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IN THIS ISSUE
- Featured Issue: The Tipping Point Of Global White Nationalism: Reflecting on the Oslo Attacks Ten Years Later
- The Pray Safe Act: A Meaningful Step Towards Combatting Domestic Terrorism
- Child Tax Credit Proves to be Advantageous for American Muslims
- ICYMI: “Palestine, a Short History and Attempts at its Erasure” brought to you by MPAC and ICSC
- Palestine: Share your Story
- Israel/Palestine Legislative Tracker
- Up-and-coming: International Law and War Crimes in Palestine – "Are the UN and US Helping or Hurting the Cause of Peace?" brought to you by MPAC and ICSC
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Image credit: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP
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The Tipping Point Of Global White Nationalism: Reflecting on the Oslo Attacks Ten Years Later
By: Leela Cullity, MPAC Policy Intern
Ten years ago, on July 22, 2011, two violent attacks in Oslo, Norway transformed white nationalism into a global extremist phenomenon. These attacks led to a growing pattern of white supremacist violence, yet by and large transnational governments have failed to recognize this and protect vulnerable and marginalized communities. With the resurgence of “strong-man” populism in the United States, Russia, China, Hungary, Brazil, and Turkey, white supremacy, anti-immigrant rhetoric, and Islamophobia have grown strong followings while more liberal governments across the globe continue to grapple with appropriately addressing the issue, consequently emboldening extremists to imitate their real or perceived leaders. This year, we mourned the deaths of a Muslim family in London, Ontario after a horrific attack motivated by white supremacy. That attack indicates that a decade after the Norway attacks, white nationalist violence continues to be a pervasive global threat.
Read full article →
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Image credit: Dane Hillard
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The Pray Safe Act: A Meaningful Step Towards Combatting Domestic Terrorism
By: Rafael Sanga, MPAC Policy Intern
In recent years, there has been a troubling increase in both the frequency and severity of violent attacks on houses of worship across America, which are nothing short of domestic terrorism. No American should feel unsafe in their house of worship. MPAC President, Salam Al-Marayati has advocated for increased access to safety resources for faith-based organizations as a part of the Homeland Security Advisory Council Task Force. As a part of our advocacy efforts to protect faith-based communities, MPAC strongly supports the Pray Safe Act, an act which will help reduce and prevent violence against religious groups by streamlining access to critical security information and resources from the federal government. The act has cleared the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and is now bound for the Senate floor.
The Pray Safe Act, which was introduced by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Maggie Hassan (D-MI), aims to help houses of worship protect themselves against domestic terrorism.
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Image Credit: American Psychological Association
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Child Tax Credit Proves to be Advantageous for American Muslims
By: Rafael Sanga, Ezgi Koc, Aaliyah Khwaja, MPAC Policy Interns
The Child Tax Credit, a long-standing tax benefit given to parents, was temporarily expanded by the Biden Administration as a part of the American Rescue Plan, a facet of the larger $1.9 trillion COVID Relief Package passed by Congress in March. The Child Tax Credit is unique in its ability to ease the burden on working-class families with a high cost of living due to having children. The expansion of the credit is by no means an all-encompassing solution to child poverty, however, it takes meaningful steps towards mitigating some of the economic burdens created by the pandemic. Experts predict that this initiative will cut child poverty by nearly a half, lowering financial anxiety for many American families.
Read full article →
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ICYMI: “Palestine, a Short History and Attempts at its Erasure” brought to you by MPAC and ICSC
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Each Friday, we are bringing diverse voices to the table for informative discussions on the Palestinian struggle for peace. Last week we kicked off our lecture series in collaboration with the Islamic Center of Southern California and discussed the history of Palestine with Hussein Ibish, columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and The National.
Click here or the image above to watch the full webinar.
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Palestine, the world needs to hear your account of what is happening.
In order to advocate for meaningful change in U.S. policy impacting Palestine, the Muslim Public Affairs Council is amplifying human stories of Palestinians and their families by ensuring top officials in the Biden administration see them. To submit your story, please use the form below. Upon submission you will receive an email acknowledging its receipt. If your story is one we’d like to follow up on for further details or if we have questions, we will contact you at the phone number and email provided.
