Arab-American Leadership Intensive Training Available

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Written by Hala Salaam Maksoud Foundation Hala Salaam Maksoud Foundation

Published: 09 January 2008 09 January 2008

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[It is critical that a vibrant and loud Arab-American voice be heard in this country . . .]

The Hala Salaam Maksoud Foundation for Arab-American Leadership is now welcoming applications for its intensive, 5-day training seminars scheduled for 2008 in Washington, DC. The 2008 First Round seminars are scheduled for:

March, Weds 12-Sun 16
June, Weds 25- Sun 29
September, Sat 13- Weds 17
December, Sat 6- Weds 10

Applicants for all seminars are encouraged to apply as soon as possible, and all applications for the March seminar should be submitted by Friday, February 15, 2008.

There is no charge for the training sessions, which are held in Washington, DC, but participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation. The training will be led and coordinated by the Hala Foundation's Program Director, Dr. Hussein Ibish. Participants must commit to attending the full five days of the program.

Applicants should be young Arab-American professionals who have completed their education and have already begun their professional careers, or those in the final stages of a Ph.D. program. They should have a demonstrable commitment to advocacy on behalf of Arab-American concerns, and a desire to devote substantial time and effort to leadership on behalf of the community.

Feedback from participants in previous leadership training seminars:

"Like its namesake, the Hala Salaam Maksoud Leadership Training Program is innovative, progressive, and inspiring. The major issues facing Arab-Americans are tackled in-depth in a comfortable and stimulating environment comprised of accomplished co-participants, impressive guest speakers, and Hussein Ibish, a remarkably powerful and distinguished voice in Arab-American advocacy. It's well worth shuffling your schedule around to get the week off. If you're serious about working for the Arab-American community, and joining a growing network of forward-thinking people committed to progress for Arabs, apply for this program."
Farid Farid, MD, Columbia University Medical Center

"I found the training sessions at the Hala Foundation to be one of the most intellectually stimulating experiences I've had in some time. Dynamic speakers, fascinating topics and an inviting environment are some of the factors that made this experience worthwhile. Already, I have been able to take what I learned in Washington and apply it to my classes and my own research."
Professor Dave Zoby, Casper College

"This was by far the most effective leadership training I have ever received. It was absolutely worth juggling my schedule and sacrificing my precious few days off because the skills and network I developed there will last a lifetime. This is a genius endeavor - it is groundbreaking, cutting edge, and brilliant, much like its namesake."
Maysoon Zayid, Comedian and actress

"My week at the Hala Foundation training was one of the most valuable and inspiring of my professional career. I was given access to our community's sharpest minds and most accomplished leaders. Even more important, the learning doesn't end when you leave Washington. I'm now lucky to be a part of a growing network of Arab Americans from all ends of the political spectrum unified in our dedication to the empowerment of the Arab American community." Rebecca Abou-Chedid, Government Relations Specialist, Arab American Institute

"It is by far the best training of its kind that I have ever received. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that, if offered widely, this project could have a significant impact on the quality of Arab American activism in this country. The seminar's underlying rational and methodic approach is badly needed to rehabilitate the often emotional and loosely argued case of Arab Americans."
Ammar Askari, Ph.D., President, ADC Wisconsin; community education administrator, Marshall and Ilsley Bank

"This program improved my knowledge and savvy about Arab issues by a quantum leap. I have been dedicated to justice for Arabs and Arab Americans for many years, but the talking points and strategies we discussed enable me to now address those issues more effectively and without generating as much backlash as the approaches traditionally used by Arab Americans and Palestine supporters. The program was intelligent, intellectually honest, substantive, strategic and wholly enjoyable. Thank you so much."
Katherine Metres Abbadi, Former US Foreign Service Officer, ADC New York Office Director

