On September 7, 1984, when the Arab American community in Dearborn was almost exclusively centered in the “Dix” area in the southern part of the city, and when the number of Arab-owned businesses in Dearborn could be counted on one hand — not to mention the marginalization, racism and lack of political participation and involvement in public affairs — the journey of The Arab American News began.

During this time, it has been a platform, witness and spearhead in defending Arab causes and advancing the Arab American community in Dearborn and the wider Michigan area, becoming a symbol of ethnic community success in the United States.

First edition of The Arab American News.

The Arab American News celebrates its 40th anniversary, with a rich history of professional, societal and political achievements, despite all the challenges and difficulties it has faced. The newspaper has never ceased to be published in both Arabic and English over the past four decades, remaining steadfast in its mission to represent and empower Arab Americans and protect their rights and national causes, most notably the Palestinian cause.

This week, The Arab American News celebrates its 40th anniversary, with a rich history of professional, societal and political achievements, despite all the challenges and difficulties it has faced. The newspaper has never ceased to be published in both Arabic and English over the past four decades, remaining steadfast in its mission to represent and empower Arab Americans and protect their rights and national causes, most notably the Palestinian cause.

From its inception, The Arab American News was surrounded by skepticism and discouragement from some pessimistic voices and hesitant entities who questioned the usefulness of issuing a newspaper for a small community of a few thousand. Some even bet on its quick closure due to the lack of institutional and community financial support. However, the strong determination of its publisher, Osama Siblani, and the efforts of its staff ensured that the ambitious project continued. The newspaper went on to set records in longevity and continuity in the history of Arab American journalism.

As it celebrates its 40th anniversary, The Arab American News has published 2,013 weekly issues, despite financial obstacles and setbacks that at times made it difficult to pay bills and meet personal expenses for its staff. Over the 40 years, The Arab American News has maintained its original mission as “The Newspaper of Arab Americans in North America.” It has driven change in the Arab American community with responsibility, without ever adopting sectarian, denominational or nationalistic slogans. Instead, it has remained a unifying platform for all Arabs.

The Arab American News and AAPAC launched a campaign in 2000 and successfully defeated a proposed bond that was unfair and didn’t benefit Arab American students on the east side of the city. – File photo

For 40 years, The Arab American News has been a driver of change in the Arab American community in the Detroit area, which is now one of the most successful and prominent Arab immigrant communities in the United States and around the world. The newspaper has remained true to its political and cultural compass, despite temptations and setbacks, and has withstood the political complexities and challenges arising from sensitive Arab issues, especially the Palestinian cause. This has included combating stereotypes about Arab and Muslim Americans in the U.S., which fueled Islamophobia after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The mere establishment of The Arab American News in the mid-1980s was an achievement in itself, breaking the monopoly of mainstream media that typically told the stories of Arab Americans based on preconceived notions and biased perspectives. The early issues of the newspaper proved its value as a significant player in the ethnic media landscape in America. One indicator of its success was when Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Osama Siblani was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame in April 2013.

At its early stage, The Arab American News put an end to those who claimed to speak on behalf of Arab Americans without consulting them, exploiting their modest circumstances at the time. The community was largely confined to the Dix area (also known as the Southend of Dearborn), and many of its members worked in automotive factories or gas stations. At that time, outside of the Dix area, Arab-owned businesses in Dearborn were very rare, such as the grocery store Joe & Ed’s and Uncle Sam’s restaurant, founded by the father of Dearborn City Council President Mike Sareini, as well as Beirut Garden, a family-run Lebanese restaurant on Michigan Avenue.

The mere establishment of The Arab American News in the mid-1980s was an achievement in itself, breaking the monopoly of mainstream media that typically told the stories of Arab Americans based on preconceived notions and biased perspectives. The early issues of the newspaper proved its value as a significant player in the ethnic media landscape in America. One indicator of its success was when Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Osama Siblani was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame in April 2013.

Despite their small numbers and the lack of political and social involvement, Arab Americans in Dearborn were subjected to racist campaigns by prominent figures in the city during the 1970s and 1980s. One notable example was when Michael Guido, a mayoral candidate in 1985, rose from third place to win the election by using the offensive slogan on his infamous campaign tabloid: “Let’s Talk About the Arab Problem.”

The archives of The Arab American News document many of the battles the newspaper fought against the late Mayor Guido, who followed in the footsteps of his racist predecessor Orville Hubbard, who served as Dearborn’s mayor for 36 years (from 1942 to 1978) and was known nationally for his racism and support for segregation policies. By the 1980s, the Warren Avenue area in the eastern part of the city became a “buffer zone” between Dearborn’s White neighborhoods and Detroit’s predominantly Black neighborhoods.

