The Arab American News
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Palestinian ends 113-day hunger strike
November 12th, 20210 A Palestinian prisoner ended a 113-day hunger strike on Thursday after Israel agreed not to extend his detention without trial beyond February, Palestinian officials said. Miqdad al-Qawasmi's mother voiced concern for his life earlier this week after his condition deteriorated. The officials said he refused food during the protest, but...
A Florida man who threatened to kill U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar has been convicted
November 11th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. – A 73-year-old man in Venice, Florida, has been convicted of threatening three members of Congress, and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said she was one of the targets. A federal jury found Frank Anthony Pezzuto guilty Wednesday of sending "three separate threatening communications to injure certain members of...
A long journey to a “historic” election
November 5th, 20210 This week, headlines regarding Tuesday’s election across local, national and international media included some version of the word "historic." Not surprising when one takes into consideration that three Arab American candidates in some of the state’s densest cities enjoyed landslide victories for mayoral races: Amer Ghalib in...
U.S. blacklists Israeli hacking tool vendor NSO Group
November 3rd, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Commerce Department added Israel's NSO Group and Candiru to its trade blacklist on Wednesday, saying they sold spyware to foreign governments that used the equipment to target government officials, journalists and others. Positive Technologies of Russia and Computer Security Initiative Consultancy PTE...
Israel, France to handle NSO spyware case “discreetly”, Israeli official says
November 1st, 20210 Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett agreed with French President Emmanuel Macron that the alleged misuse of spyware developed by an Israeli company, including against Macron, would be handled "discreetly", an Israeli official said on Monday. Israel says it has been investigating whether cyber firm NSO Group's Pegasus software,...
Let us make history on November 2
October 30th, 20211 Elections are always important. That is why, in every election since its inception, The Arab American News has encouraged the Arab American community to be involved in the decision-making process and to show up to vote and run for public offices. This local election is no different in terms of importance, but it is also unique in the...
Why we chose not to endorse either candidate for Hamtramck mayor
October 30th, 20210 Endorsing candidates for important offices is a major responsibility for local organizations and newspapers. For an ethnic newspaper, the voice of the community we advocate for has to be taken into consideration, as should the issues that affect it the most. But decisions on endorsements cannot simply come about with a superficial...
The Arab American News endorsements for Hamtramck’s City Council elections
October 30th, 20211 The Arab American News interviewed the six candidates who are running for the three seats on the Hamtramck City Council and have decided to endorse the following three candidates for the four-year term. Khalil Refai Khalil Refai is the front-runner during this election, leading in the polls during the August primary. Recently, he has...
Jerusalem’s mayor says he won’t shun U.S. consulate if it reopens
October 26th, 20210 JERUSALEM — Jerusalem's mayor dismissed media speculation on Tuesday that a U.S. consulate for Palestinians in the city would be denied municipal services if the Biden administration reopens it despite Israeli opposition. The rightist mayor, Moshe Lion, also said Washington's plan to reverse the Trump administration's subsuming of...
Dearborn, beware of rumors, haters and dividers in this election season
October 23rd, 20210 As much as we all hope and work for better outcomes, it seems as though Dearborn cannot have an election season without anonymous and false attacks and rumors. For the last few days, some individuals have been circulating on social media and through chats what they claim is a statement (in Arabic and English) issued by “Arab...
Deadly shooting rocks Beirut as tensions over blast probe erupt
October 14th, 20210 BEIRUT — At least six Shi'as were shot dead in Beirut on Thursday, in an attack on protesters who were heading for a demonstration called by Hezbollah to demand the removal of the judge investigating the explosion that ripped through the city's port last year. The Iran-backed Hezbollah and its ally, the Shi'a Amal Movement, accused...
Cleric Sadr wins Iraq vote, former PM Maliki close behind
October 11th, 20210 Shi'a Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's party was the biggest winner in an Iraqi election on Monday, increasing the number of seats he holds in parliament, according to initial results, officials and a spokesperson for the Sadrist Movement. Former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki looked set to have the next largest win among Shi'a...
Climate choices: Scenes from 2050
October 9th, 20210 A yellow-gray haze stains Midwestern skies. Fueled by years of drought and record-setting heat, smoke from the annual devastation of Western wildfires mixes with that from fires spreading across Wisconsin and Minnesota’s Northwoods. Tired of running on an indoor treadmill since May, a young man from Detroit joins his friends for a...
