By Adam Taylor The NWashington Post The shootings in Dallas are just the latest backdrop for global discussions about race relations, guns and law enforcement in the United States. Some of the strongest views have come from the Arab world, where many view America’s struggles through the lens of religion and debates over how to … Continued
BY: Eugene Smith/Contributing Writer The Tragedy: On Thursday evening, the Dallas Police presided over a peaceful demonstration held by the local Black Lives Matter movement protesting the recent shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. The deaths of the two young men weighed heavily on the frustrated crowd as they marched chanting “enough is enough.” In a sign … Continued
BY: Nisreen Eadeh/Staff Writer America witnessed two more fatal shootings of black men by police officers this week – Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana. Cities across America, big and small, demonstrated on the streets Thursday night, demanding an end to the unnecessary deaths of black men by white cops. The level … Continued
BY Andrew Hansen/ Contributing Writer “I wish Saddam would return…” These chilling words display the sentiment that many Iraqis feel following the release of the Chilcot Report, a 2.6 million worded report condemning former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for entering the Iraq war on false pretenses. THE REPORT The inquiry, which took seven years … Continued
© YouTube My One Thing | Marcelle Aleid with the hourglass she took with her from her native Damascus. by Charlotte BOITIAUX France24 Syrian filmmaker Marcelle Aleid has asked exiles from her country to tell her about the unique object they took – or would have liked to have taken – with them as they … Continued
Courtesy of Bashar Masri and Rawabi. Monica Wang Forbes.com A fine slab of carved stone stands out against the wild rocks and shrubs scattered about the mountainous Palestinian landscape. It is a sign that reads “Rawabi,” meaning hills in Arabic, and it points to a narrow path up the slope. As the paved road winds … Continued
With all the anti-Arab bashing we see in the news every week, Arab America is determined to expose those who discriminate against our community. We will recognize those who vilify the positive influence and contributions Arabs have made to the fabric of American society. And we will use hummus as our weapon. By naming those … Continued
Press release: The White House Upon the arrival of a new crescent moon, Michelle and I send our warmest greetings to all those celebrating Eid al-Fitr in the United States and around the globe. For Muslim Americans, Eid is an opportunity to reflect on the 30 days spent fasting and to recommit to values … Continued
BY: Andrew Hansen/Contributing Writer On July 23, America’s Muslim communities will come together to rally against extremism, gun violence, and bigotry on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Organized by the Islamic Society of Central Florida and the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), the march is intended to combat recent spikes of anti-Muslim hate … Continued
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Forward
James Zogby, one of Bernie Sanders’ appointees to the the Democratic Party’s platform committee, said he had been unfairly typecast as an anti-Israel activist.
“I’ve just been cast as the anti-Israel guy,” Zogby, the founder and president of the Arab American Institute, said in an interview published Friday in The Jerusalem Post. “People will type you.”
This view, which Zogby said does not reflect his views toward the Jewish state, “bothers me more than anything else that it fuels a simplistic, combative narrative,” he said.
As a member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee, Zogby has played a key role in attempt to include in the party’s platform language that recognizes Palestinian “dignity,” and against Israel’s “occupation” and “settlement activity” in what the proposed inclusions refer to as Palestinian lands, according to The Jerusalem Post.
The latest draft of the platform, which is set to be finalized in July, declares that achieving Palestinian statehood would provide “the Palestinians with independence, sovereignty, and dignity,” whereas previous formulations referred to a two-state solution as benefitting only Israel. A proposed phrase calling on Israel to end “Israeli military occupation and illegal settlements” in the West Bank was defeated last week in an executive committee meeting in St. Louis.
Zogby supports the rights of Americans to boycott products produced in the settlements. He also told The Jerusalem Post that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “does more to delegitimize the State of Israel than the BDS movement ever has.”
But, “On the issue of delegitimizing Israel, I object to language that ultimately crosses the line into anti-Semitism,” he said. “That language is offensive, its anti-Semitic and its hurtful.”
The son of Maronite Catholic immigrants from Lebanon, Zogby has become one of the most prominent voices for the Arab-American community. He has a son who is married to a Muslim and a daughter married to a Jew, he said.
“When you type me and reduce me to one thing– which is some ‘hater of’ or ‘threat to’ or ‘danger to’ Israel – then there are crazy people out there who will decide to do things,” he complained. He said he has received death threats. The Post article did not specify as to the nature of these threats.
In the 1990s, then vice president Al Gore tapped Zogby to help promote business investment in the Palestinian territories, in a project known as Builders for Peace. President Barack Obama has twice appointed him to serve on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, in 2013 and 2015.
