#Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee

[immaculatasknight]

How to find help

[vyorei]

More protests!

[catdotjpeg]

UPDATE 4:02pm EST: Mondoweiss has verified in their article that the family is asking "that no one make donations to fundraisers unless specifically organized by our families." Thanks to @justaboutsnapped for flagging this!

Three Palestinian college students were shot and wounded in Burlington, Vermont Saturday evening, local Vermont TV station WCAX reported. The victims, unnamed by police, reportedly include Brown undergraduate Hesham Awartani ’25, as well as Kinnan Abdelhamid and Tahseen Ahmed, students at Haverford College and Trinity College, respectively. Police statements did not identify a shooter or indicate that a suspect is in custody; the Council on American-Islamic Relations is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest, The Messenger reported.  The shooting took place at 6:25 p.m. Saturday, and safety personnel brought all three victims to the University of Vermont Medical Center, according to VTDigger. Awartani and Ahmed sustained serious injuries, according to a statement from their high school in the West Bank. The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee has called upon authorities to investigate the incident as a hate crime. The organization wrote in a statement that “the three victims were wearing a kuffiyeh and speaking Arabic. A man shouted and harassed the victims, then proceeded to shoot them."  Brown is aware of the incident but could not confirm the identity of the victims, University Spokesperson Amanda McGregor wrote in an email to The Herald. “We received the difficult news from the family this morning that a Brown undergraduate currently enrolled in his junior year at the University is in the hospital after being shot while out of state for the Thanksgiving break,” McGregor wrote. “We’re not at liberty to release details about his health status or his identity, but we are actively offering care to the family and support to our student, as well as members of our campus community.” All three students attended Ramallah Friends School in the West Bank before attending college in the U.S., according to a Facebook post from the school. “Ramallah Friends School board, administration, staff and community are deeply distressed by the recent incident involving three of our graduates, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed who were shot and injured last evening in Burlington, VT,” the school wrote in the post. “While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light. We extend our thoughts and prayers to them and their families for a full recovery, especially considering the severity of injuries,” the statement continued. “We stand united in hope and support for their well-being during this challenging time.” [...] Basil Awartani, who identified himself as Hisham Awartani’s cousin, shared in a post on X that “My cousin Hisham has been shot in the back while walking with his friends in Burlington for simply wearing kuffiyehs and speaking Arabic. Dangerous performative rhetoric from US pundits and politicians as well as constant dehumanization of Palestinians has a real-life cost.”

-- "Brown junior among three Palestinian students shot in Vermont Saturday night" from Brown Daily Herald, 26 Nov 2023 12:36pm EST

Kinnan Abdelhamid is a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania and Tahseen Ahmed is a student at Trinity College in Connecticut. Their current condition is unknown.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Hundreds of lawyers and legal organisations have signed an open letter calling on the US authorities to protect the rights of Americans to criticise Israel’s assault on Gaza. “Elected officials have irresponsibly accused protesters for Palestinian rights of antisemitism and support for terrorism, and called for the mobilization of law enforcement resources to police them, contributing to racist fear-mongering. This portends a dangerous reignition of ‘war on terror’ policies that led to extreme state repression and constitutional rights violations against Arab, Muslim and other communities of color,” the letter says. “The hundreds of incidents happening across the country signal a much broader effort to criminalize dissent, justify censorship and incite anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim harassment, doxing, and vigilantism against Palestinians and their allies.” On Friday, the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution condemning “anti-Israel, pro-Hamas student groups” after demonstrations on university campuses, some of which included antisemitic language and chants praising the Hamas attack. But many others have been in solidarity with Palestinian civilians under Israeli bombardment in Gaza. The ADC [American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee] condemned the resolution as a “blatant attempt to silence, demonize, and criminalize legitimate criticism and dissent surrounding Israel’s occupation and war on Gaza”. “By conflating criticism of Israel with support for Hamas and antisemitism, this resolution threatens the very fabric of freedom of speech in American institutions of higher learning,” it said. “This resolution is not only misleading but eerily reminiscent of the McCarthy-era and post-9/11 tactics designed to suppress differing opinions and stifle discourse.”

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

By David Adesnik and Ahmad Sharawi

In English, protesters call for Palestine to be free.

But when their chants shift to Arabic, they often call for the whole of Palestine to be Arab — an explicit call to dismantle the Jewish state and dispossess its people.

