The Arab American News
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Major events in Pro-Palestinian protests at U.S. universities
May 8th, 20240 Pro-Palestinian protests demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from companies linked to Israel have spread across U.S. universities in the two weeks since Columbia University administrators called in police to dismantle an encampment on their New York City campus. Below is a timeline of significant events in the biggest wave of...
“Our anger is righteous”: Hear students at U of M’s Gaza solidarity encampment in their own words
May 8th, 20241 By Andrew Mullen For months, student activists at the University of Michigan have called for their school to cut financial ties to the state of Israel, only to be met with rejection from university officials. However, the students refuse to be ignored. Following the lead of activists at Columbia University and other schools across the...
Biden plans to visit Detroit on May 19 to address NAACP dinner
May 6th, 20240 President Biden will return to Michigan this month to speak at the NAACP Detroit Branch's 69th annual Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner, his campaign confirmed Wednesday. The announcement came ahead of a planned Wednesday night campaign rally in Freeland, about 14 miles northwest of Saginaw, by former President Trump, the presumptive...
Palestinians are gratified for American students’ support, wonder why students in the Arab world are dormant
May 6th, 20240 Palestinians may be gratified to see American university campuses erupt in outrage over Israel's offensive in Gaza, but some in the embattled enclave are also wondering why no similar protests have hit the Arab countries they long viewed as allies. Demonstrations have rocked U.S. universities this week, with confrontations between...
Book: Awakening the Sleeping Tiger Within
May 6th, 20240 By Anne Marie Ameri, Ph.D. Dearborn has been called the “Sleeping Tiger” because of the potential political power of particularly the Dearborn Arabic residents when it is “awakened.” For five years, I was compelled to write this powerful book, Awakening the Sleeping Tiger Within: Breaking the Power of Mainstream Media’s...
Three Arab American candidates challenge pro-Israel Democrats in Michigan’s primary
May 4th, 20240 Three vocal Arab Americans against the Israeli genocide in Gaza who have been demanding a ceasefire in the war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have filed petitions to challenge two Democratic members of Congress and a pro-Israel Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan. The candidates cited frustration over their...
Sexual assault complaint filed against Warren chiropractor, video evidence presented
April 26th, 20240 Dearborn attorney Azzam Elder filed a complaint in Macomb County Circuit Court April 19 alleging that his client, referred to as Jane Doe in the court document, was sexually assaulted by Warren chiropractor John Pispidikis. Pispidikis owns the Spinal Recovery Center on 12 Mile Road. Elder held a press conference on the sidewalk...
Mass graves discovery in Gaza: What do we know and what are the consequences under international law?
April 26th, 20240 THE HAGUE – The discovery of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals, said by Palestinian authorities to contain hundreds of bodies, have triggered calls by the U.N. rights chief and others for an international investigation. While not defined under international law, a mass grave is a burial site containing multiple bodies, the existence...
Michigan to receive $156M in federal funds for rooftop solar panels in low-income areas
April 26th, 20240 LANSING – Michigan will get more than $156 million in federal funding for a program to expand residential solar in low-income communities, part of a federal initiative to confront climate change while reducing energy bills for people in low income areas. “Michigan is committed to leading the future of clean energy, lowering utility...
Michigan implementing “kinship care” rule; feds say it’s first in the country to do so
April 19th, 20240 Michigan has become the first state to be approved to implement separate licensing standards for kin caregivers — extended family members like grandparents, aunts and uncles serving as foster care providers. Advocates said goal of kinship care is to keep families together, increase equity in the child welfare system and allow...
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani visits Metro Detroit, meets with community
April 19th, 20240 On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani paid a quick visit to Metro Detroit. The Iraqi leader's first stop was at the Islamic Institute of America, a Dearborn Heights mosque, and his second stop was at the Shenandoah Country Club in West Bloomfield, where he had dinner with local Iraqi Americans. al-Sudani's visit was...
AG’s office to investigate how Fay Baydoun used a $20M grant
April 19th, 20240 Attorney General Dana Nessel's office has opened an investigation into a $20 million grant awarded to a Metro Detroit businesswoman used on expenses that included a $4,500 coffee maker, an $11,000 first-class plane ticket and $408,000 in salaries for two people over three months. Nessel's office confirmed Wednesday it had opened an...
U.S. vetoes widely supported resolution backing full U.N. membership for Palestine
April 19th, 20240 NEW YORK – The United States vetoed a widely backed U.N. resolution Thursday that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent. The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 12 in favor, the United States opposed and two...
