The Arab American News
Author's Posts
Wayne County Commission passes a symbolic Gaza ceasefire resolution
December 22nd, 20230 DETROIT – On Tuesday, the Wayne County Commission passed a symbolic resolution calling for a ceasefire amid the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza, after weeks of delay and heated discussion. The Commission's statement was also a brief one, "condemning all acts of violence against the Israeli and Palestinian people, and mourning the loss of...
Gov. Whitmer appoints renowned dermatologist Dr. Iltefat Hamzavi to the Michigan Board of Medicine
December 22nd, 20230 LANSING – On Thursday, Governor Whitmer announced the appointment of Dr. Iltefat Hamzavi to the Michigan Board of Medicine. This comes among other appointments to several other commissions and boards, including the Crime Victim Services Commission, Human Trafficking Commission and the Michigan Board of Nursing. “Today’s...
Israeli war on Gaza among the deadliest and most destructive in history, experts say
December 22nd, 20230 The Israeli war on Gaza, experts say, now sits among the deadliest and most destructive in history. In just over two months, the offensive has wreaked more destruction than the razing of Syria’s Aleppo between 2012 and 2016, Ukraine’s Mariupol or, proportionally, the Allied bombing of Germany in World War II. It has killed more...
Melvindale man pleads guilty after police recover 18 weapons, fake fed IDs from home
December 15th, 20230 MELVINDALE – On Tuesday, a Melvindale man pleaded guilty to several charges related to illegal firearm possession – after being found with 18 guns and 2 counterfeit law enforcement badges earlier this year. Saliah Algahmi, 37, has been charged with "unlawful possession of a firearm by a person who has been committed to a mental...
Arab American attorney’s job offer rescinded; “I was targeted for my background”
December 15th, 20231 An Arab American attorney is speaking out after she said she was fired the day before she was set to start a new job at the Chicago law firm Foley and Lardner. Jinan Chehade said the reason was her support of Palestinian rights. "Members of the firm who advocate for Israeli violence and who have expressed support for Israel were not...
Detroit man accused of threatening “to kill Arabs” in Clinton Township voicemail
December 15th, 20230 A Detroit man has been charged on allegations he left a voicemail with his Clinton Township-based attorney threatening to kill people of Arabic descent, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office press statement. Walter Purvis, 53, was arraigned Monday on a charge of false report or threat of terrorism in 41B District Court...
Three Beaumont hospitals restrict pediatric visitors as viruses spread in Metro Detroit
December 15th, 20230 ROYAL OAK — Three Beaumont hospitals in Metro Detroit are restricting visitors for pediatric units as of Wednesday due to a rise in respiratory illnesses in the hospital and throughout the community, officials announced in a press release. Starting Wednesday, Dec. 13, the following Corewell Health hospitals will be restricting the...
U.N. says food trucks being intercepted as hunger grows in Gaza
December 15th, 20230 GENEVA — On Thursday, the head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency said that crowds of hungry people were stopping its aid trucks in Gaza and helping themselves to the food, making it almost impossible to continue delivering aid. The U.N. World Food Program has said half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million is starving as Israel's...
Detroit man charged in fatal stabbing of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll
December 15th, 20230 DETROIT — On Wednesday, A Detroit man was charged with the fatal Oct. 21 stabbing of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll during a home invasion, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced. Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, has been charged with committing a felony murder during the perpetration or attempted perpetration of a...
Hamtramck to rename street “Palestine Avenue”
December 15th, 20230 Hamtramck will rename one of its streets “Palestine Avenue” in symbolic support of the people of Gaza. Hamtramck City Council members voted on the measure Tuesday night, in their final meeting of the year. “I know it's not going to change anything, but it's just showing what Hamtramck stands for and what the community here...
Dearborn receives $24.8 million in federal grants to improve traffic safety on Warren Ave
December 15th, 20230 DEARBORN – On Thursday, the city of Dearborn announced that it has received $24.8 million in federal grant awards through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All programs (SS4A) to improve traffic safety on Warren Ave. The funding will be utilized to design and implement enhanced traffic safety...
Israel suffers heaviest combat losses since October, International isolation
December 15th, 20230 On Wednesday, Israel announced its worst combat losses in more than a month after an ambush in the ruins of Gaza, and faced growing diplomatic and international isolation as civilian deaths mounted and a humanitarian catastrophe worsened in the Palestinian territory. Intense fighting between Hamas fighters and Israeli soldiers was under...
Poll shows Palestinians’ support for Hamas rises and 90 percent wants Abbas to resign
December 15th, 20230 RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank — A wartime opinion poll among Palestinians published Wednesday shows a rise in support for Hamas, which appears to have ticked up even in the devastated Gaza Strip, and an overwhelming rejection of Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas, with nearly 90 percent saying he must resign. The findings by a...
Majority of Israelis want Hamas crushed despite Gaza casualties, U.N. rebuke
December 15th, 20230 On Wednesday, Israelis said that their army should not back off its unrelenting offensive to crush Hamas, despite the U.N. General Assembly's ceasefire call, the growing list of troop casualties and a spiraling Palestinian death toll in Gaza. Israel's military suffered one of the deadliest days in the two-month-old Gaza war on Tuesday,...
“If Christ were born today, he would be born under rubble, Israeli bombing”
December 8th, 20230 Bethlehem, occupied West Bank – The churches of Palestine have announced the cancellation of all festive Christmas celebrations in an expression of unity with Gaza and rejection of the ongoing aggression against Palestinians, limiting them to masses and prayers. In Bethlehem, the Lutheran Church decided that its Christmas nativity......
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......
