Point to Point Podcast Interview with ALO Hayati Magazine Editor Michael Lloyd

Now available on Point to Point Podcasting
June 30, 2008: Interview with Michael Lloyd editor in chief of ALO Hayati Magazine on Arab American and Middle East publishing, magazines, news media, journalism. Background on ALO Hayati, www.ALOMagazine.comits goals, successes, challenges and what the publication looks for in terms of submissions. Listen to the PodCast online now?

Point to Point offers several genres of interviews: Arab American issues and journalism; mainstream American politics.

Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

Update on Bonnie Bernstein, ESPN Sports Radio and Palestinian Suicide Bombers

UPDATE: The National Arab American Journalists Association (NAAJA-US.com) has accepted Bonnie Bernstein's apology, and the apology of the producers of the Mike & Mike show and ESPN, who all acknowledged that the reference to the Palestinian suicide bombers was out of context and inappropriate. In fairness to Ms. Bernstein, while she referenced the stereotype, we are satisfied she was not advocating it. Her error was to use the stereotype to make another, unrelated point. We recognize that as an example of "innocent construction" and believe that Ms. Bernstein did not intend to defame all Palestinians. She did not hesitate to acknowledge the inappropriateness of the comparison.

# # #

ESPN guest apologizes for inappropriate remarks

UPDATE:

ESPN and Dr. Bonnie Bernstein acknowledged that a comment made referencing Palestinian suicide bombers (below) was inappropriate and they took immediate action to correct it by apologizing. I think the Arab American community has a right to protest such remarks, but we also have an obligation to acknowledge when someone in the media does the right thing and clearly both ESPN and Dr. Bonnie Bernstein have done the right thing in this instance and they deserve our respect.

Ray Hanania
NAAJA Coordinator

Email to ESPN Producer/Bernstein

Hi Scott

The National Arab American Journalists Association believes your apologya nd Dr. Bernstein's apology are genuine and sincere and we have immediately removed you from the Watch List and because of your prompt attention to incidents like this, we have placed both on our Honor List which reflects journalists or media who make an extra effort to clarify remarks and display sensitivity.

Thank you for your attention.

I know you recognize how painful these things can be but also how important it is to listen to your audience and respond to their concerns. I think your response and Dr. Bernstein's response were very responsive and respectful and complete.

Ray Hanania
on behalf of NAAJA

RESPONSE FROM ESPN MORNING SHOW PRODUCER

From: ESPN Morning Show [mailto:ESPN.MorningShow@espn.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 5:31 PM

The comments made this morning by Bonnie Bernstein were inappropriate. We expressed that to Bonnie who has since apologized for her remarks. Please feel free to click on the link below to access Ms. Bernstein's apology.

LINK TO BONNIE BERNSTEIN"S GENUINE EXPRESSION OF REMORSE

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/player?context=audio&id=3460824 Scott Shapiro


Producer, "Mike & Mike in the Morning" ESPN Radio & ESPN 2 ESPN Plaza Bristol, CT 06010 860-884-5355 612-816-3057 (cell) Scott.A.Shapiro@espn.com


PAST COMMENTS AND NOTES


Link to full article:
http://arabjournalists.blogspot.com/2008/06/arab-american-protests-espn-chicago.html

NAAJA has acted on a complaint involving an ESPN radio show syndicated through Chicago called "Mike and Mike" in which a guest slammed Palestinians as raising their children to be suicide bombers.

I guess every Palestinian is in the same boat in the eyes of the guest, which is what racism and stereotyping is all about, generallizing in a derogatory manner against another people, especially if someone has an interest in such racism.

