• Executive director of the Arab American Institute Foundation

Helen Samhan is the executive director of the Arab American Institute Foundation, a 501(c)(3) affiliate of the Arab American Institute, the latter of which is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that pushes an Islamist agenda by abusing its political clout. In February 2003, Samhan attended a news conference where she was among a group of vocal supporters of Sami al-Arian; these supporters complained that the United States government was mistreating al-Arian, who was the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad operations in North America. In August 2003, Samhan participated in a news conference set up to denounce President George W. Bush's recess appointment of Daniel Pipes to the United States Institute of Peace (USIP).