Washington Watch Articles From 2025
Palestinians Go to Congress
Last week, the Arab American Institute, Churches for Middle East Peace, and the American Friends Service Committee brought a group of Palestinian Americans with family in Gaza to meet with members of Congress and media.
Don’t Abuse Religion When Praising or Criticizing Charlie Kirk
On September 10th, conservative Republican political activist Charlie Kirk was murdered while speaking at a rally on a college campus in Utah. The reactions to his death were immediate and sustained, reflecting the deep divisions that plague American society today.
Democrats Need a Unifying Theme to Inspire Voters
For too many years now Democrats have focused on winning elections by appealing to what they have termed their “base” (young voters, Black, Latino, and Asian voters, and educated women). At the same time, they have largely abandoned white working class voters to Republicans—one reason why Democrats have lost too many recent federal and local elections across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states.
Message to Candidates: Stopping Military Aid to Israel Is a Winning Issue
What to do or say about Israel’s war on Gaza has establishment Democratic consultants and the elected officials for whom they work in a tizzy.
US Government Needed Reform with a Scalpel; Trump Used a Sledgehammer
Nothing good will come of the chaos that has already been created by the Trump administration. In just a few months, it’s taken a wrecking-ball to institutions, agencies, and programs.
Ignore the Critics: The Debate on Palestinian Rights Advanced at the DNC
While some supporters of Palestinian rights saw the developments at last week’s meeting of the Democratic National Committee as a defeat, it was, in fact, a victory. Here is what happened at the meeting and why I feel that progress was made.
Democratic Party Leaders Need to Recognize Reality on Palestine
Even though the bottom has fallen out of Democrats’ support for Israel, some in the party still can’t bring themselves to recognize this reality.
American Politics Are in Trouble
American political parties are in disarray. Instead of being the engines that organize and drive our politics, their roles have been supplanted by partisan social media influencers, non-profit political groups, super PACs, and the billionaires who fund them and consultant groups they hire.
Why Mamdani Won
It was 2006 and Tim Kaine had recently won the Virginia gubernatorial election. I was at a meeting at Democratic Party headquarters with a group of party officials. One opined, “I believe that one of the lessons we should learn from Tim Kaine’s victory was that we need to talk more about our religion. Kaine did and he won. We should do it too.”
New York City’s Fascinating Mayoral Race
This week, all eyes will be on the fascinating race for mayor of New York City. One reason it’s so interesting is because New York plays such an outsized role in American life.
What Democrats Must Do
A few months after the Democrats’ bitter defeat in the 2024 elections, the party convened an Executive Committee meeting. Instead of taking a long hard look at the reasons for their poor performance, the meeting devolved into an orgy of self-congratulations.
If You Want Others to Hear You, Listen to Them First
A year ago, at the peak of the campus unrest over the war in Gaza, I was asked to address a conference on the topic “How to Conduct Civil Discourse.” I relished the opportunity to do this because the issue of how we engage in civil discourse was (and remains) both timely and necessary.
Arabs: The Weak Link in the US Civil Liberties Chain
For decades now, Arabs, in particular Palestinians, and supporters of Palestinian rights have been the weak link in the civil liberties chain. During this period, when a US president or Congress has sought to take measures curtailing a range of civil liberties, they would exploit the perception of the danger posed by Arabs to justify their actions.
Trump’s War on History and Education
Significant attention and/or concern has been generated by President Donald Trump’s early Executive Orders and actions.
The Damage Being Done
The combined efforts of President Donald Trump, Republicans in Congress, and pro-Israel groups, like the Anti-Defamation League, have declared war on the liberal ideals of freedom of speech and assembly and the very idea of the university.
Comparing Trump’s First and Second Terms
Among the significant differences between Donald Trump’s first term as president in 2017 and his return to the White House in 2025, this time around he appears more in control and better prepared. And despite the drastic measures of his first weeks in office, the opposition he is facing appears more subdued and less focused.
Don’t Scapegoat Arab Americans
There’s an insidious blame game occurring on social media. Whenever President Donald Trump takes one of his outrageous actions, Arab Americans are subjected to a flood of abusive messages.
Observations on Carter’s Funeral and Trump’s Return
This past week, Washington DC was witness to a stark study in contrasts: The solemn dignity involved in the nation’s farewell to former President Jimmy Carter and the blustery antics accompanying former President Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House.