June 28, 2011

On Sunday, June 19, MPAC and the Orange County Islamic Foundation held a community forum on the turbulent events in the Middle East with a State Department official Amy Hawthorne and MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati.

 Before a crowd of more than 60 people, Amy Hawthorne, Senior Adviser to the State Department's Middle East Partnership Initiative, presented an up-to-date overview of United States policy in the region. After the presentation, Hawthorne answered a wide range of questions from community members about their perceptions of U.S. policy in the region, as well as the development of U.S. policy toward Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Syria, and Egypt. 

Hawthorne also asked the participants for their views and stressed she would voice their opinions and concerns to her colleagues in Washington, DC.

At the conclusion of the forum, Al-Marayati made clear that MPAC supports the peaceful revolutions in the Middle East and denounces all types of authoritarian regimes. Both Hawthorne and the participants agreed that such forums should happen more often because they are an important aspect of civic engagement and mutual understanding.

-- Omar Noureldin
(omar.noureldin@gmail.com)
MPAC Volunteer