The Arab American News
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Muslim and Arab Americans help provide needy families with Christmas gifts
SOUTHFIELD - This holiday season the non-profit humanitarian charity Life for Relief and Development, Radio Baladi, Good Morning Michigan Radio and Jakes Candy collaborated to launch a campaign aimed at assuring that needy children across southeast Michigan receive presents this Christmas. The campaign, Bringing the Holiday Cheer:...ACRL opens office in Dearborn
The ACRL’s diverse new board is introduced by founder Nabih Ayad at last week’s launching event at the Fairlane Club in Dearborn. PHOTO: Nafeh AbuNab/TAAN DEARBORN — The Arab American Civil Rights League celebrated its launching reception on Dec. 15. Its new office is located at 6700 Chase Road, Dearborn, Michigan,...Saudi Prince Alwaleed buys $300m stake in Twitter
The Saudi billionaire, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has bought a $300 million stake in Twitter, the social-media site that was instrumental in spreading the pro-democracy message of the Arab Spring. Alwaleed bin TalalThe deal is likely to raise eyebrows given Saudi Arabia's own frantic efforts to insulate itself from the Arab uprisings...Quest for survival: Thousands flee war, famine, chaos in Somalia
DOLO ADO, Ethiopia — When famine ravaged southern Somalia earlier this year, camel herder Ibrahim Mohamed refused to join the thousands fleeing for help, vowing to stay on in his homeland to save his dying animals.But after Islamist Shebab gunmen stole his last two camels to have survived the drought and then ordered him to join their...Arab American Studies minor initiative passes UM-Dearborn committee
Provost must now give final approval for new path of study DEARBORN – The push to create a minor degree in Arab American Studies cleared a major hurdle last week at the University of Michigan-Dearborn as the initiative was approved unanimously by the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters Executive Committee.The initiative now...Egypt’s richest library goes up in smoke
CAIRO - Egypt has lost an important part of its cultural heritage after important manuscripts and up to 200,000 books were destroyed by fire in the building of the Egyptian Scientific Institute in Cairo.A piece of Egypt’s "national treasure" and "rare history" is gone, the country’s prime minister said in his statement. State...
We bid farewell to our busiest news year
December 26th, 20110 Arab Americans and American Muslims have witnessed an extraordinary year in 2011. As we close out the year, we wonder if the Arab Spring begun in January will blossom, wither or simply stagnate. Will our civil rights at home continue to evaporate now that the tenth anniversary of 9/11 has passed? Will the Occupy movement succeed...Federal probe of metro Detroit fraud scheme nets 8 charges
Hussein "Sam" Nazzal, Edward Schneider, Majed Taube, Mounif Zeaiter and Amneh TaubeDETROIT — A total of eight people including a Dearborn restaurant owner have been charged in federal court for their alleged actions in a widespread fraud scheme that included falsified documents, bribes and fake marriages.The charges were announced by...Nagi accounting and tax services holds grand opening for new building
Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly (holding scissors in center) and Nagi accounting owner and CPA Gihad Nagi (to O’Reily’s left with tie) join in the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Fri., Dec. 16. PHOTO: Nafeh AbuNab/TAAN DEARBORN — Mayor Jack O'Reilly and Police Chief Ron Haddad were among those on hand Friday, Dec. 16 with...Edsel B. Ford II named as first Director Emeritus of HFCC Foundation
DEARBORN — Henry Ford Community College (HFCC) recently named Edsel B. Ford II as Director Emeritus of the HFCC Foundation during a special ceremony held at the College on Dec. 8.Ford, a director on the Foundation Board since 1999, is the first to receive this honor in the Foundation's 30-year history. Edsel B. Ford IIThe Director...Michigan Fuels hosts annual holiday party, donates to children’s hospital
DEARBORN — Bill Saad, president and founder of Michigan Fuels, and his company, hosted their annual holiday party on Friday, Dec. 16 at Byblos Banquets in Dearborn.The organization gathered employees for dinner, music, and more while getting into the holiday spirit of giving with an annual donation to the Mott University of...
Tri-Faith Project to construct multi-million dollar interfaith complex in America’s heartland
December 25th, 20110 OMAHA, NE — The similarities between the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are well known to those who study each religion, but many people practicing these faiths are not quite as aware. The $35-million complex will include a temple, church and mosque and a large center connecting the three groups. A new...
