The State of Arab American Journalism, presentation to the Community Media Workshop, Chicago June 12, 2008

Community Media Workshop
Co-sponsored by the National Arab American Journalists Association
Thursday June 11, 2008
Ray Hanania …. The Ethnic News Media

I was asked to give you some details about myself first:

I got into journalism in the 1970s wielding a sledge-hammer, determined to break the door down on the mainstream news media’s hypocrisies involving the inadequate and lacking coverage of Arabs in America. We were news when we were bad. We were off the radar screen when we were good.

That’s why people keep asking me, "Why don’t you people denounce Osama Bin Laden?" My people? I’m from Chicago’s "Sout Side," if you didn’t recognize the accent. To many Americans, Arab Americans are just not American enough and there isn’t anything we can do to ever satisfy the growing racism and bigotry that exists in this country.

I covered City Hall 17 years from Daley (75) to Daley (92). And because journalism isn’t controversial enough, I created my own news … moved on a bit to the other side …the dark side … of public relations and media strategy … and learned what it was like to be in the "glass fishbowl." I think every journalist, especially political reporters and columnist, really should experience that. It really does give you a fuller perspective on the "Good Stawwy" as my friend and colleague the late Harry Golden Jr., used to bark in his Brooklyn Accent.

I got into Ethnic Media, up to my nose. I realized that the Arab American community – my community whether some of my editors liked it or not – usually not – was not engaged in the media very successfully.

I got back into journalism after a whirlwind sabbatical in media relations and community activism, right after Sept. 11, 2001, and I’ve since written three books ("I’m Glad I Look Like a Terrorist: Growing Up Arab in America" – a humor book; "Arabs of Chicagoland," now a mandatory FBI manual; and "The Catastrophe: How extremists have hijacked the Palestinian Cause").

I have one book online called "Midnight Flight: Chicago’s Racial Heritage and White Flight" that is available off my web page TheMediaOasis.com.

I manage several news and column web sites: The Arab WritersGroup.com, and The Orland Parker.com. And, I publish the National Arab American Times Newspaper, 64,000 newspapers in 48 states (AATimesNews.com).

I write about politics, and fun, for the Southwest News-Herald Newspaper (SWNewsHerald.com) and for newspapers around the country and the world.

I host a weekly radio show on WCEV "Chicago’s Ethnic Voice," which is on sabatical too, pending a new major advertising sponsor. I’ll talk about later. And, I host a weekly TV show on Comcast Cable Channel 19, where I push what some viewers call "my Arab agenda" but also delve into other regional and national stories.

And, as if I didn’t already have enough on my plate, I perform standup comedy with the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour IPComedyTour.com.

I’ve also won my share of Journalism Awards, including three SPJ Lisagor Awards, and was named "Best Ethnic American Journalist" in Nov. 2006 by the New American Media. Doesn’t get me any work, though. Just a lot of abuse.

You can go to my web site at TheMediaOasis.com to link to any and all of my journalism, comedy and writing endeavors.

Being an ethnic journalist

The first thing you should know about being an "ethnic" is that it is a very undefined phenomena.

Being ethnic is about how you view yourself and how others view you. I didn’t realize how ethnic I really was until I started to look for a job.

Over the years, ethnicity is kind of imposed on you. You think it is fine, some people don’t. You also discover that the label "ethnic" brings along a lot of baggage, too. A lot of people just don’t like you.

Now, most of my freelance work involves the ethnic media, a long way from covering Chicago’s City Hall for 17 years from Daley to Daley, where my ethnicity was acknowledged, often in the pejorative.

Overview of the Arab American Community

We Americans mix up ethnicity and race a lot. And when you are Arab American, add to that mix religion. It’s amazing how few people, including in journalism, distinguish between Arab and Muslim.

There are 7 million Muslims in the United States – we think because the government really doesn’t want to count us – by the way, the census is both a means of empowerment and a means of oppression. If they count you, you can become more powerful. If they refuse to count you or come up with special categories to count you, they can suppress your community’s voice. It’s what I like to cite as the subtle oppression of American Democracy, the unfree part we pretend doesn’t exist.

Of those 7 million Muslims, only 22 percent are Arab. The majority of Muslims are Black Muslims, about 36 percent.

There are 4.5 million Arabs in the United States, the majority are actually Christian, not Muslim at all. But you wouldn’t know that from the American public. A woman came up to me after Sept. 11, 2001 and said, "I can’t believe you abandoned your Christian faith to become an Arab."

Chicago has about 250,000 Arab Americans, the majority from Palestine. Much of which you will recognize is Israel today.

They are divided into two major groups: Those in jail and those not. Actually, there are two large settlements, the largest on the Southwest Side and Suburbs from the 13th Ward all the way southwest to Orland Park, where I live. Everyone thinks we’re Muslim, as I said, but the majority of those Arabs are Christian Palestinian and Lebanese Christians, and a easily identifiable Muslim warren in Bridgeview.

Again, ethnicity isn’t about what you are, but what people think you are. They see someone wearing a Hijab, a head covering that we used to call a Babushka in the 60s, and an entire community is defined.

Most of Arab Americans are wealthy. Most were professionals who could afford to leave their countries to come to this country. Some came as a result of conflict and oppression as refugees.

They’re doctors, lawyers, engineers, and business people. There are only about 250 Arab Americans in journalism. Sounds like a lot but it isn’t. Half are in the mainstream media – Hoda Kotbe, Jim Avila -- and the other half are in the ethnic media.

More about the Arab American ethnic news media.

Arab American media is at the forefront of social justice It is a fact that an ethnic community’s "health" and empowerment is reflected by the health and professionalism of its ethnic media. In that measure, the Arab American community is ailing. The Ethnic American media is at the forefront of the fight for justice, Democracy and free speech in this country. We are the front-line fighting for social change and fairness, and improving the livelihood of all Americans. But we have many challenges.

We have about 83 Arab newspapers and magazines, 12 radio shows including some mainstream like my own that are ethnic by default, and about a dozen cable TV programs. You can go to the web page of the National Arab American Journalists Association (NAAJA-US.com) to get more information on those newspapers and their geographical location around the country.

About 125 people working for the 83 publications and a handful of radio and TV means we don’t have big staffs. In fact, only a few are really media in a professional sense, run by "journalists" as opposed to business people or activists.

Most of our Arab ethnic media reporting focuses on Middle East politics. There is a reason for that. The mainstream news media doesn’t cover the Middle East fairly or objectively. They’re biased and some columnists and reporters will openly boast that they are biased – it improves their careers.

Other mainstream journalists and talk show hosts will show their biased based on the absence of Arab guests on their shows when they address Middle East topics.

Only a few of the Arab American media focus on non-Middle Eastern political issues, like the growing social challenges Arab Americans face like all other Americans.

We have many great ethnic newspapers, besides my own, the National Arab American Times, of course, and the two newspapers in Chicago, The Arab Horizon and the Future News. They include The Arab News in Detroit, the Independent Monitor and the Beirut Times in California, and Aramica News in New Jersey/New York, and al-Nashra in Washington D.C. These are only a few. Some of the leading magazines include Islamica Magazine, Azizah Magazine, the Arab American Business Magazine, and the News Circle Magazine

But, we are American. And still, we are constantly under siege.

Most of the publications are in Arabic but there is a trend to publish more and more in English. We had 7 newspapers in Chicago before Sept. 11. After, only two survived, and one, that I published, closed months later. The survivor was thrown out by her printer who said he didn’t like her English articles about the Middle East, so she found a new printer and published only in Arabic for a while.

Today, we have two major Arab American newspapers in Chicago, the Future News and the Arab Horizon that do both Arabic and English and fill the void intentionally missed by the mainstream news media.

Unlike other Ethnic media in America, we have difficulty in distributing our publications. Many mainstream, non-Arab stores and business refuse to distribute our newspapers, although you will find Hispanic, Asian and African American media, for example, in many retail stores that are of other ethnic origins or are owned by Caucasian business owners.

We have a divide in our media. Many of our newspapers are published and run by political activists with an agenda that is not journalism. Many others are run by business owners in insurance, real estate and law who are seeking to promote their business endeavors or are championing causes. Journalism is a sidelight, rather than a main profession -- although they are dedicated to the cause of journalism.

So, as a result, about 75 percent of the news published in our newspapers is focused on the Middle East conflict. Only 20 percent of the publications, according to a recent survey of newspapers, include features or news that is unrelated to the Middle East conflict. Some newspapers are all driven by opinion columns.

Although Arab Americans are the target of aggressive anti-Arab campaigns by the Bush-Cheney administration, about 35 percent of our advertising – major advertising, comes from government agencies such as the U.S. Military, the FBI and the CIA. About 65 percent of the remaining ads are local businesses. Nearly 25 percent of the purchased advertising goes uncollected, and remains outstanding. The remainder come from service industries targeting Arab and Muslim consumers, such as money wire transfers and cellular and long distance telephone companies.

Only a few Arab American publications actually make a profit.

While other ethnic media can really on a steady stream of community support, most Arab American ethnic publications do not get direct support beyond some advertising. For example, few of the Arab American organizations, with the exception of a handful based in Washington D.C., produce and distribute press releases. Without press releases, the burden on the Arab American ethnic journalists is tripled as a steady flow of press releases is a necessity, indicating a community that engages and recognizes the importance of the Arab American ethnic media.

The absence of a public relations industry in the Arab American community reflects the lack of respect Arab Americans have for their own community press.

WCEV – the show is temporarily off the air because we found that many mainstream advertisers won’t advertise on a radio station that is filled with ethnic voices … it was amazing how many advertisers complained because the shows on the station were ethnic … Polish, Irish, Italian … it isn’t just about being Arab American … many Americans hate the "hyphen" but they are the ones who hyphenate us …

Challenges just being an Arab let alone an ethnic publisher

When people come up to me and call me a terrorist lover, I like to point out I served during the Vietnam War, my brother was a Marine and my dad and uncle served more than four years each in World War II. I ask if they served. They usually say no. And I wonder, what’s stopping them? I offer to walk them to the recruiter so they can channel their hatred in the right direction, against usually innocent prisoners who have been denied their basic human rights held at Guantanamo. You can beat, torture and even kill them, and no one will care.