"I am fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity to engage in sessions that were rejuvenating on a professional, political and even spiritual level. I made new friends and saw old ones in a different light. The fact that we could converse, discuss and debate a wide variety of issues over dinner and coffee for two to four hours following eight-hour intensive training sessions speaks volumes. It was truly a remarkable experience on many levels and I am honored to have been a participant."
Engy AbdelKader, attorney; Board member of the Association of Muslim American Lawyers and author of "A Muslim Woman's Guide to Her Rights"

"Loved it, loved it, loved it. It's a testimony to the Program's unique approach that, after being brought together for a week of intense dialogue on the most difficult issues facing Arab Americans, we each left determined but also inspired and uplifted. The week was as much about grasping a hard situation as it was about discovering ways to address it--not as remote, besieged individuals, but as part of an active, committed collective that, despite internal differences, reaches out, and supports each other. Incredibly, in one fantastic, boogey-down, get-your-soulmates-on week, the workshop provided the tools necessary - i.e. knowledge (including an encyclopedic amount of information, as well as valuable lessons imparted by those long-active within the community), skills, contacts, encouragement and support - to develop that attitude."
Kristin Shamas, University of Oklahoma

"The Leadership Training Program exceeded ALL of my expectations. We were encouraged to think for ourselves and to act on our goals in a proactive, effective manner to benefit the Arab-American community as a whole. To potential participants: Please take advantage of this opportunity!"
Yasmine Hannaney, Film-maker and actress

The Leadership Training Program is designed to create a national network of highly trained, informed and focused young Arab-American professionals equipped to take on the advocacy and organizational efforts required for community leadership. The Leadership Program provides extensive training in:

* Command of the Issues: mastery of both information and arguments
* Presentation Skills: making the case effectively
* Interpersonal Skills: making friends and influencing people
* Organizational Skills: mobilizing the community
* Collaborative Skills: building effective teams
* Coalition Building Techniques: finding unexpected allies
* Networking: building a national network of trained activists
* Continuous Improvement: developing long-term relationships with trainees

Applicants should send a letter of interest explaining their desire to become community leaders or activists, a CV and a writing sample or any other relevant material to:

The Hala Salaam Maksoud Foundation
815 Connecticut Ave. NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC
20006

Or email them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please visit http://www.halafoundation.org for more details Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with any questions

From Palestinians, Harsh View of Bush

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Written by ISABEL KERSHNER ISABEL KERSHNER

Published: 09 January 2008 09 January 2008

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JERICHO, West Bank — President Bush will not be coming to this oasis city of beige hills, lush green plantations and ancient ruins on his visit to the Palestinian Authority on Thursday. Given the apparent antipathy of the local population, it is probably just as well.

“It would be much better if he didn’t visit our land at all,” said Bashar Fadl Ahmed, 34, an orthopedic surgeon who was shopping in the town square early this week, echoing the sentiment of many here. “He won’t achieve anything. He is trying to do something in his last year, but where was he before?”

Jericho, a relatively tranquil town of about 25,000 Palestinians north of the Dead Sea, was on the short list of West Bank Palestinian Authority destinations for the presidential visit, with Bethlehem and Ramallah, the site of the Palestinian authority headquarters. The governor of Jericho, Arif Jaabari, said that American security and diplomatic staff had been to his compound twice and checked the area where Yasir Arafat’s helicopter used to land.

But Jericho was not included in the president’s final schedule, causing little disappointment among residents. “He’s the worst, Bush,” said a 64-year-old man who identified himself only by his nickname, Abu Muhammad. “He supports Israel and mocks and deceives us.”

On his official visits to Ramallah and Bethlehem, Mr. Bush is likely to be received with the utmost respect. After all, the Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah has received significant American backing as a bulwark against the rise of the militant Islamic group Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip last June.

For Mr. Abbas, the Bush visit is an honor and an opportunity that he hopes will advance nascent Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the outline of a Palestinian state. The visit will be “historic and important,” said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Mr. Abbas.

By contrast, many ordinary Palestinians are angry with Mr. Bush for, among other things, going to war in Iraq and spurning Mr. Arafat while he was alive. They point to the many checkpoints and the West Bank separation barrier, and they say that Mr. Bush’s support for Israel comes at their expense.

