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ADC Press Release:
Have You Been Denied Entry to Palestine or Israel? Report Your Details
Washington, DC | October 13, 2006 | The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination (ADC)
has noted increased reports which indicate Israel is discriminating against US
citizens and other foreign nationals by denying them entry or re-entry into the
West Bank, Gaza, and Israel.
In late September, the US Consul General in Jerusalem also acknowledged a
noticeable change in the number of Israeli refusals or denial of entry cases.
More than 120,000 Arab Americans are believed to be impacted by this latest
Israeli policy and the Consulate is urging people to document this information.
Additionally, on October 11, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "I will
continue to do everything in my power…to ensure that all American <a class=l
href=http://webmaxsearch.com?qq=travel onmouseover="return
(window.status='travel');" onmouseout="window.status='';">travel</a>ers receive
fair and equal treatment."
As such, ADC will be working with the 'Campaign for the Right of Entry/Re-Entry
to the Occupied Palestinian Territories' ( http://www.righttoenter.ps ) to
collect information on this troubling practice. These first hand accounts will
help to document and demonstrate the impact of this discriminatory practice.
Please take the time to report your details to ADC by:
Completing the online form at: http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=2980
Alternately you may print the form located at:
http://www.adc.org/Doc/Entry_Denial_Questionnaire.doc
Send completed form by fax to: 202-333-3980
Direct questions to ADC's Legal Department: 202-244-2990 or legal@adc.org
It appears that these denials fall into two categories. The first group includes
US citizens and foreign nationals, either short or long term visitors wishing to
visit family or conduct <a class=l href=http://webmaxsearch.com?qq=business
onmouseover="return (window.status='business');"
onmouseout="window.status='';">business</a>, who don’t hold an Israeli-issued
Palestinian ID entry into or residence in Palestine. The second group includes
individuals who have applied for family unification, as per Israeli-defined
regulations, who have been unable to gain permanent residency. The majority of
this group are Palestinian ID holders petitioning for their spouse or children
to become residents in the West Bank or Gaza. Regardless of whether you fall
into either of these categories, please report your case information.
--
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ADC: 26 Years of Dedicated Service to Civil
and Human Rights 1980-2006
======================================
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
1732 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: 202-244-2990
Fax: 202-333-6470
http://www.adc.org
legal@adc.org
October 13, 2006
ADC-NY signs letter against over-broad gang-related bans on immigrants
On September 27, 2006, Senator Frist introduced the "Community Protection
Against International Gangs Act" (S. 3946). Under S.3946 an immigrant who never
committed any crime whatsoever can be deported and denied immigration benefits
if the Attorney General asserts that he has a "reason to believe" that the
person is or was either a "member of" a gang, or participated in "activities"
that promote a gang.
Read the letter urging senators to oppose S.3946.
The deadline for the sign on letter is Tuesday, October 17 at noon EST.
October ___ 2006
ADC-NY opposes congressman
King's call for racial profiling at airports
ADC-NY is a signatory to
the letter of the US Campaign to End the Israeli
Occupation
Press Advisory
Thursday August 24, 2006
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation Press Advisory
Over 120 Coalitions & Organizations Sign Open Letter to the
Middle East
Groups protest indiscriminate attacks on civilians,
Israel's actions, US policy
Over 120 coalitions and organizations, representing
thousands of people throughout the United States, signed a letter of solidarity
with people in the Middle East suffering from the impact of US and Israeli
actions. The Open Letter was organized by the US
Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a nationwide coalition of over 200
member groups. The first signatory was United for Peace and Justice, the largest
anti-war coalition in the United States, with over 1,400 member groups.
The signatories called Israel's attacks on Gaza and Lebanon
following the capture of its soldiers "vastly disproportionate" and condemned
the humanitarian catastrophe it had created among Lebanese and Palestinians.
They called for an end to "US military and political support to Israel's
violations of international law" and to "the US invasion and occupation of Iraq,
also in violation of international law."
The letter speaks directly to the region's people: "We want
you to know that when we see and hear the news we are imagining your families,
your homes, your hearts, your hopes, your terror. We are working hard for peace
with justice. The pro-war forces arrayed against us are far more powerful than
us. The road to peace is far too long, and many will suffer. But we vow to do
all we can to bring an end to the US role in this violence."
Although a fragile cessation of hostilities has taken hold
in Lebanon, Israel continues to attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank
and besieged Gaza Strip. In Iraq, 100 civilians are being killed every day.