But we feel we are constantly under attack in this country, including way before Sept. 11, 2001. And it’s justified. When I was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1975, the FBI immediately opened an investigation into my life. Two years. Because I was "Arab."

Yet the Arab American community is both an asset and a resource for this country, and they are a market.

You know, if the mainstream media had done its job in covering our community, they would have been all over the Tony Rezko story long before it broke. They would have had actual video footage of Rezko and Gov. Blagojevich hugging and shaking hands at community award ceremonies. Instead of stealing the picture of Rezko from my book Arabs of Chicagoland and using that without attribution until Rezko finally appeared in court.

Most of the 83 publications are regional papers, which means they are published in one city, saturate that city but try their best to extend beyond their borders. Working with a national food distributor, though, I’ve managed to break that barrier publishing 65,000 copies of my newspaper (80 percent English and 20 percent Arabic language – the National Arab American Times) to Middle Eastern grocery stores in all 48 states. It took me a long time to find an Arab store in Wyoming.

Given the state of the world today and the real threat we face from terrorists and extremists in the Middle East, and the Muslim World, Americans owe it to themselves to learn more about Arab Americans and Muslims. And, to understand there is a difference.

My biggest critics not only are mainstream Americans, but also from extremist groups like the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which has attacked me because of my criticism of Islamic extremism, which is a real and genuine threat in this country and in this city that mainstream Muslim groups do not fully denounce – they denounce the vague threat of terrorism and the extremists and the clearly identified leaders of the foreign terrorist organizations, but they fail to denounce the extremists among them that makes that foreign terrorism possible.

But Americans wouldn’t know any of this because Americans can’t tell the difference between Arabs and Muslims. It’s so much easier to cover us as a "stereotype" than as an ethnic community.

And I might conclude by reiterating that we Arab American journalists face real challenges not just from the lack of education in the American public but also the lack of education and professional practices by the mainstream media.

The very people who should be supporting us either ignore us or are so busy fighting their own battles, they can’t see or hear us as "comrades in struggle."

The non-Arab and non-Muslim ethnic media doesn’t support us enough. One community that does support us is the Asian American community because of the large number of Muslims (non-Arab Muslims) in their countries.

Instead of supporting us, they are shutting us out, or ignoring us, or not responding to our obvious needs.

Next month, UNITY: Journalists of Color will be hold their quadrennial Convention right here in Chicago. For the past three years, we’ve been asking, as Arab Americans, to participate, and they have refused us … thanks to the Asian American Journalists Association, we will have one panel on Arab American issues, that includes many non-Arabs on it … but it is a shame when the very ethnic and minority media of Blacks, Asians, Hispanics and Native Americans are so insecure about themselves, they are afraid to open the door to Arab American journalists who are also of color.

Part of the problem is the Arab American professional journalism community itself. Although viewed and stereotyped by outsiders as a monolithic, negative presence in America, the Arab American community sees itself as a coalition of division. We don’t work together. We don’t support each other. We permit the politics of the Middle East interfere in our organizational needs. We don’t come together because Lebanese and Palestinians don’t get along, or Syrians and Egyptians don’t get along, and more often than not, Muslims and Christian Arabs do not work together. In fact, while the Christian Arab community is larger than the Muslim Arab community, the Muslim Arab community empowerment is driven by non-Arab Muslims who have a huge influence in America but that also have priorities that do not match the priorities of the Arab community.

We want to protest UNITY, rather than support it, but when minorities are discriminated against by other minorities, not even a protest can make a difference.

One day UNITY will open its doors and recognize that the path now being taken by Arab Americans is one they took years before in their own fights for equality. You can’t be equal if you find excuses to treat other unequally.

To borrow a malapropism from the great late Mayor of Chicago, Richard J. Daley, and adapt it into our own challenges, "We Arab American journalists are not here to cause dis-UNITY at UNITY this summer … we’re here to preserve dis-UNITY."

That’s my sout-side ethnicity coming out …

Thanks

Ray Hanania
http://www.themediaoasis.com/

Zogby: Arab Americans must engage election system

A message from AAI President James Zogby
There is no doubt that this is the most exciting election in recent history. And it's a time when the Arab American community cannot afford to be silent.
Like all Americans, we're concerned about the economy and education, about health care and home prices. But there are a host of other issues that are impacting our community more deeply and more personally than any others: issues like civil liberties, immigration, and our country's foreign policies.
We're concerned about having become targets because of our surname. We're concerned about what the U.S. is doing --or not doing-- to help our families in the Arab world. And we're concerned that our home -- the United States -- has lost standing, credibility, and respect not just in the Middle East but throughout the world.
That's why AAI launched Our Voice. Our Future. Yalla Vote '08. It's our biggest election year program ever. It's using new technologies, new resources, and new coalitions to get the Arab American agenda at the forefront of the national debate in this election year.
We're putting staff on the ground in key states to mobilize the Arab American vote.We're tracking what the campaigns are saying and doing in local, state, and federal races. We're making sure that our community's agenda is part of the candidates' agendas.
We're getting our agenda into the debates and getting into the media. More than 50 Arab American organizations from around the country have signed on to Yalla Vote '08, and our Yalla Vote Coalition includes hundreds more individuals who are lending their voice to ensure our future.
Now it's up to you. We need every Arab American to join us in this effort. There are many ways to help:
Make a contribution to Yalla Vote '08 (your donation will include membership in AAI)
Sign our National Petition Contact your elected officials about our agenda
Attend a Yalla Vote training workshop in your community
Urge your friends and family to do the same!
Thank you for making a difference!
This email was sent to: rayhanania@comcast.netTo unsubscribe, go to: http://www.aaiusa.org/unsubscribe/members
Arab American Institute1600 K Street, NW Suite 601Washington, DC 20006www.aaiusa.org

Don't rule Hillary Clinton out so fast

Rejects from my HuffingtonPost.com column submission

I want change as much as anyone else, but despite Barack Obama's lead in the Democratic race for the presidential nomination, he's still only in the stretch with a slightly better lead than Hillary Clinton.

Neither candidate has secured the locked delegates to win the nomination, and the popular vote has been frighteningly split almost equally in half. I think the enthusiasm to end this contest contradicts the primary season itself which has dragged on more than six months since Jan. 3 in Iowa.

The Democratic convention is not until August, more than two months away. That's where we will know or not know the real intent of the so-called "Super" delegates. The term "super" delegates is a phrase coined to described the gaggle of insiders who have been given "unpledged" delegate positions. They can change their minds and support any candidate they want, crossing back and forth from one candidate to another as often as they want.

What that means is that Obama does lead in pledged delegates and allegedly in unpledged delegates, but the reality of those unpledged delegates does not become final until the convention.

So why rush it? Why circumvent the very Democratic process we embrace and try to use numbers, and statistics that can be twisted in many ways to come up with many answers? Why not celebrate the power of the Democratic Party having two powerful and charismatic leaders, Obama and Clinton, and allow that leadership now to move towards the convention where the pledged delegates MUST cast their vote for the candidate they have been assigned to by the will of the American voters, and unpledged delegates can still weigh the real challenge: who is the best candidate to win the nomination and defeat Republican John McCain.

McCain is not a real choice for most Democrats who voted in the heated Obama-Clinton fracass. But, Hillary Clinton remains a real choice for nearly 50 percent of the Democrats who voted. Are we that sure that Obama can blow the doors off McCain in November that we can afford to tell those Americans who supported Clinton that their intentions are basically dimpled chads that can discarded, too?

I say slow down. I say take pause. I say build the Democratic Party and don't allow it to be torn down as we move towards the Democratic Convention. This race is still close and if Hillary Clinton does not drop out -- a right she has and has earned through a phenomenal performance that so closely matches Obama's own campaign showing -- we should work with both.

The Dream Ticket of Obama and Clinton is one that would be powerful. In fact, that is what Democratic voters have said very clearly as we turn the corner to the final stretch into the Democratic Convention. Let's not turn Denver into Chicago by ignoring the feelings of so many.

Ray Hananiawww.TheMediaOasis.com

Protest hate-mongering by Michelle Malkin, against Rachael Ray and Dunkin Donuts

URGENT ALERT FROM THE ARAB AMERICAN INSTITUTE

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 Department130 Royall StreetCanton, MA 02021Tel: 781.737.5200

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 ChairMs. Shirley Moore Green202.453.8189greenm@state.gov

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

Deputy Secretary of State for Visa ServicesStephen A. "Tony" Edson(202) 647-9584tonye@state.gov

This email was sent to: rayhanania@comcast.netTo unsubscribe, go to: http://www.aaiusa.org/unsubscribe/membersArab American Institute1600 K Street, NW Suite 601Washington, DC 20006www.aaiusa.org

Iran sentences two Kurdish journalists to death

Kurdish activists Hiwa Butimar and Adnan Hasanpoor have had their appeals rejected and have been sentenced to death by Iran’s Revolutionary Court, the Iranian Minorities’ Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO) reported on April 18, 2008.

Sources:Iranian Minorities’ Human Rights Organisation (IMHRO)Defend InternationalTwo Kurdish journalists and activists, Hiwa Butimar (29) and Adnan Hasanpoor (27), have been sentenced to death by branch number one of the Revolutionary Court in Mariwan city, for a second time. They were found guilty of ‘moharebe’ (taking up arms against the Islamic state) and espionage.

NAAJA urges Iran to revoke the death sentences and to release the two men. We also urge Iran to remove censorship and restrictions on the Iranian media and call for more openness and freedom of speech for all Iranians.

For more information on Butimar and Hasanpoor, visit: www.MidEastYouth.com.

NAAJA

Politics played in war-related contract corruption cases

Playing politics with alleged abuses in war-linked contracts
By Ray Hanania

As the public demands answers to why billions of dollars in war related contracts have been abused and mismanaged, the response from the Bush administration has been to target individual employees and ignore the clout heavy corporations themselves.

