Yussef is an Arab American, a leading playwright, and an inspiration. We are proud to be share his story.
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AAI Statement On State of Minnesota V. Derek Chauvin
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We all owe Farah Nabulsi an enormous debt of gratitude. In a short 24-minute film, The Present, she has exposed the oppressive indecency of the Israeli occupation while telling the deeply moving story of a Palestinian family.
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In the past 15 years, Laila Lalami has emerged as the voice of the Arab American immigrant experience. Herself an immigrant from Morocco, Laila is the best-selling and award-winning author of four novels which explore the themes of home and belonging, and in her words “of people that don’t quite fit anywhere.”
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With all due respect to his years of service, it is time for Mahmoud Abbas to step aside. He should not run for office in the upcoming Palestinian elections and he should cede the reins of Fateh to others.
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AAI joins The Leadership Conference and 87 other organizations calling for the passage of the Jabara Heyer NO HATE Act
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The Arab American Institute (AAI) welcomes the introduction of the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assault, and Threats to Equality Act of 2021 (the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act), which would promote more accurate hate crime data collection and assist hate crime victims and their communities.
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“[T]he food was a reminder, despite the weight of what we were witnessing, that we were still alive with plenty for which to be grateful,” wrote Reem Kassis at the beginning of the COVID-19 lock down in April 2020. In this column for the Los Angeles Times, she compared the experience of cooking during a global pandemic to her time growing up in Jerusalem in the 1990s – when shelter in place orders were given during the Gulf War, and daily life often revolved around culinary comforts.
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It’s been a decade since the conflict in Syria began, and the toll has been staggering. Over one-half million have been killed, a quarter of whom are civilians. More than one-half of Syria’s pre-war population of 21 million have become either refugees or internally displaced persons – in near equal measure. Most Syrian children have lost years of education and normal social development and are living in poverty without adequate services. And there’s still no end in sight
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April is Arab American Heritage Month! Join us as we celebrate our culture, art, and people!
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At the conclusion of Israel’s fourth election in two years, the picture that emerges is as clear as mud. Here’s what we have learned from the outcome: Benjamin Netanyahu, though despised by many voters, remains the most potent force in the country
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American democracy, as Abraham Lincoln said, is a government “of the people, by the people, [and] for the people.” Perhaps the most fundamental right in our democracy is the right to vote. Yet for far too long, suppressing the right to vote has been used as a tool to marginalize racial and ethnic minorities.
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Washington, D.C. – The Arab American Institute Foundation (AAIF) is delighted to announce the launch of the first Moroccan cohort of the U.S. – MENA Experiential Partnership - an initiative pioneered by AAIF with support from the U.S. State Department Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).
The Partnership pairs distinguished current and former Arab American public servants and policy practitioners with officials in Morocco, for an innovative, year-long, peer learning and exchange of practices around the themes of decentralization, participatory governance, and public private partnerships. The Experiential Partnership allows public servants in the Arab world to make meaningful and lasting connections with American elected officials, to visit the United States for intensive training in good governance, to attract and develop public private partnerships, and to develop and fund small policy projects to benefit their local communities.
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Israelis are going to the polls for the fourth time in two years. It’s a weird election, to be sure, in part because for some it’s so very important, while for others so very little is at stake.
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Over the years, the approach of most American policymakers toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been Israel-centric with near total disregard for the suffering endured by the Palestinian people.
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AAI joined over 330 organizations in a letter to members of Congress expressing deep concern regarding proposed expansion of terrorism-related legal authority.
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Traumatic, violent acts bookended the first two decades of this century. The first was the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which claimed the lives of almost 3,000 innocents. The second was the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol which took its own unique toll on American life. Though vastly different, 9/11 and 1/6 both hit us hard.
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The AAI team began 2020 with genuine excitement and planning for both the decennial census and the presidential election. Fate had other plans, but we were undeterred and remained focused on strengthening our democracy, protecting the civil rights and civil liberties of all, and standing for human rights.
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There are times when no news is, in fact, big news. This is an article about a recent example that proves the wisdom of this maxim.
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Israelis love to use their hasbara machinery to get good press. But, as is the case with propagandists, the stories they generate frequently fail to reflect reality. Israel’s handling of the Coronavirus has provided several examples.
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