How Jesse Jackson helped empower US Arabs and lift up the Palestinian cause
Al Jazeera
Arab American advocates eulogise Jackson as a civil rights giant who embraced their communities and defended Palestine.
Washington, DC – More than 40 years ago, United States civil rights leader Jesse Jackson called on the Democratic Party to open its doors and welcome “the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected and the despised”.
This included Arab Americans and Palestinian rights supporters, who have suffered from decades of racism, demonisation and marginalisation.
Advocates in those communities say that Jackson, who died on Tuesday at the age of 84, helped elevate their voices over his decades-long career.
“I don’t think there’s a way to tell the Arab Americans’ political empowerment story without understanding the path that Reverend Jackson created for us,” said Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute (AAI).
In 1984, Jackson appointed Arab American activist James Zogby as one of his deputy campaign managers as he mounted a bid for the presidency. Zogby would later found the AAI.
Mahdawi, a Palestinian student activist, faced deportation proceedings amid a protest crackdown under the Trump administration.
Colombia’s largest criminal group paused talks after President Gustavo Petro pledged to target its leader, Chiquito Malo.
The Warner Bros Discovery board says it remains committed to the Netflix deal, despite considering possible bids for Paramount.
Israel’s plans to claim parts of the occupied West Bank as ‘state property’ is raising concerns in neighbouring Jordan.
Jeri is the latest in a series of Peruvian presidents to be removed from office by an act of Congress, after Dina Boluarte and Pedro Castillo.
Bangladesh is marking a historic new chapter as Tarique Rahman is sworn in as Prime Minister.
Judge states Trump administration has made ‘one empty threat after another’ to deport Salvadoran national to Africa.
President Donald Trump’s campaign against alleged drug boats has resulted in at least 145 deaths since September.
Residents in the northern part of the country are creating artificial glaciers to tackle climate change.