AAI Bulletin

An Update on the Pro-Peace Senate Resolution

Posted on Sunday August 5, 2007

Signatures All Around

Several weeks ago, AAI sent out an Action Alert on the Feinstein-Lugar pro-peace Senate resolution, expressing that chamber’s support for a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The current status of the resolution is uncertain, but your phone calls and signatures on letters urging your senators to co-sponsor the resolution are paying off!

The resolution currently has 35 co-sponsors, up from 19 when we first sent out the Action Alert, and several senators signed on after receiving letters from AAI signed by our members. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) just signed on after receiving a letter signed by over 50 AAI members. We’ve sent letters with over 20 signatures each to Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Mel Martinez (R-FL).

You can scroll to the bottom of this email to see if your senators have signed on as co-sponsors of the resolution. If they have, it is important to thank them. Send your name and address to Joe Hitchon at interngovt@aaiusa.org and we will add your name to a thank-you letter.

If they have not signed on . . . send us your name and address anyway! If the deadline for signing on has not yet passed, we’ll add your name to a letter urging them to do so.

AAI Interns, Staff Participate in DHS Roundtable for Young Leaders

On July 24-25, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hosted a two-day forum that brought young Arab, South Asian and Muslim American leaders together to provide feedback and discuss concerns with government officials. Several AAI staff members and interns took part in the event, called Security and Liberty: Perspectives of Young Leaders Post-9/11 and organized by DHS’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (OCRCL).

The two days of discussions culminated in a conversation between conference participants and DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, with participants presenting concerns and recommendations for how the government can build trust and deal more effectively with the represented groups.

Here’s what some of AAI’s participants had to say about the forum:

Deema Maghathe, intern in the Office of the President: “It’s encouraging that DHS is trying to engage young Arab American leaders in a discussion about the issues and challenges we have faced post 9/11, but the forum generally lacked concrete discussion or possible solutions to the actual policies and challenges that directly affect Arab, Muslim, Sikh and South Asian Americans. Still, it was a wonderful opportunity and also very empowering to meet and interact with other young attendees and various government officials and community leaders.”

Tarek Ismail, intern in the Department of Community Relations: “The DHS roundtable offered us an opportunity to learn and voice our concerns with regard to our respective communities’ relationship with the government. While the forum did allow us the valuable chance to hear from, and be heard by, a variety of government officials including Secretary Chertoff, we did not get a chance to dig deeply into specific policy-based issues. Nonetheless, I believe the overall discussion set a precedent for the importance of maintaining a dialogue with Muslim, Arab, Sikh, and South Asian American youth.”

Joe Hitchon, intern in the Department of Government Relations: “I am happy the government decided to do something like this, but I wish it happened back in 2002 or 2003, when a wave of anti-Arab and anti-Islam hate crimes were occurring around the country. The seminar demonstrated that the government was truly interested in learning more about the Arab and Muslim American experience and we were able to express our concerns regarding domestic policies like the Patriot Act, immigration issues, racial profiling and discrimination. It was undoubtedly a success in the eyes of DHS, as they probably stood to learn more than we did.”

Job Opening: AAI Michigan Field Coordinator

AAI is currently accepting resumes for its Michigan Field Coordinator position. The field coordinator will be based in Michigan, and will mobilize and coordinate participation of Michigan Arab Americans in AAI programs, including community outreach and visiblity efforts in relation to AAI’s National Leadership Conference in October 2007, and AAI organizing efforts surrounding the 2008 presidential primary and general election campaigns.

Feel free to forward this announcement to anyone you know who may be interested in the position. To apply, send cover letter, resume, and names and contact info of potential references to AAI Director of Community Relations Valerie Smith at vsmith@aaiusa.org or 1600 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006 by August 8, 2007. Click here for additional information on compensation, hours and responsibilities.

How Far Would You Go to Meet With Your Member of Congress?

Paul Abernathy, an Iraq war veteran and member of AAI, went through a bit more of an ordeal to arrange a meeting with his congressman than the average constituent does. Abernathy first started trying to schedule a meeting with Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) about a year ago. It took two protests and a letter to the editor before Murphy finally agreed to meet with him this past Monday in his Mt. Lebanon district office outside of Pittsburgh.

During the meeting, Abernathy and retired Pennsylvania state trooper Larry Nader discussed Murphy’s positions on the Iraq war and his strident support for Israel in the 2006 Lebanon war. Abernathy described the meeting as “conciliatory” and said Murphy “seemed receptive” to their ideas.

YOU too can use the upcoming congressional recess to meet with your member of congress and express issues of concern to you as a constituent. Congress will be out of session for a “District Work Period” from August 6 until Labor Day, meaning representatives will be available for meetings in their district offices. And you usually don’t have to stage a demonstration to get one . . .

Just click here to see a sample letter requesting a meeting with your senator or representative, and here to get some tips for the day of the meeting.

Co-sponsors of the Feinstein-Lugar Senate Resolution: Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chris Dodd (D-CT), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Larry Craig (R-ID), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Bill Nelson (D-FL), John Kerry (D-MA), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Carl Levin (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Trent Lott (D-MS), Max Baucus (D-MT), Richard Burr (R-NC), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), John Sununu (D-NH), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), George Voinovich (R-OH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Gordon Smith (R-OR), Bob Casey (D-PA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Jim Webb (D-VA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Robert Byrd (D-WV)