Ghassan Khatib, the vice president of Bir Zeit University, in the West Bank, said on Wednesday, “The Palestinians are in agreement that in the history of the United States, Bush is more biased than any other American president toward Israel.”

Consequently, the Palestinians are deeply skeptical about the goal of a deal on Palestinian statehood by the end of Mr. Bush’s term.

“He has destroyed everything, and now he is coming to see the results,” said Moussa Al Hilou, 63, a clothing store owner. “What Palestinian state is he talking about? What he says is nonsense, even our leadership knows that.”

The same skepticism seems to prevail throughout the West Bank and Gaza. In a December poll of 1,270 Palestinians by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, an independent research institute based in Ramallah, only 23 percent of those surveyed anticipated that the sides would reach a permanent agreement before the end of 2008, and 72 percent thought they would not succeed. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus three percentage points.

But the criticism is all the more pointed from Jericho, the location of significant Christian, Muslim and Jewish archaeological sites and the first West Bank city to have been handed over to Palestinian Authority rule in 1994 as a result of the Oslo peace accords.

For a while, Jericho was best known for its highly profitable casino that opened up in 1998 and was mostly frequented by Israelis. But it closed after the outbreak of the intifada in 2000.

Today, Jericho, a Fatah stronghold, is the hub of the authority’s Western-backed efforts to rebuild and train the Palestinian security forces, one of the foundations of the future state.

“I follow the security situation hour by hour,” Mr. Jaabari said. “There is full security control here.” The goal, he said, was for “everyone to live in peace in two states, next to each other, in love, security and stability.”

“Unfortunately, from 1967 until this moment, there has been no real progress,” he said.

In October, an Israeli security chief told the Israeli cabinet that a plot had been foiled to assassinate Mr. Olmert during a planned visit to Jericho in June, which was canceled. The suspects, two of them still being detained, were Jericho residents affiliated with Fatah, the security chief said.

Mr. Jabari said the plot never amounted to more than idle chatter.

Jericho’s flagship institution, the Palestinian Security Sciences Academy, opened in October. There 150 officers from various security organizations all over the West Bank are studying for academic and security diplomas. A courtyard with a trickling fountain and flowerbeds leads to a spotless and elegant building.

Mr. Bush would be welcomed here, the academy officials say. “We are trying to build the institutions to manage our country in the near future,” said the college president, Nour Eddin Abu al-Rub, an academic from Jenin. “I am proud of this place. We are eliminating the competition” among the security apparatuses, he said.

The Palestinians’ future, he added, “depends on the United States, and especially on President George Bush.”

“We hope he will see our suffering, and how the Israeli occupation deals with the Palestinian people and land,” he said. “I hope he is sincere and honest and will do something.”

Israel hiding settlement facts to protect image

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Written by Ed O'Loughlin Herald Correspondent in Jerusalem Ed O'Loughlin Herald Correspondent in Jerusalem

Published: 08 January 2008 08 January 2008

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THE Israeli Government has told a court that it does not want to reveal the true extent of Jewish settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories because the information would damage its image abroad, a local newspaper has reported.

The news comes on the eve of the arrival of the US President, George Bush, for a three-day state visit in which the settlement issue is likely to figure.

Last week Mr Bush said that Israeli settlement building in the West Bank was an obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The office of the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has said that during the visit he would again commit Israel to removing some of the smaller and newer settlements.

The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz said the Israeli Defence Ministry, which rules the Arab territories seized by Israel in 1967, is resisting a petition from two Israeli rights groups for the publication of an official report showing the extent of settlement is greater than Israel has previously admitted.

The newspaper said that the report showed both veteran settlements and newer "outposts" had been built extensively without legal permits on land deemed as state land by the Israeli military courts and on the private property of local Palestinians.

Last week the Government asked the Israeli High Court to ban the publication of the report "for fear of harming state security and foreign relations".

