YALLA VOTE ‘08 Our Voice. Our Future.

In part One, we brought up the insult delivered to Arab Americans this week when Dunkin Donuts yanked an ad featuring Rachael Ray in a scarf that may or may not have been a keffiyah. This week delivered another incredible dig at the issues that concern Arab Americans… here comes the second part…

2) Injury

Much more seriously, and even less explicably, as The New York Times and AP reported today, eight Palestinians in Gaza have lost their Fulbright scholarships.

Why?

Because the Israeli government would not let them out of Gaza, and the U.S. government never lifted a finger to help resolve the situation - and that is the most shameful aspect of the whole affair. U.S. silence.

Born of the same type of anti-Arab bias that fuels attacks on kaffiyehs in ads, this time it frustrated the purpose of one of the most prestigious U.S. public diplomacy programs, U.S. efforts to promote peace and build Palestinian civil institutions, and shattered the dreams of eight promising young people - people who are exactly what U.S. policy depends on. “I was building my hope on this scholarship,” says one disappointed young woman who, according to the article in the New York Times, voluntarily remained in Gaza even as her family fled.

This outrage should not be allowed to stand.

The Fulbright program provides life-changing opportunities for young men and women all over the world. Palestinians should not be denied the right to participate in this because of Israeli obstructionism, and the U.S. should not be silent in the face of this Israeli behavior.

Let the responsible parties know that you insist that the Fulbright scholarships be reinstated, and that Israel be pressed to allow the awardees to travel:

Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board Chair
Ms. Shirley Moore Green
202.453.8189
greenm@state.gov

Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs
Political Affairs Office
Matthew Rosenstock
(202) 647-1481
rosentstockms@state.gov

Deputy Secretary of State for Visa Services
Stephen A. “Tony” Edson
(202) 647-9584
tonye@state.gov

This is not the work we normally do, but we were so upset by these two stories that we felt we had to act.

This week added insult to injury:

1) Insult

Dunkin Donuts ran an ad with Rachael Ray (America’s favorite 30-minute cook)…

Yes, that’s a kaffiyeh!

We take delight in the way the kaffiyeh, a traditional peasant head covering, has become a fashionable part of U.S. pop culture. And here it was in a Dunkin Donuts ad!

But not so fast, said Michelle Malkin - a far right buffoon who often utters anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiments. Malkin accused Dunkin Donuts of failing to recognize that the kaffiyeh “symbolizes murderous Palestinian jihad” and is “a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos.”

Instead of weathering the silly dust-up, Dunkin Donuts folded and pulled the ad.

We cannot tolerate a situation where Michelle Malkin defines what is culturally acceptable, in effect becoming the P.C. Czarina of the far right.

Tell Dunkin Donuts to reinstate the online ad, and let them know that they should not be bullied by petty bloggers. Make your voice heard.

The head of marketing at Dunkin Donuts is Frances Allen; her e-mail address is frances.allen@dunkinbrands.com

The Dunkin Donuts Customer Care service line: (800) 859-5339. Be patient calling this number, it takes some time to get through. You can e-mail your concerns to customerservice@dunkinbrands.com or send a letter to:

Dunkin’ Donuts Public Relations Department
130 Royall Street
Canton, MA 02021
Tel: 781.737.5200

Students from Gaza who are the recipients of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship have just found out, through an email, that the State Department is canceling their scholarships. The reason? They cannot obtain exit visas from Israel and are unable to leave Gaza.

The New York Times first published the story about these students in the front page news today, emphasizing the surprising lack of action on the U.S.’s part in helping them obtain exit visas from Israel. They have since published additional articles, the latest predicting that Israel will reverse its decision.

U.S. officials, including Condaleeza Rice, have expressed surprise and disappointment at their own decision to withdraw their scholarships. Rice has promised to look into the matter and has said that “If you cannot engage young people and give complete horizons to their expectations and their dreams, I don’t know that there would be any future for Palestine.” However, the State Department has thus far not made any progress in helping the students obtain the necessary exit visas from Israel.

One of the recipients, Abdulrahman Abdullah, neatly summed it up when he said, “If we are talking about peace and mutual understanding, it means investing in people who will later contribute to Palestinian society…But who will build that state if we can get no training?”

The Fulbright Scholarships, according to their website, are given to individuals “chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential” and are intended to promote international education and cross-cultural understanding.

There’s an amazing sense of all being right in the world when a writer like Juan Cole pens a piece for Salon like his latest, “John McCain’s Arab-American Problem“.

If Arab Americans mature in the political process and begin to show some clout–through lobbying, campaign donations and PAC donations (yes, there is an Arab American Leadership PAC out there), as well as good, old-fashioned VOTING–we can change American foreign and domestic policy for the better.

As Mr. Cole puts it so succinctly:

But more important, Arab-Americans across the country are looking for changes in domestic and international policy that McCain seems unwilling to pledge — and they are concentrated in swing states that he will need to win this fall. Does John McCain have a problem with Arab-American voters?

Recent polls show a tight race between either Democrat and McCain in Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio, all states where Arab-Americans account for an appreciable percentage of the vote. Such polls have limited utility with November so many months away, but that it will be a close election in those key states seems clear. In a tight election, the votes of a well-placed minority — Arab-American votes — can be crucial.

YALLA! VOTE!

Interesting, how a few rabid, hate-filled bloggers can hold an entire corporation hostage, isn’t it?

Or didn’t you hear? Rachael Ray is a terrorist. Or is she a terrorist sympathizer? Or is she simply a holy terror in the kitchen?