A video from February shows a crowd gathered on the steps of Harvard’s venerable Widener Library.

A woman with a bullhorn is teaching the group to chant, “Min al-mayah lil-mayah, Falastin arabiyah!” 

The literal translation of that: “From the water [the River Jordan] to the water [the Mediterranean], Palestine is Arab!”

At MIT last week, another bullhorn-wielding protester led the crowd in exactly the same chant, then improvised a new ending: “Al-mawt la-sahyuniyah!”— “Death to Zionism!”

There is a campaign afoot to persuade Americans that “From the river to the sea” is not a call to erase Israel from the map.hamas

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D), the Palestinian-American from Michigan, called the slogan “an aspirational call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence.”

The Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee likewise insists it’s “a demand for democratic coexistence between Jews and Arabs.”

This is a willful distortion of history, which shows that the animating purpose of the slogan is to reject Jewish control of any sliver of land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean.

The phrase has its origins in early the days of the Palestinian national movement in the 1960s, though early examples of its usage remain elusive.

In 1980, Yasser Arafat declared, “The victorious march will continue until the flag of Palestine is raised above Jerusalem and above the whole area of Palestine from the River to the Sea.”

The flag of Israel would have no place.

When Arafat led his Fatah party and the Palestinian Liberation Organization into a peace process with Israel in the 1990s, his critics deployed the slogan to signal their complete rejection of Arafat’s readiness to compromise on the question of Israel’s existence.

Upon his release from an Israeli prison in 1997, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the founder of Hamas, told his followers, “Palestine is still occupied and the Hamas will not stop the holy war until the liberation of all Palestine from the river to the sea.”

In 2003, Yassin’s deputy, Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, led 100,000 demonstrators in a pledge to continue their jihad until Palestine reached from the river to the sea.

Leaders who did favor negotiations even described “from the river to the sea” as the position they rejected because of its excessive ambition.

Abdallah Darwish, the late Arab Israeli leader, said in 1993, “Every Hamas backer has the right to dream of a Palestine from the river to the sea,” but that is unrealistic.

While Palestinians understood that Israel could not exist if their state occupied all the land between the river and the sea, protesters on American campuses began to dispute the plain meaning of the slogan as early as 2003.

[starlightshadowsworld]

The identity of the man leading Israeli protesters to block aid trucks coming into Gaza, has been revealed.

His name is Andy Green. He's an American and a suspect in the 1985 assassination of Palestinian-American activist, Alexander Odeh.

Subtitles aren't the best so I've transcribed the video:

[It turns out that the guy leading Israeli protesters to block humanitarian aid into Gaza is an American.

The story goes that Andy Green fled to Israel because he's suspected of murdering a major Palestinian-American figure named Alexander Odeh.

Alexander Odeh was a Palestinian activist and the West Coast regional director of the American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee. He was assassinsted in a bombing in 1985.

Israeli Frey, an Israeli journalist who previously went into hiding after his house was attacked by a radical Israeli mob over his solidarity with Palestinians just exposed Andys identity.

A couple of days ago, Frey posted that one of the groups organising protesters to block humanitarian aid trucks, published an appeal for donations.

And the address in the register of associations is the same office of Andy Green. In the late 80's, Green was widely reported as a suspect in Odeh's assassination.

Instead of being held accountable, he moved to Israel, changed his name to Baroh Ben Yosef, became a lawyer and is now publically involved in Israel's thriving extremist political movements.

In fact it seems as though he's spearheading racist anti Palestinians actions as we speak. Since late January, Israeli protesters have been stopping aid trucks at the Karem Abu Salem crossing between Israel and Egypt.

As Gaza faces a famine.

A growing number of Palestinians especially children have died of starvation. ABC National Executive Director Abed Ayoub says:.

"The involvement of a suspect in the assassination of Alex Odeh in current events, particularly in actions in actions that hinder humanitarian aid, is a stark reminder of the unresolved injustices faced by the Arab American community.

We call upon the Department of Justice to intensify its investigation into Green and end the impunity that let's him continue his commitment to anti Palestinian terror."

My question is, why hasn't Biden or any other President ever extradited this suspected terrorist. If we want to get aid into Gaza, then Andy Green should be bought to justice right now.

End transcript.]

