The A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition, joins with the National Council of Arab Americans, Free Palestine Alliance, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, Palestinian American Women’s Association, Al-Awda Palestine Right of Return Coalition and other anti-war and progressive organizations in calling for emergency protests demanding an immediate end to the Israeli blockade and siege of Gaza. Protests will take place on January 25-26 at Israeli embassies, consulates, U.S. federal buildings and other locations.
More than 1.5 million Palestinian people living in Gaza are suffering from life-threatening shortages of food, medicines, fuel and other vital necessities, caused by the Israeli military’s sealing-off of one of the most densely populated areas of the world. Gaza City is blacked-out at night, including hospitals. Doctors must examine patients by candlelight.
The crisis is growing more severe by the day. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the World Food Programme, which together supply food to more than two-thirds of the population, have stated that unless the blockade is lifted they will be forced to stop operations by this weekend. A cut-off in aid would threaten an already food-deprived population with mass starvation. The great majority of Gaza residents are from refugee families, driven out of other parts of Palestine when the state of Israel was created in 1948.
The Israeli blockade is in clear violation of international law, which strictly forbids collective punishment and labels it a war crime. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) states in part: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.”
Collective punishment is a war crime. Imposing a blockade on the population in Gaza is undeniably a form of collective punishment. The U.S. government, which gives billions of dollars in military and economic aid to Israel every year, shares the guilt for this war crime.
Among the cities where emergency protests will take place are:
Washington DC: Friday, Jan. 25, 4pm, at the Israeli Embassy, 3514 International Dr. N.W.
San Francisco, CA: Friday, Jan. 25, 4 6 p.m., Israeli Consulate, 456 Montgomery St. (near California)
Anaheim, CA: Saturday, Jan. 26, 1 p.m. 512 S. Brookhurst St. (Bet. Orange Ave. & Broadway)
Costa Mesa, CA: Friday, Jan. 25, 5-7 pm, vigil at Bristol & Anton
New York, NY: Saturday, Jan. 26, 1 p.m., at the Israeli Consulate, 43rd St. and 2nd Ave.
Chicago, IL: Tues., Jan. 29, 5pm at the Lakeshore Theater, 3175 North Broadway (at benefit for the Friends of the Israeli Defense Force). Initiated by ISM, endorsed by ANSWER and others. Call 773-463-0311 for more information.
Seattle: Friday, January 25, 4 p.m., Westlake Park, 4th & Pine Sts.
Sioux Falls, SD: Saturday, January 26th, 12 Noon, 12th & Phillips
Cleveland: Saturday, January 26, 2pm, Meet at 1616 W. 25th St. at Ken Zaman Restaurant; Endorsed by: Cleveland Middle East Peace Forum, Interfaith Council for Peace in the Middle East, NOAC, Immigrant Support Network
Charlotte, NC: Jan. 26 Forum, 4pm, Charlotte Energy Solutions, 337 Baldwin Ave; Organized by Charlotte Action
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Applications Sought for Arab-American Leadership Training
The Hala Salaam Maksoud Foundation for Arab-American Leadership is now welcoming applications for its intensive, 5-day training seminars scheduled for 2008 in Washington, DC. The 2008 First Round seminars are scheduled for:
March, Weds 12-Sun 16
June, Weds 25- Sun 29
September, Sat 13- Weds 17
December, Sat 6- Weds 10
Applicants for all seminars are encouraged to apply as soon as possible, and all applications for the March seminar should be submitted by Friday, February 15, 2008.
There is no charge for the training sessions, which are held in Washington, DC, but participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation. The training will be led and coordinated by the Hala Foundation's Program Director, Dr. Hussein Ibish. Participants must commit to attending the full five days of the program.
Applicants should be young Arab-American professionals who have completed their education and have already begun their professional careers, or those in the final stages of a Ph.D. program. They should have a demonstrable commitment to advocacy on behalf of Arab-American concerns, and a desire to devote substantial time and effort to leadership on behalf of the community.
