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James J. Zogby (born 1945) is an American academic, political consultant and founder and president of the Washington, D.C.-based Arab American Institute. In 2001, Zogby was elected to the Executive Committee of the United States Democratic National Committee (DNC). He is a senior analyst with the polling firm Zogby International, founded and managed by his brother John Zogby, and is a lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues.

Biography

Zogby (from Template:Lang-ar, Zuġbīy) was born in Utica, New York. He attended Le Moyne College, Syracuse where he graduated with a bachelor's degree. He went of to earn his PhD in Islamic studies from Temple University, in 1975. In 1976, at Princeton University, he was a National Endowment for the Humanities post-doctoral fellow.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Zogby was a founding member and leader of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and Save Lebanon, Inc.In 1985, Zogby founded the Arab American Institute, of which he is still President.

As co-president of Builders for Peace, Zogby promoted US-Arab business investment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Then United States Vice President Al Gore tapped Zogby to help lead the effort in 1993, following the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord in Washington. The next year, Zogby led a US delegation to the signing of the agreement in Cairo, Egypt, along with his Builders co-president, former US Congressman Mel Levine.

Zogby's ancestors immigrated from Lebanon. He is married to Eileen Patricia McMahon and is the father of five children.

Career

Since 1992, Zogby has written a weekly column on American politics for Arab media, Washington Watch, and authored a number of books, including What Ethnic Americans Really Think and What Arabs Think: Values, Beliefs and Concerns. He also blogs at The Huffington Post.

In 1984 and 1988 Zogby served as Deputy Campaign manager and Senior Advisor to the Jesse Jackson Presidential campaign. In 1995 he was appointed as co-convener of the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee (NDECC), an umbrella organization within the Democratic Party of leaders of European and Mediterranean descent, to which he was reelected in 1999 and 2001. Also in 2001, he was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and in 2006 was also named Co-Chair of the DNC’s Resolutions Committee.

Zogby also serves on the Human Rights Watch Middle East Advisory Committee and on the national advisory boards of the American Civil Liberties Union and Democrats for Life of America, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has testified before a number of Congressional Committees and Executive branch forums, most recently on the subject of Arab attitudes toward the United States.

Zogby hosts a weekly call-in discussion program called Viewpoint with James Zogby about Middle East and world issues on Abu Dhabi Television which is broadcast in America on Link TV.

Zogby, and other employees of the Arab American Institute, were threatened and intimidated by Patrick Syring. Syring was sentenced July 11, 2008, to a year in prision for civil rights violations. Syring was released in January 2009 http://www.bop.gov/iloc2/InmateFinderServlet?Transaction=IDSearch&needingMoreList=false&IDType=IRN&IDNumber=29098-016&x=81&y=10 .

References

1. Barsky, Yehudit (1998). "Is James Zogby a "Builder for Peace"?". Middle East Quarterly. 4 (4). Retrieved 2008-08-09. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
2. "Dr. James Zogby Biography". Arab American Institute. 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
3. http://www.aaiusa.org/about/58/meet-the-staff
4. http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/james_j_zogby.html
5. http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2007-05/2007-05-24-voa27.cfm?CFID=75854386&CFTOKEN=41631171
6. http://www.linktv.org/programs/viewpoint
7. "Former Foreign Service Officer Pleads Guilty to Federal Civil Rights Charges". U.S.D.O.J. 2008-06-12. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
8. Matt Schudel (12-07-2008). "Former U.S. diplomat gets year in prison for anti-Arab remarks". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-06-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

External links

• James Zogby blog at The Huffington Post
• Zogby.com - Zogby International
• Washington Watch Arab American Institute weekly policy column
• Viewpoint Arab American Institute weekly television interview program
• MediaMonitors.net - 'Understanding America's Right Wing, Part Two', James Zogby (June 4, 2002)
• Gulf-News.com - 'US bends statistical data on Iraqi surveys' James Zogby (October 20, 2003)
• Jerusalemites.org - 'It’s Still the US Mideast Policy, Stupid: The results are disturbing. Overall, favorable ratings for the US have declined in the past two years. In some countries, the change has been dramatic...' James Zogby (August 16, 2004)

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