[ciquery]

« 

At this time, in the early 1960’s, prominent Jewish voices criticized the racism and discrimination of the Israeli government. Israelis like Martin Buber assailed Ben-Gurion and noted that “At the inception of the state, complete equality with the Jewish citizens was promised to the Arab population.” Many influential Israelis realized their long term security and well-being depended on finding a just settlement with the indigenous Palestinian population.

In the United States, the Jewish community was divided and many were anti-Zionist. The American Council for Judaism was influential and anti-nationalist. The racist and militaristic character of Israel was not yet set in stone. Nor was American Jewish support for Israel. When Menachim Begin came to the United States in 1948 he was denounced by prominent Jewish leaders including Albert Einstein. They said Begin, who later became Israeli Prime Minister, was a “terrorist” who preached “an admixture of ultra-nationalism, religious mysticism and racial superiority.” Many American Jews had mixed feelings and did not identify with Israel. Others supported Israel but on the basis of there being peace with the indigenous Palestinians. 

…

JFK personally supported Arab and African nationalism. As a senator in 1957, he criticized the Eisenhower administration for supporting and sending weapons to France in their war against the Algerian independence movement. In a 9,000 word presentation to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he criticized “western imperialism” and called for the US to support Algerian independence. Algerian President Ben Bella, who France had tried to assassinate and considered far too radical by many in NATO, was given a huge and impressive welcome to the White House.

Kennedy frankly told the Zionists, “I cannot believe that Israel has any real desire to remain indefinitely a garrison state surrounded by fear and hate.” By maintaining objectivity and neutrality on the Israeli Arab conflict, Kennedy wanted to steer the Jewish Zionists away from the racist, militaristic and ultra-nationalistic impulses which have led to where we are today.

»

https://www.laprogressive.com/foreign-policy/from-dallas-to-gaza

[edgessunflower]

Charity

Pairing: Eddie Guerrero x Fem reader

Description: You and Eddie give to charity for those in need during the holidays

You and Eddie went through different charity names reading what each one was about before picking three different ones to donate a certain amount of money each between the both of you first starting off with St. Jude children's hospital with a total of fifty five hundred dollars each that added up to eleven hundred followed by twenty seven hundred dollars each to the Ronald McDonald house charities and lastly a thousand dollars each to the humane society since you and eddie were both huge animal lovers. You had always donated to charity with your family when you were little starting off with small and local charities to animal shelters, hospitals, and the homeless to help them through the winter and it was one of the many traditions you kept in your life especially since you've grown up always saving and holding money back to always donate to charities for the holidays and ever since you met and got with eddie he joined in on the selfless and kind tradition for the last two years of the holidays picking three different charities remembering the first Christmas the two of you spent together and donated to UNICEF, doctors without borders, and American arab anti discrimination committee then the next year the two of you donated to Mothers organized for moral stability, Finnish Cannabis Association, and Alzheimer's Association. After sending the money off the two of you stood in your house sharing a soft kiss with the soft glow of the Christmas lights shining on the two of you from the tree before the two of you made dinner together dancing around the kitchen together before the two of you enjoyed grilled chicken and steak with cheese, bell peppers, and rice with sips of soda followed by small sips of wine letting loose and enjoying the night together along with the warm and truly beautiful magic of the holidays as the two of you slow dance together after the act of helping others and donating to others in need or to those who were willing to help others in a way that others couldn't or never would help at all.

[plethoraworldatlas]

Campaigners with Listen to Wisconsin had hoped they could convince 20,000 Democratic primary voters on Tuesday to select "uninstructed delegate" on their ballots to send the message to President Joe Biden that he can't yet count on their votes in the November general election due to his support for Israel's bombardment of Gaza.

After organizing for less than a month, the campaign far surpassed its goal, with more than 47,800 people voting for the uninstructed option.

The results show "how serious of a problem Biden will have in the general election" if he does not change his policy regarding Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories," said Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

[beardedmrbean]

Cynthia Nixon, the actor best known for her role on HBO's Sex and the City, revealed Monday that she will be undertaking a hunger strike as part of a call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The Gaza territory is currently embroiled in an intense conflict between the Israeli military and the Palestinian militant group, Hamas, which carried out a historically bloody attack against Israel on October 7, killing over 1,200 people, according to the Associated Press. In response, Israeli military strikes in Gaza have killed over 13,000, the AP reported. This escalating conflict has led to a fierce international discourse, with many calling for a ceasefire in Gaza to provide relief to the civilians engulfed by the fighting.