Several individual employees mostly tied to Halliburton and a sub-contractor, Kellogg Brown & Root Inc., (KBR), have been indicted, charged and convicted of corruption.

Halliburton and KBR, on the other hand, remain the Bush administrations most favored contractors, even though they have admitted to under-balling cost estimates and despite the unending circus of alleged corruption in their rank and file management. Why?

Halliburton was run by Dick Cheney before he became vice president. Many believe Cheney will benefit from the war profiteering from Halliburton’s success when Cheney retires from in January.

All of the corruption cases bristle with questions of political hypocrisy involving American foreign policy, double standards in selective prosecutions, and the apparently intentional snubbing of Federal Laws by the prosecutor.

Some of those charged appear to be political targets and scapegoats targeted to take pressure off Halliburton and KBR. If these cases are so important, why are they being handled out of the low-visibility courtrooms of Springfield, Illinois rather than on a high profile stage in Washington D.C.?

Later this month, one of the indictees will be brought to trial, not in Washington DC, but in Springfield. Jeff Mazon, a former KBR employee, is accused of defrauding the U.S. Government of $3.5 million.

The second indictee is Ali Hijazi, who legally is out of reach of American prosecution.

The Mazon and Hijazi indictments were politically timed, announced two days before the two year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. The indictments were announced March 17, 2005 by then U.S. Attorney Jan Paul Miller of the Central Illinois District. A Bush appointee, Miller joined a prestigious law firm a few months later and was replaced by Rodger Heaton.

Hijazi is a Lebanese citizen living in Kuwait. Although American law does not allow prosecutors even in downstate markets to prosecute foreign citizens living in foreign countries, Miller has refused to drop the indictment, as is common practice. The prosecution is a violation of Federal Law. There is no extradition agreement.

Three years later, Hijazi lives in a virtual imprisonment, according to filings by his Washington DC attorneys. Hijazi’s life and reputation have been nearly destroyed and his travel rights have been restricted.

There have been numerous examples of wasteful spending by employees of Halliburton, yet Halliburton continues to enjoy billions more in American military contracts. Headlines, like those generated by the case against Mazon and Hijazi, give the public the false impression that war related corruption is aggressively being pursued.

And there is so much more.

In other Halliburton/KBR related cases, many people have pled guilty and pointed fingers at others, including, allegedly, at individuals at First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting. But there hasn’t been followup.

First Kuwaiti has clout and was awarded the contract to build the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The embassy promises to be one of the most expensive ($592 million) and most fortified American embassy in the world.

In September 2007, the Associated Press reported the director of First Kuwaiti, Wadih al-Absi, also a manager for KBR, was named in grand jury testimony by another former KBR manager, Anthony J. Martin. Martin pled guilty in July to taking kickbacks in 2003 and is a witness against Mazon. Al-Absi has not been charged with any crimes and First Kuwaiti is continuing with the embassy contract.

Luck, not justice, spared First Kuwaiti.

According to the AP story, "Although the government has tried to keep First Kuwaiti's name out of public records related to Martin's case, details from his grand jury testimony were found by a defense lawyer, J. Scott Arthur of Orland Park, Ill., who included a summary in a six-page document filed last Friday in an unrelated federal court case in Rock Island, Ill. The AP downloaded a copy of the document from the court's Web site shortly before a judge ordered the document sealed and removed from the public record."

AP reported Martin told the grand jury he engaged in the kickback scheme with al-Absi. First Kuwaiti is not accused of any crimes and details of individuals involved in corruption remain under seal. Although several congressmen have already challenged millions of dollars in cost overruns in the project, First Kuwaiti officials told AP "Martin's allegations are ‘without merit’."

Some observers believe that politics is behind the embassy contract. Is the Bush Administration concerned about what Hijazi may or may not know about cost overruns and other criticism involving the new embassy?

We’ll never know these answers even if Mazon’s trial proceeds.

But what we will have are headlines that give the public the false impression that there is a serious focused effort by the Bush administration to reign in corruption and wasteful spending on war related contracts.

What we won’t have, though, is an end to the corruption. That may have to wait until Bush and Cheney finally leave office and a new prosecutor takes over.

But, can the American taxpayers afford it?

(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist, author and Chicago radio talk show host. He can be reached at www.RadioChicagoland.com.)

Vermont Academy offers scholarships to Arab students seeking to improve Arabic language skills

The Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy is offering scholarships to students of Arabic heritage who want to continue and improve their knowledge of Arabic. We offer a four-week, residential, Arabic immersion summer camp in Vermont or California. See the MMLA website http://www.mmla.middlebury.edu

David Toomey
___________________

David C. Toomey, Ph.D.
Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy
72 South Main Street, Suite 350
White River Junction, VT 0500

1802.296.2459
www.mmla@middlebury.edu
mmla.info@middlebury.edu

AAI offers internships for summer 2008

Want to be part of the most exciting election of today's generation?

The Arab American Institute is pleased to announce our 2008 summer/fall paid Field Organizing Internships. This is a great opportunity for rising juniors, seniors, grad students or recent graduates who are interested in community organizing and voter mobilization. Interns will be provided with extensive preparation and guidance during an all-expenses-paid training in Washington, DC at the end of May and will be a part of AAI's "Our Voice. Our Future: Yalla Vote 2008" campaign. Positions are available in six states: New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, California and Florida. Interns will gain a full understanding of the Arab American community and will have invaluable experience with ethnic outreach. The experience--exposure, networking with other field organizers, and planning political events--will prepare interns for work in almost any sector!

If you are interested, or you know a passionate politico in the making, please get in touch or forward this announcement on to a prospective intern.

For more information on the internships and how to apply, please visit:

http://www.aaiusa.org/foundation/154/student-resource-center Applications are due by April 16, 2008. Have you signed the Yalla Vote 2008 National Petition yet? Sign the Arab American petition online and make your voice heard this election year. We will deliver the petition and accompanying signatures to the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees at their parties' nominating conventions at the end of the summer.

Sign online:http://www.aaiusa.org/page/s/YallaVote2008Pet

ALO Hayati Magazine now offered on major airlines

ALO® MAGAZINE lifts
off with major Airlines

Amercia’s top Middle Eastern lifestyle magazine strikes a deal with Airlines bringing readership to 1.2 million!


Northridge, CALIFORNIA – March 10, 2008 – ALO magazine, the top magazine connecting cultures from East to West through lifestyle living, has proudly formed an alliance with two major airlines bringing its readership to 1.2 million.

A breakthrough publication in cultural unity, diversity, and understanding, ALO takes charge of advancing its mission through a new distribution agreement with Delta Airlines and Kuwait Airways, in New York, Boston, Seattle, Washington DC airports. This expansion brings ALO into VIP club rooms, shuttle services and on board international major airlines.

“Our international and national outreach is rewarding each day as we continue our mission of delivering the highest standards of publishing for Middle Eastern Americans.” says Wafa Kanan, publisher. “We are pleased with this airlines distribution as it confirms the needs and stamps the vision of cultural understanding in corporate America. Pioneering in ethnic marketing, we see even greater distribution is on the horizon.”

Delta Air Lines operates worldwide destinations and is the leader across the Atlantic, Latin America and the Caribbean while Kuwait Airways has proven itself all over the world by not limiting itself to the Middle East and covering the missing links in the Middle East that other international airlines often do not cover.

Now with an accrued readership of 1.2 million, ALO is gaining an increased level of awareness, broadening its reach to all existing forms of lifestyles across cultures and communities.

About ALO Hayati magazine

As America’s Top Middle Eastern Lifestyle magazine, ALO is an indispensable lifestyle guide, cultural reference and source of entertainment for a highly influential audience. ALO attracts elite lifestyle enthusiasts who want to expand, explore and experience the richness of the Middle Eastern culture.

With an insider's eye toward the unique aspects of this dynamic and diverse worldwide community, we cover the finest it has to offer in the worlds of heritage, beauty, culture, social issues, dining, art, entertainment, fashion, interior design, nightlife, philanthropy, business, sports and travel.

ALO is available by subscription, at Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores nationwide and published by Unique Image, Inc.

Censure Congressman Steve King over hateful anti-Muslim/Obama comments

Don't Let Congressman Steve King Off the Hook--Call Your Member of Congress and Ask for a Formal Censure

Last Friday, Iowa Congressman Steve King (R) told the Daily Reporter in Spencer, Iowa, "The radical Islamists, the al-Qaida ... would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror" if Barack Obama were elected president. He added, "His middle name does matter. It matters because they read a meaning into that."

Do not let Congressman King--Ranking Member of House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law--off the hook for making these bigoted and inflammatory statements! Call your member of Congress and express your belief that King should be formally censured by Congress. Click here to visit the AAI website and find out who your representative is, and how to contact him or her.

Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper if you believe that King should not be awarded a pass by his colleagues, given his stature and the nature of his rhetoric. Click here to read the initial Associated Press story on King's comments.

If you need help taking action, please contact Leigh O'Neill, AAI Government Relations and Policy Analyst, at 202-429-9210.

Join AAI President James Zogby's eloquent call for action on the Huffington Post (below) and King's formal censure by Congress:Congress Should Censure Representative Steve King
Congressman Steve King's (R-IA) comments regarding the "joy" that a Barack Obama presidency would bring to "radical Islamists" are despicable, but they do not stand alone in two important respects. On the one hand, they echo outrageous comments that have become commonplace among right-wing commentators and radio talk show hosts. More disturbingly, they reflect a pattern of bizarre comments made by Congressman King on too many instances in the past.

King once dismissed the shameful horrors of Abu Ghraib as mere "hazing;" he advocated treating "illegals" like "livestock;" and even once denounced efforts to give revolutionary war hero General Pulaski posthumous citizenship as being akin to "amnesty."

Some have called for King to apologize, and others have called for Senator McCain to repudiate his views. These should be done, but they are not enough. This situation should be seen as being beyond partisanship and politics.

