James Abourezk

James Abourezk
United States Senator from South Dakota
In office January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1979
Preceded by	Karl E. Mundt
Succeeded by	Larry Pressler
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Dakota's 2nd district
In office January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1973
Preceded by	E. Y. Berry
Succeeded by	James Abdnor
Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs
In office January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1979
Preceded by	None Joseph C. O'Mahoney in 1947 (Senate Committee on Indian Affairs)
Succeeded by	John Melcher
Personal details
Born	James George Abourezk (1931-02-24) February 24, 1931 Wood, South Dakota
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	University of South Dakota, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
Profession	Attorney
Religion	Greek Orthodox

James George Abourezk (born February 24, 1931) is a former Democratic United States Representative and United States Senator, and was the first Greek Orthodox Christian of Arab descent to serve in the United States Senate, where he was generally viewed as critical of US foreign policy in the |Middle-East and North Africa(MENA) area-notably regarding Israel and the Palestinian question.

He represented South Dakota in the U.S. Senate from 1973 until 1979.

Early life and education

Abourezk was born in Wood, South Dakota, the son of Lena (née Mickel), a homemaker, and Charles Abourezk, an owner of two general stores. His parents were Christian Lebanese, who had emigrated from the southern Lebanese village of EI-Kfeir. He grew up near Wood and lived in South Dakota most of his life.

Between 1948 and 1952, Abourezk served in the United States Navy during the Korean War. After his military service, he received a degree in civil engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines in Rapid City in 1961 and a law 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.

Political career

Abourezk 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.

As a senator, he criticized the Office of Public Safety (OPS), a U.S. agency linked to the USAID and the CIA that provided training to foreign police forces. He also was instrumental in the creation of both the American Indian Policy Review Commission and the |Select Committee on Indian Affairs. He chaired the Policy Review Commission the entire time it existed, and then took the gavel as chair of the Indian Affairs Committee from its creation in 1978 to 1980, when he retired. Abourezk was an early supporter of a National initiative and with fellow Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR) introduced an amendment allowing more direct democracy. However, this initiative failed.

In 1974, TIME magazine named Senator Abourezk one of the 200 Faces for the Future.

In 1978, Abourezk chose not to run for reelection when his term expired in 1980.

Advocacy

Following his retirement in 1980, Abourezk founded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a grassroots civil rights organization. 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--along with Hyman Bookbinder of Through Different Eyes: Two Leading Americans — a Jew and an Arab — Debate U. S. Policy in the Middle East (ISBN 0917561392)

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

Criticism of U.S. support for Israel

In a 2006 CounterPunch interview, Abourezk argued that America's support of Israel endures because "the Congress is pretty much reliant on money from radical Zionists".

He reiterated this statement in an editorial for Electronic Intifada on July 30, 2006, where he wrote:

...the U.S. Congress is despicable in its silence. They are all bought off by the Israel lobby and are afraid to criticize. If this were happening in any other country by any other country, there would be speeches on the floor of Congress, legislation introduced to stop aid and other help to whoever would be committing this cruelty. But since their campaign money comes from the Israeli lobby, we hear only silence.

In a letter dated December 2006, Abourezk wrote:

"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 see no desire on the part of Members of Congress to further any U.S. imperial dreams by using Israel as their pit bull. The only exceptions to that rule is the feelings of Jewish members, who, I believe, are sincere in their efforts to keep U.S. money flowing to Israel.
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."

External links

• James Abourezk at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee official website
• Interview with Counterpunch, April 16, 2006
• Editorial by Abourezk in the Electronic Intifada
• Letter by Abourezk entitled "Yes, It's the Lobby: "Political Fear" Drives US Support for Israel"
• MEMRI TV video of Hezbollah TV interview
• MEMRI Transcript of Hezbollah TV interview
• Booknotes interview with Abourzek on Advise & Dissent, March 25, 1990.

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by E. Y. Berry	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Dakota's 2nd congressional district 1971–1973	Succeeded by James Abdnor
United States Senate
Preceded by Karl E. Mundt	United States Senator (Class 2) from South Dakota 1973–1979 Served alongside: George McGovern	Succeeded by Larry Pressler
Political offices
Preceded by Committee created	Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs 1977–1979	Succeeded by John Melcher
Party political offices
Preceded by Donn H. Wright	Democratic nominee for United States Senator from South Dakota (class 2) 1972	Succeeded by Don Barnett