Mark Lance, co-chair of the US Campaign, stated, "We are US citizens and we
refuse to be counted among those who kill." Writer and activist Bill Fletcher, a
member of the US Campaign advisory board, said, "We, people of conscience,
cannot permit this to continue."
The poet Kathy Engel, also a US Campaign board member,
said, "There are times in our lives when we have no choice but to act and speak
on behalf of what we know to be justice. I've been in different war zones but
when I went to the refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza it was the worst
thing I've ever seen and we're all responsible, especially US taxpayers."
The Open Letter is being
disseminated today throughout the United States and the Middle East. The letter
and list of signatories are at
http://www.endtheoccupation.org
For interviews or more information, contact office@endtheoccupation.org
ADC New York is a
signatory to the Rights Working Group letter to FBI Director Mueller.
July 31, 2006
The Honorable Robert S. Mueller III
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
J. Edgar Hoover Building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20535-0001
Dear Director Mueller:
We represent a wide range of civil liberties,
civil rights, human rights and immigration organizations that have come together
since the terrible attacks of September 11, to work to protect the civil
liberties and human rights of everyone in the U.S.
We are concerned that at this time of crisis in
the Middle East, our government may repeat mistakes of the past in targeting and
thereby broadly casting suspicion on Muslim and Arab communities in the U.S. In
the wake of the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, hundreds of individuals
who had no connection to terrorism were arrested and deported on the basis of
their ethnicity, religion and national origin. There were widespread reports of
coercion in connection with so-called “voluntary interviews.” There were
massive efforts to gather information about innocent members of these
communities presumably for inclusion in a permanent database. In many
communities, those actions created fear and suspicion of law enforcement which
is, by your own account, counterproductive to the FBI’s legitimate and important
counter-terrorism efforts. Those concerns are still present and are exacerbated
by recent international events and reports of heightened FBI activity.
We urge you to address those concerns by making
clear that there is no basis to regard any particular ethnic or religious
community as suspect. We urge you to ensure that FBI officers have a specific
basis for suspecting an individual of wrong-doing before targeting him or her
for investigation, and that FBI officers do not investigate people on the basis
of their religion, ethnicity or race. We urge you to ensure that no individual
is coerced into providing information in a manner that would violate his or her
right to protection from self-incrimination. We urge you to prevent arbitrary
arrests and prohibit the use of immigration law as a means to threaten
individuals or coerce cooperation. Finally, we ask you to insist that every FBI
employee respect the First Amendment rights of all individuals, including their
right to practice their religion without fear of government intimidation, and
their right to freedom of speech and opinion.
Thank you for consideration of our views. We
would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further with you.
Click
here for a list of signatories to the letter.
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ADC New York Press Release
ADCNY Calls for Congressional Oversight of Thorough and Public
Investigations of the Alleged Rape and Murders of Iraqi Civilians in
Mahmudiya, Iraq.
New York, NY | July 1, 2006 |
The New York Chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
(ADC-NY) is deeply disturbed by allegations that five U.S. Soldiers raped and
killed a young Iraqi woman, burned her body and killed three members of her
family, including a child, in Mahmudiya, Iraq.
The New York Times and the Associated Press have both reported that in
March 2006, several members of the Fourth Infantry Division patrolling
Mahmudiya observed a young woman and later returned to rape her. In what U.S.
officials have described as "an apparent cover-up," the soldiers then killed her
and three of her family members, among them a child. Some of the suspects then
attempted to burn the young woman's body in order to further obscure the crimes
they had committed.
U.S. officials have stated that the rape and killings appear to have been a
"crime of opportunity," noting that the soldiers had not been attacked by
insurgents, as they had first claimed. One soldier was arrested after admitting
his role in the attack, while four others remain under investigation by the U.S.
Military.
The willful killing and rape of civilians is a war crime and a grave breach of
the Geneva Conventions. ADC-NY notes that the military investigation of the
Mahmudiya attack is one of many current investigations involving possible war
crimes committed by U.S. military personnel against Iraqi civilians. An
investigation of the death of 24 unarmed in civilians in Haditha is pending, as
are investigations into the death of three male detainees in the Saahuddin
province in May 2006, the
shooting death of unarmed Iraqi man near Ramadi in February, and the death of an
Iraqi soldier after an interrogation in 2003 at a detention camp in Qaim. In
addition, last week a military court charged seven marines and one naval officer
with premeditated muder for shooting an Iraqi man to death near Fallujah.