NAAJA issued a letter asking that the host acknowledge the racism. Below is the information including one of many protest emails from NAAJA members in Chicago, information about the show and hosts and guest and also the letter NAAJA sent by email several hours after the incident.
Thanks
Ray Hanania
http://www.naaja-us.com/

=============

Mike & Mike in the Morning
Host(s): Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg
Weekdays 5:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.E-mail: mikeandmike@espnradio.com

One of several email complaints received

This morning at 8:15 a.m. Chicago time, I was shocked to hear an analogy by Dr. Bonnie Bernstein on how NBA hopefuls are programmed to "just make it to the NBA." Her analogy pointed to how Palestinian children are programmed to be suicide bombers was disgusting!!!!

She claims she read it so I guess she expects that your listening audience will buy it. Dr. Bernstein seems to suggest that because people enjoy sports they are ignorant to the happenings in the world they live in. Her assumption does not give her the right to assume sports fans can be "programmed" to think that a people, namely in this case Palestinians, is synonymous with suicide bombing and terrorism. She is out of line. Does she even understand the situation in the Middle East? Mike and Mike's silence when she said it spoke volumes too. People listen and enjoy sports as an escape. That woman is a hatemongerer with a personal agenda. Had she have been talking about any other ethnicity, it would be equally shameful and ESPN should never have her on again and should make a public statement on the radio saying that her comment was inappropriate and apologize if it offended anyone!!!

I am personally offended as an American of Palestinian heritage that works with Jewish Americans and Israeli's to help foster peace and reconciliation between the two people, I am sickened. Mike and Mike should offer a comment immediately. I am not hopeful that Dr. Bernstein will retract her statement but it would be nice.

SS
Chicago

=================== ===========

CONTACT INFO ON ESPN

ESPN Radio Network
545 Middle St
Bristol, CT 06010

Roberts, Jim Affiliate Relations Executive Director (972) 776-4613 (860) 766-2213
mailto:jim.roberts@espnradio.disney.comWalsh, John Executive Vice President (860) 766-2323 (860) 766-2213
mailto:john.walsh@espn.comGoralski, Keith Operations Director (860) 766-2000 (860) 766-2213
mailto:keith.goralski@espn.comGeneric email: radio@espn.com

Background on the GUEST Bonnie Bernstein

BonnieBernstein.com
ABC Sports
c/o Bonnie Bernstein
47 W. 66th Street, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10023

With 15 years in broadcasting, Bonnie Bernstein is one of the most recognizable and highly respected journalists in her field. As a reporter and host for ABC Sports and ESPN, she has a wide range of responsibilities. During the college football season, she serves as the sideline reporter for the Brad Nessler/Bob Griese/Paul McGuire announce team on ABC and hosts "Countdown to the Heisman". She is also part of the hosting rotation for "NFL Live" and "Jim Rome is Burning" and has covered Major League Baseball for the Network. Additionally, Bernstein covers the NFL for CBS/Westwood One Radio.


NAAJA Letter sent Wednesday 10:32 AM by email

Hi Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg:

This morning, Dr. Bonnie Bernstein, a veteran sports reporter and radio reporter, made a very racist comparison between NBA players and Palestinians who raise their children to become suicide bombers. I am writing on behalf of the National Arab American Journalists Association asking that you address the issue.I think it was very inappropriate for Bonnie to use that racial stereotype of Palestinians as an example to back up her comments that NBA hopefuls "are programmed" to make it in the NBA the way Palestinian children are "programmed" to become suicide bombers ...

I don't need to explain that suicide bombers are not a race or ethnicity, or that there are 7 million Palestinians and have been only 50 suicide bombers over the past 15 years, or that suicide bombers come from all walks of life (in the film Pearl Harbor, the character of Jimmy Doolitle said that if his plane ran out of gas while bombing Tokyo and couldn't make it back to the states during World War II, he would simply crash his plane into a Japanese building -- making him, a typical American, a suicide bomber, too) ...

It is not about being politically correct. If you wanted to have a discussion about suicide bombers in the Middle East and Iraq and their ethnicity and the act of terrorism, you could probably fill five hours easily on radio. But that wasn't the point of Bonnie's comments, but rather a gratuitous slam against Palestinians.I know you guys are pros when it comes to sports and I would hope you might make mention that the comparison was inappropriate and in fact is racist.

