The Arab American News
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Trump is a convicted felon. Now what?
May 31st, 20240 Donald Trump became the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime on Thursday when a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence a porn star ahead of the 2016 election. After two days of deliberation, the 12-member jury pronounced Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts he...
Poll: Biden’s support continues to plummet among Arab Americans amid Gaza war
May 31st, 20240 Forty percent of Arab Americans in key U.S. swing states, including Michigan, say they are "not enthusiastic at all" about November’s election. WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Biden’s support among Arab American voters in critical swing states has plummeted during the war in Gaza, a new poll found, in the latest sign that the United...
Michigan Bureau of Elections declares nine Michigan Congressional candidates’ primary ballot petitions invalid
May 31st, 20240 LANSING – Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's Office declared that nine Congressional candidates failed to submit enough valid petition signatures to make the primary ballot in August, according to reports released Friday afternoon, May 24. The determinations, if confirmed by the Board of State Canvassers next week, could whittle...
Hassan Alwaily, 37, sentenced to 10-40 years in the death of Balkees Sadek
May 26th, 20240 DETROIT — Wayne County Judge Paul Cusick sentenced Hassan Alwaily to 10 to 40 years May 24 for second-degree murder in the April 6, 2020 death of 29-year-old Balkees Sadek in Dearborn. If it were up to Cusick, Alwaily would spend the maximum 40 years of his sentence in prison for fatally strangling Sadek, who was his girlfriend, and...
Iran’s President Raisi buried in Mashhad as mourners pack Iranian holy city
May 24th, 20241 President Ebrahim Raisi was buried in the Iranian holy city of Mashhad on Thursday as many thousands of mourners packed its streets for his funeral, four days after he died in a helicopter crash, footage broadcast by Iranian media showed. Raisi, 63, was widely seen as a candidate to succeed 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who...
Dearborn to enforce property maintenance requirements during upcoming Spring Sweep Week
May 24th, 20240 The city of Dearborn will kick off a two-week Spring Sweep Week campaign to educate on, survey and enforce property maintenance requirements among residents and businesses beginning Monday, May 20. The enforcement campaign will run through May 31. Spring Sweep Week is an annual effort led by the city’s Economic Development...
U.S. House votes to force weapons shipments to Israel, rebuking Biden
May 18th, 20240 WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that would force President Biden to send weapons to Israel, seeking to rebuke the Democrat for delaying bomb shipments as he urges Israel to do more to protect civilians during its war with Hamas. The Israel Security Assistance Support Act...
U.S. unveils proposal to ease restrictions on marijuana
May 18th, 20240 On Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department unveiled a historic proposal to ease restrictions on marijuana, a rule that if enacted would also enable more research on its medicinal benefits. The proposal, first announced in April, would reclassify cannabis from a so-called schedule one drug to schedule three. Schedule one drugs, such as...
Detroit man charged in fatal road rage attack that claimed the life of Reda Saleh
May 17th, 20240 DETROIT – Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has charged Desmond Burks, 33, of Detroit, with second degree murder in connection with a road rage incident that killed Reda Saleh, 67, of Dearborn. On April 17, at approximately 6:45 p.m., Detroit police officers were dispatched to intersection of West Chicago Street and Greenfield Road...
“Israel must be stopped” in Gaza, South Africa tells World Court
May 17th, 20240 THE HAGUE – On Thursday, South Africa urged the U.N.'s top court to order a halt to Israel's offensive on Rafah, saying attacks on Gaza city "must be stopped" to ensure the survival of the Palestinian people. South Africa's ambassador to the Netherlands, Vusimuzi Madonsela, asked judges to order Israel to "immediately, totally and...
Detroit will host People’s Conference for Palestine from May 24-26 at Huntington Place
May 17th, 20240 DETROIT – Organizations, collectives, movement leaders, trade unionists, community members, students and intellectuals, artists and cultural workers, and activists will convene in Detroit from May 24-26 for the People’s Conference for Palestine. The conference comes as Israel’s brutal genocide in Gaza completes seven months, with...
Palestinians mark 76 years of their dispossession, the Nakba, as more catastrophe unfolds in Gaza
May 17th, 20240 On Wednesday, Palestinians marked the 76th year of their mass expulsion from their country, Palestine — what is now Israel — an event at the core of their national struggle. But in many ways that experience pales in comparison to the calamity now unfolding in Gaza. Palestinians refer to it as the Nakba, Arabic for catastrophe....
Federal lawsuit filed against Lebanese banks and their American affiliates for defrauding U.S. depositors
May 17th, 20240 WASHINGTON, D.C. — According to a complaint filed May 15 in federal court, for years, Banque du Liban (BDL), Byblos Bank, S.A.L. (Byblos) and others (together, the “Lebanese Banking Enterprise”) have stolen billions of dollars from U.S. depositors. These U.S. citizens and residents claim the Lebanese Banking Enterprise...
