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Blog — Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Monday June 25, 2012
The decision today is a tough loss in legal efforts to completely strike down SB 1070, but the questions the law poses about our society and the need for comprehensive immigration reform remain unanswered. The legal battle may have codified Arizona’s immigration system, but the deciding factor which will weigh on the nation’s conscience going forward as we consider what to do about immigration reform will not be the legality of current laws in place, but whether we as a nation believe that they are right. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 12:03 pm / / Leave a comment
Sunday June 24, 2012
Earlier this month, we wrote about a democratic primary in North Jersey between Bill Pascrell and Steve Rothman, in which we noted a new standard for Arab American engagement in the political process. Jim Zogby said Pascrell’s victory was evidence of an Arab American political "coming of age," showing that the community could come out in support of a candidate, get out the vote and help get them elected. That is precisely what the community did in New Jersey's 9th district for Bill Pascrell, and it is exactly why efforts have been mounted to vilify Arab American voters in New Jersey and beyond. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 2:17 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday June 21, 2012
AAI President Jim Zogby participated in a four person debate panel today addressing the question of whether or not there is a double standard in the response to anti-Semitism against Arab Americans compared with the response to anti-Semitism directed against American Jews. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 3:21 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday June 21, 2012
Is there a double standard in the response to anti-Semitism against Arab-Americans compared with the response to anti-Semitism directed against Jewish-Americans? Because the question seems too controversial for most in the mainstream to want to touch, Ralph Nader’s “Debating Taboos” debate series is taking it on. Read More »
Posted by Omar Baddar at 9:15 am / / Leave a comment
Tuesday June 19, 2012
Every June, Dearborn, Michigan, a Detroit suburb with one of the country’s most concentrated Arab American populations, holds an Arab International Festival, a celebration of Arab food, culture, music and Dearborn’s thriving Arab American community. In the last few years, though, the festival has also attracted all manner of anti-Muslim protesters, from Islamophobes warning of the imminent Sharia takeover to Christian missionaries interested in converting Muslims. Read More »
Posted by Jeffrey Wright at 11:16 am / / Leave a comment
Thursday June 14, 2012
The latest issue of Newsweek contains a profile of NYPD Police commissioner Ray Kelly comes closer to tribute than journalism. Read More »
Posted by Frank Matt at 4:49 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday June 13, 2012
A few weeks ago, we wrote about two legislative efforts to impose independent oversight on the NYPD. The New York City Police Department is currently the only New York City agency without an independent Inspector General. At the City level, two City Council Members are introducing legislation today to change that. If the measure passes (34 out of 51 votes plus the support of the City Council Speaker are needed to push the bill through without opposition), the NYPD will have to answer to an independent Inspector General who would in turn make regular reports to the public. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 2:35 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday June 13, 2012
Last week, Rights Working Group released The NSEERS Effect: A Decade of Racial Profiling, Fear, and Secrecy, a report critical of the Obama Administration's handling of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS). Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 9:26 am / / Leave a comment
Friday June 08, 2012
In response to the troubling revelations of racial, ethnic, and religious profiling by the NYPD, a leading national legal advocacy group has made a powerful and impactful response. Muslim Advocates, representing a diverse group of American Muslims, has filed suit against the New York Police Department alleging unconstitutional and discriminatory behavior in its surveillance of Arab American and American Muslim communities. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 1:08 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday June 06, 2012
Arab Americans came out in large numbers for yesterday’s Democratic primary between veteran Congressmen Bill Pascrell and Steve Rothman. The newly redrawn 9th District of New Jersey pitted the two candidates against each other, with Arab Americans rallying in support of Bill Pascrell. For years Pascrell has courted and made friends of the Arab American community, and in this highly contentious election was paid back in the form of high Arab American voter turnout in his favor. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 3:44 pm / / Leave a comment
Tuesday June 05, 2012
Sometime between the beginning and end of their busy schedules today, residents of New Jersey's newly-drawn 9th congressional district will cast their ballots for one of two candidates in the Democratic primary. Arab Americans in the district, including residents of Clifton, Paterson and Passaic counties, will do their civic duty as well. Many of them, however, are unaware of an attempt to question the motives for their political participation in the primary. Arab Americans in NJ-9 are mobilizing for this election and are throwing overwhelming support behind Bill Pascrell, a candidate they’ve known and respected for years. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 1:58 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday May 31, 2012
Newly released FBI materials obtained by the ACLU through the Freedom of Information Act reveal that problems of misinformation and racial bias are not limited to materials about American Muslims, but are pervasive throughout the FBI’s training programs. Read More »
Posted by Frank Matt at 2:02 pm / / Leave a comment
Tuesday May 29, 2012
The Obama Administration should open the program to public debate so it could stand or fall on its merits. Either way, Americans deserve to know the details of what is being done in the name of their safety. Read More »
Posted by Jeffrey Wright at 3:49 pm / / Leave a comment
Tuesday May 29, 2012
Mitt Romney is proving, once again, to be the political shape-shifter he is often accused of being. Throughout the race for the nomination, which is likely to end today in Texas, Romney positioned himself as the most electable candidate, and the most “presidential.” He refrained from pandering to some of the popular issues other candidates pounced on, playing to the passions of their base constituents. In New Hampshire and Iowa, Romney struck down attempts by supporters to seek validation of their anti-Muslim, bigoted viewpoints. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 12:03 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday May 24, 2012
AAI President Jim Zogby and Executive Director Maya Berry co-host the latest episode of Viewpoint with James Zogby and discuss a wide-range of issues, including the roots and driving forces of Islamophobia in the United States as well as the use of surveillance and infiltration techniques used by local and federal law enforcement agencies to spy on ethnic and religious minorities. Guests include, Matt Duss of the Center for American Progress, Sarah Posner of Religion Dispatches, and MIke German from the ACLU. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 2:19 pm / / Leave a comment
Tuesday May 22, 2012
Today the New America Foundation hosted an informative discussion on the use of infiltration and surveillance by law enforcement in preventing homegrown terrorist attacks. The discussion primarily focused on the New York Police Department, and the efficacy of the vast counterterrorism unit which has drawn criticism since the Associated Press revealed that the NYPD was spying on American Muslims and Arab Americans. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 4:46 pm / / Leave a comment
Friday May 18, 2012
Two New York City councilmembers are leading an effort to make sure the New York City Police Department no longer operates without independent oversight. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 1:35 pm / / Leave a comment
Friday May 18, 2012
A number of newly-introduced bills and amendments aim to strip the indefinite detention provisions out of the NDAA, including the Smith-Amash amendment lauded by the ACLU, and the No Detention Without Charge Act of 2012, sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 11:41 am / / Leave a comment
Thursday May 17, 2012
Katherine Forrest, an Obama-appointed judge from New York’s southern district, delivered a brave ruling yesterday on the odious provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act dealing with the indefinite detention of American citizens. Read More »
Posted by Frank Matt at 2:29 pm / / Leave a comment
Tuesday May 15, 2012
The tide is finally turning against racial profiling and Islamophobia, but it won’t happen without your help. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 12:56 pm / / Leave a comment
Looking at Iran by James Zogby
Kahlil Gibran Awards Gala - April 16, 2013
