Sat, November 4th: ADCNY member and distinguished New York Arab-American playwright, Betty Shamieh, read her new play at The Public Theater on Saturday, November 4th at 8.30pm. The reading was followed by a panel discussion including ADCNY board member and chapter president Asli Bali.

Tue, November 7th: "International Law at the Breaking Point: Israel's War on Lebanon" ADCNY board member and chapter president, Asli Bali, delivered a lecture to a full house at the Brecht Forum on international law and Israel's war against Lebanon. In her lecture, Ms. Bali argued that the Lebanon war represents a conflict in which international law was used to strengthen the hand of the aggressor, in this case Israel. While the United Nations Security Council failed to intervene to hault the Israeli assault on Lebanon for over 30 days, when it became apparent that Israel would not be able to achieve its goals militarily, the Council then intervened and invoked international law to snatch a diplomatic victory for Israel from the jaws of military defeat. The dismal example set by the Council during the Lebanon war demonstrates the potential for powerful states, like the United States, and their clients, to turn international law into an instrument of might-makes-right rather than a shield to protect the victims of aggression. The presentation was followed by a lively discussion and Q&A session with audience members representing a wide spectrum of views.

Friday, October 13th: ADC-NY joined the Network of Arab-American Professionals, Arab-American
Association of New York, and Arab-American Family Support Center in a voter
registration drive in October in Brooklyn. Volunteers registered over 100
people to vote at the Beit Al-Makdis Islamic Center, Musab Islamic Society of
Bay Ridge, and Atlantic Avenue.

Friday, July 28, 7-11pm: ADCNY hosted a free community forum in Brooklyn for our membership to join together during the difficult days of the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and discuss our common concerns and an agenda for political activism around the issues of Lebanon, Gaza and Iraq. We organized the event in Brooklyn at a beautiful venue near the Manhattan Bridge overlooking the Manhattan skyline in order to meet in a location that could bring our Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens communities together on the other side of the East River from the ADCNY office. The event included fabulous catering from Damascus Bakeries and provided an informal environment for
members to meet and mingle with the ADCNY Chapter Board as well as presentations by ADCNY Director Kathering Metres Abbadi on our recent accomplishments, ADCNY Chapter President Asli Bali on the need for Arab-American political activism on US foreign policy and ADCNY member Raniya Kassim on planning lobbying events with NY congressional representatives and senators during the August congressional recess. The event was very successful both in terms of turn-out and in terms of energizing the chapter for the successful lobbying meetings that we have conducted in August. We hope that we can all get together again at the beautiful venue for the meeting, which took place at the International Center for Tolerance Education, 25 Washington Street, 4th Floor, in Brooklyn. Special thanks go to Board Member Jim Basili and ADCNY Intern Fidele Harfouche for organizing this event.

Saturday, July 9: Executive Director Katherine Metres Abbadi at the speakers' table on the occasion of African Unity Day (July 9, 2006) in the Bronx. Abbadi spoke about the importance of solidarity between Arab North African and other African immigrants, her experiences living in Northwest Africa, and potential future collaboration on the issues of Darfur and racial profiling/discrimination.

Wednesday, June 28, 7-10:30pm: ADCNY together with the Muslim Bar Association of New Work (MuBANY) co-sponsored a networking mixer for Arab and Muslim lawyers at Salam Restaurant at 104 West 13th Street (between Sixth and Seventh Avenue) in Manhattan. Over dinner we also heard an excellent presentation by Professor David Harris on the ineffectiveness of racial profiling and strategies for legitimate preventive policing that avoids discrimination and preserves civil liberties. Professor Harris is the author of Good Cops: The Case for Preventing Terrorism While Protecting Civil Liberties. (For more information, click here) and gave us a fascinating and useful presentation. The evening was a big success and we thank all who came to this fun and informative event and took the opportunity to meet members of MuBANY! Thanks also to Salam Restuarant for the excellent dinner and to Professor Harris for his presentation.

Thursday, June 15 -- Sunday, June 19: ADC National's Annual Convention "Celebrating our Heritage: Building for the Future". This year's National Convention was a tremendous success and New York was very well-represented by a large contingent from our Chapter. Thanks to all those who made Lobby Day a successful kick-off to the meeting as the New York contingent met with the offices of both New York Senators Schumer and Clinton, Congressman Tim Bishop, in person, as well as the staff of Congressmen Nadler and Congresswoman Maloney. For more information on the 2006 ADC National Convention click here.

