The Arab American News
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How Arab American voters’ backlash could imperil Biden’s 2024 campaign
December 8th, 20230 Arab American and Muslim American anger over President Biden's handling of the Israeli war on Gaza could be endangering his re-election in the majority of 2024 swing states. Driving the news: Michigan, Virginia, Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania all have notable pockets of these populations. There aren't reliable statistics on how...
The Arab American News’ Publisher Osama Siblani: Here is what Biden needs to do to get our vote in 2024
December 8th, 20230 By Damita Menezes, (NewsNation) Osama Siblani, the publisher of The Arab American News, expressed deep dissatisfaction with President Biden’s approach to the Israel-Palestinian conflict in an “On Balance” interview raising concerns of Biden’s reelection chances in key swing states. Biden faces multiple challenges as he...
Thanedar blames a hack of his social media for a tweet that says Israel a “terrorist state”
December 8th, 20230 Democratic U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar said he's investigating how his X account was hacked overnight after he deleted what he said was an unauthorized post decrying the "terrorist state of Israel" and "genocide" in Gaza. "I was just hacked, and a misleading tweet was sent from my account," Thanedar wrote on X, formerly Twitter, around...
U.S. sales of Palestinian keffiyehs soar, even as wearers targeted
December 8th, 20230 A growing number of Americans are donning the keffiyeh, the distinctive patterned scarf that's closely linked with Palestinians, to demand a ceasefire to Israel's attacks on Gaza or to signal their support for Palestinians. Sales of the scarves have jumped since the Israel war on Gaza that began in October, U.S. distributors say, even...
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar plotted Israel’s most deadly day in plain sight
December 8th, 20230 Last year, Yahya Sinwar told a rally in Gaza that Hamas would deploy fighters and rockets in a fierce strike on Israel, the nation that imprisoned him for 23 years before he was freed and rose to a leadership role in the militant group. The speech by Hamas' leader in Gaza to thousands of cheering supporters bore the hallmarks of...
For years, the FBI quietly stopped tracking anti-Arab violence and hate crimes
December 8th, 20230 The families of three college students of Palestinian descent who were shot on November 25 in Vermont are calling it a crime "fueled by hate." So far, police in Burlington say they don't have information to suggest what the motive for the attack was. Still, the shooting surfaces long-standing issues in tracking possible hate crimes...
U.N. calls for “irreversible” move toward two-state solution to Palestinian-Israel conflict
December 1st, 20230 On Wednesday, the United Nations called for the international community to move towards a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, saying Jerusalem should serve as the capital of both states. "It is long past time to move in a determined, irreversible way towards a two-state solution, on the basis of United Nations...
U.N. chief says Gaza in midst of “epic humanitarian catastrophe”
December 1st, 20232 On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the Gaza Strip was in the midst of an "epic humanitarian catastrophe", as calls grew for a ceasefire to replace the temporary truce between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants. "Intense negotiations are taking place to prolong the truce – which we strongly welcome...
Gov. Whitmer re-appoints Portia Roberson and Zenna Elhasan to the Michigan Civil Rights Commission
December 1st, 20230 LANSING – Governor Whitmer has reappointed Portia Roberson, of Detroit, and Zenna Faraj Elhasan, of Dearborn, to serve second four-year terms on the Michigan Civil Rights Commission. Both Roberson and Elhasan were originally appointed to the Commission in December of 2019, with their first terms ending this year on December 31. Their...
Prosecutor: Detroit gas station clerk’s fatal shooting of teen was in self-defense
December 1st, 20231 DETROIT – A 28-year-old gas station store clerk from Dearborn will not be charged in connection to the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Yaqoub Nagi from Detroit, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. The clerk acted in "lawful self-defense" when he fatally shot Nagi at a Citgo gas station in Detroit, the Prosecutor's...
Michigan lawmakers urge Biden to “advance a lasting ceasefire” in Gaza
December 1st, 20230 LANSING — Twenty-five Michigan lawmakers sent a letter to President Biden Wednesday, urging him to “advance a lasting ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas. In the letter, the state lawmakers noted that international organizations — including the United Nations, the World Health Organization and UNICEF — faith leaders, elected...
Diseases could kill more Palestinians in Gaza than bombs, WHO warns
December 1st, 20230 GENEVA — More people could die from disease than from bombings in the Gaza Strip if its health system is not repaired, a World Health Organization spokesperson said, warning of a surge in infectious diseases and diarrhea in children. In figures deemed reliable by the United Nations, Gaza health authorities say more than 15,000 people...
