Last year The Arab American News quietly celebrated its 25th anniversary. We felt the usual hoopla would be inappropriate given the dire economic circumstances most of the country’s citizens found themselves in. But the issues of our publication during that period were still filled with heartfelt congratulatory messages. This showed us that this paper has become an important part of the life of the community. Our distributors often describe people lining up waiting for the delivery of each weekly edition. Loyal readers become disappointed when the paper arrives later than usual because they have to make more than one trip to pick it up. They need and want each issue, it is part of their Friday night dinner tables and their weekend leisure.

Perhaps most importantly, the youth of our community read and contribute to our newspaper. One of the most important recognitions the newspaper has received over the past year, aside from Wayne State University’s prestigious Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award and many others, was an award from the Arab Student Union at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. These students are the leaders of the future. They embrace a newspaper that supports them and their community’s views and that speaks out on issues of importance. It gives them the courage of their convictions, which they sorely deserve.

We now celebrate our 26th anniversary four days ahead of memorializing the ninth anniversary of 9/11 and the losses of thousands of innocent lives.  Abroad our country continues to engage in wars, some covert, some not. We apparently lost the war in Iraq and the prognosis in Afganistan is grim to say the least. Here at home the Arab American and American Muslim communities continue to face unprecedented challenges borne of both hate and ignorance. All across the country, unbelievable acts of discrimination and violence are taking place. In Florida, an extremist pastor is holding a “Burn the Qur’an day” to observe the anniversary of 9/11. In New York, the attempt to build an Islamic community center near Ground Zero has sparked national outrage despite its mission to bring interfaith understanding. A New York Muslim taxi driver was stabbed twice by a passenger after confirming he was a Muslim. Mosques all over the country are being vandalized. Many of these incidents arise from ignorance spread by irresponsible and shallow media sensationalism. We at this newspaper will continue to respond to all of these challenges by educating our fellow Americans about the peaceful teachings of Islam and the beauty and positive contributions of our great Arabic culture.

Islamophobes need to learn that we won’t take this anymore. Whether from politician or pundit, we intend to fight this hate that feeds the ignorance that leads to harm of our community and our country.

We will also continue to work to bring the Arab American and Muslim communities into the fold by encouraging them to continue using their talents for the betterment of our nation’s society.

As this newspaper turns twenty-six, we realize that it has been a difficult yet rewarding project to sustain. The lives of a few people have been entirely devoted to its development and continuation and the work of many more has been needed to pull it together every week. We pledge to you today that we will continue to work relentlessly to meet the economic challenges presented by publication and we will continue to stand up as we have done in the last quarter-century-plus for the people of our community, their legitimate causes, and the interests of this great nation of ours. We’ll continue to do that with a balanced, fair-minded inclusiveness. You can count on it.

Between our anniversary and the ninth anniversary of 9/11, American Muslims will join more than 1.5 billion Muslims around the world in celebrating the end of the holy month of Ramadan. We take this opportunity to condemn the attacks that were carried out falsely in the name of Islam. We wish   Muslims around the world a happy Eid while also reiterating that Islam is a peaceful religion that preaches tolerance and understanding.