Dear Senator Sanders:
We, the undersigned, Palestinian-American organizations and
Palestinian-American community leaders around the United
States, would like to thank you on behalf of our community for
your unwavering support of justice, equality, and human rights
for all. We were proud to be among those who endorsed your
presidential campaign on March 2, 2020 as we took the lead in
urging our Palestinian-American community to commit
themselves to your campaign at all levels.
Now that you have endorsed Vice President Biden for the
Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, we would like to
call on you to continue raising your voice in support of justice
and equality for the Palestinians people.
The US Palestinian Council, along with other Palestinian-
American organizations, is leading the effort to ensure our
community’s full participation in the political process. While
making sure to have a voice in our democracy by cementing our
long and proud history of engaging in the democratic process,
we are quite aware that the 2020 presidential election may be the
most important campaign for our country in generations.
On behalf of our Palestinian-American community, we hereby
urge you to share our concerns with Vice President Biden and to encourage him to be supportive of vital issues to our
community. It is worth mentioning that our members have a
genuine and effective impact in the electoral process because of
their sustained level of political engagement. Having said that,
we would like to emphasize that the following issues are of
extreme importance to our community:
1. Human rights for all, including the Palestinians.
2. Ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza,
and East Jerusalem, based on United Nations resolutions.
3. Supporting the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.
4. Immediate reinstatement of US humanitarian aid to
Palestine.
5. Immediate lifting of the inhumane blockade of the Gaza
Strip, which has led to unsustainable humanitarian and
economic conditions for the two million Palestinians living
there.
6. Linking US funding to Israel with Israel’s compliance
with human rights norms and its adherence to international
law and UN Security Council resolutions.
We strongly urge you to help our community in highlighting
these principles and issues in your ongoing conversations with
Vice President Biden. We also will be very happy to engage
with his campaign on all issues that are of interest to both sides.
Respectfully yours,
Organizations:
US Palestinian Council (USPC); Americans & Palestinians for Peace (AMPAL); Palestinian American Council/ Louisiana; Palestinian American Council Chicago; The Arab Network for Culture, Opinion, and Media/ United States; Palestinian American Community Center/ New Jersey; Jerusalem Center/ Chicago; Palestine Aid Society/ Detroit; Network of Arab American Professionals of Orange County; Dallas Palestine Coalition; CPAO Coalition of Palestinian American Organizations; American Palestinian Club; Palesinian American Women Association; Palestinian American Youth Guild; Jifina Association; National Arab American Women’s Association (NAAWA); The Palestinian House of New England; The Jerusalem Conference-LA; Shiddo Alrehal- LA; Saris Association; Palestine American League; Palestinian American Coalition-San Francisco
Individuals:
Dr. Khalil Barhoum, US Palestinian Council President; Basem L. Hishmeh, Honorary President, American Ramallah Federation of Palestine; Dr. Hanna Hanania, Network of Arab-American Professionals, Co-Founder; Professor John Dabeet, US Palestinian Council Vice-President & Americans and Palestinians for Peace President; Eman Khaki, Carolina for Palestine member, Board member of the Palestinian American community center; Abdelhamid Siyam, Lecturer at Rutgers University, New Jersey; Dr. Ghassan Barakat, Chairman of the Board for Jerusalem Center, Chicago, IL; Osama Naser, Palestinian American Council President, Chicago, IL; Murjan Abu Mahmoud, Metroplex Palestinian American Council Chairman; Mohammad Abd-Elsalam, President, Palestine Aid Society- Detroit; Firas Tirawi, member of the General Secretariat of The Arab Network for Culture and its representative in America; Najat Arafat Khelil, Board Chairwoman National Arab American Women’s Association; Diab Mustafa, President of the Board of Directors for the Palestinian American Community Center, New Jersey; Salem Ajluni, Santa Clara County Single Payer Health Care Coalition; Noura Erakat, Jadaliyya and Rutgers University; Saba Shami, Arab American Democratic Caucus of Virginia; Husam Misleh, Former President, American Federation of Ramallah-Palestine; Samir Totah, Palestinian American Coalition, San Francisco; Sam Shihadeh, CPAO President; Senan Shaq, USPC Board member; Ghada Mansour Barakat, NAAWA Board member; Hanan Younes-Moore, NAAWA Board member; Rima Qasim, board member, Palestinian American Community Center, New Jersey; Bassam Eways, Former President, American Federation of Ramallah-Palestine; Bassam Doughman, President APC; Maher Massis, CPAO Board member; Amir Darwish, CPAO Co-Founder; Fuad Ateyeh, Palestinian American Coalition, San Francisco; Frederick T. Hadeed, Alexandria, Virginia; George B. Saba, former President of the American Federation of Ramallah Palestine; Dr. Burhan Ghanayem, Community Leader, North Carolina; Osama Abuirshaid, Executive director of American Muslims for Palestine; Amer Zahr, President, New Generation for Palestine; Imad Hamameh, Past President, United Taybeh American Association (UTAA); Yassar Dahbour, President, Palestine American League; Adeeb Alzanoon, Chairman-Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights; Ahmad Alahmad, Arab Service Center, Los Angeles; Maher Abdelqader, Palestinian American Congress; Nina Cullers, Bethlehem Association; Fathi Abboushi, Community Leader, Beit Hanina Community Center; Awni Abuhadba, Former deputy mayor, Patterson, NJ; Dr Jamal Nassar, Dean Emeritus, California State University, San Bernardino; Ramia Yazid, Palestinian American Activist, Chicago; Rev. Khader El-Yateem, Director for Evangelical mission and Assistant to the Bishop; Sam Hindi, Mayor and Council member, Foster City, CA