State lawmakers and activists stage hunger strike calling for ceasefire in Gaza
December 1st, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than a dozen state lawmakers and activists in the U.S. — including actor Cynthia Nixon from Sex and the City — have started a hunger strike calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The five state lawmakers taking part in the hunger strike beginning Monday are Delaware State Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton, New...
Beydoun is second Democratic senate candidate to refuse an offer to run against Tlaib instead
December 1st, 20230 Nasser Beydoun, a Dearborn resident and a Democrat seeking the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), said he was offered campaign contributions of $20 million to quit the senate race and run against Democratic U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Dearborn) in the 2024 Democratic primary. Beydoun, a well known businessman...
MSNBC faces mounting outrage for canceling Mehdi Hasan’s show
December 1st, 20230 On Thursday, progressive lawmakers, activists and advocacy groups voiced their outrage at MSNBC’s decision to cancel a show hosted by Medhi Hasan, claiming that the network was seeking to silence one of its most prominent Muslim on-air personalities. “It is bad optics for MSNBC to cancel @mehdirhasan’s show right at a time when he......
ACRL’s sixth annual justice ceremony honors Harvard law professor and local judge
November 25th, 20233 DETROIT – On Wednesday, November 15, the sixth Annual Justice Tribute, hosted by the Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL) and the Detroit Branch NAACP, honored Amir H. Ali, a distinguished civil rights attorney and president and executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center, and Third Judicial Circuit Judge Deborah H....
Hollywood wages “holy war” on stars who dare to speak for Palestinian justice
November 24th, 20230 Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon and Scream star Melissa Barrera were each dropped by Hollywood companies after making comments on the Israeli war on Gaza that some deemed "anti-Semitic." Spyglass Media Group, the production company behind the upcoming Scream VII, acknowledged Barrera’s exit from the horror franchise. The......
Senate candidate Hill Harper rejected $20 million offer in campaign contributions to run against Rashida Tlaib instead
November 24th, 20230 Democratic U.S. senate candidate Hill Harper said he rejected a $20 million offer in campaign contributions from a Michigan businessman to pull out of the senate race and run against U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) in 2024. According to Harper, he declined the offer from the alleged donor, Linden Nelson, which would have split the...
Governor Whitmer calls for special election to fill vacant house seats
November 24th, 20230 LANSING - On Wednesday, Governor Whitmer sent a letter to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson calling for a special election to fill two vacant seats in the Michigan House of Representatives. The vacancy is caused by the elections of State Representative Lori Stone, who previously represented the 13th House District, to mayor of...
Local communities continue to support Palestinians against Israeli brutality for the seventh week in a row
November 24th, 20230 While the city of Detroit joined the growing list of American cities in solidarity with the Palestinian people, communities and students in the Detroit area continued their protest activities against the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip for the seventh week in a row. A student demonstration at the University of Michigan resulted in...
Obama-era former National Security Council official arrested for spewing Islamophobic language at food vendor
November 24th, 20230 NEW YORK – A former Obama-era National Security Council official has been arrested after a series of videos shared widely on social media showed him using hate-laden, Islamophobic language against an employee working inside a New York City food cart, police said. Stuart Seldowitz, 64, was arrested Wednesday on preliminary charges of......
Boycott campaigns over Israeli war on Gaza hit Western brands in some Arab countries
November 24th, 20230 CAIRO – On a recent evening in Cairo, a worker cleaned tables in an empty McDonald's restaurant. Branches of other Western fast-food chains in the Egyptian capital also appeared deserted. All have been hit by a largely spontaneous, grassroots boycott campaign over Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip since the surprise Hamas...
Dissent over Biden’s policy in the Israeli war on Gaza stirs unusual public protests from federal employees
November 20th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal government workers from the State Department to NASA are circulating open letters demanding that President Biden pursue a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. Congressional staffers are picking up microphones in front of the Capitol, speaking out to condemn the silence of lawmakers about the toll on......
U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) won’t seek re-election
November 17th, 20230 FLINT – Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee announced he will not be seeking re-election in 2024. Kildee, who represents Michigan's 8th Congressional District, says that being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year helped him make the decision. "I was first elected to public office when I was 18-years-old," Kildee said in a...
U.S. public support for Israel plummeting; majority backs a ceasefire, Reuters/Ipsos shows
November 17th, 20230 WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. public support for Israel's war on Gaza is eroding and most Americans think Israel should call a ceasefire to a conflict that has ballooned into a humanitarian crisis, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll. Some 32 percent of respondents in the two-day opinion poll, which closed on Tuesday, said "the U.S. should......
