Next Wednesday, September 23rd, AAI will present testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about the impact of the downturn on Arab Americans. The hearing focuses on several communities and how they have been affected by home foreclosures, job loss and access to credit.

Don't waste this important opportunity to tell Congress how the recession is affecting Arab American families and businesses across the country.

WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU.

Email Kyle Haley at khaley@aaiusa.org no later than COB Thursday September 17, or call Omar Baddar, Community Relations manager, at (202) 429-9210, ext 13.

Watch Dr. Zogby's special "Town Hall" episode of Viewpoint filmed in Dearborn, Michigan last summer, where a panel of Arab Americans talked about the economy

By Helen Samhan
AAI

The 2010 Census: What's in it for Arab Americans?

In less than a year, the nation will conduct its once-a-decade census of the U.S. population. The 2010 Census will ask just ten basic questions about each household—like the name, age, gender, and race of each person living there. Arab Americans, who are not a legally recognized racial or ethnic minority, have no “box” to check and some have suggested we should boycott the Census for that reason. This begs the questions: where do we fit and why should we care?

The short answer to the first question depends on who is asking. If you follow the federal guidelines on racial and ethnic measurement of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), persons from the Middle East and North Africa, like those of European descent, are classified as white. Many Arab Americans whose families are already into their third or fourth generation in the U.S. are fine with this designation—a reflection of acceptance into the majority culture, one that was not so easily offered to our grandparents a century ago.

For other Arab Americans, racial classifications in the U.S. are confusing, counter-intuitive, or irrelevant. Those who have recently immigrated or who have come of age in the distinctly diversity-conscious America of the past several decades, often relate more with American minorities and people of color. The sting of racial profiling, discrimination, and cultural intolerance some have felt, especially since 9/11, has only added to the feeling of being distinct from the white majority.

So how should Arab Americans who cannot relate to the race options offered respond to the next census?

One option is to choose the “Some Other Race” category and write in your ethnic identity or national origin. This giv... [Read More]

Yesterday, the Senate debated three amendments to the Fiscal 2009 Budget, offered by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), the first of which (Amendment 629) read: "None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available to resettle Palestinians from Gaza into the United States."

There was much head-scratching when the amendment first appeared. Why was it offered, and what was it about? Well, there have been reports on some fringe websites claiming that President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order that would allocate $20.3 million dollars to settle hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza into the U.S - and reached such a frenzy that the internet rumor debunking site snopes.com devoted a page to demonstrating the absurd nature of this claim. (We at AAI spent five minutes on Google and did the same.)

Undeterred, Senator Kyl brought that amendment to the floor yesterday, along with two other anti-Palestinian amendments - one sought to hold up U.S. assistance to Gaza on the pretense of keeping it from Hamas (Amendment 631), and the other dealt with Egypt and arms smuggling into Gaza (Amendment 630). Kyl ran into stiff opposition on all fronts, and it certainly appeared to be organized.
First, Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, rose first to speak against Amendments 629 and 630. Noting that he had recently been in Gaza, Egypt and Israel, Kerry called the amendment on Egypt "frankly, not helpful." But it was for the bizarre anti-settlement amendment that he showed true scorn, stating that it "assumes that every resident of Gaza, regardless of age, background, political opinion or any other distinguishing characteristic, is pro-Hamas and ineligible for consideration for resettlement in the United States, even if they are lucky enough to escape from Gaza." He then added, "This amendment, therefore, is not only unnecessary but it would establish for the first time since the pas... [Read More]

Those are the statistics. Where are the stories behind the statistics?

There's a decided lack of footage from the war zone. Israel wants it that way-the BBC reports that "Israel has been aiming for total air supremacy in more than one way in Gaza - it wants to dominate the airwaves of the news organisations with its own narrative. The Israeli military and the government press office have got round a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court that a pool, or controlled group, of media be allowed in by saying that it is too dangerous."

Media access to Gaza is a critical fulcrum in the shifting war for public perception. It's all too easy to hear only one side of the argument - even for journalists who are seeking balance. It is critical that independent observers-- including journalists-- be given access to Gaza. Yesterday.

Here's a short list of headlines from the past 24 hours regarding media access:
Israel's Losing Media Strategy
Israel media on defensive over Gaza war coverage
Media frustration over Gaza ban grows
Israel Explains Gaza Media Restrictions

Why Israel is denying access...

Despite the December 31st ruling by Israel's own High Court that permits journalists to enter Gaza in groups of 12, the borders remain closed. Perhaps they want to avoid more difficult questions like those posed by Alex Thomson from Channel 4 news (London), who, on January 8th confronted Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, regarding allegations that Israel knowingly blocked the Red Cross from accessing sites, including Zeitun, where shelling by the IDF left 30 dead.

But a conversation between a journalist and an unnamed Israeli official offers an interesting perspective on this media tug-of-war. Rachel Maddow spoke with Richard Engel (who has been reporting on the war in Gaza from outside Gaza)... Watch the original footage starting at 4:10 on MSNBC:

RM: Richard, one of the major factors that affects h... [Read More]