The Leadership Training Program is designed to create a national network of highly trained, informed and focused young Arab-American professionals equipped to take on the advocacy and organizational efforts required for community leadership. The Leadership Program provides extensive training in:
Command of the Issues: mastery of both information and arguments
Presentation Skills: making the case effectively
Interpersonal Skills: making friends and influencing people
Organizational Skills: mobilizing the community
Collaborative Skills: building effective teams
Coalition Building Techniques: finding unexpected allies
Networking: building a national network of trained activists
Continuous Improvement: developing long-term relationships with trainees
Applicants should send a letter of interest explaining their desire to become community leaders or activists, a CV and a writing sample or any other relevant material to:
The Hala Salaam Maksoud Foundation
815 Connecticut Ave. NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC
20006
Or email them to director@halafoundation.org
Please visit http://www.halafoundation.org for more details Email director@halafoundation.org with any questions
March, Weds 12-Sun 16
June, Weds 25- Sun 29
September, Sat 13- Weds 17
December, Sat 6- Weds 10
Applicants for all seminars are encouraged to apply as soon as possible, and all applications for the March seminar should be submitted by Friday, February 15, 2008.
There is no charge for the training sessions, which are held in Washington, DC, but participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation. The training will be led and coordinated by the Hala Foundation's Program Director, Dr. Hussein Ibish. Participants must commit to attending the full five days of the program.
Applicants should be young Arab-American professionals who have completed their education and have already begun their professional careers, or those in the final stages of a Ph.D. program. They should have a demonstrable commitment to advocacy on behalf of Arab-American concerns, and a desire to devote substantial time and effort to leadership on behalf of the community.
The Leadership Training Program is designed to create a national network of highly trained, informed and focused young Arab-American professionals equipped to take on the advocacy and organizational efforts required for community leadership. The Leadership Program provides extensive training in:
Command of the Issues: mastery of both information and arguments
Presentation Skills: making the case effectively
Interpersonal Skills: making friends and influencing people
Organizational Skills: mobilizing the community
Collaborative Skills: building effective teams
Coalition Building Techniques: finding unexpected allies
Networking: building a national network of trained activists
Continuous Improvement: developing long-term relationships with trainees
Applicants should send a letter of interest explaining their desire to become community leaders or activists, a CV and a writing sample or any other relevant material to:
The Hala Salaam Maksoud Foundation
815 Connecticut Ave. NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC
20006
Or email them to director@halafoundation.org
Please visit http://www.halafoundation.org for more details Email director@halafoundation.org with any questions
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the nation's leading, non-sectarian non-partisan, grassroots Arab-American civil rights organization, urges Congress to pass the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA) this year. Passage of ERPA is one of ADC's top legislative priorities for the second half of the 110th Congress. Please contact your members of Congress asking them to cosponsor, support and pass ERPA.
At the end of last year, before Congress adjourned for its winter break, Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) introduced the End Racial Profiling Act in both the House of Representatives and US Senate. To read text of both bills please click on their bill numbers S 2481 and HR 4611.
Racial profiling occurs when law enforcement relies on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion in selecting which individuals to subject to routine or spontaneous investigatory activities, except when relying on a specific suspect description. This practice violates our nation's basic constitutional commitment to equality before the law. Racial profiling is also contrary to effective law enforcement -- whether used as a tool in the war against drugs or the war against terrorism, profiling fuels the perception in minority communities that the criminal justice system is unfair and undermines the trust between the police and the communities they serve.
The overwhelming majority of law enforcement agents discharge their duties with honorable intentions. Nevertheless, empirical evidence from around the nation reveals that profiling by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies is widespread, and that, despite the efforts of some states and local law enforcement agencies to address this problem, federal legislation is necessary.
