19. Pro-Palestine political advocacy groups are building political power in Washington D.C.

Just a few years ago the idea of a pro-Palestine political advocacy group in Washington D.C. seemed ridiculous. But U.S. politics around Palestine are shifting and a number of these groups have sprung up recently. The latest grows out of the nonprofit American Muslims for Palestine who just launched their own affiliated 501c4 organization, Americans for Justice in Palestine Action. Earlier this week Mondoweiss' U.S. correspondent Michael Arria spoke with Dr. Osama Abuirshaid and Ayah Ziyadeh.

Correction: An earlier version of the text referred to AJP Action as a political action committee (IRS 527). It is a social welfare organization (IRS 501(c)4.)

Dr. Osama Abuirshaid is the Executive Director and a board member of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP). He is a board member of the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), an umbrella organization of eight major national American Muslim organizations. He lectures frequently on Middle East and American politics. He is a regular commentator on Palestinian and Middle Eastern affairs as well as on the American domestic and foreign policy on various Arabic satellite T.V. channels such as Aljazeera. He authored or co-authored several books in Arabic and he published dozens of studies and articles in Arabic and English, on issues relevant to the Middle East and its political climate. He is the co-author of the controversial study: "Hamas: Ideological Rigidity and Political Flexibility," which was published by the United States Institute of Peace in 2009. He is a community activist and speaker. Abuirshaid completed his PhD in Political Science at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom.

Ayah Ziyadeh is AMP's advocacy director. She is a Palestinian-American human rights activist, advocate, and writer who maintains a track record in organizing awareness of Palestine and other crucial human rights issues. She has 5+ years of political and grassroots advocacy as well as lobbying campaign experience. This experience consists of being legislative staff, a lobbying intern working closely with the ACLU, and an organizer working with several different organizations and coalitions, providing her with extensive knowledge of all of the spaces contributing to policy-making and advocacy. Aside from her work, Ayah is completing her master's in International Human Rights at the Josef Korbel School of International Relations. Throughout her graduate experience, she has specialized in Palestinian rights and the dynamics of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. She has completed an abundance of research and policy work on the issue.

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SHOW NOTES:

Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJPA) – https://ajpaction.org/

AJPA Twitter – https://twitter.com/ajpaction

AJPA Facebook – https://facebook.com/ajpaction

AJPA Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ajpaction

American Muslims for Palestine – https://www.ampalestine.org/

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