Experience
We have been in education our entire lives. We have been educators for the past 35 years, teaching at a community college level for the last 29 years at Muscatine Community College in Iowa. We had our higher education in business and economics. In addition, I have been serving on the Muscatine School Board of Education for the past 9 years and being the president of the board for the past three years.
We have been serving on the Sister Cities International board of directors as an elected director for the past nine years and representing the State of Iowa on that board.
We received national and international recognition for our work in education, citizen diplomacy, and politics. In 2017, Gov. Terry Branstad and the Iowa House of Representatives recognized our citizen diplomacy work with an outstanding citizen award. We were named Palestinian Person of the Year in 2020. In 2021, we served as a volunteer advisor for the Biden campaign’s foreign policy team, and we received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.
Important legislation
Public education: the past two years, Republicans had a major attack on public education. They voted for vouchers, which will hurt public education, especially in the rural areas; their votes to break the AEA; they voted to ban books.
They also voted against Iowa women’s reproductive rights. We are firm believers that a woman’s decision should be between her and her doctor. Politicians in Des Moines should not make the decision on Iowa women’s behalf.
Supporting the working families and raising the minimum wage, they also failed to do that. Because of all of this, we decided to run to change Des Moines and to be the voice of people.
Priorities
Public money for public education
Iowa women’s reproductive rights
Working families and minimum wage
And reinstating Chapter 20
A vote for John Dabeet is a vote for all the above.
Workforce
Raising Iowa’s minimum wage to a living wage
Building sustainable neighborhoods with adequate services and housing
Bringing good union jobs to southeast Iowa
Fertile ground for entrepreneurs and small business
Control inflation and prices to allow families to prosper
Presidential pick
Indeed, we support Harris/Walz. We need a candidate that can unite us and not divide us.