The End Racial Profiling Act builds on the guidance issued by the Department of Justice in June 2003, which bans federal law enforcement officials from engaging in racial profiling. ERPA would apply this prohibition to state and local law enforcement, close the loopholes to its application, include a mechanism for enforcement of the new policy, require data collection to monitor the government's progress toward eliminating profiling, and provide best practice incentive grants to state and local law enforcement agencies that will enable agencies to use federal funds to bring their departments into compliance with the requirements of the bill. The DOJ guidance was a good first step, but ERPA is needed to "end racial profiling in America," as President Bush pledged to do.
Contact Congress today asking them to pass the End Racial Profiling Act!
At the end of last year, before Congress adjourned for its winter break, Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) introduced the End Racial Profiling Act in both the House of Representatives and US Senate. To read text of both bills please click on their bill numbers S 2481 and HR 4611.
Racial profiling occurs when law enforcement relies on race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion in selecting which individuals to subject to routine or spontaneous investigatory activities, except when relying on a specific suspect description. This practice violates our nation's basic constitutional commitment to equality before the law. Racial profiling is also contrary to effective law enforcement -- whether used as a tool in the war against drugs or the war against terrorism, profiling fuels the perception in minority communities that the criminal justice system is unfair and undermines the trust between the police and the communities they serve.
The overwhelming majority of law enforcement agents discharge their duties with honorable intentions. Nevertheless, empirical evidence from around the nation reveals that profiling by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies is widespread, and that, despite the efforts of some states and local law enforcement agencies to address this problem, federal legislation is necessary.
The End Racial Profiling Act builds on the guidance issued by the Department of Justice in June 2003, which bans federal law enforcement officials from engaging in racial profiling. ERPA would apply this prohibition to state and local law enforcement, close the loopholes to its application, include a mechanism for enforcement of the new policy, require data collection to monitor the government's progress toward eliminating profiling, and provide best practice incentive grants to state and local law enforcement agencies that will enable agencies to use federal funds to bring their departments into compliance with the requirements of the bill. The DOJ guidance was a good first step, but ERPA is needed to "end racial profiling in America," as President Bush pledged to do.
Contact Congress today asking them to pass the End Racial Profiling Act!
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
John Zogby On The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
John Zogby, President and CEO of the polling firm Zogby International and an Arab American Institute board member, will be the guest on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Wednesday, January 9 at 11 p.m. EST. Zogby, considered by many the top pollster in the United States, will analyze and handicap the presidential races the day after the pivotal New Hampshire primary.
With the Writers Guild of America strike still going, the show promises to feature a candid conversation highlighted by the wit and wisdom of Jon and John. It should be as enlightening as entertaining.
If you can't catch the show on Wednesday, it will be rebroadcast on Thursday, January 10 at 8 p.m. EST on Comedy Central. John Zogby was one of five founding board members of AAI in 1985 and is the brother of AAI President James Zogby.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Arab American Quiz From The AAI Website
This quiz tests your knowledge of Arab Americans in several key areas: religion, geography, population & culture. Many of the answers can be found on the AAI website. Enjoy!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The US Department of Justice invites you...
A First Freedom Project Seminar:
Federal Laws Protecting Religious Freedom
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
DOJ Office of Justice Programs Conference Center
810 7th Street N.W., Room 3102
Washington, D.C.
9:00 a.m. – noon
Introductory remarks by Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division and presentations by Eric W. Treene, Special Counsel for Religious Discrimination, Civil Rights Division; Steven H. Rosenbaum, Chief, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, Civil Rights Division; and Mark J. Kappelhoff, Chief, Criminal Section, Civil Rights Division
Topics will include Religious Discrimination in Public Schools, Colleges and Universities; Religious Discrimination and Public Employees; The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA); Religion-based Housing and Lending Discrimination; Religious Discrimination in Access to Public Accommodations and Public Facilities; Prosecuting Attacks on Houses of Worship and Persons Based on Religion.
