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John F. Mahoney
Americans for Middle East Understanding (AMEU) is only 17 years old, but is already venerable by the standards of most similar organizations devoted to enlightening Americans about the Middle East. Executive Director John Mahoney, however, says he has been happy to see others enter the field. "The more the merrier," he says. "It's an awfully big United States out there."
Although Dr. Mahoney, 48 has been running AMEU - quite merrily, in fact - for only the past five years of its existence, this has been a long, traumatic period, packed with events like the fighting in Lebanon, the revolution in Iran, the Iran-Iraq war, Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights and its drive to absorb the West Bank and Gaza.
"These have been years when it's been more important than ever for Americans to understand what's happening in the Middle East," Dr. Mahoney says. "We try to help and cooperate with all the groups that are working to accomplish this."
Combating Misperceptions
The founders of AMEU, in early 1967, were a group of American professional men who had spent time in the region and were convinced that their compatriots at home had some false perceptions. "The founders wanted in particular to combat the negative U.S. stereotyping of Arabs," says Dr. Mahoney, "and to articulate the case of Palestinian rights....