One of the petitioners, Peace Now, said Israel had built 122 settlements in the West Bank with official state sanction. Another 100 newer settlements - described as outposts of older settlements following Israel's commitment not to build new settlements - were built without official sanction.

An officially-commissioned report by the lawyer Talia Sasson found in 2005 that many of these settlements were built with funding and the active assistance of various government bodies, often in contravention of Israel's law.

Read more: Israel hiding settlement facts to protect image

Middle East Peace Reports: NO OUTPOST CRACKDOWN

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Written by Americans for Peace Now Americans for Peace Now

Published: 08 January 2008 08 January 2008

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Middle East Peace Reports

January 7, 2008 - Vol. 9, Issue 18

NO OUTPOST CRACKDOWN, PART I: On the eve of President George W. Bush’s visit to Israel, Peace Now held a demonstration at the site of the largest unauthorized West Bank settlement outpost. This outpost, known as Migron, was constructed on privately-owned Palestinian land and the Israeli government has repeatedly expressed to the High Court of Justice its intention to remove it. At the rally, former Knesset Member and Peace Now leader Mossi Raz said that all illegal outposts “must be evacuated now, and the settlements as well. This government's promises are worth nothing, and outposts and settlements keep expanding all the time.” Raz also called for the start of genuine peace negotiations with the Palestinians: “I say to the government – you have a majority, the public has been convinced. Stop with these acts of cowardice and launch true negotiations with the Palestinians.”

Indeed, 53% of Jewish Israelis believe think Israel should meet its obligations regarding the evacuation of illegal outposts, while 37% disagree, according to the latest poll by the Tami Steinmetz Center at Tel Aviv University. The poll also found that a slightly narrower majority, 51%, wants to see Israel uphold its commitment to a settlement freeze as reiterated at the Annapolis conference.

On Thursday Bush said that during his visit he would “talk about Israeli settlement expansion, about how that is, that can be, you know, an impediment to success.” The president added that the “outposts, for example, need to be dismantled, like the Israelis said they would do.” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reportedly plans to assure Bush that Israel is committed to dismantling illegal settlement outposts. Olmert is also expected to show Bush the new draft rules for Israeli construction in the West Bank. “There is also a domestic Israeli desire not to leave something illegal on the ground, and a way will be found to deal with this,” Olmert is planning to say according to leaks attributes to his associates.

But don’t expect Israel to take immediate action. A source close the prime minister told Haaretz that “there will be no outpost evacuations” until after the Winograd Committee’s report on the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war is issued and “the political situation [in the wake of the report] becomes clear.”

Meanwhile, unauthorized settlement outposts continue to thrive. There are more than 100 of them in the West Bank, housing some 3,000 squatters. Roughly 75% of outposts are built on privately-owned Palestinian land. Israeli government action against the outposts has been lackluster: since 2002, 31 outposts have been evacuated, but half of these were not yet populated. The government is also fighting a Peace Now legal petition that would force the publication of a Defense Ministry database on illegal settlement construction in the West Bank.

Ma’ariv reports today that right-wing activists are planning to greet President Bush with a new outpost to be located between Har Homa and Bethlehem. The land on which this settlement is to be built was allegedly purchased from a Palestinian several weeks ago. Development work has already begun at the site although no building permit requests have yet been filed. Another new outpost was established as recently as New Year’s Day when settlers from East Mattityahu placed two mobile homes on lands of the Palestinian village of Bilin, according to an Israeli police report. When Israeli police units arrived at the site they detained a crane operator and a truck driver, who were transporting the buildings, as well as two Palestinians and two settlers who clashed at the site. Three Palestinians – who claimed to have been beaten by the settlers – were taken by police to receive medical treatment. There was no report that the outpost was removed, although Palestinian-constructed structures near that site have twice been dismantled by police within a day of construction. (Jerusalem Post, 1/1, 1/3 & 1/6/08; Peace Now, 1/6/08; Ma’ariv-NRG, 1/2/08; Haaretz, 1/7/08; Tami Steinmetz Center, 1/7/08; Ynet, 1/7/08; Ma’ariv, 1/7/08)

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has reportedly ordered Israeli law enforcement authorities to file complaints against right-wing provocateurs for repeatedly attempting to establish an outpost called Shvut Ami in the northern West Bank. Some 70 complaints have reportedly been filed, which have led to about 20 indictments.
 