Thursday, May 18, 6:30-8:30pm: ADCNY together with the Association of Muslim American Lawyers and CAIR-NY co-sponsored a dinner discussion of the USA Patriot Act and its implications for our community at the Al Baraka Restaurant at 154 East 55th Street (between Third Avenue and Lexington) in Manhattan. Thank you to all who came to this informative event and took the opportunity to meet members of AMAL and CAIR-NY as well!
 

Thursday, May 11, 6:00PM: ADCNY together with the American Mideast Leadership Network, the New York Immigration Coalition and Congressman Joseph Crowley co-sponsored an immigration law workshop to address the proposed immigration reform measures being debated in Congress. Attorneys were present at the workshop to answer questions about individual cases. The
workshop was held at the Razi School, 55-11 Queens Boulevard in Woodside, Queens and we are grateful to the Razi School PTA for their support of this event.

Tuesday, April 18, 6:00PM: ADCNY together with CAIR-NY, ICNA, COPO, AAA, AMLN, Masjid Al-Noor and the Islamic Cultural Center co-sponsored a Town Hall Forum at which law enforcement officials met with members of the Muslim and Arab communities to answer questions and concerns related to civil
rights and law enforcement tactics. Guest speakers at this well-attended event included Mark Mershon and Joseph Demarest of the FBI Field Office, Martin Ficke from the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a representative from the New York
Department of Treasury.

Saturday, April 29, 12 noon: ADCNY joined as a member of United for Peace and Justice in the historic March for Peace, Justice and Democracy. ADC-NY members formed a lead contingent at the march and joined together with the Palestine contingent as well as manning the Palestine tent. Over 350,000 marched for peace in the Middle East and an end to occupation and ADCNY was proud to have a significant contingent of our members there marching
together with our staff and board.

Wednesday, April 19: ADC-NY together with the Center for Constitutional Rights and MADRE commemorated the tenth anniversary of the Qana massacre, in which Israel killed over 100 civilians and wounded 300 by shelling a U.N. compound holding displaced Lebanese and Palestinian refugees. Participants
saw filmed testimonials from survivors, heard eyewitness accounts of the aftermath, and received updates on efforts to bring those responsible to justice.

Monday, April 10: ADC-NY joined tens of thousands of other New Yorkers to rally for fair immigration reform as part of a huge nationwide demonstration. The rally, part of the National Day of Action for Immigrant Rights, brought popular pressure to bear on the Members of Congress who are deciding the fate of millions of immigrants.

Monday, April 10, 7-9 pm: ADCNY held its first semi-annual General Membership Meeting for 2006, graciously hosted in the penthouse of member Majida Hilmi's building at 5 East 22nd Street on the 30th floor. At the GMM current and prospective ADCNY members heard presenations on ADC's work and speeches by two candidates for our chapter board, Rami Nuseir and Christine
Moore Vassallo. The meeting also featured a presentation by Maria LaHood, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, on efforts to bring civil suits in U.S. courts against U.S. and foreign officials for human rights violations.

Saturday, March 25, 6:30-8pm: ADCNY together with ArteEast sponsored a showing of the movie "Arna's Children" followed by a discussion by the film's director (and son of the main character) Juliano Mer Khamis. The showing took place at the Cantor Film Center (36 East 8th Street). The film is a moving portrait of a woman who founds a theater for children in Jenin and chronicles the performances of the children and their relationship with
its founder. The theater in the film was destroyed during the IDF incursion into Jenin in 2002. The proceeds from this event were used to contribute to a fund created by Mer Khamis to rebuild the children's theater. The film showing was extremely well-attended and the ensuing discussion enabled the audience to engage with the stories of the children in the film and the fate of their city.

Thursday, March 23, 8-10 pm: ADCNY cosponsored with Qanun (the Columbia Law School Arab Student group) a panel discussion entitled "Rule of Law or Victor's Justice?: Reflections on the Trial of Saddam Hussein." The opening address was given by Richard Dicker, Director of International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch and Jennifer Ridha, Iraqi- American lawyer, acted as the discussant with Board member Aslı Bâli moderating. The panel
was held in Room 103 of the Jerome Greene Hall at Columbia Law School. The wide-ranging discussion covered questions regarding the legitimacy of a Tribunal conducted under conditions of occupation, the procedural rules governing the trial of Saddam Hussein and his co-defendants and the probable legacy of the Tribunal. The fascinating presentations by Mr. Dicker and Ms.
Ridha were followed by an in-depth Q&A with audience members.
 

