Scrap Book
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2004 Khalil Gibran Awards
The Arab American Institute Foundation honored Muhammad Ali, ANERA, Rock the Vote, MPI Media, and the Hon. Nick Rahall II at the 2004 Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Awards in Washington DC. The sold-out gala featured special guests; Her Majesty Queen Noor, actress Mary-Louise Parker, poet Suheir Hammad, comedians Dean Obeidallah and Maysoon Zayid. Muhammad Ali was honored for his lifelong work to improve living standards in the developing world by a national organization that promotes Arab-American interests. The Arab American Institute highlighted the boxer's work in delivering money, medical relief and food to African and Asian nations. It also praised Ali's efforts to stage his fights in developing countries such as Zaire and Malaysia. Arab American Institute president James Zogby praised Ali as a "hero for the ages." In accepting the award, Ali performed magic tricks and recounted his conversion to the Muslim religion. His conversion was the reason he changed his name to Muhammad Ali from Cassius Clay. "People in Africa and all over the world started to recognize me as their brother because of my name," Ali said. Ali, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, visited Afghanistan in November 2002 as a United Nations "Messenger of Peace." A museum celebrating his life will open next year in Louisville, Ky., his hometown. Ali received a Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Award from the institute. It also honored MPI Media Group, which produced such documentaries as "Inside the West Bank" and "Tragedy in the Holy Land: The Second Uprising." Other honorees included the American Near East Refugee Aid, which provides assistance to displaced Palestinians, and Rock the Vote, a voter registration initiative. The institute created the awards six years ago in memory of Gibran, an early 20th century Lebanese American poet. Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan presented Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., with the first Najeeb Halaby Award for public service, an honor commemorating her father, the former Federal Aviation Administration director and philanthropist. |
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 Queen Nour and Fatina Salaheddine |
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 Mrs. Nadia Matalka and Fatina Salaheddine |
 Fatina Salaheddine and George Selim (AAI) |
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 Farah Atassi, Abdallah (AAI) and Fatina Salaheddine |
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 Farah Atassi, Ahmed Chabani, Fatina Salaheddine, Abdallah (AAI), Maya Beri and George Cuprak |
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 D.C. Embassy Ladies taking a pose together with Fatina Salaheddine |
 D.C. Embassy Ladies taking a pose together with Fatina Salaheddine |
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 Ahmed Chabani (Michigan Arab American Chamber of Commerce) and Fatina Salaheddine |
 Fatina Salaheddine and Ahmed Chabani (Michigan Arab American Chamber of Commerce) |
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 Helen Mobley (State Dept.), Fatina Salaheddine, Jennifer Shoha (Gov. Relations), Ahmed Chabani (Mich. Arab American Chmbr. of Commerce) |
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 Mrs. Ferrial Masry and Fatina Salaheddine |
 Helen Mobley (U.S. State Dept.) and Fatina Salaheddine |
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 Jennifer Shoha (Gov. Relations), Fatina Salaheddine and Helen Mobley (State Dept.) |
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"I Believe in You"
By Khalil Gibran "I believe in you, and I believe in your destiny. I believe that you are contributors to this new civilization. I believe that you have inherited from your forefathers an ancient dream, a song, a prophecy, which you can proudly lay as a gift of gratitude upon the lap of America. I believe you can say to the founders of this great nation, "Here I am, a youth, a young tree whose roots were plucked from the hills of Lebanon, yet I am deeply rooted here, and I would be fruitful. And I believe that you can say to Abraham Lincoln, the blessed Jesus of Nazareth touched your lips when you spoke, and guided your hand when you wrote; and I shall uphold all that you have said and all that you have written" I believe that you can say to Emerson and Whitman and James, "In my veins runs the blood of the poets and wise men of old, and it is my desire to come to you and receive, but I shall not come with empty hands. I believe that even as your fathers came to this land to produce riches, you were born here to produce riches by intelligence, by labor. And I believe that it is in you to be good citizens. And what is it to be a good citizen? It is to acknowledge the other person's rights before asserting your own, but always to be conscious of your own. It is to be free in thought and deed, but it is to know that your freedom is subject to the other person's freedom. It is to create the useful and the beautiful with your own hands, and to admire what others have created in love and with faith. It is to produce wealth by labor and only by labor, and to spend less than you have produced that your children may not be dependent on the state for support when you are no more. It is to stand before the towers of New York, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco saying in your heart, "I am the descendant of a people that built Damascus, and Biblus, and Tyre and Sidon, and Antioch, and now I am here to build with you, and with a will. It is to be proud of being an American, but it is also to be proud that your fathers and mothers came from a land upon which God laid his gracious hand and raised His messengers. Young Americans, I believe in you." * Original text by G. K. Gibran published in the Syrian World, July 1926
*** AAI was organized in 1985 to represent Arab American interests in government and politics. AAI provides leadership training and strategies in electoral politics and policy issues that concern Arab Americans. The institute serves as a clearinghouse for Arab American participation in national, state and local politics and government; research on the Arab American constituency; and a forum for consensus positions on pressing domestic and foreign policy matters. Through its board and staff, AAI acts as a resource to U.S. opinion and policy makers on a range of Arab American policy concerns, including U.S. Middle East policy and political trends in the Arab world. Arab American Institute Phone: (202) 429-9210 www.aaiusa.org |
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 Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen and wife Janet |
 Hollywood Actress Mary-Louise Parker encouraging the youth, to Rock the Vote 2004! |
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 Fatina Salaheddine and Abdallah (AAI) |
 Fatina Salaheddine and George Cuprak |
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