Tuesday April 02, 2013
From Cairo to New York: More of the Same
Countdown
Tuesday March 26, 2013
Mixed Opinions on Obama’s Middle East Trip
President Obama has returned to Washington from his trip to the Middle East last week, and reactions have been decidedly mixed. Obama seemed to genuinely impress and charm the Israeli public, succeeding in sending the message that he has a real understanding of Israeli history and culture. Read More »
Tuesday March 19, 2013
Iraq: We Wouldn’t Do That Again
Or would we? Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Iraq War, and it’s an opportunity for us all to reflect on how we let a small group of neo-conservatives capitalize on the fear of terrorism to launch our country into an unnecessary and counterproductive war. Read More »
Tuesday March 12, 2013
We Met With President Obama
Obama’s trip to the Middle East doesn’t officially start until next week, but he has already been hearing from key constituencies. Yesterday, the President hosted an Arab American meeting with community leaders at the White House. Pretty cool, huh? Well, it was about time! Read More »
Wednesday February 27, 2013
Smear Campaign Behind Us, Let’s Get Back to Business
Well, it’s finally over. Despite being subjected to the most bizarre confirmation hearings we’ve ever seen, despite totally inappropriate questions about Hagel’s loyalty to the United States, and despite Congressional fawning over Israel in a way that probably makes most Israelis uncomfortable, Hagel’s confirmation passed through the Senate yesterday. Read More »
Wednesday February 20, 2013
Hagel, Hate Crimes, and the Holy Land
We’ve made changes to Countdown before, but not like this. Now, every week, Countdown will have an additional a video component. After we post the Countdown articles to the web, check back with us two days later because we’ll transform it into YouTube news clip complete with graphics and b-roll. We’re really excited about this, so please share the videos with your friends. Read More »
Tuesday February 12, 2013
Droning On
Following last week’s revelations about the Obama Administration’s rather flimsy legal justifications for its drone program, drones have received long-overdue scrutiny in Washington this week. They were one of the major themes of the confirmation hearings last week for John Brennan, an architect of the drone program and President Obama’s nominee for CIA Director. Across the political spectrum, there seems to be broad agreement that giving the executive branch the right to incinerate people from the sky without oversight undermines the Constitution’s separation of powers. Read More »
Wednesday February 06, 2013
A Constitutional Guide to Assassinating U.S. Citizens
If you were disappointed with George W. Bush’s record on civil liberties, no need to worry anymore! President Obama’s assassination powers now make Bush look like a card-carrying ACLU member by comparison. Yesterday, a leaked Department of Justice memo made headlines for its Orwellian guidelines that determine the circumstances in which the administration can kill American citizens. Read More »
Tuesday January 29, 2013
Immigration, Drones and the Administration
Yesterday, a group of senators released a bipartisan framework for immigration reform. Finally, a pathway to citizenship for the nearly 11 million undocumented immigrants? Well, sort of. The plan forces undocumented immigrants to clear so many hurdles to gain permanent residency that the process is likely to take up to a decade. According to the proposal, enforcement measures must be complete “before any immigrant on probationary status can earn a green card.” Read More »
Wednesday January 23, 2013
Wow, What a Weekend!
We didn’t think it was possible for anyone to be more excited about the inaugural festivities this weekend than us. We hosted an Arab American inaugural celebration in our office, with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Congressman Keith Ellison, and Arab American comedians Dean Obeidallah and Go Remy. But after seeing Joe Biden at the inaugural parade yesterday, we will definitely cede first place for the “most excited award” (not actually an award) to our most gregarious Vice President. Vice President Biden almost gave his secret service agent a heart attack when he started to literally run laps around the parade (it starts about a minute into the clip), jogging over to onlookers to shake hands. Oh, and in other news, President Obama was sworn in over the weekend and gave an inaugural address in which he laid out a progressive vision for America going forward. A couple of things the president said stood out for us, and we posted them on our Facebook page, so tell us what you think. Read More »
Tuesday January 15, 2013
Shuffling the Deck
If you’re tired of the manufactured controversy over chuck Hagel’s nomination as Secretary of Defense, we’re with you. So help us reframe the conversation about something that actually matters. Beyond his supposedly “dovish” (better a dove than a chickenhawk, no?) views on Iran and his criticism of Israel, there is a real conversation to be had about what a Hagel appointment means for shifting U.S. policy going forward. In his latest column, AAI president Jim Zogby defends Hagel as a “thoughtful and sober advocate of the realist approach to foreign policy.” Jim also stated that Hagel represents a threat and potential end to “the entire neo-conservative enterprise that led the U.S. into two failed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.” Well, we’re ok with that. Because with respect to the Middle East, the last thing we need is another Defense Secretary delivering speeches about “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” as we brace ourselves for another unnecessary military campaign. A Hagel appointment might just be exactly what the President needs to usher in a new era of more positive U.S. foreign policy and national security policy. Read More »
