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Blog — Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Friday December 16, 2011
Was Marianne Gingrich soliciting a $10 million bribe to get the House Speaker to lift Iraqi sanctions or was she just soliciting a donation on behalf of her former boss? And what kind of guy actively seeks a donation from a known arms dealer nicknamed “The Merchant of Death?” We’ll tell you… and you may not be so surprised. Read More »
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Friday December 16, 2011
One year after the spark of the Arab Spring, we remain inspired by the courageous efforts of ordinary people across the Arab world to rise up and change their countries. In recent months, Arab Americans across the country have engaged in various efforts to change the national narrative on a number of important issues facing our community. In October, a coalition of Arab American organizations launched Yalla Change, a national campaign devoted to bringing about the change we need here at home. Read More »
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Thursday December 15, 2011
Today, Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA), who earlier this week wrote a fantastic op-ed in the Washington Post condemning the King Hearings, has officially weighed in on the controversy surrounded Lowe's decision to pull its advertising from TLC's All-American Muslim. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 11:36 am / / Leave a comment
Tuesday December 13, 2011
The controversy around Lowe’s decision to pull its advertisements from TLC’s All American Muslim has ignited an inspiring response from tens of thousands of Americans who were dismayed by the corporation’s willingness to succumb to the pressure of hate groups and Islamophobes.
Today, the United States Congress is weighing in. Read More »
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Tuesday December 13, 2011
In yesterday's Washington Post, Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) authored a powerful and eloquent response to the Islamophobic "hearings" sponsored by Rep. Peter King (R-NY). Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 1:14 pm / / Leave a comment
Monday December 12, 2011
A few days ago, a right-wing group in Florida protested the TLC series “All American Muslim” on the grounds that “the show profiles only Muslims that appear to be ordinary folks” and not violent jihadists, demanding that advertisers pull their ads from the show. The result? Advertisers, including the national hardware chain Lowe’s, pulled their advertisements. Read More »
Posted by Omar Baddar at 4:16 pm / / Leave a comment
Friday December 09, 2011
Last week, the Senate passed a dangerous piece of legislation. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, as its name implies, finances most defense expenditures for the year, but this year’s bill also contains what we believe to be unconstitutional additions. Read More »
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Thursday December 08, 2011
On Tuesday, AAI co-sponsored a town hall meeting on Islamophobia in Philadelphia with the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at Villanova University. AAI Executive Director Maya Berry, Matt Duss of the Center for American Progress (CAP), and Villanova Professor Marwan Kreidie moderated the discussion which was attended by over 100 community members and students. The panel addressed a multitude of questions about Islamophobia, the perceived threat of Sharia in the United Sates and the network behind what Center for American Progress has identified as Fear Inc. Matt Duss, co-author of CAP’s report, Fear Inc. The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America, explained what the report found – a vast and incredibly potent contingent of scholars, validators and activists perpetuating anti-Muslim propaganda in political discourse and civil society. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 3:44 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday December 07, 2011
By Emily Manna
As Representative Peter King, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, continued his crusade against “homegrown terrorism” among American Muslims, his opposition grew more vocal. King’s December 7th hearing, which focused on radicalization among Muslim American soldiers, was the fourth in a series that also included reports on general Islamic extremism in America, radicalization in prisons, and the Somali terrorist group, Al-Shabaab. Read More »
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Thursday December 01, 2011
Today AAI, along with 37 ethnic and religious organizations, sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and Acting Inspector General, Charles K Edwards. The letter officially requests DHS “undertake a comprehensive publicly-reported audit of the civil rights impact of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) airport screening policies on racial and religious minorities.” Read More »
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Monday November 28, 2011
Congresswoman Sue Wilkins Myrick (R-NC) doesn’t shy away from anti-Muslim/anti-Arab controversy. In 2003, she fatuously identified Arab Americans as a threat to U.S. national security, saying "Look at who runs all the convenience stores across the country." In 2009, then newly appointed to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Myrick (with Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), amongst others) was part of group that claimed Council on American-Islamic Relations was planting Muslim Intern “spies” in certain key congressional offices. Read More »
Posted by Omar Tewfik at 5:35 pm / / Leave a comment
Monday November 21, 2011
I am not attempting to exaggerate the sentiment, I genuinely cannot think of a bigger indictment of American political culture than that a disastrous clown of Cain’s proportions can continue to be taken seriously as a presidential contender. Read More »
Posted by Omar Baddar at 6:24 pm / / Leave a comment
Thursday October 20, 2011
If you’ve ever taken a look at the right-wing blogosphere, or bothered to read the unregulated comment sections of even more mainstream websites, then you’ve definitely stumbled across a despicable racist rant at one point or another. But the reason we’re taking the time to highlight this despicable racist rant is because you don’t often hear or read one by the wife of a former Assistant Secretary of State. Read More »
Posted by Omar Baddar at 4:11 pm / / Leave a comment
Wednesday October 12, 2011
Several weeks ago, we wrote about the problematic language in the Department of Homeland Security Reauthorization Act, which singles out “Islamist extremism” without considering other, more prevalent manifestations of extremism in American society. Today AAI issued a statement as follows Read More »
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Saturday October 01, 2011
Here at the National Leadership Conference, the afternoon domestic policy session featured a follow-up to the morning policy session on “Combating Hate Legislation.” The follow-up panel, entitled “Islamophobia: the New Politics of Exclusion,” was an impressive analysis of the incestuous circle of right wing bloggers and activists behind the a 43-million dollar industry spreading fear and bigotry nationwide aimed primarily at Arab Americans and American Muslims. Read More »
Posted by John Olivieri at 3:45 pm / / Leave a comment
Saturday October 01, 2011
Today at the National Leadership Conference, scholars, community activists, and elected officials gathered to discuss the current wave of hate legislation which has enveloped the nation over the last few years. Read More »
Posted by John Olivieri at 2:11 pm / / Leave a comment
Saturday October 01, 2011
Watch coverage of the Arab American Institute (AAI) and National Network for Arab American Communities' (NNAAC) joint three-day National Leadership Conference, September 30 - October 2, 2011, in Dearborn, Michigan. The National Leadership Conference is a quadrennial conference at which the Arab American community discusses foreign and domestic policy priorities and strategizes for the national elections. Read More »
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Monday September 26, 2011
At last week's Senate Homeland Security Committee markup of S.1536, the Homeland Security Reauthorization Act, Senators once again hotly debated what language should be used to describe the threat of domestic terrorism. Read More »
Posted by John Olivieri at 11:36 am / / Leave a comment
Thursday September 22, 2011
By Ben-Wadih Hamd
Racial profiling in the post-9/11 era has become a staple of national security activities. However, this discriminatory practice may soon be drawing to a close. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Representative John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) have reintroduced an invigorated plan to end racial profiling: the End Racial Profiling Act. Read More »
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Monday September 19, 2011
On Wednesday, September 21, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will discuss the text of S. 1546, the Department of Homeland Security Reauthorization Act. The bill, sponsored by Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) is ostensibly aimed at maintaining and expanding the powers of the Department of Homeland Security, and providing necessary tools to combat homegrown violence and extremism. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 3:39 pm / / Leave a comment
Looking at Iran by James Zogby
Kahlil Gibran Awards Gala - April 16, 2013
