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Blog — Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Thursday April 05, 2012
By Danielle Malaty
Arizona's notoriously controversial immigration law has captured the attention of minority communities across the country, and will certainly have a dramatic ripple effect on the way law enforcement agents interact with Arab American and American Muslim communities. Read More »
Posted by Guest at 1:24 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday April 04, 2012
The FBI and the DOJ have placed themselves in a tough position. Currently they sit isolated somewhere between a disappointed American Muslim and Arab American community and a contingent of powerful Senators who want answers. The FBI's training division and subsequently the DOJ have come under intense scrutiny since September 2011 in the wake of revelations that FBI agents were taught blatantly false and bigoted things about Muslims and Arabs as part of their counter-terrorism training. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 2:30 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday March 28, 2012
And it wasn’t only Muslims who were demonized with preposterous allegations of genocidal tendencies and such, but Arabs were also depicted in a racist fashion, said to be prone to “temper tantrums” and “Outburst and Loss of Control,” in contrast with the “Western mind[‘s] even keel.” Then, there was a bunch of silly stuff, like advising agents to not shake hands with Asians or stare at them (I’m totally serious). Read More »
Posted by Omar Baddar at 3:18 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday March 08, 2012
By Danielle Malaty
Currently, women throughout the Middle East continue to fight for justice in the face of extremely patriarchal societies. Read More »
Posted by Guest at 6:03 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday March 07, 2012
The Department of Homeland Security has attempted to set the record straight about the video “The Third Jihad.” The film sparked a serious controversy in January when New York Times reporter Michael Powell revealed that the New York Police Department had been showing the video on a continuous loop as part of a training program for New York City Police officers. Powell’s report implicated New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, whom the video’s producers, The Clarion Fund (a group known to harbor anti-Muslim views), interviewed for the video. As a result, several American Muslim advocacy groups called for Commissioner Kelly to step down. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 5:52 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday March 07, 2012
With exception of Ron Paul, the GOP presidential candidates all spoke at the AIPAC policy conference yesterday. All of the three candidates delivered a similar message on Iran, taking the opportunity to hit out at president Obama's policies. Iran's nuclear program was the clear focus of the conference, overshadowing any other issue, including the peace process, by far. Despite similar messaging on Iran, the candidate speeches each have their own unique takeaways. I've outlined the ones I thought were the most important in this post. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 10:45 am / / Leave a comment
Wednesday February 29, 2012
Yesterday, the Florida Senate Criminal and Civil Justice Subcommittee pushed through SB1360, the Sunshine State’s own anti-Sharia bill in a 5-2 vote. The next step is a vote by the full Senate. Read More »
Posted by Jane Kaddouri at 11:20 am / / Leave a comment
Monday February 27, 2012
DEARBORN, Michigan – February 27, 2012 – Michigan’s Arab American Republican leadership has endorsed Congressman Ron Paul for President today ahead of the State’s Republican Primary election. Congressman Paul will join Arab American community representatives from Southeast Michigan, including Detroit, Dearborn, Southfield, Warren and Ann Arbor to accept the endorsement. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 4:13 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday February 23, 2012
The New York Police Department is under scrutiny—but in an ironic twist, it’s the Arab American and American Muslim communities that are putting the NYPD under the looking glass. And this time, we have support from Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Rob Menendez (D-NJ) and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Read More »
Posted by Jane Kaddouri at 4:27 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday February 15, 2012
Last Wednesday, AAI along with a number of community and interfaith organizations met with FBI Director Robert Mueller to discuss inflammatory, anti-Muslim training materials the Bureau used in trainings and presentations to FBI agents. In September of 2011, Wired Magazine reporter Spencer Ackerman made them public. The meeting with Director Mueller focused on steps taken by the Bureau to rectify the matter. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 5:00 pm / / Leave a comment
Monday February 06, 2012
On Saturday, February 4, 2012, the Arab American Institute hosted a town hall on racial profiling and immigration enforcement, with a special focus on the Arab and Muslim American communities in Massachusetts. The town hall was held at Boston University, allowing community members, students, and other faculty members to join in the discussion. Read More »
Posted by Hilary Robertson at 3:38 pm / / Leave a comment
Tuesday January 31, 2012
By Jeffrey Wright
The United States Military Academy at West Point announced today that an Islamophobic retired general has withdrawn from his planned role as the speaker at West Point’s ceremony marking the National Prayer Breakfast. Read More »
Posted by Guest at 5:14 pm / / Leave a comment
Friday January 27, 2012
Earlier today, the Arab American Institute formally submitted a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano regarding recent revelations of the widespread dissemination of an extreme anti-Muslim video in NYPD officer trainings. Read More »
Posted by AAI at 11:47 am / / Leave a comment
Thursday January 12, 2012
By Dalal Hillou
On January 10, 2012, at an event titled ‘Guantánamo Forever?’, four speakers at the New America Foundation discussed the ten-year anniversary of the highly controversial Guantánamo Bay detention facility. Read More »
Posted by Guest at 11:18 am / / Leave a comment
Wednesday January 11, 2012
David Cole has a fantastic piece in The Nation about the ten year anniversary of the first indefinite detentions at Guantanamo Bay, exploring many of the legal, political, and social obstacles to the abolition of the most glaring modern contradiction of our civil liberties. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 4:25 pm / / Leave a comment
Tuesday January 10, 2012
In protest of Guantanamo and the National Defense Authorization Act, a coalition of human rights groups and organizations will organize a rally and human chain vigil tomorrow in Washington D.C.. The protest is expected to stretch from the White House to the U.S. Supreme court. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 2:29 pm / / Leave a comment
Monday January 09, 2012
Last Saturday The New York Times ran an informative Op-Ed written by Lakhdar Boumediene, a former Guantanamo detainee held without trial at the prison camp for seven years. In 2002 Boumediene, a Bosnian citizen working as the Red Crescent Society’s director of humanitarian aid for Bosnian children, was accused by U.S. intelligence officers of plotting to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 5:00 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday January 04, 2012
A measure put forth yesterday by Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) aims to rectify some of the most glaring abuses of the NDAA, and to ensure that the bill “does not authorize the indefinite detention—without charge or trial—of U.S. citizens who are apprehended domestically.” The bill would protect the rights of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents and would “state unequivocally that the government cannot indefinitely detain American citizens or lawful U.S. residents without charge.” Read More »
Posted by AAI at 3:38 pm / / Leave a comment
Friday December 23, 2011
On December 22nd, Arab American community members in Paterson New Jersey gathered for a town hall meeting hosted by the Arab American Institute and the newly-formed United Arab American Coalition. The meeting brought together a panel of experts to speak and answer questions on the subjects of racial profiling and immigration. Read More »
Posted by Frank Matt at 3:44 pm / / Leave a comment
Tuesday December 20, 2011
Is President Obama's willingness to sign the National Defense Authorization Act the step that might cost him his support base? Conor Friedersdorf at The Atlantic says: maybe. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 11:44 am / / Leave a comment
Looking at Iran by James Zogby
Kahlil Gibran Awards Gala - April 16, 2013
