Posted
by BBC World News
on December 09, 2015
Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the US has sparked a furore: the White House says the plan should disqualify Mr Trump from becoming president. The Pentagon says it hurts America's national security. And even the Republican speaker of the House says this is NOT what the party stands for. BBC World News presenter Mike Embley discussed the backlash with Gabriel Debenedetti, National Political Reporter with Politico and Maya Berry, the executive director of the Arab American Institute.
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Original Article
Posted
by ThinkProgress
on December 04, 2015
By Justin Salhani
DEARBORN, MICHIGAN — When news broke that ISIS killed 130 people in Paris, this Detroit suburb known for its thriving Arab American community prepared for the inevitable retaliation. The day before, three Dearborn, Michigan residents had been killed in an attack — also claimed by ISIS – in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, but locals here often aren’t afforded the time to mourn.
Dearborn, a city of 95,000 people, has the highest concentrations of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans in the United States, making the community here a target for anti-Muslim sentiment. While the city resembles an American...
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Original Article
Posted
by ShareAmerica
on December 03, 2015
By M. Scott Bortot
Arab Americans have a strong track record of making their voices heard in the U.S. democratic process, whether through educating voters, volunteering for political candidates or running for national office.
It’s the oldest of American stories. Citizens come together to influence their government on issues of concern. Sometimes the group shares an economic interest — think farmers, or automobile plant workers — or concern about a specific issue, like civil rights. Sometimes groups identify by ethnicity.
“By taking part in the political process, Arab Americans can help shape the...
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Original Article
Posted
by Mondoweiss
on November 12, 2015
By Kristin Szremski The maelstrom known as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blown through the nation’s capital, and dozens of activists are taking a breather after weeks of organizing that culminated in several actions and events. While the rallies and pickets were relatively small compared to efforts put forth in powerhouse cities like Chicago and New York, organizers say their reverberations are powerful. What happened in Washington DC this week has changed the course of activism here on the issue of Palestine. A total of five actions played out from Friday, Nov. 6 through Tuesday. From pushing back...
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Original Article
Posted
by The National Journal
on November 12, 2015
By Alexia Fernández Campbell
Muslim-bashing has long been a strategy some Republican presidential candidates have used to appeal to their right-wing core. But it’s getting harder and harder for politicians to get away with that.
In recent months, civil-rights advocates have condemned anti-Muslim comments by both Republican front-runners, Ben Carson and Donald Trump.
Though the percentage of Muslims living in the United States is still relatively small (about 1 percent), their share of the population nearly doubled in the past seven years, according to the Pew Research Center. From 2000 to 2010, the number of Muslims living in the United States...
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Original Article
Posted
by The Washington Post
on November 09, 2015
By Steven Mufson
Should the Center for American Progress host a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?
Eighteen organizations and 117 individuals — largely from academia and non-governmental organizations — don’t think so, and they have signed an open letter circulated by the group Jewish Voice for Peace and the Arab American Institute saying they are “dismayed that CAP will sponsor an address by Netanyahu” during the prime minister’s visit to Washington this week.
The group Jewish Voice for Peace also has circulated a petition from the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation that it says has garnered more...
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Original Article
Posted
by Middle East Eye
on November 09, 2015
By James Reinl
Even while Benjamin Netanyahu was still in the Oval Office on Monday, analysts questioned whether the Israeli Prime Minister’s renewed pledge to help build an autonomous Palestinian state was sincere – or political expedience.
In his first face-to-face talks with US President Barack Obama in 13 months, Netanyahu said he backed a vision of “two states for two peoples” amid concerns that the Israeli leader’s hard-line government has little interest in living beside a country called Palestine.
“I want to make it clear that we have not given up our hope for peace,” Netanyahu told reporters. But...
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Original Article
Posted
by Foreign Policy
on November 09, 2015
By John Hudson
A simmering internal disagreement at the Center for American Progress over the think tank’s decision to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week escalated into open dissent and infighting during an intense but civil all-staff meeting on Friday, according to two people with direct knowledge of the exchange.
The powerful liberal think tank — known in Washington simply as CAP — will host Netanyahu on Tuesday as part of the Israeli leader’s closely watched visit to the United States aimed at repairing ties between Jerusalem and Washington following the bruising debate over the Iran nuclear deal....
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Original Article
Posted
by The Arab American News
on October 29, 2015
By Hassan Khalifeh
Many local Arab Americans say the current Republican presidential candidates are out of touch with their issues and see Democrat Hillary Clinton as the strongest presidential candidate so far.
Fay Beydoun, the third vice chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, said Arab Americans are left no other choice than to lean toward candidates from the Democratic party, especially in light of the anti-Muslim comments that Republican candidates Ben Carson and Donald Trump have made in the past.
Beydoun said that although some of the candidates seem electable, their campaigns still need to work on a stronger outreach...
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Original Article
Posted
by WDET
on October 27, 2015
About a dozen years ago, when the war on terror and battles in Iraq were headline news daily, most of the leading presidential candidates tried to woo Arab American voters at a political event in Dearborn.
But this pastweekend less than a handful of presidential hopefuls addressed those at the annual event, hosted by the national advocacy group the Arab American Institute, and only one of those candidates attended in person. The rest sent video messages.
The Institute’s president, James Zogby, tells WDET’s Quinn Klinefelter that dismissing Arab American voters is a political mistake.
Listen to the segment here:
http://wdet.org/posts/2015/10/27/81823-most-presidential-candidates-bypassing-arab-american-voters/
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Original Article