Haaretz columnist Aluf Benn explains that “Shvut Ami has in recent months become a new symbol of the fight over the outposts - and, in the eyes of the security forces, an extreme example of the settlers’ ability to harass them. The outpost is located on private Palestinian land, a few hundred meters south of Kedumim, on the other side of the Kedumim-Alfei Menashe road. Activists occupied it a dozen times, and were removed by the Border Police, army and police. Attempts to occupy it continue, despite the fact that an IDF brigade is headquartered less than a kilometer away… Since November, Border Police officers began taking down the names of the young people at the outpost. To remove any doubts that the activists knew they were in a closed military zone (it is not clearly fenced), it was decided to try only serial offenders who were caught in the area again after having been warned previously.”

 Writing in Ma’ariv, Yael Paz-Melamed expresses skepticism about this new Defense Ministry effort, lumping it together with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s demand that he approve all new settlement construction. The indictments against “serial outpost builders,” she writes, “is the outcome of the defense minister’s decision, who is also insisting that it be carried out. He also demands of those in charge to submit a weekly report on the matter. Ostensibly, the prime minister also decided to take initiative, and informed his good friend from long back, Housing Minister Zeev Boim, that from now on, every house that is built in East Jerusalem or in the settlements, has to receive his permission and the permission of the government.  This was as trivial as declaring that today is Thursday. But Boim, it appears, needs to be told these things, after, with great impudence, he approved the expansion of settlements without notifying anyone.”

 “Only a week has gone by since his supposedly dramatic announcement that construction in East Jerusalem stop,” recalls Paz-Melamed, “and the Israel Lands Administration has already issued tenders to build 450 housing units in parts of Jerusalem outside the Green Line, in other words—in the territories.” Paz-Melamed attributes this hypocrisy to weak politicians. In her words: “there is no leader in Israel…  And so, a handful of a few hundred right wing extremists will continue to dictate a distorted agenda to an entire country that the majority of Israelis, according to every possible poll, don’t want. They will continue to climb deserted hilltops, to place a trailer and a half there, and to harass the army with the need to evacuate them.”

 Haaretz’s editorial on Tuesday similarly suggests that there is much more that the Israeli government could do with sufficient political will: “First of all the state must take back the powers it surrendered to the settlers’ local councils. Since the Civil Administration is the highest authority in the territories, it can stop the construction of any house in every settlement, if it would only be given the proper directive. Stopping construction in East Jerusalem is more problematic, but possible… When public land is involved, it is easy to halt projects. When it comes to private property, compensation can be paid and the land expropriated. But for this to happen the government has to want it, and it is doubtful there is any enthusiasm in the coalition to stop construction in East Jerusalem. The attempt to keep the coalition stable has resulted in under-activity in the diplomatic realm and declarations on which there is no intention to make good.”

 The editorial concludes that “Olmert is trying to navigate between [his coalition’s right-flank headed by Avigdor] Lieberman and [Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas; but if his intentions to negotiate are real, this does not stand a chance. Therefore the statements this week about directives to cabinet ministers on the need to stop construction in the settlements, or at least to inform the prime minister of any such construction, are pitiful and deceptive. Settlement construction will not be stopped with words.” (Haaretz, 1/1/08; Ma’ariv, 1/3/08)

FINAL STATUS PROCESS: Israel and the Palestinians have reportedly made progress on the means by which they will proceed with negotiations. Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia reportedly agreed on Wednesday that future negotiations will be held on three tiers.

At the top tier, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will continue to meet every two weeks to monitor the progress of the negotiations and break deadlocks which may occur in the negotiating committees.

