YALLA VOTE ‘08 Our Voice. Our Future.

With exactly seven weeks to go until the election, the Arab American Institute would like to thank all the organizations who have not only endorsed the Yalla Vote ‘08 campaign but supported us and joined in our efforts to energize and engage the Arab American community this election season. Here is a summary of highlights from the spring and summer months.

CALIFORNIA
In the early months of the Yalla Vote campaign, ACCESS California (Arab American Community Center for Economic and Social Services) hosted Dr. James Zogby for a community rally where he spoke about the importance of getting Arab Americans involved this election season. This event helped launch the nationwide Yalla Vote campaign.

The Los Angeles chapter of NAAP (Network of Arab American Professionals) hosted a platform party and submitted their platform planks to both the Republican and Democratic parties prior to the nominating conventions. They also hosted a “Professionals Mixer” where Yalla Vote Field Organizer Samar al-Hinnawi was on hand to network and get the Yalla Vote word out.

FLORIDA
Dr. Maha Ansara, President of the Arab American Community Center in Orlando, has graciously donated office space and support to Field Organizer Mia Kamal while she works on the Yalla Vote ‘08 national campaign in Florida.

The Arab American Community Center also co-sponsored a Meet-and-Greet event held in early August at their office where participants talked about issues that were important to them in the upcoming election and discussed different ways to get involved in the community.

MICHIGAN
The first Yalla Vote engagement training by Wellstone Action took place in Michigan and was co-sponsored by ACCESS, which provided logistical and promotional support for this first workshop of the campaign. Many ACCESS staff and volunteers were among those who participated in the training.

The National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) sponsored a conference on civic engagement in early August for 40 leaders from network member organizations from around the country. Helen Samhan, Executive Director of the AAI Foundation, presented the Yalla Vote campaign and how it fits in with NNAAC’s civic engagement priorities. This cooperation strengthened ties and resulted in an offer of office space in Ann Arbor and a chance to create a new internship position in Texas.

At a Yalla Vote community rally held in July at the Arab American National Museum, Jim Allen, Chair of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce, made a great speech aimed to motivate the Michigan vote. Dearborn City Councilwoman Suzanne Sareini spoke about the importance of having Arab American precinct delegates in both parties, and State Representative Barbara Farrah emphasized the positive impact Arab Americans have in the state legislature.

Also in Michigan, the American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine hosted AAI’s Midwest Director, Valerie Smith, during their summer convention, where she spoke at their “Internet Activism” panel. Ken Harb helped put together the political panels and facilitated the process.

Hearty thanks to the Arab Student Union at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, for all their efforts in getting out the vote and circulating the Yalla Vote National Declaration at their dinners. Three of the AAI Midwest office interns have been hired from ASU, an organization that has been very involved in the political process and strong allies in the Yalla Vote campaign.

Alex Isaac of the American Arab Heritage Council was a great help to the Yalla Vote campaign during the “Our Lady of Lebanon Festival” in Flint, MI.

Valerie Smith also had the opportunity to speak about the Yalla Vote campaign to the Association of Patriotic Arab Americans in the Military (APAAM) after participating in the Dearborn Memorial Day Parade. During the post-parade lunch she thanked them and encouraged APAAM veterans to participate fully in American civic and political life, in part to promote policies supportive of their colleagues still on active duty. Ron Amen hosted a post-parade lunch at the Arab American National Museum, where APAAM president Jamal Baadani introduced APAAM members who had served in WWII, Vietnam, and Iraq.

NEW JERSEY
The May voter engagement training by Wellstone Action attracted volunteers from MPAC (Muslim Public Affairs Council), the Palestinian American Congress, and NAAP (Network of Arab American Professionals).

NEW YORK
In New York, Rami Nuseir from the American Mideast Leadership Network and Lena Al-Husseini from the Arab American Family Support Center both donated office space for AAI’s Field Organizer Matt Elias. The American Mideast Leadership Network also invited a Yalla Vote representative to speak about the importance of civic engagement and voting in the upcoming election at a networking event with Arab American professionals.

In keeping with NAAP’s close alliance with the Yalla Vote campaign, the New York chapter is co-sponsoring the upcoming “New York Candidates’ Night” in October, and Maher Abdelqader of the Palestinian American Congress (PAC) has provided leadership and support to ensure the event’s success.

Additionally, a big thanks to Sarab al-Jijakli of NAAP NY as well as Linda Sarsour and Dr. Jaber from the Arab American Association of New York for all their help in preparing to get out the vote this fall.

OHIO
In addition to their GOTV efforts, C.A.M.E.O (Cleveland American Middle Eastern Organization) and ACCESS Ohio (Arab American Community Center for Economic and Social Services) welcomed Dr. Zogby at the City Club in Cleveland, where he spoke about U.S. Middle East policy and the upcoming presidential elections.

Earlier in the year, Beit Hanina also hosted a presentation by Dr. Zogby and sent several representatives to the first Yalla Vote Midwest voter engagement training along with C.A.M.E.O. — Bassam Khawam has been a great help in coordinating all these events.

Also in Ohio, Yalla Vote Field Organizer Nadia Zaiem helped organize a civic empowerment workshop held at Beit Hanina that featured speakers State Representative Jennifer Brady and Richard Ganim, the former mayor of Seven Hills and a founding member of C.A.M.E.O.

TEXAS
Birzeit Society welcomed the Yalla Vote campaign at their annual conference, and AAI’s National Field and Political Coordinator Maram Abdelhamid spoke at a political workshop about what Arab Americans are doing around the country to prepare and get involved in the upcoming election.

WASHINGTON, DC
In the nation’s capitol, a special thanks to ADC (American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee) for hosting AAI at their convention this year. We are grateful to President Mary Rose Oakar and Executive Director Kareem Shora and all the other ADC staff and members for supporting this initiative, including their donation of program time and table space to promote Yalla Vote.

MEDIA SUPPORT
In addition to support from Yalla Vote partners for the field program, our Yalla Vote partners’ cooperation in communicating the message has provided a louder megaphone to the Arab American community at large. NAAP, Arabisto, American Task Force on Lebanon (ATFL) and the Al Manassah Al Arabeyah Journal post Yalla Vote information on their websites. Arabisto has given Yalla Vote blog space and consistently gotten the word out about campaign events. Arab Detroit has kept the Yalla Vote story visible and gets our Midwest office’s news out into the community.

View the list of all Yalla Vote Endorsing Organizations