YALLA VOTE ‘08 Our Voice. Our Future.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis sent out a letter to members of the Muslim community recently, encouraging Muslim Americans to get involved. To read the letter, click here: rick-davis-letter-to-muslim-community-81-9-08

Rumor has it that there will be an Arab Americans for McCain website, as well. Whether it will be a stand-alone site, or folded into the McCain website, we don’t yet know, but rest assured, when it goes live, we’ll let you know.

The polls closed Tuesday night August 5^th on Michigan’s state primary elections, and as we recuperate here in the office, it seems like all our hustle over the last two weeks has paid off – at least a bit – in the face of dismally low general voter turn out.

Jana lets Michigan know: Voting is just as important as eating your fruits and vegetables.

As we neared the primaries on Tuesday, we took to the streets to post flyers, urging people to vote, and passed out handbills at local mosques and businesses. On Tuesday our volunteers called local AAI members with a last minute message to get out and vote.

Arab Americans were involved in all aspects of the elections: volunteering, voting, working at the polls, getting-out-the-vote. Many ran on the ballot as precinct delegate candidates and a few others ran for their parties’ state representative nomination in their respective districts.

In the 12^th District, which includes the multi-ethnic communities of Southwest Detroit, Rashida Tlaib won the Democratic nomination by a landslide, as the first of eight candidates.

John Kuriakuz (D) of the 39^th District came in as the 2^nd of two candidates, despite large get-out-the-vote efforts in the Chaldean community.

Hana Alawy (on the left) and Iraqiah Musaad, along with Addbah Musaad (not pictured), work the polls in Dearborn, MI.

Thanks to all our volunteers who helped us get-out-the-vote this week here in Michigan! We’re not slowing down anytime soon.

-Amir

The Wall Street Journal published an article this week detailing how its inquiries prompted the resignation of Mazen Asbahi, a Chicago lawyer who had just been appointed volunteer national coordinator for Arab American and Muslim American affairs for Barack Obama’s campaign.

The Journal had inquired about Asbahi’s brief stint eight years ago on the board of an investment fund.  Asbahi served on the board for a “few weeks” and resigned when he became aware of allegations made against another board member. Yet the Wall Street Journal’s article suggests that Asbahi is guilty-but guilty of what?

The Wall Street journal article also states that Asbahi “is a frequent speaker before several groups in the U.S. that scholars have associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.” However, the article fails to name a group or scholars that are assessing them as being associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

It states that questions about Asbahi first arose in a web-based publication called the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report, but gives no information about who publishes it or what their agenda might be.

Surely a newspaper with the standards of the Wall Street Journal can better inform the reading public before making and repeating such specious claims. This is a clear case of unwarranted character assassination, and the Wall Street Journal should be ashamed to lend credibility to such efforts.

The full article can be read here.

Newspapers take letters to the editor seriously and will be less likely to print such stories in the future if readers make clear that they expect a higher standard.

Take action! Write to the Wall Street Journal and tell them:

• The allegations in the Wall Street Journal’s August 6 article “Obama’s Muslim-Outreach Adviser Resigns” are vague and specious. It asserts that Mazen Asbahi is a frequent speaker before groups in the U.S. that “scholars” have deemed questionable.  What are the groups? When were the speeches? Who are the scholars? When you make such a serious charge, don’t you think you owe it to your readers to provide proof?
• The Wall Street Journal acknowledges that the first publication to break this “story” was the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report, an obscure website published by a think tank whose name the Journal does not reveal.  Do your job, Wall Street Journal; verify your sources, support your reporting with hard facts. Stop publishing rumor and innuendo, written by bloggers, as news.
• On his involvement as a board member of an investment fund, Asbahi writes: “I served on that board for only a few weeks before resigning as soon as I became aware of public allegations against another member of the board.” How did this become a story? His explanation speaks for itself, but rather than give up its scoop, the WSJ then goes on to detail the allegations against the board member.  Is guilt by association the standard of the Wall Street Journal?
• Have we come to a point in our history when any allegation of extremism against an Arab or Muslim American-however specious or vaguely-sourced-warrants uncritical news coverage?  This is unacceptable and un-American.  The allegations against Mr. Asbahi are a continuation of a concerted effort by individuals hostile to the Arab and Muslim American communities to exclude them from civic and political life. Far from being proud of the role that it played in Mr. Asbahi’s resignation, the Wall Street Journal should be ashamed.

Please keep your letters short, to the point, and, at all times, respectful.  Try to keep your letter under 150 words.  (You could, for example, use any one of the above points and add a sentence or two of your own.)

Send your letters to the following:

Tim Lemmer, the letters editor, wsj.ltrs@wsj.com.

Gerard Seib, Executive Washington editor, jerry.seib@wsj.com

Reporters Glenn Simpson at glenn.simpson@wsj.com and Amy Chozick at amy.chozick@wsj.com

Please send AAI  your letters, as well: communications@aaiusa.org

Thank you for making your voice heard.

With all the media attention on Obama and McCain, sometimes we forget that voting means more than just selecting our next Commander in Chief. In the American three branch system, who we put into the legislature is just as important as the executive and judicial branches. They all have to work together to make changes. Moreover, for many Americans, who is in local offices has just as much of an impact on their lives as who is at the top.

Although the Presidential Preference Primary in Florida has passed, there are still other candidates to decide on in many Congressional Districts throughout the state. In the eighth district, there are seven candidates, five democrats and two republicans. Many other districts throughout the state also need to decide who their candidates for the General Election will be.

If you are not registered to vote in Florida, or you would like to change your party affiliation to vote in the Primary Election, the deadline to do so is July 28. The Primary Election will be held on August 26, 2008.

Between now and then, I recommend checking out the Florida Division of Election’s website to check out the candidates in your area. And remember, this is OUR voice, OUR future.

Thursday, July 30^th, I joined members of the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) at a conference on civic engagement hosted by ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services). The event introduced the attendees—about 40 leaders of various Arab American organizations from around the country—to the REV campaign (Register Educate Vote). AAI’s own Helen Samhan, Executive Director of the AAI Foundation, spoke about the Yalla Vote campaign and how it fits-in with the Network’s get-out-the-vote plans. After hearing Helen’s explanation of Yalla Vote, some Network members in attendance were so enthusiastic they offered us office space in Ann Arbor, Michigan and a chance to create a new internship position in Texas. Way to go, Helen!

David Munir Nabti is flying back to the US for the Democratic Convention this August. He is the first ARAB AMERICAN to be chosen as a delegate to the committee for the Democrats Abroad Europe-Middle East-Africa region. The LA Times posts a fabulous blog about our overseas Get Out The Vote hero…

Despite moving to Lebanon in 2004 to bond with his roots and work in the development field, Nabti never really lost his connection with the U.S. It is in California, where he grew up and later studied political science.

So last year, with a small group of like-minded people, he decided to start the Lebanon chapter of Democrats Abroad, which is the official overseas branch of the U.S. Democratic Party with members in 164 countries.

We hope that all Americans, at home and abroad, cast a ballot this November 4th.