In this day and age of understanding how easily minorities and ethnic groups are defamed by casual racist comments and especially how easily it happens on radio -- Don Imus is a good example -- we should try our best to be respectful.I think Bonnie should address the issue also.

Thanks and best regards
Ray Hanania
http://www.naaja-us.com/
rayhanania@comcast.net
NAAJA
PO Box 2127
Orland Park, IL., 60462

cc: Jim Roberts, ESPN, Affiliates Relations Exec. Dir
John Walsh, ESPN Exec. VP
Keith Goralski, ESPN, Operations Manager

Ray Hanania
rayhanania@comcast.net
http://www.TheMediaOasis.com

Nader/Gonzalez team to file for president in Illinois elections

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Driscoll, 202-360-3273, chris@votenader.org
IL Contact: Christina Tobin: 312-320-4101
THE NADER/GONZALEZ CAMPAIGN MONDAY WILL SUBMIT MORE THAN 50,000 SIGNATURES FOR AN ILLINOIS BALLOT LINE, FAR SURPASSING REQUIREMENT
Joint News Conference with Libertarian And Green Party Representatives Will Focus On Impediments to DemocracyThe Nader/Gonzalez Campaign will submit more than 50,000 signatures to the Illinois Board of Elections Monday, far more than the 25,000 required to secure a line on the state ballot in the November elections.

This is good news for voters who want a choice that matters in the 2008 election and an agenda (see: votenader.org) for numerous new directions for our country that a majority of Illinois voters support.Illinois coordinators of the Nader/Gonzalez presidential campaign will join state Libertarian and Green Party officials in a joint news conference Monday, June 23, at 1 p.m. Central Daylight Time, in the Capital Building Press Room, Mezzanine Level, Springfield IL, 62706.Christina Tobin, Nader/Gonzalez National Ballot Access Coordinator/Illinois Ballot Coordinator, Val Vetter, State Chairman of the Libertarian Party and Rich Whitney, IL Green Party 2006 gubernatorial candidate, and several Nader/Gonzalez Road Trippers--dedicated signature gatherers--will answer questions and comment on the undemocratic barriers imposed by restrictive ballot requirements.
- End -

Huamn Rights Watch Film Festival in New York June 23

The Human Rights Watch Int'l Film Festival is pleased to be featuring seven excellent films at this year's event (June 13-26 at New York's Film Society of Lincoln Center) that explore subjects of particular Middle Eastern interest: TO SEE IF I'M SMILING, DEADLY PLAYGROUND, USA VS. AL-ARIAN, DEAD LINE, THE RECRUITER, THIS WAY UP, OPEN HEART, and UNDER THE BOMBS
Descriptions of the films, as well as the complete HRWIFF program, follow.

ATTENDING THE FESTIVAL AND AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS:

Director Tamar Yarom - TO SEE IF I'M SMILING (June 12-16)

Director Georgi Lazarevski - THIS WAY UP (June 23-27)

Director Edet Belzberg - THE RECRUITER (based in NY)

For preview DVDs of featured films, to schedule interviews or for further information, please contact Susan Norget or Eric Hynes at (212) 431-0090 or susan@norget.com / eric@norget.com

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

TO SEE IF I'M SMILING New York Premiere
Tamar Yarom, Israel, 2007; 59m. In Hebrew.
SCREENING WITH
DEADLY PLAYGROUND US Premiere
Katia Saleh, UK/Lebanon, 2007; 23m. In Arabic and English.
Fri Jun 13: 9:15pm; Additional Screenings: Fri Jun 13: 1:30pm; Sun Jun 15: 6:00pm

To See If I’m Smiling
Israel is the only country in the world where 18-year-old women are drafted for compulsory military service. To See If I’m Smiling is a disturbing look at the actions and behavior of women soldiers in the Israeli army who, stationed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, help maintain the 40-year-old occupation of Palestinian territories. The women in the film, veterans who’ve tried to bury the past for years, finally speak openly about their experiences. Deeply personal interviews are dramatically interwoven with both archival footage and details of the women’s daily lives. One woman recounts how she posed for a photo with a Palestinian corpse. She searches for that picture, saying, “I wanted to see if I’m smiling.” At a time when women in the military are increasingly on the frontlines, this powerful film explores the ways that gender, ethics, and moral responsibility intersect during war. A Women Make Movies release.

