For Immediate Release
Contact: Valentina Pereda, Communications Director, [email protected]
“What we saw yesterday was a clear demonstration of how elected officials view Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian Americans.”
“Senators on the Committee clearly value the discomfort of some students over the lives of the millions of Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian Americans.”
Washington, DC | www.adc.org | September 18, 2024 – Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee convened a hearing that was intended to discuss the massive increase in hate crimes targeting the Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian American communities, as well as the dehumanizing rhetoric that has fueled that increase. The hearing was motivated, in part, by the horrific murder of 6-year-old Wadee Al Fayoumi and the shooting of three Palestinian students in Vermont. ADC had joined the Muslim Civic Coalition and partner organizations in calling for a hearing which would center and elevate Arab, Muslim, and, most importantly, Palestinian voices.
Congress Must Censure Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) for His Racist Tirade
To ADC’s dismay, Republican members of the Committee immediately ignored the stated purpose of the hearing and focused on the discomfort of some university students rather than the lives of Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian Americans. Adding insult upon injury, Senator John Kennedy used his time to attack and denigrate Maya Berry, Executive Director of the Arab American Institute, expert witness, and a Arab American, Muslim woman. He repeatedly implied that she supported violence and told her that she should “hide her head in a bag”. Sen. Kennedy’s disgusting actions should be immediately disavowed by the Senate through what is known as a censure resolution, which would publicly and permanently condemn him.
The Democratic members of the Committee did nothing to call out the actions of their colleagues, and were conspicuously silent on the matter of hate crimes targeting our communities. A hearing that should have pushed back against dehumanizing rhetoric became full of it, and disappointingly, the first hearing on specific hate crimes targeting Palestinian Americans since the 1986 hearing on Alex Odeh’s assassination failed to discuss any specific hate crimes.
ADC National Executive Director Abed Ayoub said, “ADC is intimately familiar with the consequences of dehumanizing, demonizing rhetoric. While we had hoped for better, what we saw yesterday was a clear demonstration of how elected officials view Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian Americans. I am disgusted by the treatment of my fellow community leader, Maya Berry, who has worked tirelessly to support our community. There is no place for this level of disrespect anywhere – especially in Congress.”
ADC National Government Affairs and Advocacy Director Chris Habiby said, “Yesterday’s hearing was a shameful display of anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim rhetoric. Senators on the Committee clearly value the discomfort of some students over the lives of the millions of Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian Americans, including those who are their constituents.”