The “Trump Era” has posed special challenges for Arab Americans not only in foreign and domestic policy, but also in confronting the hostile political culture which the president has nurtured. As a result, we’ve been busy, especially in this election season – forced to work on many fronts, all at the same time.
Not since the 1980s have we seen so many Republican campaigns using anti-Arab or anti-Muslim bigotry against Democratic opponents – with most instances tied to charges that the Democrat: Has received financial support from questionable sources; is supported by individuals who are opponents of Israel or supporters of the BDS movement; are themselves linked by family ties to Palestinian terrorism; or are just not sufficiently supportive of Israel or Trump’s moving the Embassy to Jerusalem.
In addition, there has been an uptick in anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant scare tactics that have contributed to making this a challenging and important election. What follows is a snapshot of the many issues and areas that define our agenda as we approach critical mid-term elections.
First and foremost is our basic commitment to preparing Arab Americans for the election through voter registration, voter education, and voter mobilisation. This is the “bread and butter” of our work. As we have seen in the past, the best antidote to attacks is to become stronger. And so this year, “Yalla Vote” organisers were hired to register new voters in their communities, build networks of volunteers, and strengthen relationships with community organisations. With the support of this volunteer network, more than 50 “Yalla Vote” registration events were organised across the country. The effort now shifts to preparing to get out the Arab American vote on November 6.
We are especially proud of the fact that this year, a record number of Arab Americans filed for US House, US Senate, or Gubernatorial seats, with dozens more running in local races. Because they won’t face any opposition in November, two exciting and historic candidates have won: Rashida Tlaib in Michigan and Ilhan Omar in Minnesota. Both Rashida, a Palestinian American, and Ilhan, a Somali/Yemeni American, will be the first Muslim women to serve in Congress.
Now to the issues we are addressing.
In July we published “Underreported, Under Threat: Hate Crime in the United States and the Targeting of Arab Americans.” Our report provides a long overdue analysis of targeted violence against Arab Americans and exposes multiple issues that affect hate crime reporting and data collection across the country. We are now working with Members of Congress to address these issues and identify bipartisan action on the problem of underreporting as a 2019 priority for our hate crime work.
Two years ago, we began legislative work on combating the rampant decades-old problem of discrimination against Arab Americans during air travel. Last week, that work bore fruit. President Trump signed the new FAA reauthorisation bill which includes, a section we worked on requiring training policy for its employees and contractors regarding racial, ethnic, and religious non-discrimination.
In the next year we will face a number of challenges to free speech in the form of state and federal government efforts to place penalties on individuals or groups that support BDS against Israel and other efforts to broaden the definition of anti-Semitism to include criticism of Israel. These initiatives seek to silence pro-Palestinian human rights activism on college campuses and ongoing work in a number of mainstream Christian denominations to divest their church funds from Israeli enterprises.
Additionally, we continue to address a range of other concerns that affect not only our community but all Americans.
It is, to be sure, a full agenda. But it is one we are ready to take on because we know we must – in order to ensure the future of our community and our country.