ADC-NY reiterates its demand that Congress adopt an immediate plan to initiate
an orderly withdrawal of American troops from Iraq within months not years;
abandon any plans to establish permanent military bases in Iraq; provide
financial and other material support to the Iraqi government to rebuild Iraqi
civilian infrastructure; and provide the necessary post-withdrawal support to
assist the Iraqi government in maintaining the territorial integrity of Iraq.
ADC-NY urges the Department of Defense to conduct a full and expeditious
investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Mahmudiya rape and murders,
to make its findings public, and to take swift actions against those found to
have engaged in these heinous crimes.
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS and demand:
(1) vigilant Congressional oversight of this and other investigations into
alleged war crimes by U.S. military personnel in Iraq; and
(2) Congressional directives that the Department of Defense implement
rigorous training for U.S. troops stressing strict compliance with the U.S.
Military Code and the Geneva Conventions.
Contact information for your member of Congress can be found at:
http://capwiz.com/adc/dbq/officials/
or use the Capitol Hill switchboards toll free number, 1-888-355-3588.
ADC Calls for Protection
of the Palestinian People and a Halt to Israeli
Destruction
Washington, DC | June 30, 2006 | The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee (ADC) remains extremely concerned with the deeply serious and
growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Numerous officials have indicated that
Gaza is only days away from a deadly humanitarian crisis.
The latest Israeli offensive began days ago, with the electrical power plant
in Gaza being one of the first targets. That power station, which was destroyed,
provides power to the majority of Gaza's 1.4 million residents. It also supplies
power essential to the functioning of the water system, sewage treatment, and
medical treatment. With summer temperatures reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit,
Gaza residents are without shelter from the heat.
Israel continues to have complete control over Gaza's land, sea, and air
borders; utilities; tax revenue; and internal economy, making it an occupying
power, despite its unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. During the Israeli
offensive, three bridges were bombed and destroyed making access to humanitarian
aid almost impossible. Gaza residents are also being subjected to Israel's use
of psychological warfare through the use of sonic booms which are petrifying and
sound like large explosions. In addition to inflicting psychological damage on
generations of Palestinians, these sonic booms are also destroying many of the
already fragile buildings in Gaza. These Israeli latest actions compound the
already grave situation in Gaza where approximately 40 percent of Gaza's
residents live in poverty and
unemployment is 55 percent.
ADC President Hon. Mary Rose Oakar said, "Under humanitarian law and the
Geneva Conventions, Israel must allow humanitarian aid and supplies into Gaza.
Gazans should not be forced to go without food or medicine and be forced to live
under the threat of constant violence. Collective punishment of the long
suffering Palestinian people must stop. ADC calls for an immediate end to the
ongoing violence and reiterates that the only solution is for Israel to end its
occupation, once and for all."
ADCNY Calls For
Additional Signatories to Sign-On Letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
Demanding United Nations Intervention to Protect Palestinians in Gaza
To
Secretary General Kofi Annan and the United Nations Security Council:
The United Nations
was founded "to take effective collective measures for the prevention and
removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression
or other breaches of the peace . . . ." The ongoing ethnic cleansing in
Palestine has thrown into stark relief the need for the United Nations to live
up to this duty.
Since the
Palestinian people have time and again signaled their refusal to acquiesce in
their own subjugation, the inexorable march of Israeli human rights violations
continues with renewed savagery. The Israeli military has escalated its assault
upon the Palestinian people, with dozens of Palestinians killed and wounded in
recent months. Since the so-called Israeli redeployment from Gaza, Israel has
continued to attack unarmed Palestinian civilians. On June 9, seven people of
the same family were killed by Israeli shelling on a beach in the Gaza Strip.
Nearly three dozen Palestinian children have been killed in the first six months
of 2006 alone, with the world community looking on. As of June 27, the Israeli
Occupation Forces have launched a large scale attack on Palestinians in the
besieged Gaza Strip, punishing over one million Palestinian civilians for the
legitimate exercise of the inherent right of self-defense against Israeli
combatants preparing a wide-scale assault on heavily populated areas.
Meanwhile, these forces continue illegally to arrest and detain thousands of
Palestinians, confiscate Palestinian land, demolish homes, impose a deadly
economic blockade, and build its annexationist Apartheid wall. The historic
policy of "Hafrada" (the Hebrew word for Apartheid) has reached its apex, and
the international community is confronted more vividly than ever with the fruit
of its inaction. It is thus time for the United Nations to discharge its
historic obligation.
