The Arab American News
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Sign on I-94 hacked with racial slur referencing Trayvon Martin
The controversial, fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer has made national headlines for weeks, and a recent unsavory incident involving Martin has also made headlines for the wrong reasons. On early Monday morning, a portable road sign on westbound I-94 near Michigan Avenue was hacked by a...Fakih pleads no contest in drunken driving case
HIGHLAND PARK – Former Miss USA Rima Fakih reached a plea deal in her drunken driving case on Wedensday in court. Fakih, of Dearborn, pleaded no contest to a charge of impaired driving and now will be sentenced on May 9. According to local reports, probation is likely to be handed down and she will most likely be able to serve it...Farewell reception honoring Diab to be held April 26
DEARBORN – The Lebanese International Business Council will hold a Special Farewell Reception to honor Houssam Diab, the Consul General of Lebanon to Detroit who is expected to finish his term and depart the state of Michigan in May. Diab officially began in March 2011 in Detroit and is now expected to relocate to the United Arab...National Arab American leaders coming to Detroit to celebrate civil service
DETROIT — The lineup of guests and honorees at this year’s ACCESS annual dinner represents a tour de force of Arab American public service and civic engagement. The dinner takes place April 28 at the Detroit Marriott to celebrate 41 years of ACCESS service to the region and the nation. Arab American of the Year Awards will be...Detroit performance by Marcel Khalife, Al Mayadine Ensemble
DETROIT - Renowned singer, musician and artist Marcel Khalife and his Al Mayadine Ensemble will be performing at the Detroit Music Hall (350 Madison, Detroit, MI) at 8 p.m. on April 27. The special night performance of "Fall of the Moon" is an homage to the poet Mahmoud Darwish and a salute to the Arab Spring, part of a U.S. Tour. For...
Businessman Beydoun likely to be exonerated of all charges in Qatar
April 12th, 20120 DEARBORN/DOHA— Businessman and former head of the Arab American Chamber of Commerce Nasser Beydoun, 47, has essentially been exonerated of all accusations in a civil case that had been filed against him in December of 2009 in Qatar according to court documents in Arabic received by The Arab American News. The court expert in Qatar...
CAIR-MI to sue FBI, CBP over invasive questioning of Muslims at border
April 12th, 20120 DETROIT - On Friday, April 13, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) was expected to hold a news conference in Detroit to announce the filing of a federal lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the FBI over the repeated detention and questioning of Muslims about their religious...
Terry Jones protest at Islamic Center passes without incident
April 8th, 20120 DEARBORN - Terry Jones finally held his protest at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn on Saturday, April 7 much to the dismay of the community and local civil rights groups. The protest, which passed without incident, came days after back and forth arguments between the City of Dearborn and Jones’ camp who claimed his...UN team arrives as Syria grants ICRC aid workers access
UN Security Council wants government to honor peace plan, but what about the rebels? Syria has agreed to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to expand its work in the country as a UN advance team arrived in Damascus on Thursday. The Joint Special Envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan (L) poses with Major-General Robert...Flooding issue continues to hurt Dearborn Heights residents, local cities
DEARBORN HEIGHTS - Local residents Ali & Rola Abdallah recently filed a lawsuit against the city of Dearborn Heights after their basement flooded on May 25 of last year, claiming negligence for not properly operating and maintaining the city's sewer systems. "We are suing Wayne County," said Mayor Dan Paletko. "It just doesn't...FBI’s Arena announced as Detroit Crime Commission Executive Director
DETROIT — Andrew G. Arena, the current FBI Special Agent in Charge who was born in Dearborn and raised in Detroit, was named the Detroit Crime Commission's Executive Director on April 4, 2012. ArenaArena was designated assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Division by then Director Louis J. Freeh on March 22, 2001. In this...Family upset “human rights” conference has deceased daughter’s name on it
DEARBORN - A local Arab American family is angry over an upcoming ''human rights'' conference that features the name of their deceased daughter, believing that its true goal is to push an anti-Islam agenda. "It wasn't a honor killing at all," a close friend of the family said. The Jessica Mokdad Human Rights Conference is scheduled to...Detroit Public Television debuts ‘Arab American Stories
DETROIT — On Monday, April 2 Detroit Public Television (DPTV) premiered the new television documentary series "Arab American Stories" in collaboration with the PBS network. The 13 episode series documents the lives of 39 selected Arab Americans who work in different professions throughout the country and have made an impact on their...HFCC President Gail Mee wins national leadership award
DEARBORN — Dr. Gail Mee, the president of Henry Ford Community College (HFCC), has been named by The Chair Academy as the recipient of the 2012 Idahlynn Kárre International Exemplary Leadership Award. Dr. Mee at a recent event at HFCC.Mee, who has been the president of HFCC since 2006, was recognized for her ability to advance...Wayne State walk-out challenges pro-Zionist “whitewashing” of children’s rights issue
DETROIT — Impassioned chants of “Free, Free Palestine!” and “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation” were heard echoing through the center of Wayne State University's campus yet again on Wednesday, April 4. The chants followed another silent walk-out of a speaking event deemed by a coalition of groups to......
