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Blog — Posted by Samer Araabi
Thursday December 29, 2011
Americans for Peace Now has a great list of the “Top 10 Wackiest Congressional Actions on the Middle East of 2011,” in a year where they had a pretty wide pool to choose from. We’ve covered a lot of these stories before, but this list does a great job of highlighting just how out of sync Congress can sometimes be when it comes to Middle East issues. Read More »
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Tuesday December 20, 2011
Yesterday, the Arab American Institute, in a formal request to the Obama administration, asked for Temporary Protected Status privileges to be extended to Syrian citizens currently residing in the United States. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a procedure by which the Secretary of Homeland Security may provide temporary asylum to individuals who are in America and who cannot safely return to their home countries. Read More »
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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 »
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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 »
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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 »
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Monday December 12, 2011
POLITICO has an interesting analysis comparing the voting record of Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) to famed libertarian Ron Paul (R-TX). Read More »
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Monday October 31, 2011
We’ve written countless times in the past about Washington’s blind support for Israel, but this might really take the cake. Despite fully recognizing the widespread damage that withdrawal from UNESCO will cause, Congress appears to consider it a bygone conclusion that we must support a hardline pro-Israeli position at all costs, no matter the consequences. Read More »
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Thursday October 20, 2011
Last October, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan amended Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to include “harassment of members of religious groups based on shared ethnic characteristics,” extending Title VI protections to the Jewish community, among others. Though the decision was widely applauded at the time, it has since raised significant concerns about the abuse of Title VI provisions against pro-Palestinian activity, under the guise of it being “anti-Semitic.” 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 »
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Monday September 12, 2011
Make sure to tune in tonight to catch the CNN/Tea Party Republican Debate at 8pm EDT. With the debates picking up steam, it will likely be quite a show to watch. Read More »
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Thursday September 01, 2011
The Huffington Post has reported on one of the most troubling Get Out The Vote efforts we've heard in a long time. Read More »
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Friday August 12, 2011
After last night’s surprisingly entertaining Republican Presidential debate, make sure to watch the would-be Republican presidential nominees compete this weekend at the Ames Straw Poll, which is being billed as the first real glimpse of each contender’s electability in the crucial state of Iowa. Read More »
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Thursday August 11, 2011
Tonight at 9 pm, Fox News and the Washington Examiner will be hosting a Republican presidential debate at Iowa State University. The debate should be an opportunity to challenge each of the candidates on the statements and positions they’ve put forward since the June debate in New Hampshire. Here’s what we’re looking out for from each of the candidates. Read More »
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Monday August 08, 2011
Despite strong international condemnation from a number of states and interstate organizations, the Syrian government has continued its assault on the Eastern towns of Hama and Deir al-Zour. However, the resistance appears to be growing increasingly organized, and reports of “Coordinating Committees” have popped up across Syria, perhaps signaling a new, more organized phase of the revolution. Read More »
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Monday August 01, 2011
Daniel Levy, director of the Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation, wrote a great piece in Foreign Policy magazine last week in which he concluded that "American policy on Israel-Palestine is now being driven almost exclusively by a desire to prevent any possible U.N. vote" on Palestinian statehood this fall. Read More »
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Wednesday July 20, 2011
Rep. Allen West is hosting a briefing on Islam on July 25. Bearing in mind that this is the Congressman who has called Islam a “very vile and very vicious enemy that we have allowed to come in this country because we ride around with bumper stickers that say co-exist; “ and has said that “Islam is a totalitarian theocratic political ideology, it is not a religion,” it’s not surprising that the briefing is being given by Citizens for National Security (CNS), a Florida-based non-profit organization that provides “resources for individuals and organizations on the ground working daily to resist the threats to our country from militant Islam.” According to CNS, these threats include social and religious organizations and schools. They even have an entire Task Force dedicated to rooting them out. Read More »
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Tuesday June 28, 2011
In a speech this morning at the Council on Foreign Relations, Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty laid out his campaign’s Middle East platform, accusing his Republican opponents of “isolationism” and attacking President Obama’s sluggish response to the Arab Spring. Promising to “speak plainly” about the “the opportunities and dangers we face in the Middle East,” Pawlenty offered a wide-ranging and often contradictory vision, sharply criticizing nearly every aspect of President Obama’s Middle East policy from his insistence on regime “engagement” to his purported policy of “blaming Israel first.” Read More »
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Thursday June 09, 2011
After facing steadily-declining support, and a number of highly critical news stories, the Associated Press has reported that the senior staff of presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has resigned “en masse.” Campaign manager Rob Johnson, senior strategists Dave Carney and Katon Dawson, and spokesman Rick Tyler have all tendered their resignations from Gingrich’s campaign today. Read More »
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Monday June 06, 2011
The US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, an international refugee advocacy organization and the recipients of a Special Recognition Award at this year’s Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards Gala, has launched a campaign to grant Temporary Protected Status to Syrians, Libyans, and Yemenis currently in the United States. Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a procedure by which the Secretary of Homeland Security may provide temporary asylum to individuals who are in America and who cannot safely return to their home countries. Read More »
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Wednesday May 25, 2011
Mizna, which roughly translates to “the cloud of the desert,” is a group “devoted to promoting Arab-American culture, providing a forum for its expression.” The stories told in Mizna’s literary journal uncover a complicated, multifaceted narrative of Arab American life, dealing not simply with issues of identity and profiling but also with troubled relationships, sexual mores, personal burdens, responsibilities and desires. Read More »
Posted by Samer Araabi at 12:26 pm / / Leave a comment
Looking at Iran by James Zogby
Kahlil Gibran Awards Gala - April 16, 2013