King is not merely some quack with a loose and tasteless mouth, venting his venom on a radio show, he is the Ranking Member of House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law. His words matter.If a member of parliament in a foreign country were to have made equally despicable and bigoted comments, we would be right to demand that action be taken against that individual. King must be held accountable by his colleagues for his remarks, which send a dangerous message to the world. He should be formally censured by the Congress, so as to make it clear that remarks such as these are unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

AAI Condemns Congressman's Anti-Muslim Remarks, Calls on Congressional Leaders to Censure Rep. King

AAI Condemns Congressman's Anti-Muslim Remarks, Calls on Congressional Leaders to Censure Rep. King

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEDirector of Communications: Christina Zola, 202-429-9210, ext. 21 or 202-494-9859

AAI Condemns Congressman's Anti-Muslim Remarks, Calls on Congressional Leaders to Censure Rep. KingWASHINGTON - March 10, 2008 - The Arab American Institute (AAI) condemns remarks made by Congressman Steve King (R-IA) linking Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) to al-Qaeda and Islamist extremism and suggesting that the senator's election as U.S. President would jeopardize national security. AAI calls on Congressional leadership to formally censure these comments. AAI is deeply troubled that Senator Obama's name continues to raise suspicions about his religious affiliation and is especially concerned about how commonplace and acceptable it has become to defame and degrade Islam. Any notion that questions the fitness of any loyal American to elected office because of race or religion is unacceptable and must be addressed.

Congressman Steve King (R-IA) said this weekend that "if [Obama] is elected president, then the radical Islamists and their supporters will be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on September 11 because they will declare victory in this War on Terror." The congressman went on to say that "[Obama's] middle name does matter...because they read a meaning into that in the rest of the world...They will be dancing in the streets because of his middle name [and] because of who his father was and because of his posture that says: pull out of the Middle East and pull out of this conflict." These disparaging and dishonest comments by Congressman King only demonstrate how anti-Muslim rhetoric and general Islamophobia have come to be accepted in our national discourse since September 11, 2001.

"We believe that Congressman King's comments and behavior go beyond politics and partisanship and must be addressed by Congress as a whole," said AAI President Dr. James Zogby. "It is outrageous when a radio talk show host spews such venom, but it is much worse and sends a dangerous message when such statements come from the ranking Republican member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law. He must be held accountable by his colleagues."

Founded in 1985, the Arab American Institute (AAI) is a nonprofit organization committed to the civic and political empowerment of Americans of Arab descent. AAI provides policy, research and public affairs services to support a broad range of community activities.
For more information on AAI, please visit www.aaiusa.org.

1600 K Street, NW, Suite 601 Washington, DC 20006
phone (202) 429-9210 fax (202) 429-9214
http://www.aaiusa.org aai@aaiusa.org

http://www.aaiusa.org/unsubscribe/media

NPR radio seeks interns

Chicago Public Radio is seeking journalism interns for spring and summer terms. Internships are three or six months depending on your area of focus. You will work closely with reporters and producers to cover a wide range of local issues: from Art’s and culture, religion, urban issues, and city politics with hands on experience in a major market news room. Internships are open to juniors, seniors, grad students and recent alumni. Print backgrounds welcome.

Visit www.chicagopublicradio.org/internships for more info.

Israel Supreme Court endorses violations of international law in Gaza Strip

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE
30 January 2008

In response to Supreme Court’s rejection of petition against fuel and electricity cuts:

Gisha and Adalah: “This decision sets a dangerous legal precedent that allows Israel to continue to violate the rights of Palestinians in Gaza and deprive them of basic humanitarian needs, in violation of international law.”

Today, 30 January 2008, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a petition by ten Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations to stop Israel from cutting supplies of fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip, as part of a governmental decision authorizing punitive measures against the population of Gaza. The petitioners had argued that cutting fuel and electricity supplies constitutes forbidden collective punishment and violates the prohibition in international law against deliberately targeting civilians. The fuel cuts, which have forced Gaza’s only power plant to reduce production of electricity, have severely disrupted the functioning of vital humanitarian services, including hospitals, water wells, and sewage pumps.

The court’s decision allows the state to proceed with its plan to cut electricity sold to Gaza directly by Israel’s Electric Company from 7 February 2008. Gaza is already experiencing a 20% electricity deficit, which is forcing rolling blackouts in hospitals and other vital humanitarian institutions. The petitioners submitted extensive documentation showing that cuts in supplies of electricity and the industrial diesel needed to produce electricity will necessarily mean longer and more frequent power outages across Gaza, from which vital humanitarian institutions will not be spared.

At the last hearing held on Sunday, 27 January 2008, utility officials from Gaza were prevented from attending the hearing, in violation of the state’s commitment to the court. The state offered oral testimony by a military official, unsubstantiated by affidavit as required, claiming that the cuts would not harm humanitarian needs.

According to Sari Bashi, Director of Gisha: “This is an unprecedented decision authorizing collective punishment in its most blatant form. The court ruling relies on unsubstantiated declarations by the military and ignores the indisputable and well-documented evidence of harm to civilians caused by the fuel and electricity cuts – with no legally valid justification.”

According to Hassan Jabareen, General Director of Adalah: “According to the Supreme Court’s decision, it is permitted to harm Palestinian civilians and create a humanitarian crisis for political reasons. This constitutes a war crime under international criminal law.”

For more information: Noga Eitan, Gisha spokeswoman: 0547-533644, Sari Bashi, Gisha Director, 054-8172103; Adalah Attorney Fatmeh El-’Ajou: 050-907-2729; Rina Rosenberg, International Media, Adalah: 052-849-8807, or 04-950-1610, ext. 118.


Background

Currently, the Gaza Strip is suffering from a 20% deficit in electricity. During the winter, the demand for electricity in the Gaza Strip is approximately 240 mega-watts or more per day, depending on the weather. Currently, Gaza is receiving 120 mega-watts sold by Israel and 17 megawatts supplied by Egypt to Rafah. Gaza’s power plant is able to produce 80 megawatts per day, but the restrictions imposed on the supply of industrial diesel sold to Gaza limits the power plant to generating just 55 megawatts. As a result, the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company (GEDCO) is unable to provide the electricity needed to operate hospitals, water pumps and schools, and so institutes rolling blackouts across main lines. Some humanitarian institutions have back-up generators, but the restrictions on the supply of diesel have disrupted the operation of the generators, too.

Israel controls Gaza’s borders and does not allow Gazans to purchase fuel except via Israeli-controlled crossings.

The petition was submitted on 28 October 2007, the day that Israel cut supplies of petrol (benzene), diesel, and industrial diesel to Gaza. Residents of Gaza purchase fuel from an Israeli company and receive it via Israeli-controlled crossings.

A prior decision of the Supreme Court temporarily prevented Israel from cutting supplies of electricity sold to Gaza by Israel’s Electric Company. Today’s court decision allows the direct electricity cuts to be implemented on 7 February 2008.

The organizations which petitioned the Supreme Court are:
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights-Gaza
The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel
Gaza Community Mental Health Programme
B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
Al–Haq
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights

-- Julia FitzpatrickHuman Rights Advocacy FellowAdalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in IsraelP.O. Box 510Shafa'amr 20200, IsraelTel: +972-4-950-1610 ext. 117Fax: +972-4-950-3140E-mail: julia@adalah.org
www.adalah.org/eng/index.php

Chicago Area Arab American business leaders profiled

Big Dreams Turning Into Big Realities
Four Chicago based businessmen doing their part to change Chicago

Chicago is a big city with big dreams and its residents are turning their dreams into reality everyday. These four Arab-American businessmen are of the top business men in the country. What do they all have in common? They are changing the world as we know it with their relentless motivation and drive.

Talat M. Othman- Mr. Talat Othman is the President of Arab-American Business & Professional Association in Chicago. The AABPA is a non-profit, cooperative, voluntary-joined organization of business and professional Arab-Americans, organized to assist its members in dealing with mutual business and professional concerns. The purpose of the Association is to promote the common interests of the Arab-American Business and Professional community. Both Mayor Daley and Governor Blagojevich serve as Honorary Chairman in this association.

Ahmed Abdelaziz- After his hard work and perseverance, Ahmed Abdelaziz is now the successful owner and CEO of Omarica Builders, Inc. After coming to the US in 1980, Ahmed worked his way in the hotel business in Chicago and Boston to the management level before establishing his presence on Wall Street in 1987. After trading for several firms in the financial markets, he decided to diversify his experience by going into real estate development. His solid success in this field led him to expand his contracting services to the public sector. With Ahmed’s his extraordinary talents as a real-estate developer Omarica not only designs and builds dream homes for his clients but has also branched out into hotel renovations, including prominent, upscale hotels across the nation.

Dr. Naser Rustom- Beginning as just a family practitioner Dr. Naser Rustom has come along way to be one of the most prominent and successful businessmen in the Chicagoland area. Dr. Rustom not only has expanded his practice into several offices across the city, but also has three full diagnostic facilities and a surgical center all to provide the top medical care to Chicagoans. However, his day does not end there; instead Dr. Rustom goes to his other, more entertaining business venture, Alhambra Palace Restaurant in which he recently spent several million dollars building. There Dr. Rustom provides an authentic cultural getaway featuring Moroccan cuisine and his hand-picked array of live entertainment including belly dancing, flamenco, salsa and jazz.

Ali Al-Arabi- As the President of Vanguards for Human Rights and Freedom Mr. Ali Al-Arabi organizes meetings to address issues of bigotry and discrimination between victims, support groups and government agencies. Al-Arabi organized the meeting with Mayor McLaughlin and Police Chief McCarthy and the mayor vowed to create several community liaisons to address Arab American concerns.

For media inquiries please contact:

Lina Khalil
Account Executive
Empower PR
O: 312.255.4017
C: 312.479.2162
Lkhalil@Empowerpr.com

New online interview program Point to Point with Ray Hanania

Veteran and award winning journalist and author Ray Hanania launches a new online based interview program called "Point to Point."

The show is hosted exclusively by YallaTunes.com (and YallaNews.com) and also featured by the National Arab American Times Newspaper (www.AATimesNews.com).The program will bring guests from around the world together for 10 minute interviews using the Internet and online video.

Hanania, based in Chicago, will speak with guests remotely. The program features two separate "windows" with the guests in one window and Hanania in the other, using the latest in online business video technology.

