YALLA VOTE ‘08 Our Voice. Our Future.

Oh, no, Bonnie. Oh, no.

Bonnie Bernstein is the latest talking head to open her mouth and insert her foot, her leg, and perhaps most of her upper torso into her mouth…

On a recent, popular radio show, ESPN’s Bernstein made a right mess of things, saying:”… I remember a while ago I was reading an article in the New York Times about Palestinian suicide bombers and I just remember being struck by the notion that from the point of birth, people in Palestine are taught to think that dying in the name of God is a good thing.  They grow up wanting to be suicide bombers. So bringing it back to sports…”

Her apology is way off the mark, too, as she never once apologizes for insinuating that 7 million Palestinians are, in their heart of hearts, all suicide bombers. She doesn’t apologize to Palestinians, Americans of Palestinian descent, at all. In fact, all she does is apologize for comparing sports-crazed parents eager for a child’s fame over education, to Palestinians. Listen to it, yourself, and tell me, where’s the apology for the racial profiling she did in her original stint on Mike and Mike?

“Hi, this is Bonnie Bernstein, and I’d just like to take a minute to apologize for making a connection this morning on Mike and Mike between Palestinians and the adults who influence the thinking of many young NBA prospects. I was a student athlete who was lucky enough to have part of my college expenses paid for by a scholarship, and so I’ve always embraced the importance of higher education.”

Should we profile her and make some snide remark about an airhead or a dumb jock? Shall we stoop to her level and label her incorrectly? Nah. We shouldn’t stoop to her level.

But we need to elect officials who will help change the country’s perception of Arabs, Arab Americans, and ethnic minorities of all kinds, and bring us all under the same umbrella of acceptance and equal rights.

As the often practiced quote goes, “Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons,” I can say this loudly after yesterday’s Voter Registration drive. It was my first event for the Yalla Vote Campaign and it certainly did not go as expected. Instead of people flocking to me, I found myself leaving the plaza where I had been stationed and seeking out people dining in restaurants, in salons getting their hair done, approaching people shopping and strolling, and talking to them about voting. I learned many things about logistics and what not to do next time.

Overall, I am really happy that I took this challenge, this early on, learning from it and am determined to succeed tremendously next time. I already found my next location for my voter registration drive! Now I need to get to work. Life is filled with ups and downs. You learn from your mistakes and move on. But I did the best with what I had, and worked the customers that were there. Got them all registered to vote and signing to support our Declaration. The volunteers left with me at 10 pm, all asking me to plan the next one ASAP. So with that… look for the next Yalla Vote opportunity on July 12th!. Until the next adventure comes around….

Salam ………..

I came across a story while reading “Orlando Weekly” that I thought deserved some attention. The story is written by a young man, and he describes his experience simulating a night in “Gitmo”.

His experience is particularly moving. And keep in mind, this was only one night.

Just a little warning, there is profanity in the story.

- Mia

This past weekend, AAI Michigan staff and volunteers took part in the Dearborn Arab International Festival, an annual event attended by over 100,000 visitors. The Yalla Vote campaign was visible throughout the festival, as volunteers wearing Yalla Vote t-shirts were a constant presence, registering hundreds of people to sign AAI’s National Petition. Our AAI booth was well stocked with buttons and signs that were quite popular with festival attendees, and several local dignitaries stopped by to thank AAI for doing “good work”, including Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly and 19th Circuit Court Judge Mark Somers.

Overall, this past weekend was the highlight of my experience as a field organizer with the Yalla Vote campaign, as I got to connect with dozens of community members on an individual level, and discuss the importance of voting and the community’s involvement in the political system. What was particularly rewarding for me was to meet the many out of state visitors to the festival, including many Arab-Americans from Chicago, Ohio and Indiana, who made the trek out to Dearborn to take part in the largest gathering of Arab-Americans in the country. There was a great sense of camaraderie and community that I felt being at the festival, and seeing the diversity of the Arab American community, and the great desire for political change that was in the air.

AAI Intern Sandra Jaward adds her reflections on this past weekend in Dearborn:

This past weekend I had the opportunity to work at the Yalla Vote booth at the Arab Festival. I had the chance to interact with the hundreds of people that passed by inquiring about the AAI and the Yalla Vote campaign which was a nice experience. I recruited a few volunteers who were enthusiastic about helping the AAI so together we provided people passing the booth with informational packets about candidates, elections, and Arab Americans. We also encouraged anyone who passed by to register to vote, sign up as a volunteer, and sign our petition. I anticipate that if we attend more events like this in the future than we can gather more petition signatures as well as inform the wider public about the AAI and get them involved in politics.

