ARAB AMERICAN MIDDLE SCHOOL JOURNALISTS CONTRIBUTE TO NATIONAL CONVERSATION ON 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11 ATTACKS

Distributed by the www.ArabAmericanNewsWire.com

ARAB AMERICAN MIDDLE SCHOOL JOURNALISTS CONTRIBUTE TO NATIONAL CONVERSATION ON 10^TH ANNIVERSARY OF 9/11 ATTACKS

Dearborn, MI (June 28, 2011) – This year’s seventh graders – 12 and 13 years old – are the first Americans to grow up with no memory of time before the searing events of Sept. 11, 2001.

As the country approaches the 10^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks this fall, a class of middle school journalism students from McCollough-Unis School in Dearborn invites the public to share the stories of their lives and their community by viewing an exhibition at the Arab American National Museum, 13624 Michigan Ave. in Dearborn. Of the 29 students in the public school class, 28 are Arab American.

Their exhibition, In the Heart of Arab America: A Middle School Perspective, opens with a 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. reception on Saturday, July 2. The exhibition, in the Museum’s Lower Level Gallery, closes on August 14.

Look at the students’ photos or view their stories online at livingtextbook.aaja.org   and it’s clear that Arab American kids are just that: Arab. American. Kids.

MEDIA NOTE: Students are available for interviews during the July 2 reception and at other times by arrangement.

The students’ photos and stories were created during the 2010-2011 school year, when the Asian American Journalists Association sponsored a project called The Living Textbook with a class of seventh graders at McCollough-Unis School. The idea was to help the students learn about journalism and capture stories about their Arab American community.

The students told stories about bullying and the school track team and the Detroit Tigers. They wrote and took photos about sitting down to big, American-style Thanksgiving dinners – with sides of hummus and tabouleh. Most of the kids are Muslim. Some of the girls, but not all, wear headscarves. Some wore green headscarves for St. Patrick’s Day and clipped shamrock antennae onto them. For a special school program called USA Day, they wore red, white and blue.

For them, the Middle East is a local story. Most of the students’ families come from Lebanon, but the class also has students with ties to Kuwait and Syria. One boy labored over the story of the uprisings of the Arab Spring and what that is doing to his parents’ families in the Middle East. His mother stays up late at night to talk on the phone, losing sleep and weight. They live that story in their home here in the United States.

One student wrote about her mother and her mother’s three sisters – all of whom moved to be close together in Dearborn with all their 18 children growing up together. “I have a cousin in every grade,” she said.

The Living Textbook is funded by the McCormick and Ford foundations with additional support from Kodak. The project, which will continue for two more years, is co-directed by two veteran journalists, Emilia Askari of the University of Michigan and Joe Grimm of Michigan State University.

The Heart of Arab America exhibition was made possible by the dedication of teacher April Kincaid and the support of Dearborn Public Schools administrators.

**********

The Arab American National Museum documents, preserves, celebrates and educates the public on the history, life, culture and contributions of Arab Americans. It serves 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. Learn more at www.arabamericanmuseum.org and www.accesscommunity.org.

The Arab American National Museum is a proud Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Read about the Affiliations program at http://affiliations.si.edu.

The Museum is located at 13624 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, MI, 48126. Museum hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday, Tuesday; Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Admission is $6 for adults; $3 for students, seniors and children 6-12; ages 5 and under, free. Call 313.582.2266 for further information.

###

In Jordan, attacks on the press go unpunished despite government assurances

Distributed by the www.ArabAmericanNewsWire.com

Committee to Protect Journalists 330 Seventh Avenue, 11th Fl., New York, NY 10001 Phone: +1 (212) 465-1004 Fax: +1 (212) 465-9568

Contact: Mohamed Abdel Dayem, program coordinator. Phone: (212) 465-1004; E-mail: m.abdel.dayem@cpj.org

