Monday September 10, 2012
It’s baffling that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other democratic officials doubled down on the DNC’s motion to push through a voice vote on a resolution recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel at the Democratic National Convention. In an interview with the LA Times on Saturday, Mayor Villaraigosa played down the significance of the three-time response to the controversial measure on the floor of the DNC, saying the media blew the whole thing out of proportion and that it was the media, not the delegates, who were concerned about the measure. “Not one person objected. It’s more a media concern than a delegate concern,” the LA Times quoted him as saying... Read More »
Monday August 13, 2012
Last week, the Arab American Institute (AAI) released a statement co-endorsed by leaders of the American Muslim and Coptic Christian communities. The statement, organized by AAI, is supported by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), longest serving Arab American member of Congress and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first American Muslim member of Congress. 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 17, 2012
You could have easily missed the news reports last week highlighting the contrived controversy surrounding a New York Metro billboard advertisement about the conditions of Palestinian refugees. The ad, paid for by Henry Clifford, Chairman of The Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine (CJPIP), received sharp criticism from some groups and individuals who allege that the ads are biased, anti-Israel, and anti-Semitic. Read More »
Monday July 16, 2012
AAI President Jim Zogby joined CNN anchor Anderson Cooper tonight on “Anderson Cooper 360” at 8:15pm ET to discuss former Presidential contender Rep. Michele Bachmann’s controversial call for an investigation into the extent that the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated the U.S. government. Read More »
Wednesday July 11, 2012
Earlier this week, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the Chair of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced H.R. 6067, titled the Western Hemisphere Security Cooperation Act of 2012. The bill provides for an American response to a favorite bugaboo of conservative foreign policy types: the supposedly growing threat of Hezbollah’s operations in Latin America. The only problem is that the threat is overblown. Hezbollah’s activities in Latin America are limited to fundraising, not operations, and the idea that these activities threaten American interests is absurd on its face. Read More »
Friday July 06, 2012
An Arab American businessman agreed to end his hunger strike yesterday after authorities in Dubai granted his request for bail. The case of Zack Shahin, an Arab American of Lebanese descent originally from Ohio, has strained the usually close relationship between the United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and raised concerns about the security of the large expatriate business community in Dubai and other Emirates. Read More »
Thursday July 05, 2012
By Nicole Abi-Esber
In the past few years, several American universities have opened up branches in the Gulf. These branches are mutually beneficial; they are lucrative endeavors for the universities themselves, and are used by the Gulf States to expand their citizens’ education options and “import” American higher education. Read More »
Thursday June 21, 2012
The last two weeks have brought a flurry of news from Egypt, beginning with a court decision that invalidated a third of the seats in Parliament and allowed the ruling military council, the SCAF, to dismiss the Muslim Brotherhood-dominated Parliament and seize legislative power. Read More »
Friday June 15, 2012
By Sarah Hassaine
Like many Unofficial Ambassadors, Marcela had not had much exposure to the Arab world or to many Arabs or Muslims in general. She said, "The trip exceeded my expectations. Anything I knew about Muslims or Arabs was from the media or from people around me and it was so way off! I thought they would treat me ‘badly’- but they appreciated that I was different - there was so much love, we did not know what to do with it!" Read More »
Friday June 01, 2012
Surely McCain would never describe it as “embarrassing” that the U.S. can’t intervene to end the serious violations of human rights in China, to say nothing of dozens of other problems that the U.S. can’t do much about. What is embarrassing is our unwillingness to correct course on matters that should be perfectly within our control. Read More »
Friday June 01, 2012
When President Obama first came into office he promised this country that some fundamental and drastic changes would take place. He also promised the same scope of change in his Cairo speech to Arabs and Muslims across the globe, and because of the unprecedented gesture, people believed him. Today Arabs and Muslims, especially those in the Middle East, are still waiting for that fundamental change to come. Read More »
Tuesday May 29, 2012
The Obama Administration should open the program to public debate so it could stand or fall on its merits. Either way, Americans deserve to know the details of what is being done in the name of their safety. Read More »
Tuesday May 22, 2012
Last week on NPR’s "Fresh Air," Terry Gross interviewed investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill about the ongoing U.S. counterterrorism operation in Yemen. It was a detailed and revealing look into the dangers and contradictions of the Obama administration’s ever-widening “overseas contingency operations,” and the unforeseen effects of the drone war. Read More »
Monday May 14, 2012
The Obama Administration’s military obsession, the drone, has been hailed as the ideal example of efficient, humane warfare. Following the president’s decision to expand U.S. drone operations in Yemen, chief counterterrorism advisor John Brennan provided a problematic defense of the drone program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Read More »
Thursday May 10, 2012
by Omar Baddar and Omar Tewfik
Today, Spencer Ackerman and his colleague at Wired Noah Shachtman released the contents of a recently-terminated DoD training course for senior military officers. The course, entitled “Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism,” was terminated late last month by General Martin Dempsey, Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces. As expected, the outrageous materials released today show exactly why the course was shut down. Read More »
Thursday May 03, 2012
Last week, Mona Eltahawy’s article for Foreign Policy, Why Do They Hate Us?, received both strong praise and harsh criticism for its take on misogyny and gender inequality in the Arab world. Eltahawy correctly identified several problems impacting many Arab women, including sexual harassment, limited civil rights, and female genital mutilation, but the framing and objectives of the piece were called into question by a multitude of critics (the best of which include Tom Dale, Mona Kareem, and Leila Ahmed). Read More »
Monday April 30, 2012
By Jeffrey Wright
Brennan’s speech today will be touted as an example of the Obama Administration’s transparent approach to the drone war, but given its shortcomings, Americans should demand a much more thorough accounting of President Obama’s understanding of his powers and their limits - if any remain. 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 »
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 »
#NC lawmaker equates Islamic prayer w/ terror http://t.co/G9sp1NeLC1 @mostrolenk @aaiusa h/t @ozzyformayor
about 4 minutes ago.
Latest poll to be released Friday finds Americans are divided on continuing aid to #Egypt: http://t.co/1spZM1m9d2
about 2 hours, 44 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 2 hours, 48 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
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