New York City to pay $17.5 million for forcing women to remove hijabs for mug shots
April 12th, 20240 NEW YORK CITY —The city agreed to pay $17.5 million to settle a lawsuit by two Muslim American women who said the police violated their rights after arresting them by forcing them to remove their hijabs before being photographed. The preliminary class action settlement covers men and women required to remove religious attire...
Dearborn Heights landlord agrees to pay $185K to eight women he sexually harassed
April 12th, 20240 DETROIT – On Monday, April 8, the Justice Department announced that a Dearborn Heights landlord, Mohamad Hussein, has agreed to pay $185,000 in damages and a civil penalty to the government to resolve the Fair Housing Act (FHA) lawsuit concerning his sexual harassment of actual and prospective female tenants. Hussein has owned and......
Muslim and Arab American leaders are “out of words” as they tire of the White House outreach on the war in Gaza
April 12th, 20240 WASHINGTON , D.C.— Osama Siblani was sipping his morning coffee at the office when his phone buzzed with a message from one of President Biden’s advisers. As publisher of The Arab American News in Dearborn, Michigan, Siblani serves as an occasional sounding board, and the White House wanted to know what he thought of Biden’s recent...
“Death to America” chants during Al-Quds rally in Dearborn receive strong condemnation from Arab Americans: It has no place in our community
April 12th, 20240 DEARBORN – Anti-American chants from some participants in the International Day of Al-Quds or “International Jerusalem Day” march held in Dearborn last Friday sparked wide condemnation by local Arab and Muslim Americans. Several local officials and leaders in the Dearborn area were quick to condemn the chants, while the right-wing......
Tehran vows revenge after U.N. Security Council fails to condemn Israel’s strike on its embassy in Syria
April 7th, 20241 On Wednesday, the United States, Britain and France opposed a Russian-drafted U.N. Security Council statement that would have condemned an attack on Iran's embassy compound in Syria, which Tehran has blamed on Washington's ally Israel. Press statements by the 15-member council have to be agreed to by consensus. Diplomats said the U.S.,...
Hamas sticking to ceasefire conditions, including Israeli pull out of Gaza
April 7th, 20240 Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday that his Palestinian Islamist movement at war with Israel was sticking to its conditions for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, including an Israeli military withdrawal. Israeli officials visited Egypt earlier this week in a renewed effort to secure a deal, but a Palestinian official close to...
U.S. looking at report that Israel used AI to identify bombing targets in Gaza
April 7th, 20240 The United States was looking into a media report that the Israeli military has been using artificial intelligence to help identify bombing targets in Gaza, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told CNN on Thursday. Kirby, in the CNN interview, said the U.S. had not verified the content of the media report published...
Palestinian doctor walked out of Biden meeting, underscoring tensions over war in Gaza
April 7th, 20240 WASHINGTON, D.C. – A private meeting between President Biden and Muslim community leaders at the White House underscored tensions between the two camps as the Israeli war on Gaza rages on. Palestinian American doctor walked out of Tuesday evening's closed-door session, which was part of the administration's scaled-back events to mark......
$4,500 for a coffee maker? $40,000 for furniture? How Fay Beydoun is spending a $20m taxpayer grant
April 6th, 20240 A $20 million state grant given to Fay Beydoun, a Metro Detroit businesswoman in 2022 continues to raise concerns as former associates — including the chairman of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce — question the means by which the money was obtained and how it’s being spent. Fay Beydoun, who received the $20 million grant to...
Washington employs a blatant double standard, which is both evident and hypocritical
March 30th, 20240 By Jamal I. Bittar After numerous unsuccessful efforts spanning five months during Israel's destructive conflict in Gaza, the United Nations Security Council finally approved a resolution on Monday, urging for an immediate ceasefire. The United States, previously the sole obstacle to such a decision, opted not to veto the resolution......
U of M faculty coalition calls out administration for treatment of Arabs and Muslims on campus
March 30th, 20240 ANN ARBOR – A growing coalition of University of Michigan faculty members has united to confront what they see as the university administration’s inadequacies in crisis response concerning the challenges faced by Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students and staff within the campus community. This collective action follows “biased”...
Ireland to intervene in South Africa Genocide Case against Israel at the International Court of Justice
March 30th, 20240 Ireland plans to file an argument in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, according to the Irish government, making the move as the country has strongly condemned Israel’s actions against civilians in Gaza. South Africa has brought a case against Israel in the I.C.J., the United......