Deadly Playground
Thirteen-year-old Hussein from the village of Sadikkeen in south Lebanon has been watching the de-mining experts in his area clearing the estimated 3 million cluster munitions that Israeli forces dropped in the war with Hezbollah in 2006. A projected 1 million of these remain unexploded and scattered around the villages and mountains of south Lebanon. Hundreds of children, like Hussein, are still fascinated by them.

USA VS. AL-ARIAN New York Premiere
Line Halvorsen, Norway, 2007; 98m. In English and Arabic.
Thu Jun 26: 9:00pm; Additional Screenings: Tue June 24: 6:15pm; Wed Jun 25: 3:30pm

A passionate, outspoken pro-Palestinian activist, university professor Sami Al-Arian was charged in 2003 with funding and supporting a Palestinian terrorist group and held in prison awaiting a trial for two-and-a-half years. USA vs. Al-Arian is an intimate family portrait that documents the strain brought on by Al-Arian’s trial, a battle waged both in court and in the media. A tight-knit family unravels before our eyes as trial preparations, strategy, and spin consume their lives. This is a nightmare come to life, as a man is prosecuted for his beliefs rather than his actions. Director Line Halvorsen presents democracy in a new light—in a post-9/11 culture of fear, “security measures” trump free speech, and punishment is meted out in the name of protection. Presented in association with the American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Spotlight on ARIEL DORFMAN

DEAD LINE US Premiere
Alex Marengo, Director; Ariel Dorfman & Rodrigo Dorfman, Screenplay, UK, 1998; 30m.
PRECEDING
PRISONERS IN TIME US Premiere
Stephen Walker, Director; Ariel Dorfman & Rodrigo Dorfman, Screenplay, UK, 1995; 66m.
Sat Jun 14: 1:30pm

Dead Line
Using Ariel Dorfman’s classic poems of exile and the “disappeared” as read by Bono, Emma Thompson, Juliet Stevenson, Harold Pinter and others, the film follows a desperate Iraqi exile (Art Malik) through the streets of London in search of a magical phone from which he can call home and find out the fate of his brother at the hands of the Saddam Hussein dictatorship.

THE RECRUITER New York Premiere
Edet Belzberg, US, 2008; 86m
Fri Jun 13: 4:00pm; Sat Jun 14: 9:15pm; Sun Jun 15: 1:00pm

Bringing new meaning to the slogan “An Army of One,” The Recruiter follows US Army Sergeant First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful recruiters in America, as he seeks out the young men and women of Houma, Louisiana. Sergeant Usie’s infectious ‘can do’ spirit draws in the kids, and he begins working with some of them three to four years before they are able to enlist. He becomes their mentors, their role models, and in some cases their surrogate fathers, as he trains beside his recruits and pushes them to their physical limits to prepare for Army basic training boot camp. But the realities of the war hit closer to home as the death count in Iraq for soldiers from the Houma area begins to rise and fewer and fewer civilians are willing to enlist. Four of Sergeant Usie’s recruits, Chris, Bobby, Lauren, and Matt, enter boot camp inflated with Sergeant Usie’s vim and vigor and talk of brotherhood and pride, but are soon confronted by the realities of the day-to-day life of a soldier. Sergeant Usie has prepared them for the physical brutality of boot camp, but can anyone prepare them for the emotional and psychological hardship that separation from their families, boot camp, and actual combat will bring? Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival 2008. Presented in association with Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival. This HBO Documentary Film premieres on HBO on July 28th.

