By New Jersey State Assembly Staff
On Friday, October 24, 2008 Governor Jon Corzine, surrounded by elected officials, activists and leaders of the Muslim and Arab-American community,

In this historic signing ceremony, Governor Jon Corzine emphasized New Jersey’s diversity and the contributions of more than 120,000 Arab-Americans in the state.

For more than two years, leaders and activists of the Arab-American community have been pushing for the creation of the Arab-American Heritage Commission; to highlight the Arab-American history in the United States that goes back more than more than three centuries.

Mr. Mehdi Eliefifi, President of the New Jersey Outreach Group, LLC said "The office of the Governor has been working very hard on the selection process for the last several weeks". Several members of the office of the Governor had intense discussions, and made hundreds of calls, to make sure that the selected members represents all segments of the Arab-American community in New Jersey. Al Alvarez, Amber Oakley, Terry West, Mada Liebman and others were very instrumental in making sure that the commission represents most of the geographic areas of New jersey

The 25-member commission is chaired by Hany Mawla, a North Brunswick attorney, will help coordinating events observing the heritage, culture and history of Arab-Americans, as well as work with schools to ensure that curriculum reflects the state’s diverse population.

In their address to more than 700 attendes, Governor Corzine and Rep. Bill Pascrell referred to the remarks made by Colin Powell on "Meet the Press", when he spoke about the false rumors that Sen. Barack Obama is Muslim and asked, "Is there something wrong with being Muslim in this country?".

Gorzine made a reference to the death of Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, a Muslim soldier from New Jersey who was killed in Iraq on Aug. 6, 2007.

Pascrell emphasized Paterson’s strong Arab community and the need to counter stereotypes and racial profiling. "The day of litmus tests over who is a good American and who is not a good American is over," Pascrell said.

The Commission consists of twenty-five (25) members, which shall include eighteen (18) public members, who are residents of the State of New Jersey and seven (7) ex-officio members. 

NEW JERSEY ARAB-AMERICAN HERITAGE COMMISSION appointees are Hany A. Mawla, Esq. (North Brunswick, Middlesex), Abraham A. Kasbo (West Caldwell, Essex), Aref Assaf, Ph.D. (Denville, Morris), Salaheddin Mustafa (Clifton, Passaic), Ginan Rauf (Franklin Lakes, Bergen), Ahmed Soliman (Maple Shade, Burlington), Eman A. Hamad, M.D. (Voorhees, Camden), Ramy Adam Eid, Esq. (Jersey City, Hudson), Philip M. Kayal, Ph.D. (Orange, Essex), Samer E. Khalaf, Esq. (Paramus, Bergen), Youssef Abdul-Samad (Emerson, Bergen), Siham Alfred, Ed.D. (Somerset, Somerset), Morad A. Abou-Sabe’, Ph.D. (Titusville, Mercer), Tawfiq Barqawi (Sewell, Gloucester), Montaha Deeb (Clifton, Passaic), Anisa Mehdi (Maplewood, Essex), Sarah Slaiman (Franklin Park, Somerset), Pinar Kayaalp, Ph.D. (Tenafly, Bergen)