Admission is free but registration is required by January 24. This seminar is designed for religious, community, and civil rights leaders, government officials, attorneys, and others interested in religious liberty issues. Continuing Legal Education credit may be available.
To register, send your name, organization (if applicable) and phone number to:
FirstFreedom@USDOJ.gov
Please call Valissa Johnson at 202.514.9470 for more information.
www.FirstFreedom.gov
Federal Laws Protecting Religious Freedom
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
DOJ Office of Justice Programs Conference Center
810 7th Street N.W., Room 3102
Washington, D.C.
9:00 a.m. – noon
Introductory remarks by Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division and presentations by Eric W. Treene, Special Counsel for Religious Discrimination, Civil Rights Division; Steven H. Rosenbaum, Chief, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section, Civil Rights Division; and Mark J. Kappelhoff, Chief, Criminal Section, Civil Rights Division
Topics will include Religious Discrimination in Public Schools, Colleges and Universities; Religious Discrimination and Public Employees; The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA); Religion-based Housing and Lending Discrimination; Religious Discrimination in Access to Public Accommodations and Public Facilities; Prosecuting Attacks on Houses of Worship and Persons Based on Religion.
Admission is free but registration is required by January 24. This seminar is designed for religious, community, and civil rights leaders, government officials, attorneys, and others interested in religious liberty issues. Continuing Legal Education credit may be available.
To register, send your name, organization (if applicable) and phone number to:
FirstFreedom@USDOJ.gov
Please call Valissa Johnson at 202.514.9470 for more information.
www.FirstFreedom.gov
Laughing All The Way To The (west) Bank
By Andrew Lee Butters
Time
December 11, 2007
The Axis of Evil arrived in Lebanon last week. No, not in the form of some Iran-backed coup d' état, but as a stand-up comedy team made up of three Americans of Middle Eastern descent. (They couldn't find a funny North Korean.) On the last leg of a regional tour playing to sold-out venues in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, they arrived at the Casino Du Liban outside of Beirut with a certain sense of relief. Lebanon was the only country that allowed them to perform their routine with expletives undeleted — no small challenge for a modern American comedy act. "#@#%#$!" said frontman Ahmed Ahmed, as soon as he got on stage, as if to prove the point.
In the U.S., Axis of Evil gets most of its mileage out of sending up the paranoid American stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims. Ahmed Ahmed, who is an Egyptian-American, likes to complain about how hard it is to pass through airport security because a well-known terrorist shares the same name. If dubious airline officials ask him to prove he's a comedian by telling a joke, Ahmed responds: "Um, I just graduated from flight school?" When that joke bombs (sorry!), he consoles himself with the thought of how frustrated the other Ahmed must get when people mistake him for a comedian. "I'm a terrorist, goddamit!"
The group's Middle Eastern tour is also getting a lot of laughs out of foibles better known to locals. Some of the funnier bits included: "When Arabs hook up they never say 'Your place or mine?' They say, 'Where are your parents, and how big is your car?'" Or, on how an Arab version of the TV game show The Price Is Right! should be called, "This Price Is Not Right!" When the group arrived in Jordan, the first time a stand-up troupe had ever preformed in the kingdom, the comedians were surprised to discover that much of their audience already knew their jokes and had already seen the Axis of Evil DVD, even though Axis of Evil doesn't have a distributor in Jordan. "It's the Middle Eastern distribution system," said Ahmed Ahmed. "One person buys it, and everyone else copies it."
Popular though they may be, comedy is no laughing matter in much of the Middle East, where the censors of autocratic regimes keep watch for criticism disguised as satire. (A woman I once met in Syria was jailed for forwarding an e-mail joke about that country's President.) But by comparison, in Lebanon, which hardly has a government, almost anything goes. Indeed, the Axis of Evil arrived just in time to coincide with a season of political farce being performed in Lebanon's parliament, which — deadlocked between factions backed by Iran and by the U.S. — has been unable to replace the President, who stepped down last month. "Who needs a President?" said Maz Jobrani, an Iranian-American on the Axis of Evil roster, as he mocked the jaded Lebanese audience. "You've got the sea. You've got the mountains. You've got Miss Lebanon! A President would just mess things up. Tonight we party!"
