Here’s how we leveraged our access to government in the past few days:   

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Dear John,

When I first heard the news about American drone strikes killing Iranian General Solemani, I was taken back to the first Gulf War. It was 1991 and MPAC was just starting our policy advocacy work. Being an American of Iraqi background and of Muslim faith was not an easy mix back then. The reason why I tell you this is because America and our civic landscape are very different now.

Back then we had little to no access to our elected officials nor the civil servants serving in institutions like the State Department or Department of Justice. In the 29 years since then, we’ve built long lasting relationships with key members in these federal departments. It’s that access that we now leverage to help protect American Muslims by being a bridge between communities and government.

Here’s how we leveraged our access to government in the past few days:
1. Held DHS and CBP accountable: We held a meeting with Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection officials to demand a review and report on the incidences that happened at the Washington-Canada border. We underscored the necessity to re-issue policy directives and procedures so that civil rights and liberties are never denied in the future. We brought several American-Muslim and Iranian organizations with us to provide representation and amplify our voices.
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2. United diverse American-Muslim organizations: A war in the Middle East can easily lead to more sectarian divides and conflicts. To ensure that the diverse community of Muslims stand together, we convened several American-Muslim organizations to oppose military action in Iran. These groups included the Shura Council of Southern California, the Shia Muslim Council, ILM Foundation, and the Islamic Center of Southern California. Our goal was to unify our voices so that our collective concerns were heard by our policy decision makers and the media.
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3. Ensured our voices were heard in the media: Yesterday we held a press conference with a group of Southern California community leaders belonging to various Muslim organizations. Together, we called for our Congress and policy makers to say #NoWarWithIran.
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Our job at MPAC is to protect American Muslims and we will continue our efforts to ensure this. Can you make a gift today to continue this critical work?
Yes, I'll make a donation! ([link removed])
I will continue to provide you with more updates on this work that we are doing on your behalf.

In service,

Salam Al-Marayati

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