Information about James Zogby

Not to be confused with his brother, John Zogby.

James ("Jim") J. Zogby (Arabic,جيمس زغبي) is the 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).

Zogby is also a senior analyst with the polling firm Zogby International, founded and managed by his brother John Zogby, and is a prominent lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues.

Education and early career

After receiving a bachelor's degree from Le Moyne College, Zogby earned 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., the latter a private non-profit, humanitarian relief organizations which raise funds health care for Palestinian and Lebanese victims of war, and other social welfare projects.

Tapped by Vice-President Gore

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.

Writing and advocacy

Since 1992, Zogby has written a weekly column on American politics for major Arab newspapers,'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 1995, Zogby was elected as co-convener of the National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Council (NDECC). 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 the National Immigration Forum, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Zogby's family [immigrated from] [came to the U.S. from] Lebanon. He is married to Eileen Patricia McMahon and is the father of five children.

Quotes

"I feel like Sisyphus. He would roll the stone up the hill and when it came down he would roll it back up again. What Camus did not tell us is that every time he rolled it back up he got stronger -- and smarter."[1] James Zogby (2002)

"Throughout the past two weeks, both sides of the conflict have referred to an old proverb, “Things must get worse, before they can get better,” ignoring that, most often, “things only get worse.” More relevant is the old Lebanese adage, “no victor, no vanquished.”" 31July06 [2]

External links

• Zogby.org - James Zogby home page
• James Zogby's personal blog at The Huffington Post
• AAIUSA.org - 'Washington Watch: a weekly policy column by Arab American Institute President Dr. James Zogby'
• AAIUSA.org - 'Viewpoint: with James Zogby' (a weekly radio report)
• 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)
• - 'James Zogby' (wiki profile), University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy
• Zogby.com - Zogby International (polling organization)