Dear Friend,

Already in the fourth week of Israel's assault on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, I know a part of you and every Arab American has been broken. The stories coming from Palestinians, the heartbreaking scenes we see on our feeds, and the pictures of utter devastation have been unbearably painful to see from afar. That pain is all the more acute because no end is in sight even though we are joined by the majority of Americans in our call for a #CeasefireNow.

With the blurringly fast devastation, we know that the only thing that isn't moving quickly is relief for Palestinians. With so much at stake, I am taking this brief moment to update you on what we have been doing.

As you continue to do your part by raising your voice for Palestine, rallying in support of the Palestinian people, and demanding our elected officials call for a ceasefire while protecting Palestinians in the US with TPS status, AAI is continuing to fight for our community and tell our story.

To help gauge Arab American reaction to the most recent violence in Palestine/Israel, earlier this week AAI released the first national poll of Arab Americans since the onset of the crisis: Arab Americans Special Poll: Domestic Implications of the Most Recent Outbreak of Violence in Palestine/Israel.

The poll, which was conducted from October 23rd-27th, found that:

Support among Arab American voters for President Biden has dropped from 59% to 17%, a 42%-point decrease from 2020.
Two-thirds of Arab Americans have a negative view of President Biden’s response to the current violence in Palestine and Israel.
A strong majority of Arab Americans believe the U.S. should call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
74% of Arab Americans ages 18-34 report facing discrimination.
And a majority of Arab Americans are concerned that the current crisis will lead to a rise in antisemitism and anti-Arab bigotry.

The poll was released during a virtual press conference and received extensive national and international attention including coverage in Time, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Reuters, Hareetz, The Guardian, The Hill, and more.

AAI President Dr. Jim Zogby also appeared on Breaking Points with Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti to discuss the poll and how Arab American frustration with President Biden's actions on Palestine/Israel could impact the 2024 election.

Last week, Dr. Zogby also appeared as the featured guest on the Progressive Democrats of America Town Hall and on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour to discuss the recent situation in Palestine/Israel and the impact on US policy.

On Tuesday, AAI Executive Director Maya Berry was on a Carnegie Endowment panel where she discussed the current crisis and the impact it has on Arab Americans.

Continuing her decades-long work on hate crime prevention, Maya was a featured speaker on the United Against Hate Virtual Forum hosted by the Department of Justice. United Against Hate, the community outreach and engagement program from the DOJ, has worked to bring together stakeholders to increase outreach and help prevent hate crimes nationwide. Attorney General Merrick Garland opened the session and Maya spoke on a panel moderated by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark, where she highlighted the recent hate, discrimination, and threats against the Arab American community.

Maya also joined CNN last night to discuss the White House’s rollout of a new initiative this week entitled, “National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia.” While we certainly believe America has an anti-Muslim problem that requires more attention, we have two main concerns. First, the timing of the announcement is harmful to fighting hate and bias work because it is politicizing the issue to distract from the Biden Administration’s failed policy on stopping the unrelenting Israeli bombings in Gaza. Second, we reject the idea that Arab Americans should be subsumed under the strategy as “those perceived to be Muslim.” Regrettably, anti-Arab bigotry is real, and we have been working to combat it for decades. More on this later but just wanted to share with you that we think this is an important issue that must be addressed.

During this week's Coffee & Column, Dr. Zogby was joined by AAI Policy Counsel Margaret Lowry to discuss recent incidents against Arab American students and others who advocate for Palestinian human rights on college campuses. As suppression of pro-Palestinian speech continues to rise on college campuses and beyond, AAI is collecting these stories and incidents. If you hear about any such incidents or experience something yourself, please forward it to [email protected] so we can track recent attacks against our community.

Margaret also joined other civil rights organizations for a meeting with Ashwini K.P., the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance. At the meeting, she spoke on the continuous and growing suppression of political dissent and how post-9/11 policies, including violations of our civil liberties, continue to be used to target and silence our community – especially on Palestine. She also discussed the importance of clearer data, both when it comes to the effect of poor Census data on apportionment and voting rights, and the need for mandatory hate crime reporting especially, at a time when our community is seeing an increase in hate incidents. The meeting will help inform the Special Rapporteurs’ report and recommendations to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

During these difficult times for our community, we know it can be hard to see any progress, especially when you feel so alienated from our politicians, the media, and some of your friends or colleagues. The excellent coverage of our poll and our work on hate crimes being highlighted by the Department of Justice shows that Arab Americans, our votes, and our voices, do matter and are of interest on the national stage. We hope that interest in listening to our community and our concerns continues to grow as we work collectively to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and address the increase in violence on the West Bank.

I want to end by thanking you, as always, for supporting AAI and this work. We promise to keep up the work and not let you down.

Regards,

Team AAI

Arab American Institute Foundation
1600 K Street, NW, Suite 601
Washington, DC 20006
United States