The Arab Lobbey inside the United States: The Range of Role and Influence

The Arab lobby suffers from various problems that have adversely influenced its missions, and restricted its role within the American political environment. The lack of cohesion among the members of the Arab-American community is seen as the most significant problem, as the diversity of the Arab-American ethnic groups led to the non-existence of a unified political orientation that gathers these races together despite their disparity. The difference in the political orientations, which stems from different origins of Arab groups, represented an obstacle for the Arab lobby concerning its ability to formulate a single political orientation.

The clash of national interests between the Arabs and Israel (supported by the American Zionist groups) curbed the power of the Arab lobby. The Zionist group started eliminating the sources from which the Arab lobby obtains its strength. Taking advantage of its relations with the American presidents, political elites, and media institutions, the Zionists formulated a strategy through which Israel would always benefit, and built a negative impression of Arabs within American minds on how the Arabs exert influence on the US policy makers towards the Middle East.

The Arabs refused communicating with the American presidents, avoiding other methods through which the Arab lobby can form large influential bases, such as the American Congress, the American people, and the American political institutions. In addition to the absence of their coordination with Arab-American organizations, through which the Arab countries may be able to obtain the sympathy of the Arab-American community as well as the American people on various Arab issues. These organizations, led by the National Association of Arab Americans, may be able to take advantage of the fact that they are officially recognized as a lobby in the US Congress, to achieve further gains on the Arab issues. The accumulation of these problems had ultimately reduced the Arab lobby’s activity within the United States. Therefore, the aim of this study is to learn how these problems affected the influential power of the Arab lobby.