We therefore call
upon the United Nations to intervene to defend the Palestinian people by
immediately undertaking the following actions:
- forming an
international force to protect Palestinian lives against violent attacks by
the Israeli military;
- calling for the
immediate release of Palestinian prisoners held in violation of
international law;
- holding Israel
accountable for its war crimes in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, and countless UN resolutions and other norms of
international law.
Such actions would
form the necessary beginnings of a just policy on Palestine that is long
overdue. The Palestinian people are under brutal assault, and the moral failure
of the international community cries out for rectification.
Signatories:
New York Chapter of the
American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Ad in "The
Nation" Maligns Palestinians
ADC Communicates Concerns, Will You?
BACKGROUND:
This week, The
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) sent a letter to
The Nation,
expressing concern over an offensive and misleading ad in the January 2006 issue
entitled "Arabian Fables (I)."
ADC has
received many complaints regarding the extremely troubling contents of the
advertisement, placed in the magazine by the Facts and Logic About the Middle
East (FLAME). The ad, which claims, "the concept of Palestinians is [a]
fundamental myth," goes on to list many outlandish and false statements, such as
"Palestinian Arabs were in Berlin hatching plans with Adolf Hitler for world
conquest and how to kill all the Jews."
Especially outrageous is the racist implication that the Palestinians are
inherently prone to violence and deception, and that there can be no peaceful or
diplomatic resolution to the conflict. For example, the ad, which clearly
represents a radical and bigoted approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
says Palestinians intend to "get as much land as possible carved out of Israel
by 'peaceful and diplomatic means,' so as to make Israel indefensible and
softened up for the final assault."
ADC is
disturbed by the standards that
The Nation
has exercised in accepting this ad. While we strongly respect the right to free
speech, ADC believes that the ad, which presents an incredibly skewed and racist
perspective of Palestinians and further reinforces stereotypes of Arabs as
habituated to violence, constitutes hate speech. Ads and rhetoric like this
condition people to resent and be frightened of Palestinians, and to believe
that there can be no peace to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
ADC understands
that The Nation
does not wish to infringe on the First Amendment rights of its advertisers.
However, considering the continuing problems with hate crimes facing the
Arab-American community,
The Nation also has a
responsibility to its readers, not to print ads that are racially offensive, and
which may contribute to the worsening problem of racism and prejudice towards
any ethnic group or minority, including Palestinians. After all, as mentioned in
the founding prospectus,
The Nation was founded on
the principles of "bringing to the discussion of political and social questions
a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence,
exaggeration, and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of
the day is marred."
ACTION
REQUESTED:
We urge you to
contact The Nation
to express your concerns, and to request that the magazine reject future ads
from FLAME, and other such extreme groups. Additionally
The Nation
should issue a retraction regarding this matter.
As policy, you
should also urge The
Nation to award
equivalent space to Palestinian and Arab groups who may wish to articulate their
points of view on the conflict.
While you may
use any or all parts of ADC’s alert, please keep in mind that original letters
carry more weight. You may contact Katrina vanden Heuvel, the Editor and
Publisher of the magazine, directly at:
33 Irving
Place, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10003
Tel:
212-209-5400
Fax: 212-982-9000
E-mail:
letters@thenation.com
To view the add
or go to a site that will generate a letter to the Nation,
click here.
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Over 100
Organizations Join ADC and SALDEF in Opposing Racist Flyer
January 11,
2006
Washington, DC --The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the
Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) are alarmed by the
current campaign associating the wearing of a turban and Senator Richard Durbin
(D-IL) with terrorism.
ADC, SALDEF, and 101 national and local organizations (see full list below) are
strongly opposed to a recent flyer campaign launched by the Nutritional Health
Alliance (NHA) depicting Senator Durbin wearing a turban with the words, "Keep
Congressional Terrorism at Bay."
While we are aware of legitimate political differences in the debate on
supplement regulation, the flyer produced by the NHA transgresses the boundaries
of both legitimate and civil political discourse. The flyer serves as nothing
more than hatemongering and uses stereotypes to support its point of view. We
are disappointed that NHA would be engaged in the production of such a racist
flyer that serves to perpetuate an increased environment of prejudice and hate
against the Sikh, Muslim and Arab American communities
The flyer makes an explicitly false correlation between individuals who wear
turbans and terrorism or terrorist activities. It also attacks Senator Durbin
and associates him with terrorism.