The inaugural show features Palestinian-Israeli dialogue facillitators Len and Libby Traubman, who are based in San Francisco, and was taped Jan. 28, 2008. The Traubman's, whose web site is http://traubman.igc.org/dg-prog.htm, have been involved in "living room dialogue groups" for two decades or more. In the interview, they offer instruction and advice on how to conduct successful peace dialogues.

The fiirst show features very good video, and the audio is good but will be improved in future shows. Interviews often depend on the quality of the audio and video equipment used by guests, the speed of their computers, and the quality of the Internet. All kinds of factors impact the final product, which then must be rendered and edited into an online broadcast quality feature.

The shows are made possible by YallaTunes.com, a new and increasingly popular online social networking web site that brings together Arabs and Muslims and anyone interested in Middle East news, music and videos.# # #

Arab American Writers Group writer hired by mainstream American newspaper

I am happy to inform you that on Thursday, January 24th, The Record (formerly known as The Bergen Record, New Jersey's second largest daily newspaper and the 60th in the nation) will be launching my new weekly opinion column! The column will be appear every Thursday.

I will be using the column to express views and analysis on issues related to both New Jersey, and the issues facing our international society as well. This is a major breakthrough for an important perspective which I and others feel is severely lacking in the public discourse. I hope that ALL OF YOU will do what you can to support this new development in balanced media.

A showing of support and appreciation for this new column can include (1) obtaining a subscription to The Record for those of you who live in North Jersey, stating that you are subscribing in order to read Ahmed Soliman's column; (2) writing letters to the editor in response to the column's I write and subsequently showing a solid following and increased discourse; and (3) for all of you, who live in North Jersey and outside that area as well, to hit the online version fo the column to show a demand for the perspective it provides (webpage address forthcoming).

More updates to come. Thanking you in advance and reminding you to feel free to share your ideas and perspectives with me: it might make it to the pages of a newspaper that has hundreds of thousands of readers.

Your friend,
Ahmed Soliman

Neiman Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers

The Nieman Foundation would greatly appreciate it if you would encourage NAAJA members to apply for the 2008 Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers. The award, which carries a $10,000 prize, was established through gifts for an endowment by members of the Taylor family, who published The Boston Globe from 1872 to 1999. For the first time, second and third place finalists will receive $1,000 each. The purpose of the award, which is administered by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, is to encourage fairness in news coverage by America’s daily newspapers.

Nominations may be a single story, a photograph, an editorial or a commentary; a series of stories, photographs, editorials or commentaries; or a body of work by an individual journalist. Entries must be postmarked no later than Friday, Jan. 18, 2008, for work published in a U.S. daily newspaper during the previous calendar year.

Anyone may submit a nomination by sending to the address below five copies of the work and a letter explaining why the entry is an exemplary example of fairness in newspapers. The letter should also describe how the work was developed, reported and presented to readers in the context of fairness. In evaluating work, submitters should consider all aspects of the journalistic process: reporting, writing, editing, headlines, photographs and illustrations, and presentation.

Taylor Family Award for Fairness
Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard
One Francis Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138

For more information about the Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers, visit:
http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/events/honors/taylor

Best regards,
Ellen Tuttle
**********************************************
Ellen Tuttle
Communications Officer
Nieman Foundation for Journalism
at Harvard University
617-495-2342
ellen_tuttle@harvard.edu
www.nieman.harvard.edu

NAAJA announces 2008 Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award, Excellence in Journalism Contest

NAAJA is proud to announce the 2008 Mehdi Courage in Journalism Contest and the Excellence in Journalism Contest for Middle East, Arab American and general writing for print, TV, radio and web blogs.

The contest is open to anyone.

The deadline for submissions is Feb. 1, 2008. Winners are announced in April 2008.

Get details at: http://naaja-us.com/MehdiAwards.htm

You can't win unless you enter.

Thanks
Ray Hanania
www.NAAJA-US.com

Israeli-Palestinian Journalism Conference Monday Dec. 3 East Jerusalem

Israeli and Palestinian Journalism Conference
Ambassador Hotel, Sheikh Jarrah, Off Nablus Road (at the
intersection for the police department)
It is a few blocks north of the American Colony Hotel ... the number there is
541-2222

Journalists from the print media and Internet media address their experiences, your background, what you have learned about covering the Middle East, describe your beat, what you look for, what challenges you might face and how you deal with them ... any
examples of great stories, tough stories, stories you can't get to do because of barriers ... things you would like to see change, etc. (Humor is always good)

Our purpose is not to get into a political debate, but obviously, as we all know, politics is the world in the Middle East so it will surely inject itself into the discussion. But the purpose is to focus on professional journalism, and also introduce journalists together, Palestinians and Israelis.

------------------- Program ------------------
NAAJA EVENTS
SPJ-Arab Journalists

Monday, Dec. 3, 2007
Ambassador Hotel, Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem
1st Floor Conference Room

Sponsored by NAAJA, SPJ-Arab Journalists

PANEL 1: Internet Media: Strategies and Challenges facing Internet News Web and
Blog sites
Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, 12-2:30

- Moderator, Charley Warady, co-host, Israelisms, an online weekly audio blog of
life in Israel (Confirmed)
- Alan Abbey, Former editor, YnetNews.com, one of the most popular English
language news sites from Israel (Confirmed)
- Khaled Abou-Aker, Editor, AMIN.org, online Middle East analysis (Confirmed)
- Elisheva Cohen, MidEastYouth.com one of the highest ranked Middle East news
blogs on the Internet (Confirmed)
- Fadi Abu Sada, Director Palestine News Network, an online news agency
(Confirmed – or a representative if he is not allowed to cross from Bethlehem)
- Sherif Hedayat, standup comedian, online video producer


PANEL 2: Traditional Media: Strategies and Challenges facing coverage of the
Palestine-Israel Conflict
Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, 2:45-5:30

- Moderator: Ray Hanania, syndicated columnist, SPJ-Arab Journalists coordinator, and Arab Writers Group Syndicate manager.
(Confirmed)
- Steve Linde, managing editor, The Jerusalem Post, editor at Israel Radio.
Linde has worked at the Jerusalem Post for the past 10 years and 18 years at
Israel Radio. (Confirmed)
- Lisa Zilberpriver, reporter Haaretz Newspaper. (confirmed)
- Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers Jerusalem Bureau (Confirmed)
- Joel Greenberg, Middle East correspondent for the Chicago Tribune (Confirmed)
- Zaki Abu Al-Halaweh, correspondent for al-Quds Newspaper (Confirmed)
- Issa Sharbati, correspondent for al-Hayat al-Jadida newspaper (Confirmed)

The event is open to the public. We encourage you to have lunch at the
Ambassador Hotel prior to the conference.

end

CAIR Publishes Guide on Islam and Muslims

Help Improve Coverage of Islam in the U.S. Media
Sponsor 'A Journalist's Guide to Understanding Islam and Muslims'

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/13/2007) - CAIR today called on Muslims to support a major new initiative to help improve coverage of Islam in the American news media.

At a press conference in the nation's capital, CAIR said the centerpiece of its "Beyond Stereotypes" campaign will be distribution of the newly-published "American Muslims: A Journalist's Guide to Understanding Islam and Muslims" to some 40,000 media professionals nationwide.

Muslims are being asked to sponsor copies of the guide for $20 or to order hard copies for distribution to local media outlets.

SEE: Beyond Stereotypes: A CAIR Initiative to Enhance Understanding of Islam in the Media

CAIR's new guide offers journalists the tools needed to gain a better understanding of Islam and to write accurate and balanced stories about Muslims. The guide also offers background information on issues related to Islam and Muslims, best practices for reporting on the American Muslim community and definitions of terminology often used in news stories or editorials.

In challenging common misconceptions about Islam and Muslims, the guide provides an Islamic perspective on hot-button issues such as Islam and democracy, freedom of religion, women's rights, and interfaith relations.

Media professionals may request a free copy of CAIR's journalist guide through the "Beyond Stereotypes" website. (Sample pages of the guide can be viewed on the website.)

Along with distribution of the guide to editors, reporters, producers, and other journalists, CAIR is offering media relations training to Muslim communities nationwide. The "Beyond Stereotypes" website also offers tips on pro-active educational activities such as hosting media events and meeting with newspaper editorial boards.

"Because we work with media professionals on a daily basis, we know the vast majority of journalists are doing the best job they can with the information resources they have available," said CAIR Communications Coordinator Rabiah Ahmed. "It is our duty, and that of the Muslim community, to make sure every journalist who writes about Islam or Muslims has access to accurate information."

In a statement released at today's news conference, CAIR said: "We recognize that much of the negative perception of Islam and Muslims is the result of negative actions by a tiny minority of Muslims. That minority should not be allowed to overshadow the vast majority of Muslims in this country and worldwide who reject terrorism and religious extremism."

IMMEDIATE ACTIONS REQUESTED:

1. SPONSOR A JOURNALIST'S GUIDE. For only $20, you can help improve coverage of Islam and Muslims in the U.S. media. Click here to sponsor a journalist's guide.

2. ORDER HARD COPIES OF THE JOURNALIST'S GUIDE for distribution to local media outlets. Click here to order a guide.

3. REQUEST MEDIA RELATIONS TRAINING for your community. Either contact a local CAIR chapter, or click here to request training or learn about other actions you can take.


end

3rd Annual National Arab American Book Awards, submissions due Feb. 1, 2008

Dear Publishers and Writers:

The Arab American National Museum (AANM) is proud to announce that submissions are now being accepted for the

2007 Arab American National Museum
Book Award

Books submitted for consideration must be written or illustrated by an Arab American, or address the Arab-American experience. It must be an original work and published in English between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007. Submissions must be postmarked no later than February 1, 2008. An award will be given to an author or illustrator in each of the following three categories:
 Adult Non-Fiction in the areas of the Social Sciences and Humanities
 Adult Fiction, including Arts and Literature
 Children or Young Adult, Fiction or Non-Fiction
Submission forms are attached to this email and can also be found on the AANM website: http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org/resource/attach/93/AANMSubmissionForm2007.pdf. For additional information regarding the Book Award please contact Dima Kanakri of the AANM Library & Resource Center at 313-624-0223 or dkanakri@accesscommunity.org.
The Arab American National Museum Book Award was established in 2006 to encourage the publication and excellence of books that preserve and advance the understanding, knowledge, and resources of the Arab American community by celebrating the thoughts and lives of Arab Americans. The purpose of the Award is to inspire authors, educate readers and foster a respect and understanding of Arab American culture.