When asking people to get involved in Yalla Vote the first question that is usually asked is what they would do. So here’s a list of only some of the many ways to get involved…

10. Get involved in the campaign of the candidate of your choice! Campaigns are always looking for more volunteers and you don’t necessarily have to get involved in a presidential campaign. There are plenty of local elections in your area that are also very important.

9. Become a member of your party’s local organizing community! If you affiliated with a particular party get involved in that party locally. This not only allows you to meet people that are politically like minded it also demonstrates how Arab Americans are politically active.

8. Work at a local polling place on Election Day! Not only do you usually get paid to work a polling place it is a great experience and is especially important in areas with a large Arab American community.

7. Make calls on Election Day to get out the Arab American vote!

6. If you are a student work with organizations on campus to get others involved!

5. Vote! Make sure that you are registered to vote a month before the election on November 4 and remember to vote either ahead of time or on Election Day (which of course depends on the election laws in your state and county).

4. Sign the National Petition! The Petition not only tells the presidential candidates what issues are important to us, but also tells them that we base our vote in November on those issues.

3. Register other Arab Americans to vote! While every vote counts the more votes that Arab Americans cast the more our voice can be heard.

2. Get others to sign the National Petition! The more signatures we collect the better and the louder our voice will be.

And most importantly…

1. Tell everyone you know about Yalla Vote and encourage them to get involved!

-Nadia

WASHINGTON – June 25, 2008 – On June 19, the Arab American Institute (AAI), American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), and the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) met with State Department officials from the Bureau of Consular affairs, and the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs to discuss the practice of denying entry to U.S. citizens of Palestinian or Arab descent into Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Read the rest of this entry »

One of the youngest candidates to run for Congress in the nation’s history and the first Democratic challenger to receive district-wide support since 1992, Sam Rasoul is a rising force. On May 24, 2008 he became the official Democratic nominee for the 6th District of Virginia.

He’s absolutely an Arab American on the move! Curious to know more about him? Keep reading…

Read the rest of this entry »

On June 21st, Outlandish made their appearance after crowds anxiously awaited all week for them. The show was even more anticipated because initially it was supposed to be at the Anaheim Forum , but problems came up and they scrambled to get it at an ampitheatre in a park. Needless to say, the show was great, outdoors with the nice breeze of the Anaheim winds. Outlandish performed and the crowd was pumped with energy.

Of course, I showed up to the concert with the “Yalla Vote” gear ready to take over the place. Even though I didn’t end up getting a table, or any materials to pass out, I was equipped with the National Petition and hit the crowds. I sometimes sneaked behind tables and had customers sign my petition, and I even recruited a volunteer to get signatures while I watched the show. Overall, I must say that as a field organizer the concert was a complete success! I conversed with people, got volunteers and introduced the youth to the campaign!

Last week I had an opportunity to attend the New York leg of the Voices for Change Tour sponsored by MAS Youth, which featured hip-hop trio Outlandish. Composed of two Muslims and a Christian (sounds like the setup for a bad joke) Outlandish’s unique brand of socially and morally conscious hip-hop has struck a chord with many members of the Arab American community. There was a great turnout, and of course Yalla Vote was there recruiting volunteers, talking up the petition, and generally schmoozing. I even had one attendee say, “Hey aren’t you the Yalla Vote guy? You were at the NAAP BBQ… you’re everywhere these days!” Yes my fellow Arab American… Yes I am.

Everywhere present and filling all things (just kidding),
-Matt Ellias

Last Friday was my first time trying to collect signatures at a local mosque, the Islamic Center of Cleveland, after Friday prayer. I was as prepared as I could be in the circumstances. I had two clipboards: one for voter registration and another for the National Petition. Unfortunately I was not able to collect as many signatures as I would have liked. This mosque is one of the largest mosques in the area and has three entrances/exits and I only had one other person helping me. So the two of us did the best we could trying to have people sign the petition as they were coming out of the mosque.

Based on this experience I have learned that I should have ALL of the following for the next time…

• Volunteers, volunteers … and volunteers!
• A table with volunteers at all entrances/exits
• An announcement by the Imam or another individual from the mosque

Although I did not have the opportunity to talk to as many individuals as I would have liked to, the individuals that I did get the chance to speak to all signed the petition and now I know what works and what doesn’t… and each time I’ll get more and more signatures!

Yalla Vote!

-Nadia