Featured Issue: Amplify Not Occupy: Recap of our Afghan Virtual Summit;  ICYMI: MPAC's 21st Annual Convention

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Issue 55: Friday, 10 Dec 2021

THIS WEEK IN DC — Senate Passes Bill To Avoid Filibuster On Debt Ceiling Hike; Democrats Urge Federal Investigations Into Whether Facebook Misled Advertisers; House Goes After Trump With Bill To Curb Presidential Abuses Of Power; Appeals Court Rejects Trump Effort To Deny Records To Jan. 6 Panel; US Ends Combat Mission Against ISIS In Iraq, But Troops Remain; House To Vote Next Week On Islamophobia Bill, Holding Meadows In Contempt; Florida Man Charged With Threatening Ocasio-Cortez, Pelosi; 'Stop The Steal' Rally Organizer Cooperating With Jan. 6 Committee; US, Israel Defense Chiefs Discuss Iran As Nuclear Talks Falter; Coalition Urges Senate To Publish Bills, Amendments Online While Still Under Consideration.

IN THIS ISSUE


* Featured Issue: Amplify Not Occupy: Recap of our Afghan Virtual Summit
* MPAC Supports Combating International Islamophobia Act (H.R. 5665)
* MPAC Supports Executive Order: Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Religious Belief and Affiliation
* ICYMI: MPAC's 2021 Annual Convention



** Amplify Not Occupy: Recap of our Afghan Virtual Summit
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By: Lubna Hassan Heikel, MPAC Policy Intern

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Photo by Matthew Rodier/Sipa USA


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This week, MPAC partnered with the Afghan-American Foundation (AAF) ([link removed]) to host a four-day virtual summit, Empowering Afghans: Reframing the Narrative and Providing Support. The summit, featuring Afghan leaders, discussed key issues related to the crisis in Afghanistan and its impact on the United States. Our hope was to identify tangible solutions and highlight organizations doing critical response work in the United States and Afghanistan.

Read the full article → ([link removed])
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Watch the summit → ([link removed])


** Sign on In Support of Combating International Islamophobia Act (H.R. 5665)
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Earlier this week the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) joined over 50 other national and international faith community and rights organizations in a letter to the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee welcoming markup of Congresswomen Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Jan Schakowsky’s (D-IL) Combating International Islamophobia Act (H.R. 5665) and calling for a swift and clean markup of the bill without the introduction of any amendments that would weaken it. H.R. 5665 would establish a special envoy office at the U.S. State Department to monitor and combat international Islamophobia.

Read the letter → ([link removed])



** Sign on In Support of Executive Order: Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Religious Belief and Affiliation
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We are proud to join a coalition of organizations in support of an Executive Order, developed by our partners, Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS), which is a part of Inclusive America’s initiative to prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of religious belief and affiliation.

We look forward to moving together in unity towards the goal for the inclusion of all religious minorities in the Federal workforce.

Read the Executive Order → ([link removed])

ICYMI:
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Last Sunday, at our 21st Annual Convention: The Story of Us ([link removed]) , we explored the courage and determination of the earliest Muslim immigrants through the many strides we have made as a community. We were grateful to hear from members of Congress, including Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), leaders in Hollywood, partners from our community, and promising young leaders. We are especially grateful for the honor to host our keynote speaker, Jacob Blake Sr., whose son’s tragedy in 2020 pushed him to stand up for justice for all Americans. His inspiring words were an important reminder to us all.

“[I understand] that I was chosen by Allah to be what I am today, fighting for justice for everyone in the United States of America in a system that we were promised justice… Islam is built on love, honor, respect, and togetherness, so let’s work together, let’s get some of these laws changed in Washington, D.C.” – Jacob Blake, Sr.

We are proud of our staff, our community, and our participants for making the evening such a resounding success. In the words of our cofounder, friend and mentor, the late Dr. Maher Hathout, “Home is not where your grandparents are buried, but where your grandchildren will be raised”. So let’s write the next chapter, together.

Watch the convention → ([link removed])



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GOOD TO KNOW
* New York City becomes ([link removed]) the largest municipality in the U.S. to allow non-citizens to vote in local elections
* China warns nations will 'pay price ([link removed]) ' for Olympic boycott
* In Michigan school shooting, the first lawsuit is filed ([link removed])
* Jobless claims fall ([link removed]) to 52-year low as layoffs decline
* Buffalo Starbucks becomes first location in America to unionize ([link removed])


- THIS WEEK IN HISTORY -

Dec 6, 846 - Hasan al-Askari, 11th Imam of Twelver Shia Islam, born in Medina, Abbasid Empire (d. 874); Dec 8, 644 - 2nd Caliph of Islam, Umar, oversaw conquest of Persia and Egypt); Dec 10, 1510 - Muslim ruler of Goa, Yusuf Adil Shah and his Ottoman allies surrender to Portuguese forces led by Afonso de Albuquerque who puts the Muslim population to the sword; Dec 10, 1953 - Abdullah Yusuf Ali, British-Indian Islamic scholar and translator (translated Qu'ran into English), dies at 81; Dec 7, 2015 - US Presidential candidate Donald Trump proposes banning all Muslims from entering the US; Dec 9, 2017 - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declares victory over the Islamic State in Iraq, ending more than 3 years of conflict; Dec 11, 2019 - India passes controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill clearing way for citizenship for immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan but not if they are Muslim.

Dec 5, 1848 - US President James K. Polk triggers Gold Rush of 1849 by confirming a gold discovery in California; Dec 5, 1932 - German physicist Albert Einstein granted a visa to enter America; Dec 6, 1790 - The U.S. Congress moves from New York City to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Dec 6, 1849 - Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery in Maryland for the 2nd and final time; Dec 7, 1787 - Delaware is the 1st state to ratify the US constitution; Dec 7, 1891 - 52nd US Congress (1st to appropriate $1 billion) holds 1st session; Dec 8, 1863 - Abraham Lincoln issues his Amnesty Proclamation and plan for Reconstruction of the South; Dec 8, 1941 - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers "Day of Infamy" speech to US Congress a day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; Dec 9, 1793 - Noah Webster establishes New York's 1st daily newspaper, the "American Minerva"; Dec 9, 1965 - "A Charlie Brown Christmas", the first Peanuts animated special premieres on CBS in the US; Dec 10, 1520 - Martin Luther publicly
burns papal edict demanding he recant; Dec 10, 1884 - "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain is first published in the UK and Canada (US Feb 1885, due to printing error); Dec 11, 1620 - Mayflower Pilgrims come ashore at in Plymouth Bay, traditionally thought to be at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts; Dec 11, 1914 - Stockton Street Tunnel (San Francisco) completed.

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