Rev. Jesse Jackson, who passed away last week, was a larger-than-life figure who made enormous and consequential contributions to American life. He registered millions of voters, enabling a substantial increase in the number of Black elected officials across the country. And his pressing major corporations to increase economic opportunities for Black Americans significantly increased the Black middle class. Part of the younger generation of Black leaders who had developed a global consciousness, his agenda moved beyond civil rights to make support for social justice and liberation movements part of mainstream American politics. Because of this, he was the first American political leader to recognise and incorporate into his movement my community of Arab Americans and our domestic and foreign policy concerns.

I first began working with Rev. Jesse Jackson in the late 1970s as he was preparing to visit Palestine/Israel to see for himself the situation in the occupied lands. The injustices he witnessed left an indelible impression, leaving him committed to Palestinian rights and Middle East peace.

In 1979, when US Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young was removed from his post for........

© The Nation