Facebook is a public health hazard
October 8th, 20210 — This article by Abdul El-Sayed originally appeared in the newsletter The Incision. It has been edited for style. Subscribe to The Incision here: incision.substack.com On Tuesday, former Facebook data scientist Frances Haugen testified before a Senate subcommittee, putting words to what we all knew but couldn’t quite...
U.N. ends Yemen war crimes probe opposed by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Russia
October 8th, 20210 GENEVA — Bahrain, Russia and other members of the U.N. Human Rights Council pushed through a vote on Thursday to shut down the body's war crimes investigations in Yemen, in a stinging defeat for Western states that sought to keep the mission going. Members narrowly voted to reject a resolution led by the Netherlands to give the......
Building momentum across Hamtramck Public Schools
October 6th, 20210 As superintendent, it is my honor to personally greet our children as they return to school each fall. This year is just as exciting to me—if not more so—as we are once more welcoming students back in person. Teachers, administrators and students alike have been eager to start school together again, and it’s a joy to experience...
Judge survives bid to remove him from Beirut blast investigation
October 4th, 20210 BEIRUT — The judge investigating Beirut's catastrophic port explosion survived attempts to have him removed from the inquiry when a court dismissed two complaints against him on Monday. The investigation into the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion, one of the biggest non-nuclear blasts in history, has made little headway amid a smear campaign......
CommuniTEA in Arabic, an inspiring, community-focused podcast, features stories of successful Arabs in North America.
October 1st, 20210 CommuniTEA in Arabic sponsored by Lipton Yellow Label is a podcast series highlighting the stories of successful Immigrants and first-generation Arabs within the Arabic communities in the U.S. and Canada. The show's vision is to uplift and connect its audience and provide a platform to showcase that the positive efforts of others can...
Angry relatives of Beirut blast victims protest probe delays
September 29th, 20210 BEIRUT — Hundreds of relatives of victims of last year's Beirut port explosion, some chanting and some silent, took to the streets on Wednesday, angry that an investigation into the disaster had been delayed for the second time this year. Some carried miniature figures of people on death row with signs below reading "the end for...
Biden to get COVID-19 booster on Monday as additional doses roll out
September 27th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Biden will receive a COVID-19 booster shot on Monday, the White House said days after his administration green-lighted a third shot of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine in certain populations. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week backed an additional dose of the Pfizer...
Lebanon at risk of complete blackout by end of the month
September 23rd, 20210 BEIRUT — Lebanon's state electricity company said on Thursday it risked a total blackout across the country by the end of September as its fuel oil reserves dwindle. Lebanon, in the throes of one of the worst economic meltdowns of modern history, has been plagued by worsening fuel shortages for the past few months with most......
Netanyahu suggests on Facebook that Biden fell asleep meeting new Israeli PM
September 20th, 20210 ISRAEL — Israel's former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested in a Facebook video posted on Sunday that President Biden had fallen asleep when meeting the new Israeli leader, Naftali Bennett, last month. A Reuters fact check previously debunked the idea that Biden dozed off, after social media users shared a video clip of...
Hezbollah brings Iranian fuel into Lebanon, checks U.S. sanctions with cheers from locals
September 16th, 20210 Hezbollah began bringing Iranian fuel into Lebanon via Syria on Thursday, a move the group says should ease a crippling energy crisis but which opponents say risks provoking U.S. sanctions. Dozens of trucks carrying Iranian fuel oil entered northeastern Lebanon near the village of al-Ain, where Hezbollah's yellow flag fluttered from......
Yemeni woman gives her time and wages to treat children malnourished by war
September 15th, 20210 HAJJAH — In the poor village of Jarb in northern Yemen, Ashwaq Mahmoud gives her time and spare cash to provide basic health services that people there could not otherwise reach or afford. The 23-year-old Mahmoud was trained by the U.N.'s children's agency UNICEF as a community health worker after a village elder noticed her...
Israeli prime minister visits Egypt in first official trip in a decade
September 13th, 20210 CAIRO — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday for talks on Israeli-Palestinian relations and bilateral issues, Egypt's presidency said, in the first official trip by an Israeli head of government to Egypt in a decade. Bennett, the head of a far-right party who took office......