The turban is a mandatory article of faith for the Sikh community. Adherents of
the Sikh faith are required by their religion to keep uncut hair and cover their
head with a turban. Additionally, many Muslims and Arabs wear turbans for
cultural reasons. The turban is a sign of respect, dignity and humility and
should not be associated with terrorism or terrorist activity.
ADC, SALDEF and the other cosponsors urge NHA to remove the flyer from any
further distribution immediately. We further ask that a public apology be made
and posted on the NHA’s website. Legitimate public debate must not be tainted
with images that continue to create a dangerous environment of xenophobia and
hate crimes for innocent Sikh, Muslim, Arab and South Asian Americans.
ADC’s New York Chapter endorsed the letters that were sent to the NHA and to
Senator Durbin. To learn more about this campaign, to view the flyers and/or to
view the letters, click here.
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ADC New York
Calls on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to Reverse Her
Support for the Israeli Wall
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ADC Action
Alert:
Stop Racist Billboard Campaign
http://capwiz.com/adc/issues/alert/?alertid=8301626&type=CU
Washington, DC, December 7, 2005--The Coalition for a Secure Driver's License is
launching a new billboard campaign in New Mexico and North Carolina, which
contains extremely negative and racist images of Arabs and Arab cultural
symbols.
The billboards unfairly conflate the question of immigration and national
security, and further enflame fears about Arabs and Arab Americans. In doing so,
the Coalition for a Secure Driver's license misleadingly utilizes false
stereotypes and racist rhetoric to push an anti-immigration agenda.
The ad depicts an individual whose face is covered by a Kufiya (the traditional
male headdress in some Arab countries,) carrying a hand-grenade with what
appears to be a blood smear and a driver's license. The billboard also features
nonsensical Arabic letters that were simply lined up without forming any words.
Additionally, there are two figures in the background wearing military fatigues,
black masks, and green bandanas on their heads with what appear to be Arabic
words. Superimposed on the images is a caption that reads "Don't License
Terrorists, North Carolina!" To view the billboard visit http://www.securelicense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=BillboardCampaign
The fear is that the imagery, which very blatantly depicts a stereotypical Arab
man as a threat to national security, will insight further mistrust towards Arab
Americans and Arabs. While the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
values fair and honest political debate, this billboard unfairly portrays Arabs
and Arab cultural symbols as dangerous. The advertisement transgresses the
boundaries of political discussion and instead relies on stereotypes and
hatemongering to support its views.
ADC understands that billboard companies do not want to infringe on the first
amendment rights of its advertisers. However, hate speech and images that
perpetuate racism and false stereotypes are unlawful and should not be
tolerated. Billboard companies also have a responsibility to their costumers not
to display ads that are racially offensive, and which contribute to the
worsening problem of racism and prejudice towards any ethnic group or minority,
including Arabs, Muslims, South Asians, and those perceived to be.
It is worth nothing that the Coalition for a
Secure Driver's License has a history of negative ad campaigns and racial
profiling. In the past, ADC has objected to a television ad, which seemingly
depicted a stereotypical Middle Eastern man as a threat to national security. To
view the ADC Action Alert for this ad visit http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=2461
ACTION REQUESTED:
ADC urges you to contact the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, North
Carolina Governor Michael F. Easley, and New Mexico Governors Bill Richardson to
express your dismay at the contents of the billboard, as well as past ad
campaigns. For your convenience, ADC has prepared a letter that you may choose
to send by visiting
http://capwiz.com/adc/issues/alert/ ?alertid=8301626&type=CU
You may get in touch with the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License directly
at:
1920 L Street, NW, Suite 210
Washington D.C. 20036
Tel: (202) 223 2386
Email: info@securelicense.org
Fax: (202) 835 9066
You may also contact North Carolina Governor Michael F. Easley at:
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
Tel: 1-800-662-7952 valid in North Carolina only
(919) 733 4240, (919) 733 5811
Email: governor.office@ncmail.net
Fax: (919) 715 3175 or (919) 733 2120
You may contact New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson directly at:
Office of the Governor
490 Old Santa Fe Trail
Room 400
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Tel: (505) 476 2200
Email: becky.gear@state.nm.us
Fax: (505) 476 2226
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