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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Monday April 09, 2012
By Haneen Sakakini
Are you a member of a Palestinian family living in the Diaspora (US, UK, Chile, Canada, Australia, etc.)? Do you have a teenager who will be entering 9th, 10th, or 11th grade this fall? If so, please consider sending her or him to the Go Palestine Summer Camp this July 2012! Read More »
Monday April 09, 2012
For as long as they have been around, the Muslims are Coming! Comedy Tour has been trying to supplant our traditional Gibran Awards ceremony with a Sharia-compliant program. This year they have finally infiltrated the Gala. But seriously, the comedy tour will receive a Special Recognition Award at this year’s Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards Gala for their use of comedy to break down cultural barriers and for their efforts to dispel misconceptions about Muslims and Arabs throughout the country. Read More »
Friday April 06, 2012
There’s an interesting article in Le Monde Diplomatique about the Syrian uprising, its complications, and its regional effects. Read More »
Friday April 06, 2012
By Jeffrey Wright
Egypt’s presidential race was shaken up this week by the announcement that Khairat el-Shater, the deputy Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, would be the Freedom and Justice Party (the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party) candidate for president. Read More »
Thursday April 05, 2012
This year, the Arab American Institute Foundation’s (AAIF) Kahlil Gibran “Spirit of Humanity” Awards Gala features a number of exceptional awardees. Receiving the Najeeb Halaby Award for Public Service is Ambassador Theodore H. Kattouf, president and CEO of AMIDEAST. Since 1972 Ambassador Kattouf, a former U.S. Ambassador to the UAE and Syria, has led a distinguished Foreign Service career, serving throughout the Middle East, including posts in Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. Read More »
Thursday April 05, 2012
A few months ago, I wrote a blog entitled “Can We Say Apartheid?” making the case for the accuracy of the term in describing Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians. But some of those who acknowledge the technical legitimacy of the apartheid analogy have disputed the utility of invoking it, thus giving rise to the follow-up question of whether or not we should be using the term. Read More »
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 »
Wednesday April 04, 2012
On Monday, April 2, Israeli security forces once again raided the offices of Al-Quds University’s Institute of Modern Media, shutting down the office and arresting several key staff members. The crackdown – sanctioned by the Israeli Minister of Internal Security – was aimed at blocking the launch of an online multi-media community network called Hona Al-Quds. Read More »
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 »
Tuesday April 03, 2012
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has an op-ed in the Washington Post today about the intersection of American strategic objectives and the “Arab Spring.” Read More »
Tuesday April 03, 2012
Last week, the Arab American Institute (AAI), along with J Street and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, hosted a Capitol Hill Briefing on the Arab Peace Initiative (API) 10 Years Later. Speakers included AAI President Jim Zogby, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, Carnegie’s Marwan Muasher, and Yitzhak Rabin’s son Yuval Rabin. Read More »
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 »
Friday March 23, 2012
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), along with the Arab American Institute (AAI), United for Free Syria (UFS) and the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), welcome the decision made by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano to approve the submitted Request for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syrian nationals. Read More »
Friday March 23, 2012
Today, the Baltimore Sun reported that WYPR-FM has dropped Managing News Editor Sunni Khalid after 9 years on the job. Khalid was placed on probation last month for posting the following on his personal Facebook page: "I, for one, have had enough of this pandering before the Israeli regime… The war-mongering toward Iran has, once again, distracted the world from Israel's brutal military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights." Read More »
Thursday March 22, 2012
In the four events, I spoke to over 400. We signed hundreds of letters of concern to local Congresssmen and Senators, developed strategies to pass an anti-war plank and a Palestinian rights plank at the Iowa State Democratic Convention, and mapped out a plan to lobby Congressmen to sign onto Congresswoman Barbara Lee's House Resolution promoting negotiations and not war as the way to resolve tensions with Iran. Read More »
Wednesday March 21, 2012
On the nuclear issue, Slavin described the sanctions imposed on Iran as “draconian,” saying they were strangling Iran’s economy, and accredited them to Netanyahu’s “hysteria” which led to unusually harsh sanctions to avoid war. On Netanyahu and Obama, Slavin read things differently from many pundits, saying that Netanyahu had effectively yielded to Obama’s red lines during his AIPAC speech... Read More »
What Comes First: #Media Impact or Influence? discussed on @aaiusa blog #Arab American Institute http://t.co/CiGquFfO @ramahkudaimi @ramisms
about 56 minutes ago.
#Assad gives interview to Russian channel, warns other countries that "sow chaos" in #Syria could suffer same fate: http://t.co/0m0whyNt
about 1 hour, 33 minutes ago.
Have truer words ever been spoken? “What’s important is the policy, not the tourism" -- http://t.co/y7LTODbT #Countdown #Israel #Romney
about 1 hour, 55 minutes ago.
Be Part of the Change!Benjamin Netanyahu, ever the master maneuverer, has done it again. Just moments before the Israeli Parliament was to ratify the call for new elections, the Kadima Party announced that it had completed negotiations with the Prime Minister and would join the government producing Israel's largest governing coalition in history (including 94 of 120 Members of the Knesset). The announcement sent shockwaves throughout the region and here in the US. Speculation was rife about what this sudden move might mean. Read More »
Barbara Slavin, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and correspondent for Al-Monitor; Ron Kampeas, Washington Bureau Chief for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), Shane D'Aprile, editor of Campaigns & Elections. Read More »
The subcommittee's meeting today to explore whether there are risk factors or preincident indicators of terrorist activity identified by intelligence and law enforcement organizations to enable them in thwarting attacks while preserving -- let me repeat that -- preserving individuals' right to privacy and civil liberties. Read More »
May 26 2012
May 31 2012
Jun 21 2012
