Take this opportunity to let President-Elect Obama know the concerns of the Arab-American community. It is time to let the next President know that Arab Americans are an important constituency and that our concerns should not be marginalized. By clicking on the link below you can submit your feedback, thoughts and opinions to the office of the President-Elect. Below the link are some talking points you may wish to include in your submission. Remember it is very important to identify yourself as an Arab American or a member of ADC (see the first talking point below)
Click Here to Send your Message to President-Elect Obama
Talking Points
• As an Arab-American/American, and a member of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), I am proud to be an American and also proud of my roots and rich cultural heritage.
• Our community played a big role, in key states and districts across the nation, in the primary and national elections and we overwhelmingly voted for you, Mr. President-Elect.
• We want you to pursue an even handed policy toward Middle East peace, in accordance with International Law and our American values, which leads to justice, peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis. Palestinians have long suffered because of a biased foreign policy and a just solution to the conflict is not only in the interests of Israelis and Palestinians but in the American national interest as well. You can begin doing this by calling for an end to the siege of the Gaza strip which is collectively punishing 1.5 million civilians.
• We want you to find a prompt resolution to the Iraq war that takes into account the humanitarian disaster our occupation has generated in that country. The lives of millions of Iraqis have been destroyed over the course of the last 5 years. The effects of the war are being felt across the world. Many of our children are proudly serving in the armed forces and we don‘t want to see any more casualties, Iraqi or American, in a war without end or purpose.
• We want you to close Guantanamo Bay‘s prison camp and ensure that torture will never be used by our great nation or those who may operate under the protection of this great Mosaic of democracy, justice, and liberty. These are the good values which lead our forefathers to come to this great nation. They fought to defend these shores in all of America‘s major wars beginning with the Revolutionary War and we don‘t wish to see our countless sacrifices for this great nation to be in vein because of poorly constructed policies in the War on Terror.
• We want you to pursue a policy of peace, negotiations, and diplomacy throughout the Middle East. We have learned the mistakes of the “shoot first ask questions later” approach and the peoples of the Middle East and the United States can both benefit from peaceful and strong relations.
• We want you to keep this nation secure and we, Arab and Muslim-Americans, are a vital part of the security equation. We have painfully learned that violating the civil liberties for Arab and Muslim Americans; as we have done in the past with other vulnerable minorities, will do nothing to enhance security and is an affront to the very ideals for which we continue to stand. We want you to work to ban racial profiling through all levels of law enforcement and work to make sure that Americans are not targeted because of their ethnic, racial, or religious roots. Islam is not a slur Mr. President-elect.
• We want you to acknowledge, once and for all, that there is nothing wrong with being an Arab or Muslim American, that being a Muslim is not a “smear”, and that Arabs and Muslims have served this country in every profession including as four star Generals, envoys, and senior cabinet members. We want to see you use our dynamic and diverse communities and the skills and knowledge we offer to help you and your Administration bring about the true change in which we all, as Americans, believe. Help us help you relight Lady Liberty’s torch and regain our nation’s rightful place as the standard-bearer for all that is just and fair in this world.