THIS WAY UP New York Premiere
Georgi Lazarevski, France, 2007; 60m. In Arabic.
SCREENING WITH
OPEN HEART New York Premiere
Claire Fowler, UK/Palestine, 2006; 22m. In Arabic and English.
Tue Jun 24: 9:00pm; Wed Jun 25: 1:00pm and 6:15pm

This Way Up
Just east of Jerusalem lies the formerly bucolic Our Lady of Pains, a senior citizens’ home for Palestinians. A few meters from the front door rises the grimly spectacular and unavoidable wall of separation, whose unstoppable progression gradually isolates the seniors from their children’s visits, the outside world, even from the very staff that attends to them. With beautiful imagery, contemplative pacing, moments of laughter, and brilliant use of a quietly humorous ‘guide’—a memorable character with a trademark knitted cap, weathered expressive face, and savoring appreciation for smoking—filmmaker Lazarevski has fashioned a film whose political message grows like an approaching thundercloud.

Open Heart
An emotional journey highlighting the plight of the struggling Palestinian healthcare system under occupation. A Palestinian couple’s son’s life is threatened by congenital heart disease. A charity offers a life-saving surgery in Jerusalem, but to get there the family must make an uncertain trip through Israeli checkpoints.

UNDER THE BOMBS New York Premiere
Philippe Aractingi, France/Lebanon/UK/Belgium, 2007; 98m. In Arabic.
Tue Jun 17: 9:00pm; Thu Jun 19: 6:30pm

There is a fine line between fiction and documentary, and Lebanese filmmaker Philippe Aractingi walks this line stunningly in his new film, Under the Bombs. Aractingi takes us to Lebanon, to the Israeli-Hezbollah war of summer 2006, and combines real footage of the massive destruction with a moving narrative story. The Israelis have just bombed the south. Into the chaos comes Zeina (Nada Abou Farhat), a Shiite woman in her thirties, searching for her sister and her six-year-old son, both of who are reported missing. Zeina pays Tony, a Christian taxi driver, who is the only driver willing to take her to the south. At first they keep their distance, but during the search they grow closer. Aractingi captures remarkable and unscripted scenes, as Zeina and Tony encounter victims of the war and sights of bombed-out buildings, witness a Hezbollah rally, and see peacekeeping forces and international journalists arrive. The only side that Aractingi takes is the side of the civilian victims. Under the Bombs asks us to join Zeina and Tony’s journey and keep our eyes open throughout.


Tickets: Single screening tickets for the 2008 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival are $11 for adults, $7 for Film Society members and students with a valid photo ID, and $8 for seniors. They are available at both the Walter Reade Theater box office and online at www.filmlinc.com. HRWIFF08 Series Pass ($40 public/$30 Film Society member) admits one person to five titles in the festival. Available only at the Walter Reade Theater box office (cash only). Additional information is available online at www.filmlinc.com and http://www.hrw.org/iff/, or by calling (212) 875-5600.

..............................................................................................................................