Or has the whole nation gone insane?

One thing is for certain, Lady Liberty is ready to pack up her torch and go home.

Let’s get real, people. Rachael Ray was wearing a black and white, silk, scarf in an online ad for Dunkin Donuts. Her stylist says it’s paisley. And we have to ask… what if it IS a keffiyeh?

For generations, kids in America have appropriated the symbols of international culture and worn them as their own. The Chairman Mau cap, Nehru jackets, and guerrilla bandanas never incited Americans to a Communist, Parliamentarian or guerrilla revolution. During the First Gulf War, teens of all shades wore the keffiyah. Street vendors sold out of the large, checkered scarves and suburban kids hung out at the mall in a profusion of black and white and fringes. None of them started a holy jihad in the halls of their junior high because they had wrapped themselves in the symbol of Palestinian nationalism. It’s like wearing a tee shirt with the Statue of Liberty on it while on a vacation in China: a political statement of national pride, and nothing more. The keffiyah is a symbol of a nation lost but not forsaken. It’s not a universal symbol of terrorism.

Huffington Post did a good job covering the story–Dunkin Donuts Pulls Ad Featuring Rachael Ray In A Scarf That Looks Too Arab– and it’s been picked up and flung around the world, with an amazing amount of… silence on the part of the Arab American community. Come on, people, make your voices heard.

Michelle Malkin started this mess with a blog piece. “The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad. Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant (and not so ignorant) fashion designers, celebrities and left-wing icons.” She also notes:

It’s refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists. Too many of them bend over backward in the direction of anti-American political correctness. Naturally, liberal commentators on the Internet are now up in arms over Dunkin’ Donuts’ decision to yank the ad and mock anyone who expresses concern over the keffiyeh’s symbolism.

It’s just a scarf, the clueless keffiyeh-wearers scoff. Would they say the same of fashion designers who marketed modified Klan-style hoods in Burberry plaid as the next big thing?

Know that GOPUSA, “The Conservative Voice of America”, has picked up Malkin’s blog, but has published no sane rebuttal to this piece.

It’s also frightening to know that another blogger, the same mudslinging, bigoted BLOGGER who terrorized the McCain staff into dropping an Arab American from a Michigan finance campaign on a mere, unsubstantiated rumor, the whisper of the word Hezbolla, is again one of the driving forces behind this Dunkin Donuts paranoia. The level of hate in this country is rising, the spinelessness of individuals and corporations to stand up for everyone’s human rights is astounding, and and it takes our breath away.

Read Ray Hanania’s article in the Huffington Post. He’s spot on. Comment it, link to it, send it around the blogosphere. Drop a note to Dunkin Donuts and tell them to reinstate the ad and stop being bullied by two-bit bloggers.

Make our voices heard.

(careful, Amer Zahr uses the F word in this video!)

It’s so important to do your homework when it comes to candidates… and not just the Presidential hopefuls, either. Pay attention to what those who would be your Congressmen and Senators are saying as they stump for a seat in Washington, D.C.

Watch this commercial by Harri Anne Smith, “a Republican member of the Alabama Senate, representing the 29th District since 1998. She has been elected to three terms in the State Senate and is also a former mayor of her hometown of Slocomb, Alabama.” (Wikipedia) Clearly, this is a woman who knows what she’s doing. But if you live in Alabama and care about Arab American issues, you might want to listen closely to her campaign rhetoric:



Quote: “It’s about time those Middle Eastern billionaire sheiks show us some gratitude by lowering their oil prices.”

It just leaves me scratching my head… Gratitude for WHAT?

Our thanks to Aparna Narayanan, whose piece in the Brooklyn Rail, Arab Americans head for the ballot box, offers such an eloquent glimpse into the life of new citizens…

If you’re second- or third-generation Arab American, the American political process is easy as breathing. You were born with the right to vote. For recent men and women just entering this crazy, wonderful country, negotiating the path to citizenship and the right to vote isn’t nearly as simple. Please read this article and YALLA VOTE!

The Yalla Vote ‘08 Campaign is now in full-swing! AAI has been working with Arab-American students in universities all around the country to encourage them to get involved with the Yalla Vote ‘08 program and become the newest members of our team.

The Yalla Vote campaign seeks to promote inclusion in the democratic process, give voice to Arab American issues by circulating a national petition and encourage bi-partisan voter mobilization.

Here are a few things that you could do to help:

• Put up a table at your events on campus to collect signatures on the National Petition
• Encourage your friends to spread the word about the Yalla Vote ‘08 Campaign
• Register your friends to vote in the November election

Send us your thoughts an ideas so that we can make this years Yalla Vote campaign a great success.

You might have read our recent post about the Yalla Vote training in Michigan that kicked off the month of May with a weekend of voter engagement training for Yalla Vote endorsers and activists.

If you would like another glimpse of this training from a slightly different perspective, take a look at the Wellstone Action website’s write-up of this information packed few days.

The feedback we’ve received from participants is overwhelmingly enthusiastic. The only complaint?

Not long enough!

While space in these training sessions is extremely limited and open only to endorsing organizations and activists, we hope you will benefit from these sessions, even if you cannot attend. Those who attend the training are charged with returning to their communities and, in their own turn, teaching what they have learned to the greater Arab American family back home.

With your help, we can change the course of American politics and make our thoughts, our needs, our hopes, our fears–and our wisdom– a vibrant part of the national dialogue. Don’t forget to sign the petition, register to vote, and help others do the same.