But there is also a semi-serious element to the Axis of Evil tour. At each stop, the group has invited local talent to share the stage with them, as a way of promoting emerging Middle Eastern stand-up comedy. In Lebanon, guests included students from the American University of Beirut, and an insurance agent who's clearly dying to quit his day job. And, perhaps, by heaping scorn equally on the claims of all sects and creeds, they'll do their part for peace in the region. "Is there any religious group that doesn't believe it's superior to everyone else?" said Aron Kader, the Palestinian-American. "No, we're not the Chosen People, but we do come highly recommended."
Time
December 11, 2007
The Axis of Evil arrived in Lebanon last week. No, not in the form of some Iran-backed coup d' état, but as a stand-up comedy team made up of three Americans of Middle Eastern descent. (They couldn't find a funny North Korean.) On the last leg of a regional tour playing to sold-out venues in Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, they arrived at the Casino Du Liban outside of Beirut with a certain sense of relief. Lebanon was the only country that allowed them to perform their routine with expletives undeleted — no small challenge for a modern American comedy act. "#@#%#$!" said frontman Ahmed Ahmed, as soon as he got on stage, as if to prove the point.
In the U.S., Axis of Evil gets most of its mileage out of sending up the paranoid American stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims. Ahmed Ahmed, who is an Egyptian-American, likes to complain about how hard it is to pass through airport security because a well-known terrorist shares the same name. If dubious airline officials ask him to prove he's a comedian by telling a joke, Ahmed responds: "Um, I just graduated from flight school?" When that joke bombs (sorry!), he consoles himself with the thought of how frustrated the other Ahmed must get when people mistake him for a comedian. "I'm a terrorist, goddamit!"
The group's Middle Eastern tour is also getting a lot of laughs out of foibles better known to locals. Some of the funnier bits included: "When Arabs hook up they never say 'Your place or mine?' They say, 'Where are your parents, and how big is your car?'" Or, on how an Arab version of the TV game show The Price Is Right! should be called, "This Price Is Not Right!" When the group arrived in Jordan, the first time a stand-up troupe had ever preformed in the kingdom, the comedians were surprised to discover that much of their audience already knew their jokes and had already seen the Axis of Evil DVD, even though Axis of Evil doesn't have a distributor in Jordan. "It's the Middle Eastern distribution system," said Ahmed Ahmed. "One person buys it, and everyone else copies it."
Popular though they may be, comedy is no laughing matter in much of the Middle East, where the censors of autocratic regimes keep watch for criticism disguised as satire. (A woman I once met in Syria was jailed for forwarding an e-mail joke about that country's President.) But by comparison, in Lebanon, which hardly has a government, almost anything goes. Indeed, the Axis of Evil arrived just in time to coincide with a season of political farce being performed in Lebanon's parliament, which — deadlocked between factions backed by Iran and by the U.S. — has been unable to replace the President, who stepped down last month. "Who needs a President?" said Maz Jobrani, an Iranian-American on the Axis of Evil roster, as he mocked the jaded Lebanese audience. "You've got the sea. You've got the mountains. You've got Miss Lebanon! A President would just mess things up. Tonight we party!"
But there is also a semi-serious element to the Axis of Evil tour. At each stop, the group has invited local talent to share the stage with them, as a way of promoting emerging Middle Eastern stand-up comedy. In Lebanon, guests included students from the American University of Beirut, and an insurance agent who's clearly dying to quit his day job. And, perhaps, by heaping scorn equally on the claims of all sects and creeds, they'll do their part for peace in the region. "Is there any religious group that doesn't believe it's superior to everyone else?" said Aron Kader, the Palestinian-American. "No, we're not the Chosen People, but we do come highly recommended."
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