James Abourezk

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James George Abourezk (born February 24, 1931) was a Democratic United States Representative and United States Senator, and was the first Arab-American to serve in the United States Senate. He represented South Dakota in the U.S. Senate from 1973 until 1979.

Born to Christian Lebanese parents, Abourezk was born in Wood, South Dakota and lived in South Dakota most of his life. Between 1948 and 1952, he served in the United States Navy during the Korean War. Back in the U.S., he received a degree in civil engineering from South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City, South Dakota in 1961, and then earned an advanced degree from University of South Dakota School of Law in Vermillion in 1966. He passed the bar, and began a legal practice in Rapid City.

He was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives, and served from 1971 to 1973. He then was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until 1979. In the Senate, he was preceded by Karl Earl Mundt, and followed by Larry Pressler after he chose not to run for reelection. There, he was the chair of the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs and of the American Indian Policy Review Commission. He earned a reputation as a maverick who questioned the political status quo.

In 1980, Abourezk founded the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, a grassroots civil rights organization committed empowering Arab-Americans and encouraging a balanced U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. In 1989, he wrote Advise and Dissent: Memoirs of South Dakota and the U.S. Senate (ISBN 1-55652-066-2) and he is the co-author of "Through Different Eyes: Two Leading Americans - a Jew and an Arab - Debate U. S. Policy in the Middle East."

In a 2006 interview, Abourezk called the groups Hamas and Hezbollah "resistance fighters", and said that America's support of Israel endures because "the Congress is pretty much reliant on money from radical Zionists". [1]

In a letter dated December 2006, Abourezk said:

"I can tell you from personal experience that, at least in the Congress, the support Israel has in that body is based completely on political fear—fear of defeat by anyone who does not do what Israel wants done. I can also tell you that very few members of Congress—at least when I served there—have any affection for Israel or for its Lobby. What they have is contempt, but it is silenced by fear of being found out exactly how they feel. I’ve heard too many cloakroom conversations in which members of the Senate will voice their bitter feelings about how they’re pushed around by the Lobby to think otherwise. In private one hears the dislike of Israel and the tactics of the Lobby, but not one of them is willing to risk the Lobby’s animosity by making their feelings public. ... I believe that divestment, and especially cutting off U.S. aid to Israel would immediately result in Israel’s giving up the West Bank and leaving the Gaza to the Palestinians. Such pressure would work, I think, because the Israeli public would be able to determine what is causing their misery and would demand that an immediate peace agreement be made with the Palestinians." [2]

Abourezk now works as a lawyer and writer in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Preceded by E. Y. Berry	United States Representative (2nd District) for South Dakota 1971–1973	Succeeded by James Abdnor
Preceded by Karl E. Mundt	United States Senator (Class 2) from South Dakota 1973–1979	Succeeded by Larry Pressler

[edit] External links

• Congressional biography
• American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee official website

Persondata
NAME	Abourezk, James George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	South Dakota politician
DATE OF BIRTH	February 24, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH	Wood, South Dakota
DATE OF DEATH	living
PLACE OF DEATH	none