Tuesday January 08, 2013
Nominations, Personalities and Unfavorable Realities
Happy New Year! We hope you enjoyed your holiday season in good company with friends and family. Countdown is back in 2013, and we’re not wasting any time. Let’s get to it. Read More »
Tuesday December 18, 2012
The Final Countdown of the Year
Because next week is Christmas break, and the following is New Year's, the Countdown team will be too busy enjoying the holidays to write to you. But don't worry, it's not like it'll be an eventful period or anything; we're just leaving you in the midst of a power-grab by the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt, an announcement of new settlements in East Jerusalem, an explicit acknowledgement by the Assad government that it can't militarily defeat the opposition in Syria, a weak attempt to end indefinite detention in the NDAA 2013 update... Ok, maybe there is much to talk about. But let's continue this conversation in 2013 anyway. Read More »
Tuesday December 11, 2012
Well, Someone Should Do Something
Well, if you thought he’d still be curled up in the fetal position after the shellacking he took, you’d be wrong. He’s actually quite active, going out and about, meeting with John Boehner and Eric Cantor and stuff. By the way, do you know what he discussed with Boehner and Cantor? Apparently, he discussed “possible changes to [sic] Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the anti-bribery law under which Las Vegas Sands [his company] is being investigated.” If you’re wondering why this isn’t a bigger story, welcome to the Countdown club. Oh wait, you already are in the Countdown club. Read More »
Tuesday December 04, 2012
Believe Your Eyes: Countdown is Back
Believe your eyes, Countdown is back! With the mid-term elections only 700 days away… Ok, this really isn’t about how close the mid-term elections are; we’re back by popular demand. You and Countdown haven’t seen each other in a few weeks, and we can’t bear to keep you apart another minute longer, so let’s get right to it: Read More »
Tuesday October 30, 2012
The Final Countdown
Well, folks, it’s been quite a ride, and we actually are saying goodbye (we were just trying to put it off for a few more seconds). But worry not, you’re in for one magnificent substitute weekly publication from AAI. And if that doesn’t quench your Countdown thirst, don’t panic, we’ll be back before you know it. Presidential elections are our bat signal in the sky, and given that these campaigns now start literally years before the actual election, you can sleep tonight knowing that we’re practically just around the corner. Until then, stay politically active and keep the Arab American community strong. Read More »
Tuesday October 23, 2012
Two Weeks Out
Spontaneous collective laughter broke out in the Palestinian territories when they heard that apartheid and fake endless negotiations were mentioned in the context of standing up for Israel against its enemies, in what Israeli security officials initially thought was an explosion in a laughing-gas factory. After a few minutes, the laughing died down when the Palestinians realized, on second thought, how unfunny that really is, especially after the release of this disheartening poll on Israeli public opinion, which ran in one of Israel’s leading newspapers under the headline “Survey: Most Israeli Jews would support apartheid regime in Israel.” Read More »
Tuesday October 16, 2012
Into the 10th Inning
Whether you loved it or hated it, thought it was necessary or unjustifiably rude, the story of the debate was definitely how Vice-President Biden aggressively handled Congressman Paul Ryan, with “that’s a bunch of malarkey” and “oh, now you’re Jack Kennedy!” zingers. But the real winner of the vice-presidential debate wasn’t Biden, or Ryan, or the entertained audience, but debate moderator Martha Raddatz who was gaining 1,000 Twitter followers per minute during a good part of the debate for a superb performance; demanding specifics and calling out nonsense from the VP candidates. Read More »
MT “@AAIUSA: We're releasing a new @zogby_research poll on American Attitudes Toward #Egy & #MB Fri at @amprog http://t.co/jEfMnJSmV4”
about 4 minutes ago.
Such diverse representation here at Capitol Hill #Immigration rally - an important issue for all Americans of all backgrounds #TimeIsNow
about 23 minutes ago.
RT @AAIUSA: We're releasing a new @zogby_research poll on American Attitudes Toward #Egypt & the #MB Friday at @amprog http://t.co/1spZM1m9d2
about 50 minutes ago.
Looking at Iran by James Zogby
Kahlil Gibran Awards Gala - April 16, 2013
From the desk of Dr. Zogby
Obama’s Lesson: “Look at the World Through Their Eyes”
President 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 »
Viewpoint with James Zogby: Leaders for Democracy Fellowship Program Fellows, Bill Press
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 »
Testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (October 9, 2012)
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 »
Upcoming Events
-
Apr 16 2013
Kahlil Gibran "Spirit of Humanity" Awards Gala
-
Apr 27 2013
ACCESS 42nd Anniversary Dinner
-
Jul 19 2013
Middle Eastern Festival