The Arab American National Museum documents, preserves, celebrates, and educates the public on the history, life, culture, and contributions of Arab Americans. We serve as a resource to enhance knowledge and understanding about Arab Americans and their presence in this country. The Arab American National Museum is a project of ACCESS, a Dearborn, Michigan-based nonprofit human services and cultural organization.

Arab American National Museum 13624 Michigan Avenue Dearborn, MI 48126
www.arabamericanmuseum.org

end

Journalism Conference in East Jerusalem Monday Dec. 3

Journalism Panels -- Jerusalem
Monday, Dec. 3, 12 – 5:30 PM
Ambassador Hotel East Jerusalem

Sponsored by NAAJA, SPJ-Arab Journalists

PANEL 1: Internet Media: Strategies and Challenges facing Internet News Web and Blog sites
Tentatively: Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, 12-2:30/3

- Moderator, Charley Warady, co-host, Israelisms, an online weekly audio blog of life in Israel (Confirmed)
- Alan Abbey, Former editor, YnetNews.com, one of the most popular English language news sites from Israel (Confirmed)
- Khaled Abou-Aker, Editor, AMIN.org, a center for Palestinian, Israeli and Middle East opinion (Confirmed)
- Elizabeth Cohen, MidEastYouth.com one of the highest ranked Middle East news blogs on the Internet (Confirmed)
- Fadi Abu Sada, Director Palestine News Network, an online news agency (Confirmed – or a representative if he is not allowed to cross from Bethlehem)


PANEL 2: Traditional Media: Strategies and Challenges facing coverage of the Palestine-Israel Conflict
Tentatively: Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, 3-5:30/6

- Moderator: Ray Hanania, syndicated columnist and Arab Writers Group Syndicate manager. (Confirmed)
- Steve Linde, managing editor, The Jerusalem Post, editor at Israel Radio. Linde has worked at the Jerusalem Post for the past 10 years and 18 years at Israel Radio. (Confirmed)
- Sara Miller, reporter Haaretz Newspaper. (confirmed)
- Dion Nissenbaum, McClatchy Newspapers Jerusalem Bureau (Confirmed)
- Joel Greenberg, Middle East correspondent for the Chicago Tribune (Confirmed)
- Zaki Abu Al-Halaweh, correspondent for al-Quds Newspaper (Confirmed)
- Issa Sharbati, correspondent for al-Hayat al-Jadida newspaper (Confirmed)

END

NAAJA-Palestine launched

A new networking chapter of the National Arab American Journalists Association has been launched based in Jerusalem, Palestine. The group, NAAJA-Palestine, features 10 Palestinian journalists working with a wide range of Palestinian print and online news media.

The group plans to organize a new Palestinian journalism union to replace the former union which has collapsed through inactivity and politics.

For more information, visit www.NAAJA-US.com.

Ray Hanania

Arab Press Freedom to be explored at Beirut Conference

The 2nd Arab Press Freedom Forum, to be held in Beirut, Lebanon, next month, will provide an overview of press developments in the Arab world, from the latest government policies to case studies of newspapers that combine editorial independence with commercial success.

The event, organised by the World Association of Newspapers in collaboration with Lebanon’s An-Nahar newspaper, will include four sessions on topics of urgent concern to newspapers and media experts from across the Middle East.

For more information about the event, to be held on 9 and 10 December next, contact Kajsa Tornroth, Co-Director of Press Freedom Programmes at the Paris-based WAN, by e-mail at ktornroth@wan.asso.fr.

The 2nd Arab Press Freedom Forum takes the theme, "Fighting Back: Challenges and Opportunities for the Arab Press". The sessions include:

"Backsliders and the usual suspects - the latest government policies that affect the press", which will address the recent government clampdowns on independent media in several Arab countries, and how the media has reacted.

"Combing editorial independence with commercial success," which will focus on independent Arab newspapers that have become profitable yet still maintain their independence and a critical stance towards those in power. Confirmed speakers include Egyptian Publisher Hisham Kassem, Rajeh Khoury a Political Analyst for An-Nahar in Lebanon and Ali Anouzla, Editor of Al-Massae in Morocco.

"Blogs, an alternative way of telling the news," which is dedicated to the increasing role of blogs and alternative news channels in the Arab world. Speakers in the session include Mohammad Azraq, a blogger from Bahrain, Wael Abbas, a blogger for Misr Digital blog in Egypt and Wadih Tueni, IT Manager for the An-Nahar Newspaper in Lebanon.

"How to best address the challenges faced by newspapers," which will examine the existing structures for independent Arab media professionals to work together for the common good. Speakers include Rafik Khoury, Editor in Chief of Al Anwar Newspaper in Lebanon, Said Essoulami, Director of the CMF-MENA Center in Morocco, and Abdelrahim Abdallah, Journalism Unit Coordinator at the Media Institute/Birzeit University in Palestine.

Plus more speakers to be announced.

The event will also feature the presentation of the second Gebran Tueni Award, which annually honours a newspaper publisher or editor in the Arab world who demonstrates the free press values upheld by Gebran Tueni, the An-Nahar publisher and WAN Board Member who was killed in a roadside bomb attack in December 2005. The award, which carries a 10,000 Euros stipend for newspaper leadership training, will be given to an editor or publisher of an Arabic-language publication whose activity reflects a profound attachment to the freedom and independence of the press, courage, leadership, ambition and the search for high managerial and professional standards.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 76 national newspaper associations, newspaper companies and individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 12 news agencies and 10 regional and world-wide press groups.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.

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American University of Beirut plans journalism workshops

The Journalism Training Program at the American University of Beirut (AUB) is organizing two workshops for Arab journalists. Application deadline for both courses: November 16.

The first workshop, “Environment/Health Coverage,” is scheduled to run for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m from November 26 to 30 in the Regional External Programs Conference Room at AUB . The second workshop, “Citizen/Online Journalism,” will run from December 3 to 7 at the same venue. The Dutch Embassy is supporting the programs, which are open to print, broadcast and online journalists.

This training is free, but journalists from outside Lebanon must cover their own travel and lodging costs, organizers said. Those wishing to participate should send resumes and three work samples to Magda Abu-Fadil at ma145@aub.edu.lb, or fax +961 (0)1 748539.

MPAC host journalism confernece on Muslims Nov. 15 Columbia

MPAC-NY TO HOLD PANEL ON MEDIA COVERAGE OF MUSLIMS POST-9/11 AT COLUMBIA UNIV. ON NOV. 15

(New York - 11/7/07) -- On Thursday, November 15, the Muslim Public Affairs Council's New York City chapter will host a panel discussion on "Media Coverage of Muslims Post-9/11" at Columbia University in Manhattan.

Moderated by Sheheryar Azhar, host of GEO TV's "The Forum", the panel discussion will feature Columbia University Journalism Professor Ari Goldman, award-winning journalist, filmmaker and Professor Anisa Mehdi, and MPAC Communications Director Edina Lekovic.

Co-sponsored by the Columbia University Muslim Students Association, panelists will draw on their decades of experience in the news media to provide a critical examination of news and entertainment media portrayals of Muslim Americans as a community as well as public discourse on the Islamic faith.

WHAT: The Coverage of Islam & Muslims in the American Mass Media Post-9/11

WHEN: Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Columbia University
James Room on the 4th Floor Bernard Hall
2960 Broadway, New York, NY 10027-6902

WHO: Professor Ari Goldman, Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Anisa Mehdi, Journalist and Professor at Seton Hall University
Edina Lekovic, MPAC Communications Director
Shaheryar Azhar, host of "The Forum" on ARY

Goldman is the director of the Columbia's Scripps Howard Program in Religion, Journalism and the Spiritual Life. Goldman also co-directs the Universitys Religion-Journalism Dual M.A. Program. Previously, he spent 20 years at The New York Times, most of it as a religion writer. He is the author of three books, including "The Search for God at Harvard".

Mehdi is an Emmy award-winning journalist specializing in religion, the arts, and people. For over 20 years she has reported, written, directed and produced television news and documentary programs for major American media outlets, including National Geographic, PBS, ABC News, and CBS. Her commentaries are heard on NPRs award-winning newscast All Things Considered. She is also Adjunct Professor of Communication at Seton Hall University. She is producer/director of "Inside Mecca," the National Geographic Special that premiered on PBS in 2003. She was also executive producer with Alvin Perlmutter of the two-hour PBS FRONTLINE special "Muslims".

Call 213-383-3443 or email events@mpac.org for more information.

Founded in 1988, the Muslim Public Affairs Council is an American institution which informs and shapes public opinion and policy by serving as a trusted resource to decision makers in government, media and policy institutions. MPAC is also committed to developing leaders with the purpose of enhancing the political and civic participation of Muslim Americans.

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IBDAA media awards for students approaches deadline

Ibdaa Media Awards 2007 Gathers Momentum As November 15 Deadline Appoaches
Application Forms Available at www.ibdaa-awards.ae

Dubai, UAE - November 6, 2007: With the November 15 submission deadline for the coveted Ibda’a Media Student Awards 2007 fast approaching, the competition is receiving an unprecedented response from international and local media students vying for top honours in the region’s most recognised award for emerging industry talent.

Ibda’a Media Student Awards is organized on an annual basis by Dubai Media City, member of TECOM Investments, in association with the International Advertising Association (IAA). Designed on the concept of ‘Flammable Talent’, the Awards aim to recognize, nurture and promote young media talent.

The competition is open to all undergraduate and fresh graduates of the year 2006-2007. Entry forms are available on the dedicated website www.ibdaa-awards.ae

Over the years, the Ibda'a Media Student Awards has attracted a multitude of entries from the Gulf region and around the globe. Its success is marked by the increasing number of entries, participating countries and the inclusion of additional categories to accommodate the diverse components of new age media. In 2006, the competition received more than 2,200 entries from 20 countries.

