Dear Friend,

For months, we have covered how the overwhelming majority of Americans want a ceasefire in Gaza. The American people are calling on our government to use its unconditional support and billions in military assistance to stop the genocide in Gaza. That is the work we remain focused on.

Jim appeared on a NIAC panel on the war in Gaza and the threat to the wider region along with Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Daniel Levy, Lara Friedman, Barbara Slavin, and moderated by Jamal Abdi. Jim also appeared as a guest on Peter Beinart's weekly discussion with Illinois State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid. Jim was also interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post, and Newsweek.

In addition to reaching people via traditional media, we have been pushing back on efforts to further censor pro-Palestinian content on social media platforms. Even with its sometimes-biased content policies, as you know, social media has been critical to educating our fellow Americans about the reality of oppression generations of Palestinians have faced under brutal Israeli occupation and what they are enduring now during the unfolding genocide in Gaza. It is in the middle of all this that Meta announced it was considering a policy change that would treat Zionist as a proxy for Jewish or Israeli. Maya met with officials from Meta this week to express our strong opposition to such a change, noting Zionism is an ideology and not a protected characteristic and that adopting such a policy will further shut down our communities’ ability to advocate for our rights.

Maya also met with officials from the National Endowment for the Arts and other initiatives focused on countering the increase in hate all communities are experiencing. It was important to raise the concerns of Arab Americans so that more can be done to address anti-Arab racism.

And because all our work must continue, Maya joined other data equity advocates for a presentation to government officials this week on the importance of disaggregated data. If you are wondering what we are talking about here, think about all those headlines you read recently about Arab Americans in Michigan.

In the category of important good news, earlier this week, the Biden administration designated Deferred Enforced Departures (DED) for Palestinian nationals, ensuring over 7,000 Palestinians to remain in the US for 18 months without fear of deportation. Senator Durbin initiated this effort in November and many of you weighed in when you supported it by completing our action alert. Thank you! AAI and other coalition partners welcomed this decision by the Biden administration and will keep looking for more ways to protect those most vulnerable during this crisis.

Wednesday was the beginning of the national Pilgrimage for Peace from Philadelphia to DC in solidarity with the people of Gaza. AAI has joined 30 other partner civil rights and faith organizations in supporting the pilgrimage. If you are in the area, you can find out how to take part and join the march here.

As public frustration with Congress' failure to do anything to stop the genocide grows, more and more localities are passing ceasefire resolutions (you can reach out to your own local officials here). We must continue to do everything we can, on all fronts, to pressure our elected officials to prevent the further loss of life.

Thank you for all you are already doing. We know it's a lot.

Team AAI

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