THE 19TH ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALCo-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln CenterJune 13-26 at the Walter Reade Theater
Program of 32 Films from 20 Countries—including 31 New York Premieres
NEW YORK, May 14, 2008 – Each year countless talented filmmakers work against long odds, short finances and threatening politics to bring to the screen powerful stories of human struggle, sacrifice and triumph. The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival returns to the Walter Reade Theater this June to bring some of the most compelling of these stories to New York audiences. Co-presented by Human Rights Watch and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the 19th annual festival will run from June 13 to 26, featuring 19 feature-length films and 13 shorts from 20 countries, including 31 New York premieres. The festival is especially proud that this year’s program features an unprecedented 20 films by women.
The festival launches on Friday, June 13 with A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman, with the film's namesake and renowned author of “Death and the Maiden” present to introduce this extraordinary documentary. In 1973, the coup in Chile sent Dorfman into exile and killed many of his friends. Director Peter Raymont follows him on an emotional journey back to Chile as he recalls that tumultuous period and its consequences. Mr. Dorfman receives a special spotlight later in the festival when two films that he wrote with his son Rodrigo, Prisoners in Time (1995) and Dead Line (1998), will be featured. A Promise to the Dead will be followed opening night by To See If I’m Smiling in which six young Israeli women talk with bracing candor about their experiences during their mandatory military service in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Director and former Israel Defense Forces soldier Tamar Yarom will present the film.
Women are also on the frontlines in festival centerpiece The Sari Soldiers, by New York-based filmmaker Julie Bridgham, this year’s recipient of the festival’s Nestor Almendros Award for courage and commitment in filmmaking. The film follows six Nepali women on opposing sides of Nepal's armed conflict as they bravely fight to transform their country's future.
On Thursday, June 26, two closing night films offer sobering tales of the profound personal cost many pay in the fight for justice. Letter to Anna tells the story of the life and tragic death of crusading Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was murdered in 2006 by a gunman who some believe was an operative of the government of which she was openly critical. In USA vs. Al-Arian, our own government is implicated in this intimate portrait of Palestinian-American activist Dr. Sami Al-Arian and his family during his federal trial on terrorism-related charges.
One of the most shameful legacies of America’s past is invoked in Traces of the Trade, in which director Katrina Browne and nine relatives trace their roots as the largest slave-trading family in American history. In this bicentennial year of the U.S. abolition of the slave trade, the film offers powerful new perspectives on the black/white divide.
Four more superb documentaries by American women will be showcased at this year’s festival. Acclaimed cinematographer Ellen Kuras’s gorgeously shot The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), co-directed by Thavisouk Phrasavath, movingly chronicles 23 years in the life of a Laotian family who escaped the ravages of the Vietnam War to resettle in New York. From Senain Kheshgi and Geeta V. Patel comes the world premiere of Project Kashmir, in which the directors, two American friends from opposite sides of the divide, investigate the war in Kashmir and find their friendship tested over deeply rooted religious biases they never had to face in the U.S. Edet Belberg’s The Recruiter takes a compelling look at army recruitment in this country through the story of Louisiana Sergeant Clay Usie, one of the most successful recruiters in the history of the Army. In the Sundance award-winning The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo, filmmaker Lisa F. Jackson documents the tragic plight of women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo who are raped in the name of war.
Africa is also the focus of The Dictator Hunter which follows tireless Human Rights Watch lawyer Reed Brody and Chadian political refugee Souleymane Guengueng as they pursue former president Hissène Habré of Chad, under whose regime tens of thousands of citizens were tortured and killed. "If you kill one person, you go to jail. If you kill 40 people, they put you in an insane asylum,” says Brody, who will attend the festival screenings. "But if you kill 40,000 people, you get a comfortable exile with a bank account in another country, and that’s what we want to change here."
Films from Latin America and the Middle East have become perennial features of the program and this year is no exception. Like A Promise to the Dead, the Chilean filmCalle Santa Fe returns to the brutal Pinochet regime and post-revolutionary exile through filmmaker Carmen Castillo’s deeply personal journey back to her homeland, which she fled in 1974 after her husband, a leftist leader, was killed. From Brazil comes Maria Ramos's Behave, which follows the process of minors who have fallen into the hands of Rio de Janeiro’s troubled juvenile court system and detention centers. Middle Eastern offerings include the feature drama Under the Bombs, a poignant tale of a Lebanese woman's search for her young son in the aftermath of the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon in 2006, and This Way Up, where a group of elderly Palestinians learn to live with the everyday changes, restrictions and surprises created when the West Bank Wall is erected just yards from their door. Playing in the same program as This Way Up, Open Heart highlights the plight of the Palestinian healthcare system struggling under occupation, while the shortDeadly Playground (preceding the Israeli film To See If I’m Smiling) looks at a young boy’s fascination with cluster bombs dropped by Israeli forces in south Lebanon in 2006.
Other highlights of this year’s program include Roger Weisberg’s Critical Condition, which reveals the impact of being sick and uninsured in this country; American Outrage, a portrait of two elderly Shoshone sisters who’ve been fighting against the U.S. government’s attempts to take over their land in Nevada (showing with the Kenyan land-rights short Rightful Place); and China’s Stolen Children, an investigation into how China’s one-child policy has led to a boom in stolen children, with an estimated 70,000 children kidnapped there every year and traded on the black market. The spotlight is also on China in the annual HRW photography exhibit in the Film Society’s Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery, adjacent to the Walter Reade Theater, in which photographer Kadir van Lohuizen shows the world a side of Beijing that Olympic organizers would prefer to conceal.
In partnership with the Adobe Foundation, the festival is pleased to announce the inaugural edition of Youth Producing Change, a special program of nine short films directed and produced by youth from across the globe. Armed with digital cameras and their own boundless creativity, these young people bravely expose human rights issues faced by themselves and their communities. Many of the teenage filmmakers will be making the trip to New York to present their work.
Each year, Human Rights Watch endorses select First Run Feature films that fit within the Human Rights Watch mission. This year they have added a new dimension to the partnership by screening five of the HRW Selects Film Series as part of the festival proper – Monday, June 16 to Friday, June 20, daily at 4:00 p.m. Please checkwww.filmlinc.com or www.hrw.org/iff for descriptions of the films.
Single screening tickets for the 2008 Human Rights Watch International Film Festival are $11 for adults, $7 for Film Society members and students with a valid photo ID, and $8 for seniors. They are available at both the Walter Reade Theater box office and online at www.filmlinc.com. HRWIFF08 Series Pass ($40 public/$30 Film Society member) admits one person to five titles in the festival. Available only at the Walter Reade Theater box office (cash only). Additional information is available online at www.filmlinc.com andwww.hrw.org/iff, or by calling (212) 875-5600.
Please note: Due to construction work taking place around Lincoln Center, access to the Walter Reade Theater is at 165 West 65th Street close to Amsterdam Avenue. Once there, take the escalator, elevator or stairs to the upper level.