Mohamed Al Mulla, Director of Dubai Media City and Coordinator General of the Awards, said: “Ibda'a Media Student Awards 2007 will continue to discover outstanding creative talent from all over the world. Serving as a springboard for students, Ibda'a Awards spotlight young talent on the international media arena, and offer them an opportunity to showcase their work and realize their aspirations.”

Award finalists will be flown to Dubai for a gala celebration that will give away exciting prizes, as well as internship opportunities with leading media organisations including Arabian Radio Network (ARN), Xische, Team Y&R, Motivate Publishing, Nikon, Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, CNBC Arabia, CNN and MBC.

Dubai Media City will host the Career Day on 26 December. On the sidelines of the awards, an exhibition of short-listed entries will be held from 25-29 December.

To be presented on 27 December in Dubai, the Ibda’a Media Student Awards cover 10 main categories, including journalism, radio, animation, graphic design, analogue photography, digital photography, print advertising, TV advertising, TV documentary and film/TV feature.

Dubai-based Ziad Galadari Group is the title sponsor of the event this year, while Emirates Bank, Arabian Automobiles, OMD and Carassi are the co-sponsors. Media partners include Motivate Publishing, Zee Arabia, Showtime, Xische, 7 Star Events, Arabian Radio Network, Al Emarat Al Youm and Emirates Today, CNBC Arabia and DMI.

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New York: Challenges facing Muslims in the West, Nov. 6

Tuesday November 6, 2007, 6:30-8:30 pm
At NYU’s Silver Center for Arts and Science,
Jurow Lecture Hall, 100 Washington Square East,

New York, NY 10003.

We invite you to attend and help us continue our conversation, significant to contemporary political, economical and cultural issues, facing Muslims in the Western world.

Our conference in Salzburg brought together 60 policy makers, community leaders, scholars, media professionals and activists from Europe, North America and the Muslim World. Mustapha Tlili opened the discussion with “a call for creative thinking about the inclusion of Islam and Muslims in the west”. The participants yielded to this request that led to stimulating and insightful conversations. While Farah Pandith, Senior Advisor on Muslim engagement at the State Department, shared lessons learned from the American experience of integrating Muslims and other minorities, Austrian Federal Minister for European and International Affairs, Ursula Plassnik, emphasized the need to develop tools that encourage integration and prevent hopelessness in young Muslims.

Other participants raised interesting questions such as: Is it appropriate and feasible to speak in terms of a “Western Islam”? How best can tensions created by the presence of Islam and of Muslims in the West be overcome? What role does public policy play in addressing these tensions? What best practices, if any, can be developed regarding security and integration?

Our panelists for the evening are experts & leaders in matters related to the Islamic world and Muslims in the West and the relationship between Islam and West.

Abdullah M. Alsaidi, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations, who, prior to his current appointment, served as his country's Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1999-2002.

Jon Benjamin, Deputy Consul-General of the United Kingdom in New York and considered one of the most knowledgeable experts on Muslim communities in the West.

Jytte Klausen, Professor of Comparative Politics at Brandeis University who has authored several books, including The Islamic Challenge: Politics and Religion in Western Europe.

Piet de Klerk, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the United Nations, former Netherlands Ambassador at large for Human Rights.

Please RSVP to 212-998-8693 or nlh2@nyu.edu by November 4, 2007 if you would like to attend.

To learn more about and to read online copies of our publications please visit us at www.islamuswest.org

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Arab-US Association for Communications Educators focuses on importance of media

Role of media, varsities in Arab-US ties stressed
By Zoe Sinclair

30 October 2007

DUBAI — The importance of media and universities in sharing ideas and developing understanding between cultures was stressed at the twelfth Arab-US Association for Communication Educators (AUSACE) conference at Shaikh Zayed University this week.


Speaking at a session yesterday, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and President of Zayed University Shaikh Nahyan Mubarak bin Al Nahyan said the conference came at a time when there was a critical need for Arab-American understanding and dialogue.

The need for Arab-American understanding was also highlighted by key speaker ‘Washington Post’ Middle East correspondent Anthony Shadid on Sunday who related his experiences working in the region by describing a deep sense of loss.

Shadid recounted an experience sitting in a Baghdad bookstore surrounded by famous texts as everyday life continued around him and the bookstore owner.

As visitors passed by to speak with the bookstore owner and relate their news, updating the owner on the conflict, they would often smoke an apple-flavoured ‘shisha’ and Shadid said it was the ordinariness of these moments that made them special — “Life as it should have been and could have been.”

It was also what struck him with a feeling of loss when the bookstore keeper died as the result of a bomb blast and how he related the story such that the ‘Washington Post’ audience could understand.

Shaikh Nahyan said the media, particularly new media, and educators were bridge builders between the Arab world and the United States.

“This understanding, which can only be built on shared beliefs, values, and ideals, will help us all to be more sensitive to each other’s needs,” he said.

“I strongly believe that common ground is possible when both the Arab and the American sides come to know one another as equals. And in this endeavour, universities and educators have a unique role to play.”

The three-day conference that began on Sunday attracted 200 professors representing 40 countries, including from the region.

The attendees are taking part in a series of sessions and workshops aimed at developing exchanges between Arab and US university faculty, media professionals and senior journalism students.

Shaikh Nahyan said some of the issues that often mark political and cultural divisions that the conference was rightly addressing included the role and representation of women, the propagation of stereotypes and issues of access to and ownership of the media.

“How societies address these issues reveal the values and beliefs of those societies,” he said.

“It is my hope that your insights and analyses can suggest productive avenues and possible solutions as we move forward to establish common ground and productive connections.”

A third keynote speaker, former US Ambassador to the UAE and Yemen William A. Rugh spoke at the opening of AUSACE.

Attendees including University of Bahrain professor Dr Hoda Al Mutawah and University of Hong Kong students welcomed the conference as an opportunity to share ideas and research.

AUSACE president Douglas A. Boyd said the conference’s success in sharing of knowledge meant that it was now more common to find Arab experts researching and publishing works on the region where previously such fields were dominated by Western study.

American University of Beirut adds journalism training program

AUB Adds journalism training program
http://www.aub.edu.lb/news/archive/preview.php?id=72300


The American University of Beirut launched on May 16 a wide-scale journalism training project for Arab reporters working in print, broadcast and online media.
The project was made possible through a generous sponsorship agreement made between Ms. Sarah S. Alfadl, a Saudi-American lawyer/activist, and the REP's Office.

"AUB is proud to be part of this endeavor to provide reputable and reliable training to journalists in the region," said Provost Peter Heath, during a news conference, held in College Hall B-1 to announce the new program. "We are deeply grateful to Ms. Sarah El-Fadel for providing both inspiration and financial backing for this program of training."

"I believe people cannot intelligently participate in the democratic process unless they have access to accurate and timely information provided by a free and professional press," said Alfadl of the new program, adding that she hoped others would follow suit and invest in Lebanon's revival.
Al-Fadl added that she chose to support the program because she believes in Lebanon's long history of press freedom and its ability to remain a leading democracy in the region. Moreover, she said that she found in AUB the perfect partner for such an endeavor.

The Journalism Training Program (JTP), which is part of AUB's Regional External Programs, is scheduled to conduct its first workshop in "Investigative Journalism," in July 2007 and plans to offer other courses in the coming months focused on "Citizen Journalism," "Elections Coverage," "Newsroom Management," and "Science/Health/Environment Journalism."



The JTP was created to provide journalists from the Gulf to North Africa with year-round courses in various topics including basic news reporting and writing, editing, war/safety coverage, online journalism, and media ethics in Arabic, English and French.
Additionally, it will conduct workshops in media literacy and corporate communications/media crisis management, both at AUB and in-house where requested, and is destined to become a regional hub for Arab journalism training -- something Alfadl hopes other sponsors will also encourage.

AUB's Regional External Programs, which has been running other successful training and consulting projects for about two decades, aims to plug the gaps in existing efforts and meet new needs of the media through the JTP. While the Arab world has seen a proliferation of media in recent years, not all have been adequately serviced by sustainable training to meet their needs and to cope with technological advances.

Leading the new effort is Magda Abu-Fadil, the JTP's founding director, who brings years of experience as a foreign correspondent and editor with international news agencies such as Agence France-Presse,and United Press International; newspapers such as Asharq Al-Awsat, Al Riyadh and Defense News; and magazines such as The Middle East and Events; and, as an academic and a media trainer.







Until February 2007, Abu-Fadil was director of the Institute for Professional Journalists at the Lebanese American University. She taught journalism at American University in Washington, D.C. -- from where she graduated -- and was coordinator of the journalism program at LAU for six years.
"The Journalism Training Program's aim is to train journalists so they can confront any challenges they might face in their work, thus sparking a renaissance in this sector in this part of the world," said Abu-Fadil, during the news conference.

"This is an exciting challenge and we hope to turn AUB into a beehive of Arab journalism training and education with state-of-the-art facilities," she said. "It's only fitting that Lebanon, with AUB at the helm, lead the charge."

Communications Professor and chair of the JTP steering committee called the new program "a dream come true" for which he had worked for more than 40 years. The need for such a program is ever more important, he said, because most news outlets have focused on building infrastructure and acquiring hi-tech equipment instead of investing in human potential.

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NAAJA launches Media Watch Committee

NAAJA has launched a media Watch Committee to monitor excesses involving racism, stereotyping and unprofessional conduct by mainstream American media.

This is not a place for political discussion.

NAAJA is forming a Media Watch Committee consisting of professional Arab American Journalists. We will accept complaints involving mainstream American media and consider taking acting.

To join, you must be a professional journalist of Arab American heritage working either in the mainstream American media or the Arab American/Muslim American ethnic media. If you would like to join and help:

1) You must be a member of NAAJA
2) You must identify yourself fully for members to know who you are
3) This is not a political discussion list
4) Your contributions would be to highlight obvious and glaring
transgressions that really rise to the necessity of addressing formally.

