JORDANIAN-AMERICAN DANA SHUBAT APPOINTED AS BIDEN’S SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS ADVISER

Wed 06 January 2021:

US President-elect Joe Biden has appointed a Jordanian-American woman as his senior legal affairs adviser.

Dana Shubat, a legislative aide to Colorado Senator Michael Bennet, was named for the post last week alongside 100 other White House staffers.

Biden said her appointment added to the diversity of his administration which is 61 per cent female and 54 per cent people of colour, PBSreported.

“From the beginning, Vice President-elect [Kamala] Harris and I have sought to build an administration that looks like America. Building a diverse team will lead to better outcomes and more effective solutions to address the urgent crises facing our nation,” Biden said.

Adding, “moving forward together, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish.”

Shubat often served as the lead on Middle Eastern issues in Bennet’s office and is active in groups which advocate for peace in the region, the New Arab reported.

The Jordanian-American also serves as vice president to the Congressional Middle Eastern and Northern African Staff Association.

Shubat, who is the daughter of Jordanian immigrants, is the second Arab-American woman appointed to a key position in Biden’s White House before the administration takes office.

The Jordanian-American joins Reema Dodin, a longtime Palestinian-American Capitol Hill aide who was appointed deputy director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs in late November.

Dodin, whose family is originally from Dura, near occupied Hebron, will be the first Palestinian-American to serve as a White House staffer, according to Wafa news agency.

Biden said he hoped the pair would “draw from their expertise and life experiences to help us build the country back better”.

In August, Biden released an unprecedented “Plan for Partnership” with Arab-Americans in which he referred to the group as “essential to the fabric of our nation”.

In the statement Biden pledged to include Arab-Americans in his administration and work to fight “anti-Arab bigotry”.

In the November US election, Democratic Palestinian candidate Iman Jodeh was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives.

While, Muslim-American Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib retained their seats in the US House of Representatives.

The pair became the first Muslim women to be elected to the US Congress in 2018. In office, both have spoken out over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.