WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, became the longest-tenured member of the House of Representatives on Feb. 12.

U.S. Rep. John Dingell, of Dearborn

He was congratulated a day early by President Barack Obama.
“Over the past 53 years, Chairman Dingell has been a champion for the health and well-being of hardworking Americans,” Obama said in a White House press release. “On behalf of the American people, let me say ‘thank you, Chairman Dingell,’ for your decades of distinguished service on behalf of (the) Fifteenth District.”

Dingell was first elected in a 1955 special electio.

After 19,420 days in office, Dingell breaks the record held by the late Jamie Whitten, a Mississippi Democrat who served from 1941 to 1994.

The member with the second-most seniority in the current congress John Conyers, another Demorcrat who also represents parts of Dearborn. Conyers was first elected in 1964.

Dingell is best known for his championing of the Detroit auto industry.

He has also played a major role in civil rights legislation, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and health care legislation, including the creation of Medicare in 1965.

Hamtramck City Councilman Abdul Algazali

Algazali: Hamtramck was first in state to condemn attacks on Gaza
Hamtramck – A week before Dearborn City Council passed a Jan. 22 resolution addressing last month’s 23-day war in Gaza, the Hamtramck City Council quietly passed its own resolution.

Hamtramck Councilman Abdul Algazali said on Wednesday he’s proud that his city was the second in the nation, after Cambridge Mass., in passing a gutsy resolution condemning the violence and calling for a ceasefire.

He said he saw Dearborn City Councilman George Darany at a recent function and let him know Hamtramck was the first around to go out on the limb for human rights.

“I said ‘we actually beat you guys,'” said Algazali.

On Jan. 15, all but one member of the Hamtramck council voted for a resolution to send a letter to then-President George W. Bush and current President Barack Obama.

“I made a motion to stop the madness and stop the killing of the women and children in Gaza,” he said.

A copy of the letter provided by Algazali reads “We write to you as the elected representatives for the City of Hamtramck, Michigan, home to one of the nation’s largest Arab American populations. Our purpose in writing to you is to express our extreme concern about the humanitarian disaster that is unfolding in Palestine.”

The letter included statistics on numbers killed and injured at the time, and concludes “This sad state of affairs is the very definition of un-American and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”

Algazali, who said he is running for mayor of the city in November, said it’s not the first time the council has addressed national and international issues.

In 2006, the council passed a resolution condemning federal actions that made it harder for Americans to donate to charities providing aid to war-torn areas in the Middle East.

Syrian choir to sing messages of peace

Southfield – The Al-Farah Choir, a well-known Syrian ensemble is schduled to perform on Feb. 27 at the Silver Garden Theatre, 24350 Southfield Road in Southfield.

Also known as the Choir of Our Lady of Damascus, the 30-year-old group features over 100 boys and girls from Syria who will perform Byzantine, Muslim, and Arab songs.

This event begins with a reception at 7 p.m., followed by the recital at 8p.m.

The Al-Farah choir highlights interfaith dialogue as a point of power in Syrian society, “where Christians, Muslims and Jews have lived in peace for ages,” reads a press release from the Syrian Consulate in Detroit.

“It’s a simple and important message of living in peace with each other through reaching out to the hearts of people around the world with music and song,” said Honorary Consulate General of Syria Naji Arwashan in the release.

Admission is free.

To reserve tickets in advance, email the Syrian Consulate at rsvp@syrianconsulate.org by Monday, Feb. 23.

Donations can be mailed to: P.O. Box 2392, Birmingham, MI 48012.

Lebanese American chamber requests minority status from interim Detroit mayor

The Lebanese American Chamber of Commerce recently presented Detroit interim mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. with a request that by executive order he designate Lebanese and Arab American businessmen and women and their companies minority status.

The proposal is modeled after San Francisco’s successful model and will allow Lebanese and Arab American business owners to secure more contracts that are usually set aside for minorities, according to chamber president John Akouri, who believes that the step is long overdue and would be a boon to the community in trying economic times.