The contradictions of Obama’s outreach to American Muslims
December 25th, 20110 On the same day that Rep. Peter King held the fourth "homegrown terrorism" hearing focused exclusively on Muslims, the White House released its Strategic Implementation Plan for Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States. Despite the White House's seemingly benign approach to counterterrorism, its...
Who’s inventing, Newt?
December 25th, 20110 In the wake of Newt Gingrich's ridiculous comments about Palestinians being an "invented" people I'd like to make a recommendation: Newt, before making historically inaccurate statements, please go read up on Middle East history. Palestinians strongly began to assert their Palestinian identity as far back as the 1930s....Israel’s Frankenstein is turning on its creator
There is a famous scene in Mary Shelley's classic where Victor Frankenstein realizes that he created a monster and that this monster might be the end of him. Such is the scene that comes to mind when thinking about the news emerging from the occupied West Bank in recent days. Israeli settlers, living in illegal colonies in Palestinian......
Embellishing the Iraq War: Moral victory, selective body counts
Someone ought to let mainstream news producers know that the nearly 4,500 U.S. soldiers killed in the Iraq war were not the only victims. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have also been killed as a result of the unwarranted U.S. invasion, and many more have been wounded and/or forever maimed.Chances are, all of these Iraq war victims...Ron Paul winning in Iowa
WASHINGTON — With only two weeks until the Iowa caucus begins, Texas Congressman Ron Paul is still soaring in the polls, with the latest survey putting the candidate on top as Newt Gingrich's popularity begins to buckle. Ron PaulA press release from Public Policy Polling dated December 18 reveals that given the latest quizzing of......
A man in Tunisia, a movement on Wall Street, and the soldier who ignited the fuse
December 25th, 20110 One year ago on December 17th, Mohamed Bouazizi, a man who had a simple produce stand in Tunisia, set himself on fire to protest his government's repression. His singular sacrifice ignited a revolution that toppled Tunisia's dictator and launched revolts in regimes across the Middle East.Three months ago on December 17th, Occupy Wall...Security Council remains gridlocked by political manipulation
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) — When Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin briefed reporters recently, he offered some biting criticisms of the growing political manipulation of the most powerful body at the United Nations: the 15-member Security Council.Implicitly targeting some of the Western nations — specifically the United States, UK and...Iraq occupation ends, violence flares
WASHINGTON — When the United States formally ended its eight-and-a-half year military adventure in Iraq last week with a flag-lowering ceremony presided over by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Baghdad, hardly anyone here seemed to notice, let alone mark the occasion in a special manner.Similarly, earlier this week, when U.S....
How Maliki and Iran outsmarted the U.S. on troop withdrawal
December 25th, 20110 A soldier from the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division rests his head in his hands while sitting on a bench at an airport in Leipzig December 21, 2011 during a layover on a flight from Kuwait that will take the unit back to Fort Hood in the United States. The 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division was the last U.S. military unit to depart......
Diverse crowd protests Lowe’s removal of “All-American Muslim” ads after bowing to pressure from fringe Florida group
ALLEN PARK — About 100 people gathered at the Lowe's store here on Saturday, Dec. 17 protesting the company's recent decision to remove its advertisement from TLC's reality show, "All-American Muslim." A smaller group of people stood close by supporting Lowe's. Among the signs at the protest were ones that read "Remember,...
Syria observer mission – beginning of the end?
December 25th, 20110 A coordinating group has arrived in Syria to lay foundations for observers from the Arab League to visit the restless land. For Damascus, this long-expected visit may become its final diplomatic battle, RT's Marianna Belenkaya reports from Syria. Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (C) meets a delegation of clan leaders from three......
Michigan dealerships among those named in federal complaint for funneling money to Hizbullah, which rejects charges
NEW YORK – A total of eight car dealerships in Michigan have been named in a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney in New York's Southern District, alleging that they have been working with the Lebanese group Hizbullah, which is deemed a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, to funnel money into the United States and buy cars...Number of students without permanent homes skyrocketing in Michigan
DETROIT — There were more than 31,000 homeless students in Michigan last year according to a Detroit Free Press report, an increase of more than 300 percent in the past three years.Many of the kids are reportedly living with their relatives, with friends, or in motels or shelters. The biggest reason according to experts quoted in......