Blog
Wednesday April 25, 2012
By Jeffrey Wright
Spencer Ackerman, Wired’s intrepid national security correspondent, broke yet another important story yesterday evening, revealing that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, has ordered a top-to-bottom review of military training materials to ensure that they do not contain Islamophobic content. Dempsey’s order came after military brass learned that a class intended for senior military officers had used Islamophobic course materials. The class, entitled “Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism,” was offered as an elective at the military’s Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC) in Norfolk, Virginia. JFSC was founded after the Second World War with the goal of training military officers to work cooperatively, and it educates mid-level officers, many of whom will spend their careers in the military and eventually rise to the highest ranks of their branches. Read More »
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Tuesday April 24, 2012
Last Friday, several New York news outlets reported that John Brennan, President Obama’s top National Security Advisor, praised NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly for striking an appropriate balance “between our security and our freedoms and our rights as citizens.” These comments engendered a storm of criticism from American Muslim and Arab American groups who contend that such remarks put the White House “seal of approval” on the NYPD's controversial policing and surveillance program. Pulitzer Prize-winning AP reports have revealed that the NYPD has been spying on American Muslims and Arab Americans without criminal predicate. Read More »
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Tuesday April 24, 2012
Last week, Secretary Clinton overruled Ros-Lehtinen’s hold on Palestinian aid and agreed to disburse the full $147 million package. It’s a rare move for any administration to make, but signals an increasing awareness of the important role that aid has played in securing American interests among the Palestinians. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 1:11 pm / / Leave a comment
Monday April 23, 2012
A combination of vast economic hardship, human rights abuses and international politics have revived Morocco's February 20 movement and ushered in new challenges to the monarchy. Now, Morocco’s protest movement is hoping to finally bring its cause into the international spotlight. Read More »
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Monday April 23, 2012
By Jeffrey Wright
Palestinian Christians are eager to leave the West Bank for the same reasons most Palestinians are: the Israeli occupation. Read More »
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Friday April 20, 2012
On April 18, more than 500 Arab Americans from across the country gathered at the Renaissance Hotel for the 2012 Kahlil Gibran “Spirit of Humanity” Awards Gala, hosted by the Arab American Institute Foundation (AAIF). At a time of unprecedented challenges, the Gibran Awards brought the Arab American community together to honor leaders in fostering greater understanding and promoting the common good. Read More »
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Friday April 20, 2012
By Danielle Malaty
On Thursday, April 19th, the Arab American Institute (AAI), in cooperation with the National Network of Arab American Communities (NNAAC), hosted over 100 Arab American leaders representing over 20 states across the country for Arab American Leadership Day in Washington DC. The day included a White House Leadership Briefing at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, followed by a Capitol Hill Meet and Greet Lunch with members of Congress at the House Visitor Center. Read More »
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Friday April 20, 2012
By Dalal Hillou
There’s a good chance that you may have, in your lifetime, seen a Rami Kashou gown. You may have seen it within the pages of Vogue, Elle or In Style. You may have seen photos of stylish celebrities wearing timeless pieces by him, or you may have tuned in to watch Rami on the hit show “Project Runway” in past seasons. In all these settings, he has stood out as a Palestinian designer whose gorgeous designs are one of a kind. Read More »
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Thursday April 19, 2012
In the midst of ever-evolving tragedy in Syria, the media has largely missed the continuing unrest in Bahrain, where just today tens of thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets to demand the release of opposition activist Adbulhadi Al-Khawaja. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 4:22 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday April 18, 2012
AAIF's Gibran Gala Honors Southern Poverty Law Center, "The Muslims Are Coming!" Comedy Tour, and pays tribute special tribute to the life and work of Anthony Shadid Read More »
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Wednesday April 18, 2012
On Sunday, April 22nd, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS), the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service Georgetown University, and the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) are holding a commemorative evening to honor the late Dr. Hala Salaam Maksoud. Read More »
Posted by Omar Baddar at 8:40 am / / Leave a comment
Tuesday April 17, 2012
By Danielle Malaty
Yesterday, Margaret Huang, executive director of Rights Working Group, appeared on the Diane Rehm show to talk about racial profiling and the End Racial Profiling Act. Read More »
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Friday April 13, 2012
There is the controversy surrounding Salafi candidate and front-runner Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, whose antagonism towards the United States is undermined by the fact that his mother is an American citizen (a technical disqualifier in Egyptian elections). In effect, Egypt is having its own variation of a “birther” controversy. Read More »
Posted by Omar Baddar at 4:45 pm / / Leave a comment
Friday April 13, 2012
In case you missed it, check out the video below for our hill briefing on the current situation of religious minorities in the Middle East. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 12:03 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday April 12, 2012
By Jeffrey Wright
When the Obama Administration announced the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq by the end of 2011, many observers warned that the decision could have disastrous consequences for the fragile Iraqi state. Opponents of the President, including likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, decried the decision as premature and politically motivated, using it as evidence of Obama’s supposed weakness in foreign policy. But, more than four months after the vast majority of American troops left Iraq, these predictions of disaster have not come to pass. Read More »
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Thursday April 12, 2012
By Dalal Hillou
More than 8,000 Arab Americans live in Montgomery County, Maryland. In 1999, Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan first declared April to be "Arab-American Heritage Month." Read More »
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Thursday April 12, 2012
By Danielle Malaty
When The Spiritual Life Center, a Sacramento Christian church, found itself without a venue to hold its Easter Sunday services this past weekend, the church's Reverend Michael Moran came up with what many may call an unconventional solution. He sought the help of a local mosque. Read More »
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Wednesday April 11, 2012
The Arab American Institute Foundation (AAIF) will present the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) with the Award for Institutional Excellence at the 2012 Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards Gala in Washington, DC. AAIF is bestowing the award on SPLC for its tireless efforts and accomplishments in building a society where mutual respect and understanding exists across racial, ethnic, political, and religious lines. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 4:06 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday April 11, 2012
By Dalal Hillou
A year ago at the Atlanta Arab Festival, I came across an art display that took my breath away. It was there that I met Palestinian artist Nancy Alhabashi, whose art and poetry is a seamless blend of East meets West. Read More »
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Tuesday April 10, 2012
Tomorrow, AAI will be hosting a congressional briefing on the current situation of religious minorities in the Middle East. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 3:11 pm / / Leave a comment
What Comes First: #Media Impact or Influence? discussed on @aaiusa blog #Arab American Institute 
#Assad gives interview to Russian channel, warns other countries that "sow chaos" in #Syria could suffer same fate: 
Be Part of the Change!