The main street, which is now bustling with life, was at the time of The Arab American News’ founding lined with abandoned buildings boarded up because Dearborn residents at that time — mostly Irish, Italian and Polish — no longer wanted to live, work or shop in the area. This provided an opportunity for Arab immigrants to fill the void and expand, making Warren Avenue the first model of collective prosperity that Arab Americans could achieve outside of the Dix area.

Despite their expansion, Arabs remained an ostracized minority by the city government. It took years of struggle and political battles, in which The Arab American News played a crucial role, for Arab Americans to prove that they were not a “problem” as Guido had claimed. Today, Arab Americans hold almost all major positions in Dearborn, including the mayor, City Council, court leadership, the police chief and public health.

The Arab American News also played a pivotal role in supporting Arab American political aspirations and combating discriminatory policies against them in Dearborn in particular and Michigan in general, helping transform the city into the cultural and political capital of Arab Americans in the U.S.

The newspaper’s dedication to local and Arab causes alike has solidified its importance over the past four decades, and its impact on Dearborn’s political and social landscape remains profound.

However, achieving political leadership in Dearborn required more than two decades of continuous efforts, initiated by The Arab American News and the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC), through their combined support for the candidacy of Arab American attorney Abed Hammoud for mayor in 2001. This candidacy marked the beginning of a shift in the political mindset among Arab Americans in the city. The Lebanese-born attorney won the primary election, beating former Police Chief Ronald F. Deziel. Unfortunately, his historic victory coincided with the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, which led to a decline in his chances against Guido and an increase in anti-Arab and anti-Muslim rhetoric in the U.S.

Public schools were also among The Arab American News’ and AAPAC’s priorities. Since the 1990s, the newspaper has led and supported unprecedented initiatives to protect and advocate for Arab American students in the Dearborn Public Schools, in addition to rallying support for improving education in East Dearborn by upgrading existing schools and building new ones on the east side of the city. The newspaper also endorsed candidates sympathetic to Arab issues on the school board, such as Aimee Blackburn and Mary Lane, before Arab Americans themselves began running for positions on the board that oversees Dearborn Public Schools and Henry Ford College.

Interviews with Osama Siblani over the years.

In support of academic achievement, The Arab American News recently launched an annual scholarship program in partnership with Huntington Bank. This program is designed for high school graduates in Dearborn and Crestwood Public Schools in Dearborn Heights, focusing on students who contribute to their local community. Over the past three years, the newspaper has overseen the awarding of scholarships totaling more than $300,000 to dozens of students, most of whom are Arab American youth pursuing higher education in U.S. colleges and universities.

Alongside local issues, The Arab American News has remained committed to Arab causes since its first editions. One of its early journalistic endeavors was covering the 1985 hijacking of a TWA plane, claimed by a Lebanese group called “The Oppressed of the Earth.” The newspaper’s coverage of the incident and its discussions with the U.S. State Department reflected The Arab American News’ and Publisher Osama Siblani’s unwavering support for the Lebanese resistance and its right to defend Lebanon’s land and people against Israeli occupation, with boldness and courage, without fear or hesitation.

When the Gulf War broke out in 1990, The Arab American News had become one of the most important media outlets defending Arab causes both inside and outside the United States. Renowned CNN broadcaster Larry King described it as “an important newspaper in America” during an interview with Siblani on his famous show Larry King Live, in which he covered the developments and aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Interviews with Osama Siblani over the years.

Over the years, The Arab American News has played a role in educating, raising awareness and encouraging the Arab American community — in all its diversity — to engage politically and socially despite the pressures of daily life and security concerns. One of its biggest media battles was during the “Operation Grapes of Wrath” aggression launched by Israel against southern Lebanon in 1996. This aggression was one of the catalysts for the establishment of AAPAC in 1998, which successfully revolutionized Arab activism in the political scene in the Detroit area and across the Great Lakes region and always with the unconditional support of The Arab American News.

The Arab presence is no longer confined to the Dix neighborhood or East of Dearborn, nor even to Dearborn as a whole, which became the first American city where Arabs constitute more than half of its population. Today, Arab Americans are a powerful presence in various local decision-making circles, thanks to the efforts of The Arab American News and its strategic collaboration with AAPAC. The newspaper’s offices and pages have been open to all activists, leaders and officials seeking to work with and form alliances with Arab Americans. Its political activism even attracted the attention of the 2000 U.S. presidential candidate George W. Bush, who sought to court the Arab vote in Michigan before relations soured following his declaration of the so-called “War on Terror” in response to the September 11 attacks.