The second tier will be handled by Livni and Qureia and will focus on the core issues of refugees, Jerusalem and borders. In previous final status talks – which were cut off in 2001 – each issue was handled by an independent committee. A senior political source told Haaretz this weekend that this foreign minister-level committee will allow the two sides to engage in substantive dialogue. “This way it will be possible to carry out negotiations without pressure - neither political nor through leaks - and we will be able to make more progress,” the source said. 

The third tier will be composed of subcommittees, which will be created to negotiate every other issue.

Other various committees will be established to handle issues such as security, implementation of agreements, Road Map obligations, disarmament, the deployment of a multinational forces, and dividing airspace. The committee on security issues is likely to be headed by Israeli Major General (res.) Amos Gilad, and Palestinian Interior Minister Abd al-Razek al-Yihiye. (Haaretz, 1/6/08)

 NOVEMBER ‘08: The publication of the Winograd Committee report is looming over the Israeli political scene. The report, which evaluates the Israeli government’s management of the 2006 war with Hezbollah, is expected to be published on January 30th.


Likud faction chair Gidon Saar is preparing a bill that would set the next Knesset elections on November 11th, so that it coincides with elections for local authorities. There is a chance that Saar’s initiative will receive backing from within the Labor party if the Winograd report’s conclusions vis-à-vis Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are harsh. Olmert’s 77-member coalition may fall if Labor leaves with its 19 seats.

At the same time, some in the Labor party are reportedly working to encourage a scenario in which Olmert would be replaced as prime minister by another Kadima party leader like Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni. Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer spoke to this issue on Israel’s Army Radio Sunday. “If the Winograd conclusions are such that require Olmert to get up and leave, and he does not leave,” said Ben-Eliezer, “and if Kadima does not make the switch on its own, we will launch negotiations with all Knesset factions in order to reach an agreed-upon date for elections.”

Labor Knesset Member Ophir Pines does not rule out Saar’s early-elections initiative, explaining to Ma’ariv that “we can get a Knesset majority for moving up the elections.” However, in his opinion, the establishment of a new government led by Foreign Minister Tzippi Livni should also be considered. Labor Party Secretary General Eitan Kabel also offered cautious support: “I am in favor of moving up the elections. This step could pass in the Knesset. If the Winograd Committee report has force, this could also lead Kadima to support the project. But we need to wait for the Winograd Committee report.” Other Labor leaders are reportedly opposed to early elections. This camp reportedly includes Minister without portfolio Ami Ayalon, Education Minister Yuli Tamir, Minister of Science, Culture and Sport Ghaleb Majadele, and Social Affairs Minister Yitzhak Herzog.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak reportedly raised the idea of his party’s support for early elections with a number of other Labor leaders. Yet, Barak is playing this hand close to his chest. “We must study the report and then see what is the right thing to do,” he said on Thursday.

Peace Now Director General Yariv Oppenheimer believes that the Labor party should take advantage of Olmert’s vulnerability to push for genuine progress in the peace process. “In the current state of affairs, the removal of Olmert will bring about general elections, a paralysis of the political system for a period between half a year and a year, government instability and the halting of all processes that the government has been involved in for the past two years, especially Annapolis,” he writes in a blog featured by the Jerusalem Post. 

“Even the most outspoken cynics and skeptics cannot ignore the fact that for the first time since 2000, there is direct dialogue and direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians,” continues Oppenheimer. “All three leaders - Bush, Olmert and Abbas - have made a commitment to the success of the process and the attainment of a permanent agreement within a year. The interruption of negotiations due to a governmental collapse would only play into the hands of the extremists on both sides and would put the nail in the coffin of Annapolis… There is no doubt that as a result of the improper and inexperienced actions of Olmert, many soldiers paid with their lives and the security of the country suffered severe damage. However, should Barak respond to the calls to leave the coalition after the Winograd Report is published, it will only play into the hands of the Israeli Right on the one hand, and of Hamas, on the other.” (Ma’ariv, 1/6 & 1/7/08; Israel Army Radio, 1/6/08; Haaretz, 1/4 & 1/7/08; Jerusalem Post, 1/3/08)