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America is the wrong enemy. Political movements and most political revolutions in the Arab world in the last 60 years have portrayed America as the enemy. This was a lethal mistake, and there was nothing in my opinion that has obstructed the development and maturity of political and civil movements in our homeland more than this false perception. This perception is also contagious; it has plagued Arab Americans as well. America is a superpower, and it is currently the only superpower in the world. Irrespective of whether we approve or disapprove of its foreign policy in the Middle East, our response should be to work with it, not to attack it. To do so we should not alienate ourselves from America, but integrate into it and work within its system. Arabs and Arab Americans might have felt that American foreign policy with respect to the Arab- Israeli conflict is heavily biased in favor of Israel and that America has always supported Israel unconditionally. This is probably true, but the only way to change that is to work with America than against it.
2. America, unlike Arab nations, is a democracy. The bulk of Arabs here in America, and in the Middle East, look at America as one single political entity with regard to foreign policy. This concept is wrong. In a democracy there is a government and there is an opposition. The key notion that Arabs need to understand is that many Americans and American politicians support Arab causes and oppose the prevailing foreign policy of America in the Middle East. These Americans are our best allies because they strongly believe in our causes, and they also have the power to change the foreign policy of America. In addition, we should never forget that it is our responsibility to work within the American system and to bring about change in decision-making at two levels: at the level of congress and that of the executive branch. This can only be achieved by establishing an Arab lobby in America. We have not been able to do so because we do not have a unified vision and because of our inability to work together as a team. For us to achieve anything in America we need to learn to work together and to respect each other and respect our differences. 3. America is an experiment in the making. It is a historical experiment. It is about how people with all their differences in color, religion, political ideology, and geographical roots can rise above all of their differences and work together to build a new nation. It is about how men and women shed their differences and work together to build something great. My team in Houston work around the clock, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, to treat people with cancer diseases. This team is made of Moslems, Christians, Jews, Agnostics, and Atheists. It is made of people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Some come from Russia, some from China, some from India, some from South America, and some from here. We are all united for a noble cause; the conquest of cancer. This is what I call the road to civilization. It is when we rise above the petty differences that have plagued the world for the last several thousand years, to the level of humanism. Arab Americans are invited to join in the making of this experiment. America provides us with a unique opportunity to go beyond ourselves. I say to my fellow Arab Americans: sort out your heritage, and take only the best. I also say to you; sort out your American experience and accept only the very best. It is wrong to believe that everything you brought with you from the homeland is bad, and it is also wrong to assume that everything you find in America is good. Here, in this land, we have the option of synthesis. This is the option of preserving the best we brought with us from the East, and combining it with the best we find here in America. This mixture is superior to either culture alone. Only we immigrants have this option of synthesis. In addition, America provides an opportunity for us to develop a tolerance for opposing views. We learn from America the importance of commitment to hard work and discipline, and the importance of being objective in our work and daily lives. We learn from America the beauty of diversity, and that people are by far more important than their religions, ideologies, or ethnic backgrounds. 4. To gain respectability and credibility, we must contribute to America. We are here not only to take, but more importantly to give. We can only share in the making of America when we contribute to it, and we do whatever we do with love and excellence. The greatness of a job is not in the kind of job it is, but in how well it was done and how much love and excellence were invested in doing it. It is immaterial whether you are a doctor, engineer, mechanic, lawyer, technician, or an owner of a grocery store; what matters is how much you put of yourself into your work, and how well you do it. My fellow Arab Americans, America has provided us and our children with a great opportunity. Our response should be, above all: gratefulness. My call to you is to come together and work with America rather than against it. America needs us as much as we need it. The making of America will not be complete without us. At the end, I would like to remind you that I am a medical doctor, and I have spent the last 40 years of my life chasing a vicious enemy: cancer. Being a doctor and an expert on the human body, I have never seen this body differ, whether you are a Moslem, Christian, Jew, or an Atheist. I have not seen disease discriminate against people because of their religions or political ideologies. One of the most eminent scientists in America, Francis S. Collins, the head of the Human Genome Project, describes in his newly published book “The Language of God”, his journey from atheism to belief as a result of his acquisition of knowledge as to the biological nature of man. In his book he also speaks of the lessons learned from the Genome Project; a project that succeeded in mapping the human genome. He says, “At the DNA level, we humans are all 99.9% identical. That similarity applies regardless of which two individuals around the world you choose to compare. Thus, by DNA analysis, we humans are truly part of one family”. In my opinion, this lesson, that man is one in health and in disease, might have been the greatest one that man has ever learned in the last 3000 years. We only differ as humans in 0.01% of our genes. Wouldn’t it be a shame if we allowed the 0.01% to conquer the 99.9%? My message is to rise to our humanness, to be prepared not only to be good citizens of a nation, but good citizens of the world. The future is for the global village. Ultimately, nationalism will fade away, and the earth will be one. Lastly, I say to you my fellow Arab Americans: Let us shed our shells, and let us all come to America. Let us make America greener. Let us make America greater. by Philip A. Salem, M.D.
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