Global Arab Network | British Arabs Association celebrates the elected Arab councilors

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British Arabs Association celebrates the elected Arab councilors

British Arabs Association

Monday, 12 July 2010 15:37

Let me first thank Andy, we are grateful to you and to all members of parliament who have helped and are helping to raise awareness of all Arab issues relating to the Arab community in Britain, and especially in connection with the Palestinian issue.

I wish to extend my warm thanks to the Arab Ambassadors in the UK for their presence, in a stand that truly expresses their heartfelt encouragement to British Arabs to participate in the mainstream of British life.

Also I want to thank his Excellency Dr. Adel Babesail the Arab League’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom for his continuous support since the launch of the BAA. Last October the Arab League’s Secretary General visited London for 24hours. Dr. Adel gave us the opportunity to meet him. He was very supportive of the BAA and we are grateful for that.

We are also pleased that the Secretary General of the Arab League stressed the League’s attention to the issue of Arab expatriates worldwide, and their positive and active participation in the life of the host countries in which they reside and the citizenship of which they hold.

Today we are here to celebrate the success of those who were elected for council seats in the last election. We are all proud of their achievements.

We would also like to thank everyone who supported them in this democratic process.

The British Arabs’ Association would like to thank the members of the Arab community in the UK for their active participation in the elections for parliamentary seats and for local council seats on the 6th of May, and hope to see yet more Arabs participating in future elections.

This will help put an end to the marginalization of Arab participation in British democratic life. Britons of Arab origin succeeded this time in turning out in great numbers, casting an unprecedented number of votes and giving voice to British Arab concerns in Britain in an effective and fruitful way.

Thirteen British Arabs have now become councilors in London alone, and I am glad to say that many others were successful throughout the UK as well.

We are proud that Mouna Hamitouche has become the first British Arab Woman Mayor. Mouna is now the ‘first citizen’ of the London Borough of Islington.

We are proud that Al Anoud El Sameraie has become the first British Arab Group Leader.

We are proud indeed of all of our councilors.
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The British Arab community will continue in its determination to see candidates of Arab origin become members of Parliament, as has happened in the case of Mr. Nadhim Zahawi MP. Mr Zahawi, who comes originally from Iraq, succeeded in becoming the Member of Parliament for Stratford on Avon , and we are very proud of him.

We had brilliant candidates – young and very active. We will make sure they win in the next general election.

We want the Arab Community to continue with their active participation in all walks of life in the UK in the certainty that this participation will have an effective and measured weight on the future of British politics.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the British Arabs’ Association welcomes the newly formed coalition government headed by the Leaders of the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats.

The British Arabs’ Association welcomes the efforts of Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg in addressing the concerns important to our community.

We welcome the address delivered by the Foreign Secretary William Hague last Thursday at the Foreign Office. We especially welcome the fact that he wants to see more trade and cooperation with many of the Arab Countries.

Previous British governments have consistently shown a strong commitment to encouraging British Arab participation in civil and political life in the UK, and I am glad to see that the current government is continuing with this tradition.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the British Arab community appreciates the values of equality and fair-mindedness in society, and equal opportunity for all, not just the few. We believe in law and order and in combating crime, and we look up to our government to uphold these values which we hold dear.

On the 27th of March 2011 there will be a new census in Britain. We urge every British Arab to ensure that the census forms received are filled in. We have campaigned for years to ensure that Arabs are classified as an ethnicity in their own right, and, having achieved this, we hope that it will not go to waste. I wish particularly to thank Cllr. Dr. Ismail Jalili who campaigned very hard for many years to ensure that we gain the right to have our own ethnicity recognized on these census forms. Thank you, Ismail, for your years of hard work on this.

Mr. Miliband, last year we were honoured when you attended the official launch of the British Arabs’ Association. Today we are really proud that you are here to participate in our celebration of the success of the British Arab candidates elected to local Councils.
Atallah_Said

Mr. Miliband, there are many members of the British Arab Community, members of the Labour Party and of other parties. I feel confident that their fellow citizens in the United Kingdom can count on their endeavours to contribute to the wellbeing and prosperity of this country.

Ladies and gentlemen, please give a big hand to the Rt. Hon. David Miliband, Shadow Foreign Secretary, future Leader of the Labour Party.

Global Arab Network
Extracted from speech by Atallah Said, Chairman, British Arabs Association

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