Civil Rights Resources

The recent rise of hate crimes against Arab Americans across the United States is heartbreaking and deeply concerning. Our community must be aware of the civil rights resources available, and be diligent about reporting any incidents. Below are some of the resources we have collected. In brief, for criminal conduct, 911 and the FBI are the best resources (in an emergency of course, please call 911). For potential discrimination, harassment, or hate incident claims in Los Angeles County, you should call 211. We have provided a more fulsome list in the chart below.

List of resources for civil rights

The following Arab American Advocacy organizations have also been instrumental in documenting hate incidents and acts of discrimination against the Arab community:

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Dina Qubain, 3L ChangeLawyers Scholarship Recipient

Dina Qubain with Rasha Gerges Shields (R), President of California ChangeLawyers Board, and former President of AALASC, and Jehan Pernas, Vice-President of AALASC.

Dina Qubain was AALASC’s 3L ChangeLawyers Scholarship Recipient. She is Jordanian, and currently attends the University of San Diego School of Law. The AALASC Board was impressed with her academic achievements, and her commitment to serving the Arab American community.  She helped establish and manage an organization to support refugees in Jordan, and also served as president of the Arab Student Union at her college. She has a passion for cyber and data security, and will be joining Eversheds Sutherland LLP when she graduates from law school. Congratulations Dina! Many thanks to Platinum Reporters & Interpreters for cosponsoring this scholarship with us.

The Middle Eastern and North African Judicial Officers of California (“MENA JOC”)

MENA Category Officially Approved

The Biden Administration has officially approved the Middle East and North Africa (“MENA”) category to be added to the census and other federal forms. For more than three decades, Arab Americans and other MENA groups have campaigned for their own checkbox on the U.S. Census and other government forms; their only option was to check “white,” which is how the federal government perceived people from the Middle East, and North Africa.  Since the MENA category has finally been approved, the Arab American community will no longer be invisible. This is huge, and marks the significant strides the Arab American community has made with their persistent advocacy. 

Creation of MENA Judicial Officers of California

The Middle Eastern and North African Judicial Officers of California (“MENA JOC”), founded in 2023, is an association of current and retired state and federal judicial officers throughout California.  The founding members of the organization are Judge Isabel Apkarian (Orange County Superior Court), Judge Sylvia Hanna (Tulare County Superior Court) Judge Nahal Iravani-Sani (Santa Clara County Superior Court), Judge Nadia Jamil Keilani (San Diego County Superior Court),  Judge Michael Pulos (San Diego County Superior Court), and Judge Tony Raphael (San Bernardino County Superior Court). MENA JOC membership is diverse and includes judicial officers who have heritage from the broadly defined MENA region, judicial officers who are related to persons with heritage from the MENA region, judicial officers who have a deep-rooted interest in and passion for any of the many cultures in the MENA region, and judicial officers who simply share in the MENA JOC mission.

In January 2024, MENA JOC became an affinity group affiliate of the California Judges Association, alongside the California Latino Judges Association, Association of African American California Judicial Officers, California Asian Pacific American Judges Association, and the LGBT Judicial Officers of California. The overarching purpose of MENA JOC is communication, education, and networking among MENA JOC members, other members of the judiciary, bar associations, and local communities throughout California.  One of MENA JOC’s goals is to increase representation of MENA judges on the bench in the spirit of furthering efforts to increase diversity in the judiciary in general.  

Please visit menajoc.org for additional information on the incredible work this organization is doing.

In Memoriam: Sol Peter Ajalat

Sol Peter Ajalat, one of the founding members of AALASC, passed away on June 28, 2023.  He was honored with the Judge James A. Kaddo Award in 2011, for his long-standing service to the Arab American legal community.  Sol was a brilliant lawyer, devoted family man, and a beloved member of the community.  Serving others, and bringing others together for the greater good was his passion, and he demonstrated that his whole life.  He will forever be missed.

Spotlight on New Board Members

We are very happy to welcome Samir Halawi and Nour Hamidi on the AALASC Board!  

Samir Halawi

Samir Halawi is a Tax & Executive Compensation Associate with Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP practicing out of its Los Angeles office. Samir’s practice involves a wide range of transactional and advisory work in the corporate tax, partnership tax, tax-exemption and executive compensation areas. Samir was born in Beirut, Lebanon and was raised in Beirut, Accra, Ghana and Freetown, Sierra Leone. He first set foot in the United States when he was 16 years old. A Los Angelino since immigrating, Samir worked his way through college; attending Santa Monica College before transferring to California State University Northridge to conclude his undergraduate studies. After gaining some professional work experience (including a stint selling after-market aircraft parts to foreign militaries), Samir found himself in law school. He attended Georgetown University Law Center obtaining a dual J.D./Tax LL.M. and graduating with a number of university honors. 

Nour Hamidi

Nour is a first-generation Palestinian American Muslim attorney who was born and raised in Orange County, California.  She is a litigation associate at Ellis George Cipollone O’Brien where she practices white collar criminal and regulatory defense and a wide variety of civil litigation, in both federal and state court.  Prior to joining Ellis George Cipollone, Nour clerked for the Honorable Sheri Pym of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. She also served as a judicial extern for Judge André Birotte Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. 

Nour received her J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles where she served as the Research Editor for the Loyola of Los Angeles International Law Review and as the community liaison for the ACLU at Loyola. In law school, Nour founded the first Muslim law student association, and worked with the Juvenile Innocence and Fair Sentencing Clinic where she represented individuals who were wrongly convicted in their youth or sentenced to unjustly disproportionate sentences. Nour is a recipient of the AALASC ChangeLawyers Scholarship. As a board member, she is committed to advancing AALASC’s mission to create more diverse and equitable representation in the legal field.