NAAJA Media Watch will

1) Review and discuss complaints
2) Issue a formal written letter, when appropriate, to the mainstream media after NAAJA Media Watch committee discuss the transgressions
3) Media that refuse to respond will be put on a MEDIA WATCH DISCRIMINATION LIST posted on the official NAAJA web site (www.NAAJA-US.com) until they respond
4) NAAJA will seek the support of other Arab journalism organizations and mainstream American Arab organizations to publicize this unprofessional behavior

Here is how to join this list if you meet the above criteria:

Post message:
NAAJA-MediaWatch@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe:
NAAJA-MediaWatch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe:
NAAJA-MediaWatch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner:
NAAJA-MediaWatch-owner@yahoogroups.com

Thanks
Ray Hanania

NAAJA member's new book now available

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ahmed Soliman
Oct. 24, 2007
732-715-9775

New Voice Emerges in American Media
Arab & Muslim-American Journalists Offer Essential Perspective

(Maple Shade, NJ, Oct. 21st, 2007) — Arab and Muslim-American journalist Ahmed Soliman believes his new book, “Born in the USA: Reflections of an Arab and Muslim-American Journalist,” will give mainstream Americans a fresh perspective into the Islamic and Arab Worlds that is unique and rare.

Soliman argues that despite the events of Sept. 11th, 2001, Americans still do not understand the Arab and Muslim Worlds. By sharing his many interviews with Arab and Muslim leaders in the post-Sept. 11th World he believes he can not only change that but also improve the American journalism profession.

“There have been many post 9/11 books written with the Muslim-American perspective and some written by journalists who have covered such stories as the war on terror, domestic surveillance and the conflict between Israel and Palestinians,” explains Soliman who has been a journalist for more than seven years.

“But I think I bring a special knowledge as a professional journalist who has covered international issues for the past two years and who is both Arab and Muslim. I believe I bring a fresh and more objective perspective to the international discussion on these and other important issues. It’s a freshness that contrasts the sometimes cynical views often reflected in the writings of longtime, veteran journalists, many of whom are neither Arab nor Muslim and who have witnessed the often tragic events of the Middle East repeat themselves over and over again.”

The book features many voices and opinions not often heard, based on firsthand interviews Soliman conducted as a reporter for broadcast and print Arab, Muslim and mainstream American newspapers.

“It's not often that Americans really get to hear the perspective of the Pakistani foreign minister on such issues as the war on terror, and whether or not the US government is correct in saying that they're not doing enough. Understanding the people on the other side of the ocean is crucial to resolving our contemporary challenges,” he says.

And, Soliman believes the book might help initiate “a broader discussion about the role of our own American media, whether that is opening some eyes among editors and news directors about the importance of integrating more diverse voices in their newsrooms, specifically regarding Arab American journalists, or also aspiring Arab American journalists who could benefit from the experiences I share in the book.”

Like many Arab and Muslim Americans, Soliman had planned on entering a professional career in medicine or engineering. But it was when he wrote an essay that received immediate notice and was recognized with a prestigious journalism award that he decided to pursue journalism, instead.

“Prior to the 9/11 attack, the vast majority of Muslim-Americans entered the engineering and medical fields, the result of the influence they received from their immigrant parents,” explains Soliman, who worked for two years as senior anchor and producer for the nationally televised Daily World news on Bridges TV.

“The result was that Muslim-Americans, now numbering over 7 million according to the Zogby poll, never had much influence on public opinion or policy. Now, after the 9/11 attack, the few of us who did enter the journalism field are trying to keep the dialogue and coverage in the media more balanced and insightful.”

Soliman’s story is a poignant, eye-opening portrayal of the challenges facing media coverage of the Arab and Muslims, and on international issues including the war on terror, and racism.

“No reasonably minded person would disagree with anything [Soliman] has said in this book,” said Ambassador Richard Parker, former U.S. representative in the Middle East.

Prior to working at Bridges TV, Soliman produced and directed a post-911 documentary for a PBS affiliate titled Born in the USA: Muslim Americans. The film followed a Muslim American doctor and teacher in the months following the September 11th Attack, and received positive reviews and press from WCBS – TV in New York, The Star Ledger Newspaper in New Jersey, and The Home News Tribune. Soliman started his career as the Managing Editor of the Gazette-Leader, a weekly newspaper for the towns of Elizabeth and Hillside in New Jersey, where he covered crime, education, and government related stories. He also interned for WNBC-TV in New York.

“It’s not always easy being an Arab and Muslim-American journalist. A lot of people in our profession throw obstacles in our way,” Soliman argues.

“But I believe that when your argument is for more objective and balanced coverage, by way of including more diverse voices in the perspectives offered in the media, eventually people will realize that it can only be a good thing. Writing Born in the USA was just the next domino in the set that will be falling on this issue.”

Soliman is a columnist with the Arab Writers Syndicate (www.ArabWritersGroup.com) and a member of the Steering Committee of the Society of Professional Journalists-Arab American Journalists group. He is also a member of the Arab professional journalism associations NAAJA (www.NAAJA-US.com) and AMEJA.

The book is available from most major bookstores, and online from Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. It is published by iUniverse Inc., in New York.

ET

CAIR on IslamoFacism Week of Hatred

‘ISLAMO-FASCISM’ WEEK SPEAKER MEETS WITH EUROPEAN 'NEO-NAZIS' - TOP
Robert Spencer is main speaker for upcoming Islamophobic campus tour

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 10/21/2007) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) revealed today that the main speaker for an upcoming series of "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" lectures at university campuses nationwide recently offered a keynote address at a European gathering that included representatives of racist or "neo-Nazi" political parties.

Author Robert Spencer, who is scheduled to appear beginning next week at universities such as Brown, DePaul and Dartmouth, is regarded by American Muslims as one of the nation's worst Islamophobes. His virulently anti-Islam website promotes the idea that life for Muslims in the West should be made so difficult that they will leave.

Spencer recently spoke at a so-called "Counterjihad Brussels 2007" conference in Belgium attended by those with links to far-right parties such as Filip Dewinter of Vlaams Belang (Belgium) and Ted Ekeroth of Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden). Both parties have been accused of either having a racist platform, a neo-Nazi past or having links to neo-Nazis and other racists.

Vlaams Belang is the successor to the Vlaams Blok party, which was banned in 2004 for being an illegal racist political faction. (Vlaams Belang's founders were Nazi collaborators in World War II.)

Of Sverigedemokraterna, the International Herald Tribune wrote: “Sverigedemokraterna, or the Sweden Democrats, have been part of this country's political landscape for almost 20 years, but they were considered too close to the Nazi-inspired far-right to contend for large numbers of votes.” (7/7/06)

SEE: European Organizations Gather in Brussels to Organize Resistance to Islamization and Shariah


SEE: Court Rules Vlaams Blok is Racist


Robert Spencer's Jihad Watch Board Vice President "Hugh Fitzgerald" wrote on that hate site: "Only one group, only one belief-system, distinguishes itself by appearing incapable of fitting in. And that is Muslims, and Islam ... if one really knew what Islam contained ... then how could any decent person remain a Muslim?"

He also recommended that western nations be "Islam-proofed the way a house is child-proofed," compared Muslims to Nazis and urged that they be boycotted: "[I]t should not be hard to find ways to limit the spread or practice of Islam. And if in addition to whatever local, state and federal government officials do, private parties simply conduct their own boycott of goods and services offered by Muslims, in the same way that they would have refused to buy, in 1938, a German Voigtlander camera..."

Other speakers on the "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week" tour include Ann Coulter, who refers to Muslims as "rag heads," and Daniel Pipes, a supporter of the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II and of the views of French racist Jean-Marie Le Pen.

“All those who value religious tolerance and diversity should be concerned about the growing links between European racists and American Islamophobes,” said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.

Publicity for the tour got off to a bad start when it was revealed that the poster promoting the campus events used a photograph that purportedly showed a Muslim woman being stoned to death, but which was in fact an image from a fictional movie.

CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, has 33 offices and chapters nationwide and in Canada. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, E-Mail: ihooper@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441, E-Mail: rahmed@cair.com; CAIR Communications Coordinator Amina Rubin, 202-488-8787 or 202-341-4171, E-Mail: arubin@cair.com

SEE ALSO:

WA: MUSLIMS UPSET BY CAMPUS EVENT - TOP
Janet I. Tu, Seattle Times, 10/20/07


A controversial week of events, billed as Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, launches at the University of Washington and some 100 other colleges next week — drawing condemnations from Muslim groups here and across the country.

The UW College Republicans, organizer of the local events, say the week is intended to foster awareness of the terrorist threat posed by a small number of extremists within Islam.

But some local Muslims say the week fosters Islamophobia and racism and attempts to paint all Muslims as terrorists.

Beginning Monday, the group plans to hand out information sheets describing what the week's activities are all about.

And it's hosting two events open to the public: a showing of "Suicide Killers," a documentary about suicide bombers, at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Smith Hall, and a talk by conservative author and talk-show host Michael Medved at 7 p.m. Thursday in Kane Hall.

Amin Odeh, a board member with the local Arab American Community Coalition, said he agrees that "radical anything is dangerous — radical Muslims, radical Christians, radical Jews. Education is needed."

But Odeh says Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week makes too general a link between extremism and Islam, and that the term "Islamo-fascism" links fascism with an entire religion.

"Unfortunately, when people hear the term they don't think of only a small group of extremists, but of Islam in general," he said.

Hala Dillsi, a member of the UW Muslim Student Association, believes Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week promotes fear and intolerance. She is distributing green armbands and encouraging people to wear T-shirts that are green — traditionally the color associated with Islam — on Wednesday in solidarity with local Arabs and Muslims.

The student group also is organizing a forum Oct. 29 in which professors and local Muslims discuss and answer questions about Islam.

Members of the Muslim Student Association, along with other organizations, also plan to hold protests outside Wednesday and Thursday evening's Awareness Week events.

Assistant Chief Ray Wittmier with the UW Police Department said his department is meeting with student organizers on all sides "to make sure everybody stays safe."