Friday, March 3rd, 7-9 pm: ADCNY cosponsored a know-your-rights-workshop entitled Law Enforcement Tactics and Relations: What You Need to Know," which was held at ther 96th Street Mosque at Third Avenue in Manhattan. The workshop acquainted participants with the law enforcement tactics that immigration officials, the FBI, the NYPD and other agencies use within the Arab and Muslim communities. The goal of the workshop, which drew a large audience, was to educate participants about our civil rights while contributing to the safety of our own community. The distinguished panelists that conducted the workshop included included Martin Stolar, president of NY Lawyers Guild; Khurrum Wahid, criminal attorney; Dr. Muhammad Abdul Wahhab, prisoners' advocate and law enforcement liaison; Lamees Deek, New York attorney; and Wissam Nasr, executive director, Council on American-Islamic Relations/NY.

Monday, February 27, 8 pm: ADCNY cosponsored with Qanun (the Columbia Law School Arab Student group) a panel discussion entitled "Palestinian and Israeli elections: The Changing Political Landscape" with Professor Zachary Lockman of NYU and human rights lawyer Lubna Hammad. The panel was held in Room 104 of the Jerome Greene Hall at Columbia Law School and drew an audience of over 50. The discussion of the consequences of Hamas' victory in the Palestinian legislative elections and the course of upcoming Israeli elections was lively and informative, including ample questions and comments from the audience.
 

Thursday, January 26, 6:30-9pm: ADCNY held a Meet&Greet event at the ADCNY Office to bring our members in from the cold to mingle with each other and to officially welcome our new office director, Katherine Metres Abbadi. We had excellent turnout for the Meet & Greet, giving Katherine a wondeful occasion to address our membership and introduce herself. We are glad we were able to welcome Katherine in style, with great Arab hors d'oeuvres and drinks on hand to keep everyone in good spirits.

Tuesday, January 24, 6:30pm:  ADCNY cosponsored a film showing and panel on the recent French riots and the experiences of Arab immigrants in France at the Cantor Film Center (36 East 8th Street).  The film, Games of Love and Chance (“L’Esquive”) won four Cesar awards in France in 2005 and is a moving portrayal of the lives of young people growing up in the suburban ghettoes to which France has relegated an underclass of second and third generation immigrants and the working class French.  A wonderful film that manages to entertain even as it informs its audience about the socioeconomic realities in which its characters lives unfold and the fantastic vernacular of French and Arabic that has become a subculture language for all French youth, the screening provided the perfect backdrop for a discussion of the 2005 riots in France.  A distinguished panel of speakers included Professor Farid Laroussi of Yale University and Professor James McDougall of Princeton University.  The panel was moderated by ADCNY Chapter Board Member Asli Bali.

Saturday, January 21, 6:30pm:   MIN LAYALI FALASTEEN!! ADCNY managed a strong turn out at the cultural benefit organized by ADCNJ and others to bring the Made in Palestine exhibit to New York. The Benefit included mezze, dinner and entertainment for the whole family and was a tremendous success!

Thursday, January 19, 6:30pm: Thank you to ADCNY members for their coming out to the grand opening of the first exhibit of Iraqi art in New York since the war.  The exhibit, held at the Pomegranate Gallery (133 Greene Street), is a wonderful display of the range and talent of contemporary Iraqi artists.  The exhibit will continue at the Pomegranate Gallery until February 22, 2006, so if you did not make it to the opening, please stop by and check it out.

Wednesday, December 7th, 7:30 -11 pm: ADCNY hosted our Third Annual Holiday Fundraiser "Flavors of the Middle East" with dinner, open bar, live music by Zafer Tawil and Ensemble Al-Fan and a silent auction of artisanal items from the Middle East and beyond.  The event took place at the Asian Cultural Center in Midtown Manhattan and was a terrific success.  Thanks to all of the ADCNY membership who turned out to help kick-off the 2005 holiday season in style at Flavors.  Click here for photos from Flavors.

Thursday, November 17th, 7:30 – 9 pm:  ADCNY hosted "Lebanon's Future in Uncertain Times: A Roundtable Discussion" with Professor Nazih Richani at the ADCNY Office.  With over thirty people in attendance, the evening featured a lively discussion of the future of Lebanon’s precarious political balance internally as well as its relationship to Syria and the likely course of international pressure on the Syrian regime.  We look forward to many more such interesting roundtable discussions in 2006!

Wednesday, November 16th: ADCNY hosted a breakfast Know Your Rights event in Brooklyn featuring Special Counsel William Sanchez from the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.  At the event, Special Counsel Sanchez provided valuable information for the community on protecting our rights in the workplace and how to bring a challenge if you face immigration-related discrimination at work.  The panel was very well-attended and we look forward to continuing to work with OSC.

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