Among prominent public figures voicing support for a ceasefire is Nixon, who on Monday "joined prominent Muslim, Jewish and allied leaders, and state legislators from New York and Delaware" for a press conference outside the White House, at which she announced her participation in a five-day hunger strike as part of a call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, according to a press release provided to Newsweek. A temporary ceasefire between Israeli and Hamas forces is currently in place, but the press release argued that "Israel is expected to intensify its genocidal bombing campaign on Gaza once the pause is over," citing a report last week from CNN based on comments made by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

The United Nations (UN) describes genocide as "a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part." While the press release echoed the beliefs of some in likening the deaths of Gaza civilians to genocide, supporters of Israel have denied claims that the country is carrying out genocide against Palestinians.

Nixon is best known for her role as Miranda Hobbes, whom she played for six seasons on Sex and the City, in two theatrical feature films, and on two-going-on-three seasons of the Max original sequel series And Just Like That. She has also been outspoken over the years in her left-wing political beliefs, once challenging Andrew Cuomo for the Democratic nomination for governor of New York in 2018. Though she is not Jewish herself, the two children she had with former partner Danny Mozes are, a fact she highlighted in speaking about her decision to undertake a hunger strike.

"As the mother of Jewish children whose grandparents are Holocaust survivors, I have been asked by my son to use my platform to project as loudly as possible that 'never again' means never again for everyone," Nixon said. "As an American, I am here to demand that our President [Joe Biden] stop funding the mass killing and starvation of thousands of innocent Palestinians, the majority of whom are children and women. President Biden must use this moment to negotiate a permanent ceasefire that will bring all the hostages and political prisoners home and start to lay the foundation for a lasting peace."

Nixon was previously among the over 250 celebrities to sign off on a letter calling for a Gaza ceasefire. The press release on Monday claimed that the hunger strike initiative had been endorsed by numerous organizations, including the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), the Adalah Justice Project (AJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the IfNotNow Movement, Dream Defenders, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU), and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).

Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.

While Biden, as well as many other U.S. lawmakers, have been broadly supportive of Israel's response to Hamas, he has more recently begun making overtures to those more opposed to the conflict. Biden has touted American diplomatic efforts that helped broker an agreement for the temporary ceasefire and the release of 50 hostages by Hamas. Over the weekend, The Washington Post also reported that Biden has allegedly expressed regret over his past skepticism of the Palestinian death toll in Gaza, though he has not spoken publicly on the matter.

[immaculatasknight]

Say goodbye to your rights

[vyorei]

Live coverage of the 27th of November 2023 has now begun.

Here is an amalgamation of news from the last hour, oldest at the top, latest at the bottom

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee is calling on law enforcement, including the FBI and Justice Department, to investigate the shooting of three Palestinian men as a hate crime. The FBI said in a statement that if "information comes to light of a potential federal violation," it is prepared to investigate.

So just to be clear:

The White House can liken ProPalestine protesters to Nazis with no proof. (Also around the 37 minute mark of this video. She is incredibly clear that she sees being anti-Israel as antisemitic.)

Israel can call UNRWA workers Hamas with no proof.

Biden can continue to repeat unconfirmed accounts of beheaded babies as though they were fact, without needing to offer proof.

But when Palestinian men wearing keffiyeh scarves are shot, the FBI cannot investigate this as a possible hate crime until more information emerges.

Understand, I am not saying it should automatically be prosecuted as a hate crime without more evidence, but the FBI has more resources than the police. However, whereas accusations of terrorism and antisemitism can be made without any proof, the FBI cannot even step in to investigate the possibility this was a hate crime until more evidence emerges.

[nando161mando]

"The Executive Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee @aayoub has put out a dire warning of #FascistFeds

The FBI seems to have confirmed that Biden ordered it #HandOffPalestine #RacistBiden"

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

A proposed amendment to the bill requiring teaching ethnic studies in California’s public schools passed the first hearing on October 8, 2021. The amendment contained “guardrails” to prevent teachers from incorporating antisemitic and anti-Israel content. Many UC ethnic studies professors bemoaned the guardrails proposed in the bill.

