AAI Bulletin
Glenn Beck Update, Pelosi Appoints Arab American
Posted on Friday January 26, 2007
Glenn Beck Update
Thank you to the hundreds of you who called or emailed "Good Morning America" to express your concerns regarding ABC’s decision to hire Glenn Beck. AAI has had further discussions with ABC, but it is still vitally important that you make your voice heard if you have not already done so!
Please note that emails sent to ABC News President David Westin are bouncing, but be assured that emails sent to netaudr@abc.com are still getting to the producers of “Good Morning America,” so keep sending your comments!
Also be sure to call the ABC switchboard in New York at 212-456-7777 and tell them you’re calling to comment about “Good Morning America.”
Check out the AAI Action Alert on Glenn Beck for talking points and ideas for your emails. Ask a friend to participate in this important campaign as well!
Speaker Pelosi Appoints Arab American to Her Communications Team
Nadeam Elshami is joining House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office as deputy communications director. Elshami, who starts the new job next month, is currently the senior communications adviser for Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and has also worked for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).
NPC Member Appointed to Regents Board
AAI National Policy Council member Ismael Ahmed was recently appointed by Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to sit on the Eastern Michigan University (EMU) Board of Regents. He began his eight year term on Friday, Jan. 19.
Ahmed is the first ever Arab American to serve on EMU’s Board of Regents and is the only Arab American currently serving on a state university board in Michigan. The board oversees a budget of $240 million for the 24,000 student university. Congratulations and best of luck, Ish!
AAI Member Develops GOTV Strategy for Orange County Dems
AAI member Rashad Al-Dabbagh has been instrumental in planning and developing a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) strategy for the Democratic Party of Orange County focused specifically on outreach to the region’s Arab American community. Al-Dabbagh is a former AAI student outreach team leader for Orange County, and is currently an organizer for the county’s Democratic Party.
He recently put together two kickoff events for the new GOTV effort, organizing a voter registration drive at a Garden Grove mosque and a gathering for young voters at a local hookah bar. Former Anaheim City Council candidate Bill Dalati also attended and spoke at the latter event.
“We don’t just want to rely on one person, but want to create a broader structure and involve many Arab Americans in the community to create more involvement,” Al-Dabbagh said of the party’s efforts to reach out to young Arab Americans.
Four Arab Americans are currently organizers at the party headquarters and have been working on the campaign of Tom Umberg (D), who is running for a seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
Washington Watch: “Carter Hoped to Provoke Serious or Thoughtful Debate”
AAI President James Zogby’s most recent Washington Watch column offers a defense of former President Jimmy Carter’s book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. He offers a rebuttal to some of the book's critics and explains how, rather than sparking serious discussions on Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories as Carter had hoped, thoughtful debate of the subject has been silenced.
Also check out the recent Economist article, "It's the little things that make an occupation", and Haaretz’s “Impossible travel” article on the crippling security checkpoints and other daily facts of life in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that don’t often make it into the headlines.