Dearborn man gets 10-30 years in fatal 2023 shooting of 28-year-old Dearborn Heights resident
May 17th, 20241 DEARBORN – A Dearborn resident has been sentenced to 10 to 30 years for the fatal shooting of Ahmed Nasserdine, 28, a resident of Dearborn Heights on July 6, 2023, court records said. Zayed Albodour, 53, received the sentence Friday in Detroit from Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Bridget Hathaway on a count of second-degree murder...
Two Arab American doctors charged with child abuse, causing mental harm
May 17th, 20240 BROOKFIELD, Wis. - Two Arab American doctors from Brookfield are charged with child abuse and causing mental harm to a child. A physician’s oath is "first, do no harm", but Brookfield police say two doctors didn't practice that this week. Prosecutors charged both Iyad Azzam and Wiaam Taha with two counts of felony child abuse and......
Tensions rise between University of Michigan officials and pro-Palestinian student activists
May 17th, 20240 Photos and story by Andrew Mullin ANN ARBOR – The student encampment at the University of Michigan entered its fourth week on May 13, continuing despite the end of the semester, rising concerns about police raids and university pushback. The Gaza solidarity camp at the University Diag currently stands with dozens of tents, with...
More than 500 Oxford faculty and staff endorse Gaza solidarity encampment
May 17th, 20240 OXFORD, U.K. – On Tuesday, just over a week since the establishment of Oxford’s “Liberated Zone” for Gaza, more than 500 members of the faculty and staff at the University of Oxford have now pledged their support in writing for the solidarity encampment and its demands. More signatures are being added in support daily. The......
Universities should protect student rights, promote safety and champion open discourse
May 10th, 20240 By Jamal I. Bittar In the past few weeks, over 2,600 students have been arrested across the U.S. as universities and colleges, traditionally seen as bastions of free expression, now grapple with clashes between students and overly aggressive law enforcement. The reliance on police enforcement and punitive measures to suppress protests...
Educate, don’t intimidate: Reimagining campus responses to protests
May 10th, 20240 By Morhaf Al Achkar, MD, PhD* In recent weeks, university campuses across the United States have transformed into epicenters of political activism. Sparked by the ongoing conflict in Gaza, students have established pro-Palestine encampments, seeking to express solidarity and raise awareness. Rather than engaging with these peaceful...
Gov. Whitmer pushes free community college plan at Livonia Career Technical Center
May 10th, 20240 LIVONIA — Michigan could be the first state in the nation to make preschool through community college free if Gov. Whitmer can convince state lawmakers to approve her plan as part of the state budget this summer. But that proposal — a key provision of her $80.7 billion budget plan — appears in jeopardy after the Democratic-led...
Who are Israel’s main weapons suppliers and who have halted exports?
May 10th, 20240 The United States has suspended a shipment of weapons to Israel, including heavy, bunker-busting bombs Israeli forces have used in their war against Hamas militants in Gaza that have killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians in seven months. President Biden acted in the face of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to pursue a......
Biden says U.S. won’t supply weapons for Israel to attack Rafah
May 10th, 20240 President Biden said that he would not supply offensive weapons that Israel could use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there. On Wednesday Biden said in an interview with CNN that the U.S. was still committed to Israel’s defense and would supply...
FLIP to award $111,500 in scholarships for 29 college-bound graduates from Dearborn, Dearborn Heights high schools
May 10th, 20240 Huntington Bank in partnership with The Arab American News will hold the FLIP scholarships 2024 Award Dinner on May 22 DEARBORN – For the third year in a row The Arab American News in partnership with Huntington Bank will distribute $111,500 in FLIP scholarships to 29 high school college-bound graduates from Dearborn and Dearborn......
Michigan Fuels, in conjunction with ExxonMobil, donates $15,000 to Dearborn Public Schools
May 8th, 20240 DEARBORN – Continuing an annual tradition of more than 30 years, Michigan Fuels – in partnership with ExxonMobil – donated $15,000 to Dearborn Public Schools, on Friday, April 26, in a ceremony at Fordson High School. “We are incredibly pleased and grateful to continue supporting our area high school students throughout...
Gaza needs minimum 16 years to rebuild lost homes, U.N. says
May 8th, 20240 GENEVA – Rebuilding Gaza's shattered homes will take at least until 2040, but could drag on for many decades, according to a U.N. report released on Thursday. Nearly seven months of Israeli bombardment have caused billions of dollars in damage, leaving many of the crowded strip's high-rise concrete buildings reduced to heaps, with a......
