Arab heritage- a new page

Aref Assaf
November 14, 2008
The NJ Arab American Heritage Commission will hold its inaugural meeting at the State House on Monday , November 17th. We expect the commission to begin disseminating information and news about its work soon. Meanwhile, we're happy to keep you posted. We have posted several official pictures of the ceremony plus a video segment which aired on News12 covering the signing ceremony.  We have provided the media personnel at the Governor's office with clips from American media outlets including  the Star Ledger's editorial. We had expected Arab American media will dedicate some space for the event but only a passing reference including some pictures were shown. An article in Al-Hawadeth reported on our leadership role in creating the commission.
Interestingly, a self- glorifying English statement, coupled with three pictures of the same person, his name and his group's title clearly stated and  to the exclusion of American Arab Forum's central leadership role, appeared in two Arabic papers as well. We must report here that the role played by individual named in the piece was minimal and only after being solicited and coordinated by our organization. It is curious how many people are claiming credit for this commission. We hope they will give credit to its rightful owners. Important, we hope they will so vigorously support the work of the commission.

Fittingly, the Commission's endeavor and our persistent work will be recognized this Saturday by the Arab American Association of Architects and Engineers during their annual banquet. A representative from the Governor's office is expected to also attend and receive the group's acknowledgment as well.