In Jordan, attacks on the press go unpunished despite government assurances New York, June 21, 2011-On the heels of an attack on Agence France-Presse's Amman offices, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Jordanian government to hold to account those who threaten or attack journalists. Ten men in plainclothes attacked AFP's offices on Wednesday, destroying furniture and equipment, said AFP journalist Kamal Taha, who was on duty at the time, according to international news reports. The assault came just three hours after an unidentified caller made threats of physical harm against AFP Amman bureau chief Randa Habib and the agency's office, local and regional media reported. Although Habib relayed the threats to authorities, they failed to take measures to prevent that attack, The New York Times said.   The threats and the assault came two days after a June 13 AFP story that referred to an incident in which men threw bottles at King Abdullah's motorcade during a visit to the town of Tafileh. Officials denied that the motorcade was attacked. The next day, some 300 government loyalists demanded the closure of AFP's offices for "inaccurate reporting," news reports said.    "Vows by Jordanian officials to find and bring to justice the perpetrators of every recent attack on the media have come to nothing," said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Mohamed Abdel Dayem. "These unfulfilled assurances amount to a tacit endorsement of violence against the press." Local journalists held a protest in solidarity with AFP in which they demanded accountability for the attack. Emmanuel Hoog, AFP chairman and chief executive, denied in a letter to Jordanian Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit that the outlet had perpetrated "subversive intrigue" by publishing its story. Noting an official condemnation of the attack and a swiftly launched government investigation, Hoog added that he expected "immediate" and "concrete measures" to be taken to prevent additional attacks.   Today, Information Minister Taher Adwan resigned, citing laws that he viewed as "restrictive for freedom of expression" and "the repeated attacks on journalists who are doing their professional duties." Adwan, a veteran journalist and the former editor-in-chief of a popular daily, Al-Arab al-Yawm, had issued a prompt condemnation of the attack on AFP.   CPJ has documented multiple attacks on media in Jordan since March, including threats against Al-Jazeera staffers, assaults on journalists covering pro-reform demonstrations, and the hacking of news websites.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

ADC Files TPS Request for Libya – Addresses Student Visa Holders

Distributed by the www.ArabAmericanNewsWire.com

ADC Files TPS Request for Libya – Addresses Student Visa Holders

Washington, DC | www.adc.org | June 17, 2011 – The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and the Libyan Council of North America (LCNA) has formally requested that the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant Temporary Protective Status (TPS) under section 244 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, to Libyan nationals presently in the United States. The request was sent directly to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano as a result of the growing civil strife in the nation. ADC also is working with DHS to ensure that while the TPS request is pending, no student visa holders from Libya in the U.S. get deported. The Department of Treasury recently froze the funds of the Libyan government, effectively cutting tuition funding to nearly 2,300 students in the U.S. This decision could lead to the students falling out of status and eligible to be removed from country. DHS has ensured ADC that removal proceedings against Libyan students would be “laxed.” Earlier this week Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) published a notice in the Federal Register suspending certain regulatory requirements in order to allow eligible Libyan F-1 students to obtain employment authorization, work an increased number of hours during the school term, if necessary, reduce their course load while continuing to maintain their F-1 student status. ADC and LCNA have lead a collaborative effort with the endorsement of key community organizations including the Libyan Emergency Task Force (LETF), the Libyan Outreach Group (LO), the Libya Foundation (LF), the Libyan American Association of Southern California (LAASC), the Libyan Outreach Student Committee (LOSC), and the New Libya Foundation (NLF). The Libyan Transitional National Council has also endorsed this urgent request. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1254a, the Department of Homeland Security may designate any foreign state or part of a foreign state for Temporary Protected Status if there is ongoing armed conflict within the state and, due to the conflict, requiring the return of nationals to that state or part of a state would pose a serious threat to their personal safety. In the context of escalating and “ongoing armed conflict,” requiring nationals to return to Libya “would pose a serious threat to their safety.” ### Contact:  Abed Ayoub  202-244-2990 American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)  1732 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20007  Tel:  (202) 244-2990 | Fax: (202) 333-3980 | adc@adc.org  Copyright (C) 2011 ADC | All rights reserved.