
"There are those who would like to
paint the relationship between the
United States and Islam as a clash of
civilizations. But the same things that
are important here are important in
the Middle East."
As part of the forum, Ahmed will
lead a tour in Dearborn of the first
National Arab American Museum at
2:30 p.m. Sept. 29. Eventually, he
hopes to combine tours of the new
museum, which was built by ACCESS
with grants from Ford Motor
Company and 'others, with tours of
Detroit's Charles Wright Museum of
African-American History and Shalom
Street, the future hands-on museum at
the Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit in West
Bloomfield.
Ahmed said he does not anticipate
anti-Jewish sentiment at the forum,
and Attalla said he would be "very dis-
appointed if any anti-Semitism is
FORUM
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