James Abourezk

James George Abourezk was an American attorney and politician. A member of the Democratic Party from South Dakota, he served as a United States senator and a United States representative for one term each; he was the first Arab to serve in the United States Senate. In 1980, Abourezk founded the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) with the goal of counteracting anti-Arab sentiment in the country. He served in the United States Navy during the Korean War, but was also a critic of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, particularly with regard to the Arab–Israeli conflict. Under his leadership, the ADC became especially active following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent Gulf War, during which he became concerned about the rising rate of targeted hate crimes against Arabs and also against people misidentified as Arabs.