The Arab American News
Author's Posts
Time to reflect, give thanks and look ahead to a brighter 2013
December 21st, 20120 As we put this final issue of The Arab American News this year to bed and bid farewell to 2012, we wanted to thank our readers first and foremost, who have been very loyal, anxiously and patiently waiting for the paper to be delivered each weekend. Your loyalty, support and feedback is always much appreciated. We also cannot forget...Iraqi American family caught in sanctions nightmare
Columbia, Missouri - During the first war with Iraq, the Gulf War that started in 1990, President George Bush appeared on TV. He said, “We have no argument with the people of Iraq.” At the time, Iraq was under U.N. sanctions.Meanwhile in Columbia, Missouri, Lamya Najem and her husband, Shakir Hamoodi, had migrated to the U.S. They...
2012: Year in Review
December 21st, 20120 Below is a year-in-review of the most important news and developments as reported by The Arab American News. The following are 2012 headlines in local, statewide, national and international news. LOCAL • Patriarch Rai in Detroit, “Time for Lebanese to unite in love and diversity” • Islamic Center...Neo-Cons, Israel lobby mobilize to pre-empt Obama Pentagon favorite
WASHINGTON - Neo-conservatives and leaders of the powerful Israel lobby are mobilizing their forces in what looks like an all-out campaign to pre-empt the nomination by President Barack Obama of an outspoken former Republican senator and decorated Vietnam War hero to replace Leon Panetta as secretary of defense.The campaign was launched...
Mosallam takes oath to MSU Board of Trustees at his former high school Fordson
December 21st, 20120 DEARBORN - On Wednesday, the community gathered at Fordson High School's auditorium to witness Michigan State University (MSU) Board of Trustees Brian Mosallam's swearing-in ceremony. The event included attendance by Mosallam's close family and friends, honorary judges and dignitaries, and former Fordson alumni, who all shared a special...Dearborn Public Schools addresses student safety following national tragedy
DEARBORN -The tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut has left a nation in mourning. However, schools across the country have also begun to take extra precautions to ensure something of that nature does not occur again. Dearborn Public Schools has reacted to the incident by sending out a letter to the district's...Dearborn Police Department hires six new officers including an Arab American
DEARBORN - Last week The Arab American News revealed exclusively through an interview with Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad that six new officers would be hired into the department. On Monday, the department had sent out a press release identifying the six new police officers who completed their police academy training. The new...From this day on: Christmas in Newtown
From this day on, Christmas in Newtown, Connecticut will always mean something very different. It is difficult to imagine the raw pain and the horror being felt in that community now ravaged by unspeakable violence. But imagine it we must, because Newtown is all of us, and we have something to learn from their tragedy.For families in...
Hundreds express solidarity with families of Sandy Hook victims at candle light vigil
December 21st, 20120 DEARBORN HEIGHTS - During a candle light vigil Monday more than 300 people expressed solidarity with victims of the Connecticut school shooting that left 20 children and six staff members from Sandy Hook Elementary School dead last week. The vigil was organized by the Dearborn Heights Community Organization (DHOC) in the span of...State Rep. Rashida Tlaib joins ACRL board
DEARBORN - The Arab-American Civil Rights League (ACRL) announced earlier this week that State Rep. Rashida Tlaib would be joining the group’s board of directors as its newest member. Tlaib.“We are honored to have Representative Tlaib join our board,” said ACRL Board Chairman Nabih Ayad. “She has been a voice for the...
