The Middle East Program of the Woodrow Wilson Center Presents
Lebanon: Three Years After Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri
Featuring Hon. Charles Rizk, Lebanese Minister of Justice and Hon. Jeffrey Feltman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Near Eastern Affairs Bureau, U.S. Department of State and former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon (2004-2008)
Thursday, February 28, 10:30am -11:30am
6th Floor, Flom Auditorium
Woodrow Wilson Center
Ronald Reagan Building
Washington
Please RSVP to mep@wilsoncenter.org or fax to 202.691.4184
Name and Title:___________________________________
Affiliation:________________________________________
E-mail:___________________________________________
Seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-served basis.
A photo ID is required for entry.
www.wilsoncenter.org
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
ADC Annual Convention
Please join the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) for its 2008 Annual National Convention - Securing the Principles of Liberty.
Thursday, June 12 through Sunday, June 15
Grand Hyatt Hotel
1000 H Street NW
Washington, DC
The hotel rate is $129 a night for single/double occupancy.
Register early as the ADC Convention sells out every year! This year, the earlier you register, the bigger the savings.
Thursday, June 12 through Sunday, June 15
Grand Hyatt Hotel
1000 H Street NW
Washington, DC
The hotel rate is $129 a night for single/double occupancy.
Register early as the ADC Convention sells out every year! This year, the earlier you register, the bigger the savings.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
JJ Dinner
Thanks to Saba Shami, once again, the newdominionPAC scored a great table for the JJ Dinner in Richmond. As we were last year, we were right up front neat where the speakers came out. It was good to hear from Senators Clinton and Obama and to see the newDominion PAC friends again.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
The Arab American Institute (AAI) is circulating a petition amongst Arab Americans throughout the country in an effort to communicate a clear and succinct Arab American agenda to the eventual Democratic and Republican presidential nominees. They will deliver this petition to the nominees at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions in August and September, respectively.
It is important for Arab Americans to sign this petition to demonstrate our community’s influence and commitment through our numbers. They will deliver your name, city, and state to the nominees when we present the petition. All other information including email, street address, and telephone number will be kept strictly confidential.
Yalla Vote 2008 National Petition
At home and abroad, America faces serious challenges. The results of the 2008 presidential election will in large part decide our nation's future course.
As concerned Americans, here is what we seek in our next president:
At home, we have become increasingly concerned by the loss of civility in our national discourse and the erosion of basic civil liberties.
We want leadership that builds our national community, promotes respect for all faiths and ethnicities, and recognizes that within our diversity lies our nation's greatest strength.
We seek the protection of those fundamental Constitutional freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights and a renewed commitment to the rule of law.
Abroad, we are deeply troubled by the degree to which a unilateral approach has left America more isolated, less respected, and less secure in a changing world.
We want an American foreign policy that will bring peace with justice and self-determination to the Palestinians, reconciliation and full sovereignty to Lebanon, and security and an end to the occupation and war for the people of Iraq.
We want a strong America that leads by example, supporting the implementation of outstanding U.N. Security Council Resolutions and complying with international conventions.
We want a foreign policy that restores America's image abroad and addresses the root causes of extremism rather than fueling it; a foreign policy that provides for national security by strongly advocating tolerance of ethnic and religious differences, respect for human rights, and freedom from arbitrary violence and oppression – the same American ideals we hold and promote at home.
These are the issues we seek to bring to the national debate and these are the issues on which we will base our vote in 2008.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Protest in Support of Gaza
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
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
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!
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