| Arab American Institute |
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Information AboutArab American Institute |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ARAB AMERICAN INSTITUTE | |
| arab american organizations | |
| arab american institute | |
| anti-arabism | |
| associations in washington, d.c. | |
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The organization seeks to increase the visibility of Arab American involvement and candidates in the American political system. They issue "Action Alerts" to their members much like the Anti-defamation League when issues of particular concern arise. According to their website they encourage their members to contact members of congress and they develop policy initiatives much in the manner of a Think Tank . STATED GOALS The AAI has stated on their website, "''Our domestic agenda includes promoting immigrant rights, community-based social services, educational materials and programming that accurately reflect our community and our heritage, and the full benefits of citizenship for our community. Internationally, we believe that the US should enhance its ties with Arab countries in all fields: cultural, educational, diplomatic, economic, and security. We support a viable Palestinian state, the integrity of Lebanon, US assistance to advance economic and political development in the region, and a balanced US role in promoting regional peace and prosperity.''" CONSTITUENCY & ROLE IN CENSUS TAKING As stated above the organization represents the views of Arab-American s. According to their own statistics, there are 3.5 million Arab-Americans. The Census Bureau has designated the AAI as the only Census Information Center for compiling data on Arab-Americans. The AAI has has stated on their websites that Arabs were underrepresented in the 2000 National Census. The organization alleges, "''Like other ethnic, minority, and immigrant populations, Arab Americans are undercounted in the U.S. census. Some simply do not understand the relevance of the census, its confidentiality, or did not respond to the question on the sample "long form" that measures ethnic ancestry.''" CONTROVERSIES In 2001, the Coalition Of American Assyrians And Maronites rebuked the Arab American Institute in a letter for categorizing Maronite Christians and Assyrians as Arabs. The organization has criticized the Arab American Institute repeatedly for representing Maronite Christians and Assyrians as Arabs. It should be stated that the ethnic identity of Maronite s is a matter of some uncertainty (''See article''). EXTERNAL LINKS SEE ALSO |
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