The Arab American News
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Bahraini family adapts to life in the U.S. after fleeing homeland
September 19th, 20140 The Omran family.DEARBORN — Few Michiganians may be aware that their state is home to a small Bahraini community. The Omran family is from the small island country of Bahrain and has lived in Michigan for the past three and a half years. Dr. Qasim Omran and his wife have three sons and one daughter. They fled their...Terri Lynn Land’s family charity calls Islam, Judaism, Buddhism obstacles
LANSING — An evangelical Christian non-profit group operated by the family of republican U.S. Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land lists Islam, Judaism and Buddhism as "obstacles" to its mission in a promotional video. Land's campaign spokesperson told the Huffington Post, which broke the story last week, that Land "has no role” in...
TAAN publisher to speak on Syrian crisis in Flint
September 19th, 20140 Siblani.FLINT — Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News, will speak at a panel discussion entitled Syria: Internal Political Turmoil and Regional Interests” on Wednesday, Sept. 24, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.The discussion will provide a better understanding of the internal and regional Syrian conflict and its...
Amal Movement commemorates Imam Sader disappearance in Dearborn
September 19th, 20140 Photo by: Nafeh AbuNab.DEARBORN — On Saturday, Sept. 13, the Amal Movement in North America commemorated the 36th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sader, the founder of the movement. The commemoration took at the Islamic Institute of Knowledge, in the presence of community members and faith leaders.Sader disappeared in...
Activists: decrease in reported cases involving profiling of Muslims at Canada-U.S. border
September 19th, 20140 Geoff Boyce (center) from the activist group No More Deaths speaks at the Northern Borders conference.DEARBORN — According to immigrants’ rights activists, the number of cases being reported involving the profiling of Muslims at the Canada-U.S. border has seen a significant decrease. Immigration activists from around the...New York man charged with trying to help “Islamic State”
NEW YORK — A Rochester, New York, man has been indicted on charges of trying to provide material support to the "Islamic State" militant group and attempting to murder U.S. soldiers, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.A federal grand jury in Rochester handed down a seven-count indictment against Mufid Elfgeeh, 30, following...U.S. to help train people to spot potential violent extremists
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government launched a program on Monday to reach out to key members of communities across the country to try to stop radicalized young people joining "Islamic State "and other extremist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq."Today, few threats are more urgent than the threat posed by violent extremism," Attorney...Fighting ISIS: A coalition of uncertainty
One way to grasp the immense difficulty facing President Obama as he tries to forge an effective international coalition to oppose the Islamic State is to examine the difference between this effort and the last time the United States led a diverse group of countries to take on a conflict in the Middle East: Operation Desert Storm, in...Detroit police should stop intimidating gas station owners
Last week, Detroit Police Chief James Craig was supposed to meet gas station owners in the city to listen to their grievances. More than 65 gas station entrepreneurs gathered at the DoubleTree Hotel to tell the chief about the shortcomings of his force— from repeated ticketing for the same offense to neglect and delayed response....
“Islamic State” captures Kurdish villages, U.S. Congress approves arming rebels
September 19th, 20140 Syrian militants carry a rocket before firing it towards Hama military airport that is controlled by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in the Hama countryside July 25.DAMASCUS — "Islamic State" militants backed by tanks captured 16 Kurdish villages in northern Syria near the Turkish border, on Thursday, prompting...
Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem: Obama does not want to finish ISIS
September 19th, 20140 BEIRUT — When Hizbullah intervened in Syria, it was accused by anti-Syrian government politicians in Lebanon of supporting the Syrian president for sectarian regions. However, the group maintains that it joined the war in Syria to protect the Lebanese border from the threat of takfiris, extremists who consider others infidels.In an...Activists tackle community issues at Islamic House of Wisdom meeting
DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Community activists and organizers held a meeting at the Islamic House of Wisdom on Wednesday, Sept. 19 and decided to start working on solutions to combat Islamophobia and increase youth social and spiritual engagement.Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, the spiritual leader of the House of Wisdom, called for the gathering as...Houthi militants push into Sanaa
A follower of the Houthi movement holds up a photo showing Yemen's President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi (R) sitting with General Ali Muhssein (L) and General Saleh Fadhil, outside Fadhil's house.SANAA — Armed Shi'a rebels pushed into Yemen's capital Sanaa after clashing with the army on the northwestern outskirts on Thursday, security...Miltants abduct Lebanese soldier from home
BEIRUT — Militants Wednesday kidnapped a Lebanese Army soldier as he went to visit his family in Wadi Hmeid on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Ersal, security sources said.According to eye witnesses, gunmen in two pickup trucks snatched First Adjutant Kamal Mohammad Hujeiri, taking him by surprise, and fled to Ersal's...Libya’s parliament rejects PM’s new cabinet
Libya's Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni speaks to reporters in Abu Dhabi Sept. 10.TRIPOLI — Libya's elected parliament has rejected the new cabinet of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, dealing a fresh blow to the acting premier whose government was forced to flee the capital Tripoli last month after it was taken over by......
Bahrain slams Qatar for offering citizenship to its citizens
MANAMA — A Bahraini minister sharply criticized Qatar Wednesday for offering citizenship to Sunni nationals of the small Gulf kingdom, warning of "action" if it does not end the practice.Bahrain, like Qatar, has a Sunni Muslim regime, but its population is majority Shiite, and the loss of Sunnis would exacerbate that demographic...UN brokers Israeli-Palestinian deal on Gaza reconstruction
GAZA — The United Nations has brokered an Israeli-Palestinian deal on imports of construction materials to Gaza to ensure they will not be diverted by Hamas militants, an envoy said Tuesday.The agreement on monitoring the supply of materials "must get up and running without delay," said Robert Serry, the UN envoy for the Middle......
Russia, Egypt seal $3.5 billion preliminary arms deal
CAIRO — Russia and Egypt have reached a preliminary deal for Cairo to buy arms worth $3.5 billion from Moscow, Interfax news agency quoted the head of a Russian state arms agency as saying on Wednesday.Speaking during an arms trade exhibition in South Africa, the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, Alexander...Children’s respiratory illness spreads to a dozen U.S. states: CDC
WASHINGTON — A serious respiratory illness sickening U.S. children has spread to 12 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday, as it predicted that more states will report cases in coming weeks.The growing list of states with confirmed cases now includes Alabama, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,...“Islamic State” attracts several female jihadis from Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS — U.S. law enforcement is investigating a new phenomenon of women from the American heartland joining Islamic State as President Obama vows to cut off the militants' recruiting at home.At least three Somali families in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have female relatives who have gone missing in the past six weeks and may...
Arabic poet translator awarded MacArthur Foundation Fellowship
September 19th, 20140 ANN ARBOR — University of Michigan Ann Arbor professor Khaled Mattawa has received the 2014 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. Mattawa, 50, was born in Libya and moved to the United States in 1979. The award is widely referred to as the “Genius Grant.” Only 21 fellows were selected. Other fellows include a cartoonist,......
Detroit City Council members launch immigration task force
September 19th, 20140 DETROIT — Detroit officially became a welcoming city for immigrants with the launch of an immigration task force that was introduced by city council members Raquel Castaneda-Lopez and Andre Spivey. The task force announced it was joining the national “Welcoming Cities and Counties” initiative, which is a project of Welcoming...Governor requests federal disaster declaration for Aug. 11 floods
LANSING – Governor Snyder requested that President Obama declare a major disaster for the state of Michigan as a result of the flash flooding that occurred in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties on Aug. 11. The request comes at the conclusion of an in-depth, two-week assessment of damage to the area.Snyder requested......
Iraqi army launches offensive on militants in three cities
BAGHDAD — Iraqi forces launched an intense military operation against "Islamic State" insurgents in three cities in central Iraq on Wednesday, fighting to regain control of lost ground, security sources said.The offensives in Ramadi, Falluja and Haditha in the western province of Anbar started before dawn, security sources in the three...U.S. Army soldier accused of smuggling immigrants
TEXAS — A U.S. Army soldier has been accused of smuggling two undocumented immigrants across the Texas-Mexico border while in uniform, according to a federal criminal complaint.Eric Alexander Rodriguez, 20, a private in the Army, was charged with felony "bringing in and harboring certain aliens" on Friday in United States District......