Leading Arab-American advocacy group roiled by calls for leaders to resign and donations to be returned

They now join current staff members and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib in demanding that the entire 10-member board step down to make way for a transitional team. They are also calling for a clear public apology over what they allege was years-long sexual harassment and assault by men at the top of the organisation. The current employees, who are all Arab women, launched an Instagram account on 25 April to demand that the civil rights organisation return to the community it was built to protect. We answer first to the Arab American community that has built, sustained, and entrusted in our mission that is larger than any board or its chair. No small group of individuals has the right to compromise that mission while expecting staff and community members to absorb the consequences, their statement reads. We stand with over a dozen women, including Representative Rashida Tlaib, who were harmed and failed by the institution that should have protected them. We believe survivors, and we are committed to ensuring their safety and dignity moving forward. Tlaib posted a video last week detailing the harassment she faced, as well as stories of other victims who approached her when she was elected to public office. She demanded that the ADC take down her photo from their website. Within hours, national executive director Abed Ayoub - whom Tlaib named as being complicit in playing down the harassment - was replaced by the ADC’s national legal director, Jenin Younes. The ADC called the move a deliberate one that comes at a moment when ADC’s legal advocacy work has never been more urgent in courts, on campuses, and in Congress. MEE has reached out to Tlaib and Ayoub, but did not receive a response in time for publication. Lawyers for ADC chair Safa Rifka referred MEE to the group's social media statement shared on Monday, which urged anyone impacted by a negative experience with the ADC to send us a direct message. Some of what is being circulated involves incidents from more than a decade ago after which we took corrective action, the statement said. Because we recognize that the passage of time does not erase harm, we reiterate our previous apology sincerely and without reservation today. Following those incidents and for more than a decade, we have had a zero-tolerance policy for harassment. Some of the women who have accused ADC board members of misconduct told MEE they waited to speak up because they feared reprisals, particularly given that these issues are often taboo within Arab communities. Others submitted written complaints via email that date back to 2006, per documents reviewed by MEE. 'Worst cases I've seen' Ed Hasan, best known as host of the Sumud Podcast, told MEE on Tuesday that he was invited to join the ADC board in December, given his expertise in organisational governance and human resources strategy. He is a longtime donor to the organisation. But within five months, he was fired from the volunteer role. 'I've been doing this for almost 20 years. This is one of the worst cases I've seen' - Ed Hasan, host of Sumud Podcast Nobody was transparent with me, he told MEE. I've been doing this for almost 20 years. This is one of the worst cases I've seen. In a demand letter sent to the ADC by Hasan's lawyers last week, his removal was described as being in direct retaliation for raising documented concerns (regarding harassment, governance failures, investigative conflicts, and a legally defective confidentiality agreement), which he is obligated to raise as part of the fiduciary duty owed by a director. The letter added that the firing was procedurally void, substantively baseless, and retaliatory in nature. A demand letter is a last resort effort before a lawsuit materialises. “Based on the bylaws, most of the board members have overstayed [and] you’re supposed to cycle out every few years, right? That’s the way, normally, that boards work,” Hasan said. The board is a vast majority male and over the age of 60, Hasan described. The ADC's bylaws, he said, were changed at will; there was no human resources team to deal with friction, and conflicts of interest were rife as the board attempted to investigate itself when complaints were made. Now, in comments left across the organisation's social media accounts, several of the ADC's supporters are demanding that their donations be returned. I can no longer in good faith support this organization. I am shocked at this level of infighting, corruption and lack of accountability... Can someone contact me to issue a refund? Lebanese-American physician Ali Dabaja wrote. I will stop my donation to ADC. Pushing Abed Ayoub out of the organization AND pushing Ed Hassan out of the board and maintains those who are accused of decal [sic] harassment AND maintaining Safa as the board chair - none of these actions bodes well. How shameful, donor Rania Masri wrote. They don't respect women. They really don't, Hasan said. I get the culture stuff, but this is ADC. It's a firm. It's an organisation to help people, he told MEE. The ADC has been one of the largest groups promoting pro-Palestine activism, particularly since the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, and the subsequent genocide in Gaza, where Israel's war on the enclave has resulted in over 72,000 deaths. Since the second Trump administration assumed power in January 2025, the group has also taken on legal cases defending free speech rights, and it has set up a hotline for Arab Americans harassed or detained by immigration officials. Culture Washington News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0