Zogby: Arab Americans must engage the system and vote

A message from AAI President James Zogby
There is no doubt that this is the most exciting election in recent history. And it's a time when the Arab American community cannot afford to be silent.
Like all Americans, we're concerned about the economy and education, about health care and home prices. But there are a host of other issues that are impacting our community more deeply and more personally than any others: issues like civil liberties, immigration, and our country's foreign policies.
We're concerned about having become targets because of our surname. We're concerned about what the U.S. is doing --or not doing-- to help our families in the Arab world. And we're concerned that our home -- the United States -- has lost standing, credibility, and respect not just in the Middle East but throughout the world.
That's why AAI launched Our Voice. Our Future. Yalla Vote '08. It's our biggest election year program ever. It's using new technologies, new resources, and new coalitions to get the Arab American agenda at the forefront of the national debate in this election year.
We're putting staff on the ground in key states to mobilize the Arab American vote.We're tracking what the campaigns are saying and doing in local, state, and federal races. We're making sure that our community's agenda is part of the candidates' agendas.
We're getting our agenda into the debates and getting into the media. More than 50 Arab American organizations from around the country have signed on to Yalla Vote '08, and our Yalla Vote Coalition includes hundreds more individuals who are lending their voice to ensure our future.
Now it's up to you. We need every Arab American to join us in this effort. There are many ways to help:
Make a contribution to Yalla Vote '08 (your donation will include membership in AAI)
Sign our National Petition Contact your elected officials about our agenda
Attend a Yalla Vote training workshop in your community
Urge your friends and family to do the same!
Thank you for making a difference!
This email was sent to: rayhanania@comcast.netTo unsubscribe, go to: http://www.aaiusa.org/unsubscribe/members
Arab American Institute1600 K Street, NW Suite 601Washington, DC 20006www.aaiusa.org