Two Arab organizations merge, uncertain on numbers

Officials of two Arab Organizations which formally merged on Wednesday said they were uncertain over how many Arab Americans now live in the United States.

They blamed the U.S. census bureau, which was releasing new population figures on Wednesday, for not adequately documenting the size of the Arab American community.

However, they speculated that there may be as many as 4.5 million Arab Americans living in the Unites States now-a million more than a decade ago -with the largest concentration in Southern California in the Los Angeles area.

Leaders of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the National Association of Arab Americans (NAAA) officially announced at a national press club media event that they were merging effective January 1.

Naila Asali, chairwoman of the ADC, called the merger "a proud and historic day" as two of the oldest and most prominent Arab-American organizations merged into one entity.

Asali said the merger would combine the ADC, which is the largest grassroots and civil rights organization of the Arab community in America, and the NAAA, considered as a key foreign policy lobbying group for Arab Americans.

She said that bringing together the two Washington-based organizations would constitute a significant milestone in the political empowerment of Arab Americans.

George Gorayeb, Chairman of the NAAA's board of directors, said that the merger was far more than just a symbolic move.

Gorayeb said the NAAA-ADC would better represent the millions of Americans who trace their roots to 22 nations in the Arab World.

"They are the doctors in our hospitals, our shopkeepers, assembly plant workers, college professors, and the mothers and fathers who contribute to our society in big and small ways each and every day," he said.