Americans are confronted this presidential election with the choice between a divisive incumbent, and a candidate who has promised to restore hope and confidence in our country. It is for the greater good of our nation that we, presidents of organizations and leaders in the Palestinian American community endorse Vice President Joe Biden for President of the United States. Our community and our country cannot afford another four years of a Trump administration.
Over the past four years, we have witnessed an erosion of our American values of acceptance and tolerance, coupled with increased incitement along political, racial, and ethnic lines. That is why we applaud the Biden campaign’s outreach efforts to the Arab American community, and in particular the unprecedented dialogue initiated with representatives from our Palestinian-American community.
These joint efforts have led to the Joe Biden “PLAN FOR PARTNERSHIP,” the first time a well-rounded Arab American agenda has been adopted by a major party’s nominee for President of the United States. The plan fully acknowledges contributions of Arab Americans and views them as essential to the fabric of our nation. This is a welcome departure from past experiences when anti-Arab bigotry was used to exclude, silence and marginalize our community.
President Trump has undermined and defied long-held U.S. foreign policy on several issues central to our community, such as moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, cutting aid to the Palestinian people, and signaling support for possible unilateral Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank.
Accordingly, we support Vice President Biden’s opposition to any Israeli unilateral steps including annexation and settlement expansion. We welcome his announcement that as President, he will take immediate steps, consistent with U.S. law, to restore economic and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, including assistance to refugees; to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza; and to reopen the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem and the PLO mission in Washington.
We make this endorsement while noting the different visions over one of our most salient issues. The Vice President has regrettably condemned calls in the United States to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel for its continued oppression of the Palestinian people. The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls for freedom, justice and equality for Palestinians, believing that they deserve the same rights as the rest of humanity. It is a nonviolent and peaceful effort modeled after the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and is mainly aimed at pressuring Israel to comply with international law. We affirm our support for the Palestinian-American Declaration of Principles for the 2020 Election, which has been shared with the campaign.
With that said, we welcome Vice President Biden’s pledge to protect the constitutional right of American citizens to free speech, including their right to advocate and campaign for Palestinian rights. We also welcome Vice President Biden’s opposition to efforts to criminalize free speech and expression on this issue.
While we hold some policy positions that differ from those of the Vice President on the Palestinian issue, it is imperative that we elect a President who will undo the damage done by the current administration. We look forward to working together after the elections on various domestic and foreign policy issues of concern to our community.
We are hopeful that a Biden-Harris Administration will restore our values as a nation of immigrants, defend the civil rights of all Americans, provide equal opportunity for every American, and champion democracy and human rights for all. We look forward to engaging with the Biden administration and working together to actualize the commitments the Biden campaign has made to the Palestinian-American and broader Arab-American communities.
To that end, we believe that it is in the best interest of our nation and our own community that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States.
Mohammed Abdel Salam President, Palestine Aid Society, Detroit* Wardeh Abdulmuti President, Union of Palestinian American Women* Firas Al-Tirawi Journalist, Writer and Member of the General Secretariat of the Arab Network for Culture, Opinion, and Media* Mohammed Aburmishan Executive Director, United Holy Land Fund* Iyad Afalqa President, California Democratic Council; Delegate, DNC Haitham Aranki Executive Director, Arab American Community Center, Anaheim, CA* Dr. Khalil Barhoum President, US Palestinian Council (USPC) Dr. Ghassan Brakat President, Jerusalem Center, Chicago, IL Rola Barakat President Palestinian American Women’s Association, Chicago, IL Tawfiq Barqawi Vice Chair, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee* Professor John Dabeet President, Americans and Palestinians for Peace (AMPAL) Yassar Dahbour Coordinator, Palestine American League Jihad Dajani Board Member, Palestinian House of New England* Rush Darwish Community Activist, Chicago, IL; Former Democratic Congressional candidate, IL-3rd Ghada Elnajjar Co-Founder, Network of Arab-American Professionals (NAAP) Zaha Hassan Human Rights Attorney; Visiting Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Walid Hayek Vice-Chair, Beit Sahour USA* Sam Hindi Council Member, Foster City, CA; Former Mayor, Foster City, CA; Delegate, DNC Basem L. Hishmeh Honorary President, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine Samer Khalaf President, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) * Samir Khalil President and Founder, The Arab American Democratic Club Masoud Khayyat Coordinator, Dallas Palestine Coalition Dr. Najat Arafat Khelil Chair, National Arab American Women’s Association* Saed Limon President, Palestinian American Council, LA Diab Mustafa President of the Board of Directors, Palestinian American Community Center, NJ* Osama Naser President, Palestinian American Council, Chicago, IL* Hatem Natsheh National Delegate, Democratic National Convention, TX Hassan Nijem President, American Arab Chamber of Commerce, Chicago; President, Arab American Vote, Illinois Rania Qawasma Architect; Founder, Daarna: Empowering Refugees and Displaced Communities to Find a Sense of Home Rateb Y. Rabie President/CEO, Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation*; President/CEO, Know Thy Heritage, Inc.* Emad Salem Delegate, DNC, TX; Committeeman, Texas Democratic Party Taleb Salhab Treasurer & Board member, Arab American Democratic Action Fund Sam Shihadeh Board member, US Palestinian Council Dr. Faten Shelbayeh CEO, We care Elderly Care Services, MA; Samir Totah Co-Founder, Palestinian American Coalition, San Francisco, CA; Former President, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine* Jameel Zayed President, Palestinian American Youth League (PAYL).
*Organizational affiliations listed for identification purposes and do not imply organizational