Press Room

AAI Executive Director Helen Samhan Talks 2010 Census on Arab Voices, Houston

From AAI
Posted on Thursday March 18, 2010

On Wednesday March 18 2010, AAI executive Director Helen Samhan was a guest on Arab Voices KPFT Houston, 90.1 FM (Pacifica Station). Ms. Samhan was joined on the show by Gabriel Sanchez, Director of the U.S. Census Bureau and highest ranking Department of Commerce official of the Dallas Region, which includes Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. The show’s Host and Producer Said Fattouh asked both Ms. Samhan and Mr. Sanchez a wide range of questions on the 2010 Census.

U.S.-Israeli Dispute Raises Questions on Fate of Mideast Talks

From PBS NewsHour
Posted on Wednesday March 17, 2010

In Early Tally, Tight Iraq Race Deepens Splits

From The New York Times
Posted on Friday March 12, 2010

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s major coalitions were locked in a surprisingly close race on Thursday, in initial results from elections that deepened divisions across a fractured landscape. Candidates were quick to charge fraud, heightening concerns whether Iraq’s fledgling institutions were strong enough to support a peaceful transfer of power.

Joe Biden attempts to salvage Middle East peace talks

From guardian.co.uk
Posted on Thursday March 11, 2010

The US vice-president, Joe Biden, today attempted to salvage the Middle East peace talks after the Palestinians announced they were pulling out of a new round of indirect negotiations before they had begun.

The Palestinian move was in protest against Israel’s decision to build hundreds of new homes in a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem.

ISRAEL: Statement by Oscar nominee Scandar Copti, 'Ajami' co-director, creates a stir

From Los Angeles Times
Posted on Monday March 8, 2010

Israelis are hoping to wake up Monday morning with an Oscar, though the die-hards will be watching the Academy Awards ceremony live, in the middle of the night, Israeli time.

“Beaufort,” “Waltz With Bashir” and now “Ajami” — for the third year running, Israel is represented in the foreign-film category.

But a statement to the contrary by the film’s Arab-Israeli co-director has caused some upset.

Sleiman urges reforms aimed at curbing sectarianism

From The Daily Star
Posted on Monday March 8, 2010

BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman stressed Sunday the need to promote several reforms starting with the electoral law and the adoption of proportional representation to pave the way for the abolition of political sectarianism.

“We need to exit all forms of political sectarianism; we are proud of the participation of religious factions in Lebanon but we do not want political sectarianism and this can only be achieved through gradual steps starting with the electoral law,” Sleiman said at the end of a two-day official visit to Saudi Arabia.

Peres: Netanyahu must bring Kadima into coalition to advance peace

From Haaretz
Posted on Friday March 5, 2010

Is President Shimon Peres trying to pull together a national unity government? In private conversations Peres has had over the past few weeks with senior political figures and party leaders, he has been making statements to the effect that Prime Minister Netanyahu cannot advance the peace process with the present coalition government controlled by the right wing. To move forward, the president has been saying, Netanyahu will have to bring Kadima into his coalition and broaden the base of his government with moderates.

A Write-In Campaign: Many Arab-Americans check 'white' on the U.S. Census. Why community leaders want to change that.

From Newsweek
Posted on Tuesday March 2, 2010

Ten years ago, when Sarah Kazem’s dad filled out the U.S. Census form for the household, he racially identified his family of Egyptian descent as “white” when he answered the question on race. But this time around, Kazem, a 22-year-old Michigan resident, is going to make sure her dad marks “Some Other Race” and write in “Arab” instead.

Islamic scholar Tahir ul-Qadri issues terrorism fatwa

From BBC
Posted on Tuesday March 2, 2010

An influential Muslim scholar has issued a global ruling against terrorism and suicide bombing.

Dr Tahir ul-Qadri, from Pakistan, says his 600-page judgement, known as a fatwa, completely dismantles al-Qaeda’s violent ideology.

The scholar describes al-Qaeda as an “old evil with a new name” that has not been sufficiently challenged.

The scholar’s movement is growing in the UK and has attracted the interest of policymakers and security chiefs.

Using Diplomatic Touch, an Outsider Challenges the Grip of Egypt’s Ruling Party

From The New York Times
Posted on Tuesday March 2, 2010

CAIRO — Since arriving to a hero’s welcome just days ago, the former chief international nuclear watchdog and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei has taken on the country’s leadership in the way you might expect of a career diplomat: using delicate language and a nonconfrontational approach.

US Policy Appears to Single Out Arab, Muslim Travelers

From Voice of America
Posted on Friday February 19, 2010

Civil liberties advocates are joining Arab and Muslim American groups in expressing concern over the government’s recent decision to single out travelers from more than a dozen mostly Middle Eastern countries for increased scrutiny.

Critics of the policy argue it could lead to practices that are both discriminatory and ineffective.

Robert Ford 'formally appointed' as US ambassador to Syria

From Times Online
Posted on Wednesday February 17, 2010

Barack Obama has formally nominated America’s first ambassador to Syria in five years.

The appointment of Robert Ford, a highly respected Arabist in the US State Department, comes on the eve of a visit to Damascus by William Burns, a senior state department official, and is widely seen as part of a renewed effort by the US to reopen dialogue with Syria.

Mahmoud Abbas: Israel's West Bank occupation leading to one-state solution

From Guardian
Posted on Thursday February 4, 2010

Israel’s continuing colonisation of the West Bank is leading to a “one-state solution”, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has told the Guardian, while indicating that he may be poised this week to accept a US proposal for “proximity talks” with Israel through American mediators.

Ruling Yemen gets even more complicated

From Los Angeles Times
Posted on Thursday February 4, 2010

Reporting from Cairo and Sana, Yemen – President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who once described ruling Yemen as dancing on the heads of snakes, has stayed in power for three decades through a clever mix of money, tribal ploys and government corruption.

But Saleh’s political capital is shrinking and his wiles are straining as Yemen struggles with a civil war in the north, secession troubles in the south and a battle against an Al Qaeda affiliate that has drawn the United States into a new front against the terrorist network.

Arab nations bring relief to Haiti victims

From The National
Posted on Monday February 1, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE // With a drip atatched to her wrist and clean bandages swaddling an infected leg, Nadia Torcheneau, one of the many victims of Haiti’s earthquake, benefits from stepped-up relief efforts from the Arab world.

The 32-year-old, who was crushed under shattered glass and breeze blocks during the disaster on January 12, receives treatment in a makeshift Qatari-run field hospital on the outskirts of this capital city’s crime-torn slum, Cité Soleil.