Monday February 01, 2010
As we mark one year into the Obama era, several realities have become painfully clear. Read More »
Monday January 25, 2010
Losing a senate seat in Massachusetts to a Republican was not the way Barack Obama wanted to celebrate his one year anniversary in the White House. The loss was a blow, for several reasons. Read More »
Tuesday January 19, 2010
On Jan 13th, television evangelist Pat Robertson pontificated on the horrific earthquake that had struck the country of Haiti. Noting how many recent tragedies had befallen the Haitian people, Robertson told his TV audience that, “something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it…they were under the heel of the French and got together and swore a pack pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you and you’ll get us free from the French. And so the devil said, OK, it’s a deal. But ever since they’ve been cursed. But it may be a blessing in disguise.” Read More »
Monday January 11, 2010
Airport profiling is back, with a vengeance. In the aftermath of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s December 25th, failed effort to bring down Northwest Flight 253, the White House swung into action. President Obama addressed the nation on three separate occasions, and ordered two comprehensive reviews of policy and practices in an effort to determine what broke down in airport security and inter-agency intelligence cooperation. He also instituted a number of new (and not so new) directives designed to provide greater security.
Read More »
Monday January 04, 2010
In the days after Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s failed attempt to kill himself and bring down Northwest Flight 253, the story followed a familiar pattern. Read More »
Monday December 21, 2009
In the wake of the Ft. Hood massacre and recent arrests involving some young men seeking association with dangerous international terrorist activity and others who appeared to be on the verge of carrying out terrorist actions in the U.S., questions have been raised by politicians and the media. “Do we have a homegrown terrorist problem?” “Are we becoming like Europe?” Read More »
Monday December 14, 2009
Israel’s near hysterical reaction to a Swedish proposal to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, their stubborn refusal to include East Jerusalem in their questionable “settlement freeze” and their defense of repressive policies imposed on Palestinians in the area of that holy city are framed in language that masks their real intent. Read More »
Monday December 07, 2009
Another tumultuous Washington week has come to a close and the dust has settled on President Obama’s Afghanistan speech. Critical issues were addressed, though little changed in our fractious political environment. Read More »
Monday November 30, 2009
I do not make a practice of using this space to express my disagreements with other columnists, but a piece last week by Abdul Rahman al Rashid was so off the mark that I cannot let it pass without comment. Read More »
Monday November 23, 2009
It was 1988, with the first Intifada in full bloom and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the lead up to their November 29th declaration of independence, when I met with a few members of the PLO Executive Committee to discuss their plans. “Is this serious?”, I asked. “Absolutely”, they assured me. “It will be like our 4th of July”. Read More »
Monday November 09, 2009
I landed in London at 6:30 am (GMT) and turned on my Blackberry to find it flooded with emails sent while I had been in the air, flying home from the Middle East. Looking at just the “sender” and “subject” lines, I observed that some were “news alerts”, others came from various members of my staff at the Arab American Institute in Washington. The last group included statements and press releases issued by other Arab American and American Muslim organizations. Read More »
Monday November 02, 2009
On October 25th the Arab American Institute and J Street convened a joint meeting, that brought leaders and activists from both communities together as an expression of our shared commitment to advance a just and comprehensive Middle East peace. Two nights later, my wife Eileen and I had the pleasure of attending the J Street Gala Banquet. Because it was such an extraordinary event, I want to share some observations about the night. Read More »
Monday October 26, 2009
On Sunday, October 25th, representatives of over three dozen Arab American and American Jewish community organizations met in Washington to make clear their shared commitment to a comprehensive Middle East peace. Hosted by J Street, which calls itself the US’s “pro-peace, pro-Israel lobby” and the Arab American Institute, “the research and policy arm of the Arab American community”, the event was joined by Tina Tchen, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Read More »
Monday October 19, 2009
The Goldstone Report is back, taking center stage in a raging international debate. What is most troubling, is not the circuitous route the Report took on its way to the United Nations Security Council. Rather, it is the fact that those making the most noise about the Report have, I fear, either not read it or are deliberately distorting its contents for political advantage. In fact, it may well be that, by now, the Goldstone Report has eclipsed the Iraq Study Group Report as the most discussed, least read, document of the decade. Read More »
Tuesday October 13, 2009
The immigrant experience in America is a topic rich in meaning. For me, it is personal, since my understanding has been informed both by my family’s story and my work of several decades. Read More »
Monday October 05, 2009
With the dust having settled following President Obama’s New York meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a sober assessment of what actually happened, and what may happen next, is in order. Read More »
Monday September 28, 2009
The last time Democrats won the White House in 1992, they quickly lost ground in the 1993 and 1994 elections. The results were debilitating for President Clinton. With Republicans winning Governorships in Virginia and New Jersey (the only two states that hold elections in the year after a Presidential contest), and then gaining control of both Houses of Congress in 1994, the President’s ability to promote his agenda was severely constricted. Read More »
Monday September 21, 2009
Despite the continuing horrors visited upon Palestinians, their deep political divide, relentless Israeli settlement expansion and more, there are glimmers of hope in the Palestinian skies. What I am referring to here, are not external developments like ongoing U.S.-led efforts to rekindle Israeli-Palestinian peace talks or growing European impatience with Israeli occupation policies. Read More »
Tuesday September 15, 2009
Although President Obama’s Wednesday night address to a special joint session of Congress may not have won the support of many of those hostile to his efforts to reform the nation’s health care system, and exposed the depth of the nation’s partisan divide, it was, nevertheless, a “game changer”. Here’s why. Read More »
Tuesday September 08, 2009
I had the distinct honor of being invited to address this year’s Iftar dinner at the Pentagon, together with Ms. Farah Pandith, the State Department’s Special Representative to Muslim Communities and Ms. Dalia Mogahed, of the Gallup Corporation. In attendance were over 125 American Muslims, members of every branch of the US military, and their guests from the White House, Congress and other government agencies. Read More »
What Comes First: #Media Impact or Influence? discussed on @aaiusa blog #Arab American Institute http://t.co/CiGquFfO @ramahkudaimi @ramisms
about 1 hour, 15 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, 52 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 2 hours, 14 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
