Friday August 24, 2012
The fight over early voting in Ohio has been contentious for some time. It seemed to reach a peak when the Obama campaign sued Attorney General Mike DeWine and Secretary of State John Husted in mid-July. But this week, the stakes got even higher for two election officials. Read More »
Friday August 24, 2012
Voting rights activists in Virginia suffered a defeat on Monday, as the U.S. Department of Justice approved Virginia’s new voter ID law. The legislation, which requires voters to bring identification to the polls for the first time, will go into effect in time for Election Day in November. Read More »
Thursday August 23, 2012
The Arab American Institute is releasing the results of a poll conducted this summer on American attitudes toward Arabs and Muslims. AAI will release the results of the poll at a press briefing hosted by AAI president Dr. Jim Zogby. The polling data highlights how anti-Muslim and anti-Arab political rhetoric over the past two years has influenced American public opinion. Read More »
Wednesday August 22, 2012
For those who are active in promoting Palestinian rights, the looseness with which the anti-Semitism charge is often made by anti-Palestinian activists is well-known. Even former President Jimmy Carter was branded a “bigot” by Alan Dershowitz for his distaste for Israeli policies towards the Palestinians. The conflation of criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism is not only absurd, but waters down a very serious charge that ought to be reserved for real racists. Read More »
Tuesday August 21, 2012
The NYPD admitted in court Monday what many critics of its counterterrorism tactics have suspected: its extensive spying program has failed to produce a single lead or terrorism case in its six years of operation. Read More »
Monday August 20, 2012
It is a disturbing trend that the federal government possesses near limitless power to end litigation with the mere assertion that they were acting in secret in the interest of national security. It is especially troubling when cases involving the basic constitutional rights of American citizens have been violated. The state secrets privilege also has a well-documented history of abuse, as it is more often than not used to shield government agencies from embarrassment or revelations of gross misconduct. This is most likely the case with “Operation Flex.” Read More »
Friday August 17, 2012
Opponents of Pennsylvania’s voter ID law were dealt a significant blow Tuesday, as Judge Robert Simpson refused to strike down the legislation. Although he expressed sympathy with those Pennsylvanians who would be burdened by the new voter ID requirements, Simpson ultimately decided that the state’s efforts to address the problems with implementing the law were sufficient to uphold it. Read More »
Thursday August 16, 2012
Complaints of racial profiling at Logan International Airport have revealed that Boston might not be the model of Transport Security Administration practices after all. Even more surprisingly, the complaints came from over 30 federal officers within the TSA itself. Read More »
Friday August 10, 2012
Not long ago, when Islamophobia’s break into mainstream political discourse was still fresh, my dismay with bigoted rhetoric from politicians was accompanied by an adrenaline rush of sorts, with the exciting “wait until my Facebook friends see this” thought rushing through my head. Well, it’s not funny anymore. Now, troubling statements just elicit sighs of “here we go again” instead of punchy humor. That’s certainly how I felt when I heard Newt Gingrich’s comments about the anti-Muslim witch-hunt this week. Read More »
Thursday August 09, 2012
Earlier this week Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was pointedly asked whether he would condemn Michele Bachmann’s witch-hunt against Arab American and American Muslim public servants. Romney refused, saying “I’m not going to tell other people what things to talk about. Those are not things that are part of my campaign.” This refusal to show leadership is troubling, but was dismissed by many as simply the former governor attempting to avoid controversy. Read More »
Monday August 06, 2012
Over two years ago attorneys with the ACLU filed suit on behalf of 15 clients, including 4 U.S. military veterans who had been erroneously placed on the government’s “No Fly List.” Each of the 15 learned that they had been labeled as terrorist threats only when they were stopped from boarding planes. The lawsuit on their behalf argues that placing citizens on the No Fly List without providing them any opportunity to confront and rebut the decision or any evidence against them is unconstitutional. Since filing the suit, it has been a struggle for the case to even get its day in court. Read More »
Monday August 06, 2012
The Arab American Institute is shocked and saddened by the tragic shooting that took place this weekend at the Oak Creek Sikh temple in Wisconsin. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, as well as with the entire Sikh community. Beyond the tragic loss of life, attacks like this on places of worship target the very principle of religious liberty. Read More »
