In this Moment: An Arab American Agenda
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In this Moment: An Arab American Agenda 〰️
The Arab American Institute organizes the 3.7 million Arab Americans across the country to ensure an informed, organized, and effective constituency is represented in all aspects of civic life.
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Please take a moment today to write to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas- Greenfield through the United States Mission to the United Nations contact form here and demand they vote YES on the recognition of Palestine as a member state of the United Nations.
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The US reaction to Iran’s retaliatory drone and missile launches against Israel was both predictable and unhelpful. More sanctions against Iran and more weapons to Israel, while at the same time calling for de-escalation, was at best contradictory. At worst, it could have the effect of exacerbating existing tensions.
University student protests against US support for Israel’s war in Gaza have spread like wildfire. At last count, there have been sustained demonstrations on over 200 campuses. More recently, students have taken to establishing protest encampments in the center of some campuses. This began last week at Columbia University in New York. Ten days later there were encampments at almost four dozen universities.
One Sunday afternoon, my father-in-law was on the Long Island Expressway driving the family to an event. With surprisingly little traffic on what would ordinarily be a congested highway, they were cruising along at a good speed. At one point, my mother-in-law asked, “Dear, do you have any idea where you’re going?” He chuckled and replied, “No, but we’re making good time.”
It took over a half century to strengthen the Arab American identity and build organizations to meet community needs. Today this work is under assault by those who seek to erase our gains, fracture the community along sectarian lines, or silence our voices in US politics.
Two seemingly unrelated events of the last week have caused me to reflect on the long journey we’ve taken to Arab American empowerment. The first was the March 27th death of former Senator Joseph Lieberman. This was followed by the 28th anniversary of the tragic death of former Secretary of Commerce, Ronald Brown on April 3rd.
On March 28, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced revisions to the Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity, known as Directive 15. The revisions, the first since 1997, include the historic addition of a new “Middle Eastern or North African” (MENA) minimum reporting category, the use of a combined question format for collecting race and ethnicity, and the requirement of more detailed data collection by federal agencies beyond the minimum Standards in most situations to allow for greater data disaggregation. Join us for a webinar with leading experts to discuss what Arab Americans, as well as all racial, ethnic, and tribal populations, can expect from the new race and ethnicity standards, and how stakeholder organizations plan to address remaining gaps and implementation.
Support an Arab American agenda that protects the rights and respects the identity of Arab Americans at home, and centers Arab American interests and concerns in American foreign policy abroad.
AFSC and their local staff in Gaza have provided emergency humanitarian aid to more than 400,000 people in Gaza, including providing thousands of families safe drinking water and food. They plan to expand their aid to tens of thousands more in the coming months. Today, as our community faces attacks both at home and abroad, we are inspired by the important work being done by Arab Americans like Joyce.
Guys in white shirts and ties in Washington and their counterparts in Israel are sitting around tables making plans for what they want to see after Israel ends its genocidal assault on Gaza (if they ever end it). From what I’ve read, their plans are either cruelly insensitive or downright delusional because they fail to consider that at issue here isn’t who runs what and how it will be run. What must be understood is that the wounds inflicted by this war will last and will define reality for a generation or more.
Washington, D.C. on March 28, 2024 - Today, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced revisions to Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity (“Standards”). The revisions, the first since 1997, include the historic addition of a new “Middle Eastern or North African” (MENA) minimum reporting category, the use of a combined question format for collecting race and ethnicity, and the requirement of more detailed data collection by federal agencies beyond the minimum Standards in most situations to allow for greater data disaggregation.
Guys in white shirts and ties in Washington and their counterparts in Israel are sitting around tables making plans for what they want to see after Israel ends its genocidal assault on Gaza (if they ever end it). From what I’ve read, their plans are either cruelly insensitive or downright delusional because they fail to consider that at issue here isn’t who runs what and how it will be run. What must be understood is that the wounds inflicted by this war will last and will define reality for a generation or more.
This era’s wars in Ukraine and Gaza are having a more dramatic impact both on global alignments and US politics than the wars in Vietnam and Iraq had in their respective eras. And this is happening without any American troops directly engaged in either conflict.