Dear Friend,

I’m sure you are painfully aware of the return of Israel’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and the resulting loss of Palestinian life.

Horrified doesn’t go far enough to describe our feelings. As we have said from the beginning of the crisis, the only way forward is a real ceasefire – that's the first step. That's why we continue to call on the Biden Administration and Congress to use their influence and call for a #CeasefireNow [[link removed]] .

This week Jim and a group of Arab American leaders met with senators from battleground states. The group raised the community’s concerns with their senators’ reactions to the crisis and shared the Arab American perspective on it, which is it’s a genocide. The discussions were frank and frustrating. But as these are our elected representatives, it was needed. Both sides of the conversation committed to continuing the discussion.

Jim is working with Rev. Jesse Jackson to convene an emergency summit on Gaza in Chicago. They hope to bring together a group of allies and activists later this month.

AAI also met with a group of Arab American doctors at the request of Doctors Against Genocide. They have a committed group of medical workers with an important mission, and you can expect to hear more from them.

We’ve also continued to reach out to organizational allies outside the Arab American community to educate and engage them on this issue. Those conversations are ongoing at many levels, and we hope to have more to report soon. In addition, we have also been regularly talking to and coordinating with Arab American leaders and national organizations.

As the media continued to focus on how Arab American voters and young progressive allies could impact the upcoming presidential election, AAI was able to weigh in with several media outlets. Articles included the Washington Post [[link removed]] and Axios [[link removed]] . Our work to positively impact the Biden Administration’s failed policy continues and you can hear from Jim on this in this New York Times piece [[link removed]] .

AAI Executive Director Maya Berry and Policy Counsel Margaret Lowry joined community members for a meeting with Department of Justice officials to express concern over recent cancellations of prominent Arab American convenings by several hotel outlets. Attendees raised concerns that this violated Title II of the Civil Rights Act, which guarantees equal use and enjoyment of public accommodations.

Earlier this week, Maya appeared on NPR's Morning Edition [[link removed]] to discuss the difficulties the Arab American community faces in hate crime data.

During Thanksgiving weekend, we were devastated to learn of the shooting of three Arab American students in Vermont. The three students of Palestinian descent - Hisham Awartani, a junior at Brown University, Kinnan Abdalhamid, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, a student at Connecticut's Trinity College - and their families have been in our hearts since that horrific shooting, and we hope for their full recovery.

This week Kinnan and his mother Tamara Tamimi appeared on The View [[link removed]] to discuss the shooting and the pain shared by our community. Given the bias in media coverage we have all seen, you will not be surprised to hear Kinnan say he didn’t expect a “story about a Palestinian being shot to go this far and wide.” Heartbroken, but not surprised. Please watch and share.

We were relieved to hear the suspect was arrested and the investigation underway includes the possibility of hate crime charges. It is important we understand the anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian hate that appears to have motivated this crime. The irresponsible rhetoric, rhetoric that dehumanizes Palestinians and Arabs, has come from some U.S. officials, some in the mainstream media, and others who are only interested in spreading hate and violence must be addressed. Our government must do more to protect Arab Americans.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who donated during Giving Tuesday and the Thanksgiving holiday. We know support is needed right now for so many organizations in our community, especially for the people in Gaza, so having your support means everything and we will not let you down. It's only because of you that AAI can keep fighting.

Thank you,

Team AAI

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