Issues
Palestine
AAI Endorses Letter to Obama Urging Immediate Humanitarian Relief for Gaza, End of the Blockade
Posted on Thursday February 4, 2010
Tell your Representative to support immediate relief for people in Gaza!
Posted on Friday January 29, 2010
Contact Your Representatives Now
Two letters are circulating the House urging the Obama Administration to address the delay of promised assistance to the people of Gaza—one letter calls for immediate delivery of humanitarian aid, the other for increased access to education.
Congressmen Jim Moran (D-VA) and Bob Inglis (R-SC) are asking their House colleagues to sign onto a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by Monday, December 21 supporting increased access to higher education in the West Bank for students living in Gaza.
Selected Statements against H. Res. 867
From Congress
Posted on Wednesday November 18, 2009
Statements against H. Res. 867 by Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), Congressman James Moran (D-VA), Congressman William Delahunt (D-MA), Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA), Congressman John Dingell (D-MI), Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN), Congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-MD), Congressman David Price (D-NC), Congressman George Miler (D-CA), Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA), Congressman James McGovern (D-MA), Congresswoman Lynn Woosley (D-CA), and Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA).
H. Res. 867: Thank Your Representatives
Posted on Tuesday November 10, 2009
Statements on H. Res. 867 (In opposition to the Goldstone Report)
Posted on Wednesday November 4, 2009
Tell Congress to Vote NO on H. Res. 867
Posted on Tuesday November 3, 2009
The Arab American Institute opposes H. Res. 867, a resolution calling on President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton to oppose the endorsement or consideration of the ‘Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’ (The Goldstone Report) in multilateral fora.
CLICK HERE NOW to call your Representative and urge him or her to OPPOSE H.R. 867
H. Res. 867 incorrectly defines the mandate under which the investigation into human rights violations was conducted; distorts the basis for the UN investigation and the findings of the Report; compromises U.S. leadership and the role of Congress on matters of accountability and transparency in international human rights law; and damages efforts by the Obama Administration to restore American credibility in the Middle East.
Congress should adopt responsible, constructive language that demonstrates U.S. commitment to upholding international human rights law. Tell your Representative to oppose H. Res. 867 when it is considered under Suspension of the Rules on Tuesday, November 3!
Remembering Sabra and Shatila
From AAI
Posted on Friday September 18, 2009
Today, AAI marks the 27th anniversary of Sabra and Shatila and remembers.
In June 1982, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon heightened already tense relations between Palestinians and Lebanese. These tensions led to a devastating climax on September 16 when the Israel Defense Forces surrounded the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, and a Lebanese militia then entered the camps, killing unarmed men, women, and children. Official estimates of the dead range from 700 – 3,500.
That summer, Arab Americans helped Jill Drew, an American nurse, travel to Lebanon to volunteer with refugees under the auspices of the Middle East Council of Churches. Jill spent four months at the American University of Beirut Hospital, caring for civilians, including those injured in Sabra and Shatila.
Read her accounts of those dark days, and honor with remembrance all those who were lost.
Above photo courtesy of UNRWA.
Statement by the Press Secretary on Israeli Settlements
From The White House Press Secretary
Posted on Friday September 4, 2009
Not quite as gloomy as they look
Posted on Thursday August 6, 2009
Jul 30th 2009 | JERUSALEM AND RAMALLAH
From The Economist print edition
The contours of a peace deal are clear. But who has the courage to draw
them?
BACK in the autumn of last year, Ehud Olmert, then Israel’s fading prime
minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinians’ more durable president,
were astonishingly close to a peace deal. Judging by an interview with
Mr Olmert published in NEWSWEEK in June, after he had given up his post,
they appeared to have been only a whisker apart—though Mr Abbas has
since called the gap “wide”. But it is worth spelling out what Mr Olmert
says he offered, in an account that other senior Palestinians have
pretty much verified. For it starkly shows what both sides need to do to
clinch the deal—and how feasible it is.
Statement on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Posted on Monday July 27, 2009
Obama Renews the Debate on Settlements
Posted on Thursday July 23, 2009
The Obama Administration’s engagement in the Israeli Palestinian conflict has renewed the long standing settlement debate. In this section, you will find links to AAI articles and interviews, as well as outside experts, on the issue of settlements in the Occupied Territories.
Summer travel plans? Read this!
From AAI
Posted on Monday July 20, 2009
If you plan to travel to Israel or the Occupied Territories this summer, please report any instance of denied entry to the Department of State. The Arab American Institute maintains contact with State and senior officials in the office of American Citizens Services about this and other, relevant issues. ACS continues to encourage U.S. citizens to report instances of denied entry.
At an April 24th meeting held by the White House for Arab American leaders, Michele Bond reiterated her desire to hear about any difficulties American citizens face when traveling to the Occupied Territories. During a May 28th conference call with several organizations, including the AAI, Michele Bond again reiterated the need for American citizens travelling to the Occupied Territories to notify the Bureau of Consular Affairs of any problems they face, be it denial of entry or unnecessary delays and harassment at the border crossings.
Gaza: 1.5 Million People Trapped in Despair
From International Committee of the Red Cross
Posted on Monday June 29, 2009
A new report issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross, Gaza: 1.5 Million People Trapped in Despair, outlines the conditions on the ground six months after Israel launched its three week military operation in Gaza. The report calls for immediate humanitarian actions to give the people of Gaza their right to a “normal and dignified life”.
United For The Two State Solution
Posted on Wednesday June 17, 2009
On Monday, June 15th pollsters from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict came together to present “United for the Two-State Solution: The Popular Mandate for Israeli-Palestinian Peace”. The event was cosponsored by OneVoice Movement, J Street , Americans for Peace Now, American Task Force on Palestine, Arab American Institute, Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, Churches for Middle East Peace, and Israel Policy Forum.
To watch a video of the panel, click below.
Full text of Netanyahu's foreign policy speech at Bar Ilan
From www.haaretz.com
Posted on Monday June 15, 2009
Honored guests, citizens of Israel.
Peace was always the desire of our people. Our prophets had a vision of peace, we greet each other with peace, our prayers end with the word peace. This evening we are in the center named for two leaders who were groundbreakers for peace -Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat – and we share their vision.