Friday August 03, 2012
We wrote earlier this week about a Republican primary in Tennessee between Rep. Diane Black (TN-6) and her challenger Lou Ann Zelenik, an outspoken critic of the Islamic Center in Murfreesboro. Zelenik, who had challenged black two years earlier on an almost entirely anti-Muslim platform, lost again in yesterday’s primary, failing for a second time to win the coveted congressional seat. Read More »
Friday August 03, 2012
Bestselling author and investigative journalist Ronald Kessler is set to release a new edition of his book “Secrets of the FBI,” which promises new revelations about the rift between the FBI and the NYPD on the subject of counterterrorism. Anonymous sources from the FBI told Kessler that the FBI is vehemently opposed to the NYPD’s expansive spying program on Arab American and American Muslims in New York City and elsewhere. His sources from the FBI criticize the NYPD for both ineffectiveness and civil liberties violations. Read More »
Thursday August 02, 2012
Attacks on Arab American and American Muslim Public Servants
Every so often an issue emerges that presents a clear choice of right and wrong and with it a clear opportunity for public officials to demonstrate leadership. This edition of "Leadership or Pandering” takes a look at the unfounded attacks on American Muslim public servants by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and cosigned by Representatives Trent Franks (R-AZ), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Tom Rooney (R-FL) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA). Read More »
Wednesday August 01, 2012
Over the past few days, POLITICO has been doing an exceptional job covering a number of the key issues we deal with on a daily basis and which affect our community politically and socially. Among others, POLITICO has covered the fallout of the Michele Bachmann’s Muslim Brotherhood conspiracy, Mitt Romney’s latest trip to Israel, and how Islamophobia is factoring into certain congressional races. We encourage you to read the following articles which are extremely informative, and shed light on the some of the arguments being used to characterize these larger issues. Read More »
Tuesday July 31, 2012
Leaks of classified information have become a prominent issue this election season. Elected officials on both sides of the aisle have been decrying these leaks as a threat to national security and regularly accuse their opponents of leaking information for political gain. All the talk of protecting our nation’s secrets has largely missed the point that the U.S. government’s system of classification needs drastic rethinking and fixing. Read More »
Friday July 27, 2012
By Johara Hall
Over 1,200 young people from across the country gathered at the Marriott Wardman Park in Woodley Park to attend the 8th annual Campus Progress National Conference. The event was organized by Campus Progress, a national organization that through youth programs in activism and journalism works to promote progressive change to key political and social concerns. Read More »
Friday July 27, 2012
Michele Bachmann and her colleagues are finding themselves increasingly isolated within their own party in their McCarthyite witch-hunt to root out Muslim Brotherhood operatives in the federal government. Read More »
Friday July 27, 2012
Islamophobes seem to thrive during the summer before important election years. It was almost precisely the same time two years ago that Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer sparked a national controversy over Park 51, the proposed Mosque and Islamic Center in lower Manhattan that they called the “Ground Zero Mosque.” Well, now it’s the “Mega Mosque” which has got people in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn riled up. Read More »
#NC lawmaker equates Islamic prayer w/ terror http://t.co/G9sp1NeLC1 @mostrolenk @aaiusa h/t @ozzyformayor
about 3 hours, 43 minutes ago.
Latest poll to be released Friday finds Americans are divided on continuing aid to #Egypt: http://t.co/1spZM1m9d2
about 6 hours, 24 minutes ago.
RT @MaiE_89: In the 1990’s, #Egypt had a 60% favorable rating among Americans, while today only 36% of US views the country positively via @AAIUSA
about 6 hours, 27 minutes ago.
Looking at Iran by James Zogby
Kahlil Gibran Awards Gala - April 16, 2013President Obama got it just about perfect in his Jerusalem speech when he urged Israelis to see the world through the eyes of Palestinians. That portion of his remarks was so compelling it deserves to be quoted in full: Read More »
Air Date: 5/31/2012
Fellows from Syracuse University’s “Leaders for Democracy Fellowship Program (LDF); Bill Press, Host of the “Bill Press Show” and author of the new book, The Obama Hate Machine: The Lies, Distortions, and Personal Attacks on the President---and Who Is Behind Them. Read More »
The story of Arab Americans coming of age as an organized community is a classic American tale of immigrants seeking opportunity, benefiting from America’s freedoms, but also experiencing, at times, the dark side of exclusion and discrimination that has so often been a part of our nation’s history. Read More »
Apr 16 2013
Apr 27 2013
Jul 19 2013