Community reacts to Connecticut elementary school massacre
December 21st, 20120 DEARBORN, DEARBORN HEIGHTS -- The Lebanese American Heritage Club (LAHC) with the co-sponsorship of the Arab Student Union of the University of Michigan Dearborn held a candlelight vigil in honor of the victims from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut on Monday, December 17th in front of City Hall.Twenty elementary...Bills signed that alter rules to recall elected officials
LANSING - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signed bills on Thursday that alter the rules for recalling elected officials such as shortening the time period in which people can gather signatures needed to recall elected officials. Democrats have blasted the move which changes the number of days from 90 to 60 days to garner signatures....“No vote” on anti Shari’a bill in state’s legislature
LANSING - A no-vote on House Bill 4769, also known as an "anti-Shari’a bill,' in the Michigan State House at the end of its 2012 legislative session occured recently. Since the introduction of the bill approximately a year and a half ago by MI State Rep. Dave Agema (R-Grandville), groups and community leaders have vigorously...Border Patrol no longer allowed to act as interpreters for law enforcement
DETROIT - Immigrant advocate groups are hailing a new decree from the Department of Homeland Security that says U.S. Border Patrol agents will no longer be called in to act as “interpreters” by local law enforcement. “We applaud DHS for taking a serious step toward stopping the sort of racial profiling, injury and death that has...Concealed weapons bill vetoed by Gov. Snyder
LANSING - Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed the state’s latest gun bill Tuesday, only days after the Connecticut school shooting massacre. The bill would have allowed concealed weapons to be carried in schools, churches and day care centers.It has brought relief to some, but others have expressed dismay saying it would have provided a......
Poll: Michiganders feel a college education is unaffordable
LANSING – A new “State of the State” poll from Michigan State University shows 97 percent of people in Michigan feel a college education is important for a successful career, but just one-third say they can afford it.“We in Michigan have had dramatic reductions in public funding for higher ed,” according to MSU economics...Forbes ranks Michigan 47th best state for business
LANSING - Forbes Magazine has released its rankings of the Best States for Business, and Michigan has not improved its slot at number 47, despite Gov. Rick Snyder slashing taxes for big corporations and making up the difference by taxing seniors’ pensions, cutting funding for public education and municipal governments. “Governor......
Problems re-selling real estate purchased at the County Tax Sale
Metro Detroit — Thousands of individuals participated in County Tax Foreclosure auctions this year in what was a record tax foreclosure year across Michigan. The efforts of many County Treasurer’s to make bidding for these properties as easy as possible has encouraged the participation of many individuals in the bidding process, and...
NEI’s economic vision: An eight-year plan to revitalize our regional economy
December 17th, 20120 A few years ago, leaders from 10 different philanthropic foundations looked at southeast Michigan and said “We’ve got to do something about the economy.”Pooling some of their resources, the foundations created a $100 million fund in 2008 – the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan (NEI) to make grants over eight years to...Your One Life: Why Your Health is the Best Gift You Can Give Yourself
It’s the time of year for contemplating and I’m asking you to join me. I’ve been thinking about the wonderful holiday weekend my family enjoys annually and how much fun it is each year for me to watch everyone open the Christmas gifts that I carefully plan, purchase and wrap. Each gift is truly...Tips for eating healthier during the holidays
The holidays are here! That joyous time of year when people come together, surrounded by decorations, gifts, music and, of course, lots of food. While eating is perhaps the most popular holiday activity, the average weight gain during the six-week period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is less than one pound.“While the statistic......
BDS: Seven years with a global reach struggling for Palestinian rights
For the past seven years since its launch, the Palestinian grassroots Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, now with a global reach, has made concrete steps towards exposing Israel as a colonial occupier executing an apartheid policy against the Palestinian people. The BDS campaigns around the world have, to a...Tea Party now a huge GOP liability
The resignation of South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint from the Senate followed close on the heels of the desertion from the Tea Party of Freedom Works head Dick Armey took some by surprise. DeMint and Armey were the two biggest and most identifiable fish in the Tea Party affiliated pond. DeMint could be relied on to broker his name......
Brahimi heads to Damascus with questions, plan for compromise
Moscow has admitted the possibility that the Syrian opposition may emerge victorious as government forces continue to lose more territory as the conflict rages on, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said.“We must face the facts: the current tendency shows that the government is progressively losing control over an...Developing world to overshadow the west by 2030, study says
WASHINGTON - A major new long-range report by the U.S. intelligence community suggests that the U.S. economy, currently the world’s largest, could be eclipsed by China’s by 2030.While the study, the result of four years of analysis by the U.S. National Intelligence Council (NIC), forecasts that the United States will remain a central......