The list of contributions continues and extends through the archives of The Arab American News, which has been a spearhead in defending Arab causes. These include its celebration of the victory achieved by the Lebanese resistance in expelling the Israeli occupation in 2000, its constant demand for Washington to remove Hezbollah from its list of terrorist organizations or its opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and its organization of events and protests against the brutal war Israel launched on Lebanon in 2006. And then there’s the newspaper’s support for the Palestinian people’s rights, including their legitimate rights to be free of occupation and for self determination, especially during the ongoing war in Gaza since October of last year.

The newspaper’s support for Arab causes and resistance in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq has not only resulted in a wave of smear campaigns and incitement against The Arab American News by numerous pro-Israel institutions and lobbies in America, but also led to multiple attempts on Osama Siblani, some of which nearly took his life, if not for God’s hidden mercy.

The newspaper took its first steps when the Arab community was small and marginalized in southeastern Dearborn. Both the community and the newspaper grew together like twins, to the point that Arab Americans in recent years have become a cornerstone in cities like Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and Hamtramck. These cities are now led, for the first time in local history, by  mayors of Arab descent. In Hamtramck, Mayor Amer Ghalib, of Yemeni origin, ended 100 years of Polish leadership in the city surrounded by Detroit. Meanwhile, in Dearborn, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, of Lebanese origin, ended a long history of near-deliberate exclusion and marginalization of Arabs and Muslims in the city. Additionally, Bill Bazzi, of Lebanese origin, was elected as mayor of Dearborn Heights, reflecting the growing presence and role of Arab Americans in transforming that community from a “sleepy city” into a bustling center of commerce, with the newly established downtown on Ford Road being a testament to their accomplishments.

Moreover, the City Councils of Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and Hamtramck are increasingly represented by Arab and Muslim Americans, reflecting the growing electoral influence of the Arab vote in these cities. Currently, Arab Americans Mike Sareini and Mo Baydoun chair the City Councils of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, respectively, while Amer Ghalib chairs the Hamtramck City Council, as mandated by the city’s charter.

Thanks in part to the efforts of The Arab American News, the representation in Michigan’s government has changed, with the governor’s office now including dozens of Arab Americans, similar to the Secretary of State’s office and the Attorney General’s office, which employs several qualified Arab American attorneys. These were led by former Deputy Attorney General Fadwa Hammoud, who recently resigned from her position to join a well established law firm in Michigan.

In Wayne County government, Arab American Assad Turfe became the deputy county executive of the largest county in Michigan — home to 43 cities and towns and with a population of more than  1.75 million people — last year. The Wayne County court system now includes eight Arab American judges, and that number is still growing.

The list of elected and appointed officials is long and stretches across fields of politics, law, healthcare, economics, governance and philanthropy. Among them are U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit and State Rep. Alabas Farhat, who succeeded Abdullah Hammoud in representing Dearborn in the Michigan House of Representatives. Also notable is Abraham Aiyash (Hamtramck), the Democratic majority floor leader in the Michigan House, and Wayne County Commissioners Sam Baydoun and Al Haidus. Also, Dearborn Chief Judge Sam Salamey.

The number of distinguished professionals in fields such as medicine, engineering, law and accounting is too large to count, not to mention the expansion and prosperity of businesses throughout Wayne County, extending into neighboring counties like Oakland, Macomb and Washtenaw.

The picture today is a complete reversal of what the Arab American community in Dearborn looked like in the mid-1980s, following the waves of Arab immigration from Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Syria. Dearborn, the capital of Arab Americans, has now become a political hub not only for local officials but also for U.S. presidential campaigns. The importance and influence of the Arab American vote, and its key role in winning Michigan, is now recognized as a significant political force that could pressure the current U.S. administration to stop the war in Gaza, amid the official Arab incapacity to stop Israel’s brutal massacres against Palestinian civilians.

In this context, it is not surprising that presidential candidates like Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden before stepping aside, as well as Green Party candidate Jill Stein, are all seeking to attract Arab and Muslim American voters in the presidential election in November.

This week, The Arab American News celebrates the 40th anniversary of its establishment, proudly reflecting on the achievements it has accumulated day by day and year after year, despite the obstacles and changes affecting the journalism profession. Among the biggest challenges has been the rise of social media platforms, which lack professional filters, in addition to funding challenges. Yet, these challenges have not deterred the newspaper from fulfilling its commitment to its audience in representing Arab Americans in North America, a feat made possible by the loyal support of advertisers and a dedicated team of journalists who strive to ensure that the weekly issue is published on time without delay.

Forty years of holding on to our principles, and we are continuing to achieve more success for our Arab American community in Michigan and across the nation. And with each issue, we wish you well! Forward, together we continue.