YALLA VOTE ‘08 Our Voice. Our Future.

The storm is swirling, and I’m not talking about down south. I’m talking about the political maelstrom swirling with just seven weeks before the election.

Got lies? They don’t wash off, as any kid who ever got splashed by a smear campaign in the seventh grade will tell you. The Washington Post has a small article in the A section today entitled, “The Power of Political Misinformation“.

The caption below the article’s illustration sums it all up neatly: “Studies showed misinformation could be damaging even after being debunked among those predisposed to buy into the bad information to begin with.”

Bottom line? Do your homework.

Mr. Landham, the Libertarian Party of Kentucky’s candidate for U.S. Senate, finds himself in hot water recently. IN comments made to the Courier-Journal on July 21, Landham proves himself to be a bigot of the first degree, at least when it comes to Arab Americans. Here’s how columnist Joseph Gerth, in his Time Warp, reported Sonny Landham’s comments:

He wants to release oil from the strategic oil reserve, drill in areas of the U.S. currently off-limits to the oil companies and then try to persuade OPEC to cut the price of oil. What if it doesn’t?

“We should go and bomb those camel-dung shovelers back into the sand,” Landham said. “I said ‘camel-dung shovelers.’ Make sure you put that in the newspaper.”

Wow. And that was only one of the epithets he used.

As if that weren’t enough, Landham went on air with The Weekly Filibuster, an Internet-based, political talk radio show, and clarified his stance on Arabs and Arab Americans. I’ll pull some excerpts from the transcript after the cut, for you (thanks to the Independent Political Report for publishing the entire transcript here):

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AAI is hosting a bi-partisan platform plank event next week… the details are coming together even as I type. What AAI wants to know is…

ARE YOU?

Let us know. Drop us a comment here on this post, or send an e-mail to cr@aaiusa.org and let us know the whens and wheres. AAI will be happy to send you Arab American Democrat or Arab American Republican buttons and signs, and Yalla Vote materials, to help you host your event.

We’ve made it so easy for you, with checklists, sign-in sheets, agendas, all branded for your Democrat or Republican event. Visit the Yalla Vote section of the AAI website for the complete low-down on this incredible opportunity to really make a difference.

WOW Yalla Vote is in definitely in full swing…

As you may know, we are still in the midst of Arab American Heritage week in NYC which in true Arab fashion actually spans two weeks. For more information about Heritage Week,  visit http://arabheritagenyc.net/

Here’s what Yalla Vote has been up to in New York this past week or so:

1. The week began EARLY…around 7am to be exact, at the CBS early show, where I joined members of NAAP, the Arab American Association of Bay Ridge, and more to promote both Heritage Week and the Yalla Vote Declaration. I managed to weasel my way directly behind the interview taking place so my Shirt and sign were prominently displayed on national TV for a solid chunk of time. Here’s a picture of all of us with

CBS Early Show host Harry Smith

2. I went to promote the Declaration at a screening of Sling Shot Hip Hop at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens. The event was hosted by ArteEast, and was a huge success. The weather even managed to hold out long enough to allow us as a beautiful evening. The movie itself is remarkable, and if you haven’t already done so, go see it. Now. I gathered signatures, recruited volunteers, schmoozed, and saw a great film with the New York City skyline as the backdrop. Does it get better than that? I submit that it does not.

3. Yalla Vote put on a strong showing at Bay Ridge’s own Arab American Bazaar at in the 79th St. Shore Rd. Park. It was a beautiful day and a bazaar filled with vendors, performances, food, and family fun. I got a great tan from working the Yalla Vote table all day, and also got a lot of positive feedback from the community. We even got some attention from local Congressional candidate Steve Harrison, who was very excited to see the Arab American community encouraging one another to take part in the voting process.

All in all, it’s been an exciting and successful “week,” and it’s far from over. There are more great events on the way, and Yalla Vote will be there front and center! Until next time…

-Matt

We’ve been out-and-about here in Michigan, spreading the Yalla Vote initiative to get out the vote and unite our voices under one declaration. This past weekend, we attended the American Federation of Ramallah’s 50^th Annual Ramallah Convention at the Dearborn Hyatt Regency. The huge event gathered some 2000 Palestinian Americans, many of whom trace their roots back to one of the seven major families of the Palestinian town of Ramallah, in the West Bank. Many of the attendees responded to the Yalla Vote campaign with enthusiasm and signed our National Declaration. On the Fourth of July, AAI’s Midwest Director Valerie Smith addressed the convention and explained how the Internet is revolutionizing grass-roots political activism, particularly in regards to the Yalla Vote campaign.

Meeting so many Arab Americans from all over the country on a monumental occasion such as this, and with many expressing great interest in this fall’s elections, it seems that it’s not too late for the larger Arab American community to make its voices heard come November.

As we head into July, with changes at the AAI’s Midwest office and community events happening each week, things are heating up! Sunday night Amir joined Hassan and Midwest Director Valerie Smith for the closing gala dinner event of the second symposium of the National Association of Yemeni-Americans at the Dearborn Hyatt, at which Valerie spoke about the Yalla Vote campaign. The conference brought together members of various Arab American community organizations as well as visiting Yemeni citizens, including the Yemeni Ambassador to the U.N., to discuss the importance of education in addressing the concerns and realizing the goals of our community.

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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!

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?

The Arab American Institute publishes a Congressional Scorecard every year. If you’re curious to know how your representatives are doing on the issues that matter the most to us, check out the 2007 Congressional Scorecard.

Here’s the intro to the Scorecard:

The Arab American Institute has compiled this Scorecard for the 110th Congress to inform our community of their members’ voting records….  Though not comprehensive, and though no member of Congress can be judged fairly by any single action, this guide provides a general profile of Congressional behavior that we hope will help Arab Americans better understand actions taken on these key issues.

While it’s vital that you cast your vote on Election Day, it’s just as important that you stay involved throughout the year, by taking action when an issue before Congress or your local legislature affects you.