Lebanese league basketball player scores record 113 points
Most American basketball fans are familiar with Wilt Chamberlain's record-setting 100 point game in the NBA in 1962, and now, Lebanese league player Mohammed El Akkari has joined him in the exclusive 100-point-game club after he scored 113 points on Tuesday. El Akkari El Akkari a 27-year-old guard for Moutahed of Tripoli who only...Israel war crimes probe blocked by International Criminal Court
A bid for investigation into the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip has been denied by the International Criminal Court, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from human rights groups and praise from Israel. “I need Palestine recognized as a state because I am not the prosecutor of the world; I am the prosecutor of the......
Dismissal of football players’ charges a major victory for ACRL
April 6th, 20120 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Dearborn Heights 20th District Chief Judge Mark Plawecki dismissed the criminal charges brought against four Arab American high school football players from Star International Academy on Wednesday."This court declines to criminalize football today," Plawecki said. While announcing his ruling, Plawecki added that...When Europe develops, and Israel destroys
RAMALLAH — The European Commission has released a document that lists projects it funded that were destroyed or damaged by the Israeli army between May 2001 and October 2011.The list documents 82 such instances, amounting to a monetary loss of 49.2 million euro, 30 million of which came directly from European aid. British Member...
The ex-FBI informant with a change of heart: “There is no real hunt. It’s fixed.”
April 6th, 20120 Craig Monteilh says he did not balk when his FBI handlers gave him the OK to have sex with the Muslim women his undercover operation was targeting. Nor, at the time, did he shy away from recording their pillow talk. Craig Monteilh (pictured above) describes how he pretended to be a radical Muslim in order to root out potential threats,...Judge permits Jones to protest without signing “hold harmless” agreement
DEARBORN- Florida Pastor Terry Jones is expected to protest outside the Islamic Center of America on Saturday, April 7. Earlier this week he filed a lawsuit against the city of Dearborn. In the suit Jones alleges the city violated his free speech rights by asking him to sign an agreement before his scheduled protest outside the......
New CISPA cybersecurity and censorship bill could be even worse than SOPA
April 6th, 20120 An unprecedented wave of condemnation and criticism kept the SOPA and PIPA Internet censorship acts from passing earlier this year, but U.S. lawmakers have authored yet another bill designed to rein in the Web in the name of cybersecurity. Citing cyberattacks as a threat, some legislators have lent their support to a new act that,...Supreme Court ruling allows strip searches even for minor arrests
WASHINGTON — A Supreme Court ruling handed down after a 5-4 decision will allow for even people arrested of minor offenses to be strip searched should law enforcement officials choose to do so.The ruling was in regards to a New Jersey man who was erroneously arrested during a 2005 traffic stop for a fine he had already paid. He claimed......
Gas station owner committed to helping community heal after shooting
April 6th, 20120 DETROIT — Protests outside of the BP gas station at Fenkell and Meyers in Detroit have been almost a daily occurrence since a shooting that resulted in the death of one young man, Michael Haynes II, and first-degree murder and illegal weapons possession charges against another, former employee Ibrahim Saleh, who was recently...Huntington Bank buys Dearborn’s Fidelity after FDIC shutdown
DEARBORN — The Huntington Bank corporation announced late last week that it purchased Fidelity Bank after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation closed it down.The Dearborn Bank has 15 branches and more than 800 in assets according to mlive.com. It is the first such institution to fail in Michigan this year according to the......