Arab American Institute - Controversies

Controversies

In 2001, the Coalition of American Assyrians and Maronites rebuked the Arab American Institute in a letter for categorizing Maronite Christians and Assyrians as Arabs. The organization has criticized the Arab American Institute repeatedly for representing Maronite Christians and Assyrians as Arabs.

In July 2006, during the 2006 Lebanon War, Patrick Syring left three voice mails and sent four emails to the headquarters office of the Arab American Institute. A Federal Grand Jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment on August 15, 2007, charging Syring with violation of Title 18 of the United States Code, Section 875(c), threatening messages in interstate commerce to injure an individual, and violation of Title 18 United States Code Section 245(b)(2)(C), by threat of force or use of force, to interfere with the civil rights of the founder and employees of the Arab American Institute. Syring pleaded guilty to the charges June 12, 2008, was sentenced to prison July 11, 2008, and was released in January 2009.

In November 2008, the Arab American Institute sent a letter to Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid, as part of a failed attempt to block the reappointment of Senator Joe Lieberman to the chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The letter cited in particular a report on Islamist extremism and the "Homegrown Terrorist Threat" completed by the committee in May 2008, which Senator Joe Lieberman chaired.