According to the Post, Zogby’s views are aligned with those of J Street, the Jewish organization which supports increasing international pressure on Israel to speed negotiations toward a two-state solution, which J Street says will benefit both peoples. J Street defines itself as a pro-Israel organization.
Zogby said his attempt to include language that speaks of Israel occupation reflects mainstream views. “There isn’t a president in the last 30 or 40 years who doesn’t call it an occupation,” he said, noting that consecutive Republican and Democratic administrations have also condemned Israel’s continued settlement activity in the West Bank.
Sanders, the first Jewish candidate to win major party nominating contests, named five of the platform committee’s members, including Zogby and two other frequent critics of Israeli policy, Cornel West, a philosopher and African-American social activist, and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim elected to Congress.
Source: forward.com
Press release: The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP)
First Lady Michelle Obama is in Morocco today and Wednesday to promote her Let Girls Learn initiative. Launched in March 2015, the initiative brings together the Department of State, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Peace Corps, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and other agencies and programs to help adolescent girls worldwide attain a quality education.
“It just makes sense for boys and girls to be educated and involved and empowered,” said the First Lady during a panel discussion held in Marrakesh, where she was joined by actresses and fellow women’s education activists Meryl Streep and Freida Pinto.
The visit — the first in North Africa for the Let Girls Learn initiative — brings new energy to several existing US-Morocco programs focused on girls’ education. Signed in November 2015, the second US-Morocco MCC compact includes the Education and Training Project, which prioritizes “delivering quality secondary education focused on the employability skills needed for the modern workforce,” and which will make a concerted effort “to ensure that the project results in equitable outcomes for both girls and boys and reduces social, gender, and regional inequalities.” Today, and in conjunction with the First Lady’s travels, the White House provided additional details on MCC’s $100 million investment in what it referred to as “a new model for secondary education in Morocco,” citing activities like “mentoring programs, internships, after-school clubs, upgrading bathrooms and changing rooms for girls,” and more.
In its 2013-2017 Country Development Cooperation Strategy for Morocco, USAID pledged to work with Morocco’s Ministry of Education “to develop gender-sensitive reading materials,” and “ensure gender equity in the delivery of training programs.”
Today, USAID announced a “new $400,000 investment to establish five new girls’ dormitories… which will be ready by the next school year,” and will allow girls living in rural areas to attend school.
The White House also announced that in the coming months, Morocco will become the Peace Corps’ 36th Let Girls Learn country, wherein “the Peace Corps will train incoming volunteers and community leaders to advance girls’ education and empowerment, and will work with local leaders to focus on girls’ development through a renewed focus on building critical skills for leadership and employment.”
“I am so proud that the US is working with the Moroccan Government to make these transformative new investments to educate and empower girls across Morocco — investments that will help these girls succeed in the workforce and fulfill their boundless promise,” said Mrs. Obama in a statement.
These programs build on decades of work that the Moroccan government and civil society groups have done on their own to improve the status and strengthen the rights of women in the country. In February 2004, Morocco officially adopted a new family code, one of the most progressive laws on women’s and family rights in the Arab world, that raised the age of marriage for girls from 15 to 18, provided women new rights in divorce, and gave wives joint responsibility for the family with their husbands. Article 31 of Morocco’s Constitution, adopted by referendum in 2011, requires the government to “facilitate the equal access of [female and male] citizens to conditions that permit their enjoyment of the right… to a modern, accessible education of quality.”
“The King has made women’s rights and education top priorities since day one, and significant progress has been made,” said former US Ambassador to Morocco Edward M. Gabriel. “With the US joining Morocco’s leadership in this regard — two longtime allies working together — progress on women’s education will accelerate all the more.”
The First Lady is accompanied in Morocco by her mother, Marian Robinson, as well as her daughters, Sasha and Malia Obama. Prior to Marrakesh, Mrs. Obama was in Liberia; she will next be traveling to Spain, the third and final destination of her Let Girls Learn tour.
The Moroccan American Center for Policy (MACP) is a non-profit organization whose principal mission is to inform opinion makers, government officials, and interested publics in the United States about political and social developments in Morocco and the role being played by the Kingdom of Morocco in broader strategic developments in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
Source: www.marketwired.com
BY: Ezzah Syed/Contributing Writer This summer, for the first time in history, a team of refugees will compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The name of the team will be Team Refugee Olympic Athletes (ROA) and will consist of two judokas from the Democratic Republic of Congo, two swimmers from … Continued
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