Specifically, ethnic studies professors objected to the provision in the bill which said that ethnic studies must “[n]ot reflect or promote, directly or indirectly, any bias, bigotry, or discrimination against any person or groups of persons on the basis of any category protected by Section 220” of the California Educational Code. Section 220 prohibits discrimination on the basis of nationality, race or ethnicity and religion (among other biases).

Shockingly, the UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council branded this provision as “censoring teachers,” since they view it as hampering their ability to teach an anti-Israel, pro-“Palestine” curriculum. These professors view anti-Zionism as central to the discipline, while, at the same time, deny there is any trace of antisemitism in this worldview. 

The amendment died in the Senate Appropriations Committee in mid-August 2024 with the explanation that further work on the bill was needed. 

In addition to the existing high school requirement, the UC Ethnic Studies Faculty Council (UCESFC), whose leadership overlaps with the antisemitic Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism, petitioned to make one semester of ethnic studies a prerequisite for acceptance into the UC system.

The proposal was met with pushback from groups outside of the UC community, especially Jewish groups. 

A petition organized by the AMCHA Initiative stated:

“We firmly believe this proposal: 1) is the direct result of a small group of activist-educators determined to circumvent state law and manipulate the UC governance process to push a widely rejected and antisemitic curriculum for their own political and financial gain; 2) has absolutely no educational merit or justification and may even harm students academically; and 3) will unleash hatred and bigotry, especially antisemitism, into California’s public, charter and private schools.”

The ethnic studies professors were enraged by the opposition, responding:

“We also understand that the UC caved to spurious charges, in some cases advanced by people and organizations with a known history of racism, that our proposed criteria are “anti-Semetic” and disparaging to Jewish Americans. This is a LIE. Nowhere in our course criteria do we mention Israel, Jewish people or Judaism, much less any specific religion.”

A vote finally took place in May 2024. Ultimately, the motion did not pass, and “further discussion was tabled.” Some perceived the intense anti-Zionist rhetoric around the Hamas-Israel War as the reason the motion failed. 

UC’s Ethnic Studies Faculty Council

Refused to accept the Hamas attack as terrorism and accused Israel of “genocide”

Promoted the pro-Hamas encampments, exclaiming, “The University is Ours!”

Advocated for the firing of all UC chancellors for involving the police in removing the illegal encampments

Expressed “unequivocal solidarity with the students who have courageously seized the reins of moral leadership by launching Palestine solidarity encampments”

Anti-Israel Agenda in Ethnic Studies Departments

The UC Berkeley department website defines ethnic studies as “the critical and interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity with a focus on the experiences and perspectives of people of color within and beyond the United States.”

Ethnic studies departments usually focus on four groups: African Americans, Chicano/Latinos, Native Americans and Asian Americans. Arab American studies fall under the umbrella of Asian American studies.

Ethnic studies builds upon concepts of intersectionality and Critical Race Theory. “Palestine” comes up frequently in ethnic studies teaching, but exclusively from an anti-Israel point of view.

[202214893caic2324]

The murder of Wadea Al-Fayoume and the modern increase of Islamophobia in America. 

On Monday the 16th of October Ilinois landlord Joseph Czuba was charged for the murder of 6-year-old Palestinian boy Wadea Al-Fayoume and for seriously wounding his mother. This incident has been treated as a hate crime as he was allegedly yelling anti Muslim statements as he attacked Al-Fayoume and his mother. 

Fayoume’s family were surprised that Czuba killed Wadea because until this point, he had been very kind towards Wadea with Family members saying that Czuba built Wadea a treehouse and bought him toys. It has been suggested by many that this radical change in Czuba’s treatment of the Fayoume family has been caused by the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, an example of this is Illinois congressman Abdelnasser Rashid who said that. “We need to understand that the killing of this six-year-old boy was directly related to what's happening in Israel and Palestine.”  

However, while the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has led to an increase in hate crimes with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination committee receiving over one hundred reports of Arabs being threatened and even experiencing violence in the aftermath of Hamas’s attack on Israel. These attacks follow a trend of increased Islamophobia since 9/11. This is shown by Barack Obama being accused of being a Muslim during the 2008 presidential campaign and Donald Trump placing an emphasis on what he called radical Islamic terrorism despite terror attacks by white supremacists also being a massive problem during this time. While Islamophobic attacks have decreased since 2001 except for an increase in 2015 and 2016, Islamophobia has remained a massive problem and, in my opinion, it is incorrect to solely blame the recent conflict for this tragedy.