Your voice, and your stories can impact change.
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GOOD TO KNOW
- Israeli forces open fire on Palestinians; hundreds wounded
- Gunman is found criminally responsible for killing 5 at Capital Gazette
- Covid vaccines for kids under 12 expected midwinter, FDA official says
- L.A. County will reinstate mask mandate amid rise in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations
- 16 members of Florida white supremacist gang charged in sweeping indictment
- There are 11,073 Muslims In Federal prisons but just 13 chaplains to minister to them
- This Dallas writer started a publishing house and festival to spotlight Muslim authors
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Review status of key legislation on issues we're covering —
Please review our legislative tracker-- this is a resource MPAC updates on a weekly basis, allowing our supporters to see what legislation we are supporting. Our tracker includes the bill number, Representative or Senator who sponsored the bill along with a brief summary or description.
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HR.2590 Introduced by Rep. McCollum, Betty [D-MN-4]
Referred to Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on 4/15/21
To promote and protect the human rights of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation and to ensure that United States taxpayer funds are not used by the Government of Israel to support the military detention of Palestinian children, the unlawful seizure, appropriation, and destruction of Palestinian property and forcible transfer of civilians in the West Bank, or further annexation of Palestinian land in violation of international law.
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S.Res.225 - Introduced by Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT]
Referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on 5/19/21
A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the value of Palestinian and Israeli lives and urging an immediate cease-fire and diplomatic efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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H.J.49 - Joint Resolution introduced in the House by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez [D-NY-14}
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on 5/20/21
A resolution calling for congressional disapproval of the proposed direct commercial sale to Israel of certain weaponry and munitions.
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Each Friday, we’re bringing diverse voices to the table for informative discussions on the Palestinian struggle for peace. Join us tonight at 4pm PT where we will dissect the US and UN role in the Palestinian struggle for peace with Mona Ali Khalil, Founder/Director of MAK Law International.
Register here and be a part of the conversation →
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- THIS WEEK IN HISTORY -
July 11, 2014 - The UN Security Council calls for a special meeting to discuss the Israeli Palestine conflict and Israel continues attacks on Gaza; July 12, 2007 - US Apache helicopters engage in airstrikes in Baghdad where civilians are killed; July 14, 1957 - Rawya Ateya takes her seat in National Assembly of Egypt becoming the first female parliamentarian in the Arab world; July 15, 1099 - Jerusalem is captured and plundered by Christian forces during first crusade; July 16, 622 - The beginning of the Islamic calendar when Prophet Muhammad begins flight from Mecca to Medina; July 16, 1979 - Iraqi president Ahmed Hassan Al Bakr is replaced by Saddam Hussein; July 15, 1962 - Algeria becomes member of Arab League; July 17, 1948 - Israeli army captures Nazareth.
July 11, 1804 - Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a pistol duel; July 11, 1900 - Charlotte Cooper becomes the 1st female Olympic tennis champion and the 1st individual female Olympic champion in any sport; July 11, 1905 - Black intellectuals and activists lead by W.E.B. Du Bois organize the civil rights Niagara Movement; July 11, 1916 - US Congress passes Federal Aid Road Act; July 11, 1951 - The Cicero race riot: Mob of 4,000 whites attacked an apartment building that housed a single black family in a neighborhood in Cicero, Illinois; July 12, 1967 - Race riot in Newark, New Jersey, 26 killed, 1,500 injured & over 1,000 arrested; July 14, 1798 - The Sedition Act becomes law in US makes it a federal crime to write or publish false statements about the Federal government; July 14, 1946 - Mass murder of Jews in Kielce, Poland where, a mob of Polish soldiers, police officers, and civilians murdered at least 42 Jews and injured over 40 in the worst outburst of anti-Jewish violence in postwar Poland; July 14, 1953 - First US national monument dedicated to a black American, to preserve the boyhood home of agricultural scientist and inventor George Washington Carver; July 14, 1977 - US House establishes the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; July 16, 1790 - The District of Columbia is established as the US Capitol; July 17, 1862 - US army authorized to accept African-Americans as laborers.
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