The Arab American News
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New incentive program for Detroit homeowners
DETROIT – Mayor Dave Bing has announced a new plan for using housing incentives programs for police officers and employees in the city as well as homeowners in neighborhoods that have been targeted to be revitalized by the city's continuing project, Detroit Works. Bing hopes the programs will add to neighborhood pride and help...Heights budget plan includes cuts, possible tax raises
DEARBORN HEIGHTS – The City Council was presented with a budget plan by Mayor Dan Paletko on Tuesday that includes major cuts as expected and potential tax raises. The budget includes a Headlee override proposal according to local reports which would lead to a 3-mill increase in the city. Other items include possible unpaid...Jobless rate in Michigan rises again
LANSING — The Michigan unemployment rate raised four-tenths of a percentage point in July to 10.9 percent, with about 33,000 less Michiganders having jobs in the month of July compared with June according to state results. The rate has gone up slightly each of the past three months. But some trends have shown new hires in the...Prominent attorney who refused to betray Arab and Muslim clients speaks on civil liberties, life on terror watch list
The attorney-client privilege assuring confidentiality between the two parties is one of the most cherished rights of the American law system, but according to internationally recognized lawyer, author and professor Francis A. Boyle of the the University of Illinois-Champaign, government agents violated that privilege in a jarring summer...Preliminary murder examination in Zeidan case adjourned until Sept. 2
DEARBORN – On the morning of Friday, August 19, a preliminary examination was held in the case of the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Hassan Zeidan on a local parking lot basketball court outside of Riverside Academy in the city's 19th District Court. A picture of 23-year-old Hassan Zeidan, who was shot and killed last month, is...Schuette appoints Abbatt to Legacy DMC board
LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced the appointment of longtime Dearborn resident, attorney and 2008 19th District Judge candidate Candyce Abbatt to the Board of Trustees of Legacy DMC, formerly the Detroit Medical Center. A total of 18 other trustees of Legacy DMC will also serve an indefinite term at the...Republicans focus on anti-shari’a style bill while Michigan financial woes mount
DETROIT — Democratic state representatives and civil rights activists on Tuesday in a press conference at the Cadillac Place here, condemned new legislation they say unconstitutionally targets American Muslims. From left: State Representative Harvey Santana (D-Detroit), State Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and Mary...Holding our hands out for the children
Often we do things because we think they are the right thing to do. However, when thinking is replaced by knowing, that's when our perspectives on life can change forever. I thought I understood why I had been serving the renowned and respected Al-Mabarrat organization for almost 4 years—to help and serve orphans....After failed negotiations, UN is the only option left
As Palestinians prepare to seek membership in the United Nations, critics are quick to label this a damaging unilateral strategy. But the Palestinian drive for admission to the UN is not damaging or unilateral or even a strategy. Understanding the genesis of the impending diplomatic battle set for September clarifies why Palestinians are...DOJ should reverse immigration appeals board ruling
When a criminal suspect is placed under arrest, no interrogation can begin until police recite the famous "Miranda" warnings required by the Supreme Court: You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you. You have a right to have an attorney present. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be...Wrong time to stop cash assistance
Legislation which closes 12,600 public assistance cases, affecting 25,000 children, is making its way through the Michigan House and Senate. Gilda Jacobs, a former state legislator and the current Director of the Michigan League for Human Services (an independent human services "watch dog" agency in Lansing) reminds us that...Michigan House Bill 4769 discriminatory
Michigan House Bill 4769, "The Restriction of the Application of Foreign Laws," was recently introduced by a number of Republican state representatives, led by State Representative Dave Agema. Even though the word shari'a is omitted, the language of this bill is a replica of other anti-shari'a bills that have been introduced and in...
Somalia famine worst humanitarian crisis on the planet … Locals ramping up relief efforts
August 21st, 20110 For victims of the drought in Somalia, every day is merely a battle for survival. After walking days seeking refuge from the famine with her two children, a mother collapsed and died, leaving them behind to complete the journey to salvation alone. "The little girl who was eleven had to carry the baby…until she made it to the border,"...
Michigan’s immigrants key to its past and future
August 21st, 20110 In the last several months, we've put Michigan on a path toward economic recovery after a dismal 10 years, including an eight-year recession dubbed "the winter that never ends." Michigan Governor Rick SnyderBut spring did arrive. We balanced the state budget in late May, the quickest we've finalized a budget in 30 years. We...
Hariri tribunal publishes indictment to try Hizbullah members and Nasrallah slams it for lacking evidence
August 21st, 20110 The UN-backed court probing the 2005 murder of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafiq Hariri said Wednesday it had enough evidence to try four Hizbullah members, as it published the full indictment. Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speaks on television, as a waiter serves food at a restaurant in the port-city of Sidon,......
Defiant Assad ignores western leaders’ calls to step aside
August 21st, 20110 President Barack Obama Thursday led a chorus of calls by world leaders for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, as the UN warned his regime could be guilty of crimes against humanity. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (C), new Defence Minister Hassan Turkmani (L) and former Defence Minister Mustafa Tlas (R) attend a ceremony at...
Chic boutique offers affordable luxury and royal service
August 20th, 20110 A trendy, hip boutique is making luxury affordable with its reasonable prices. At Royal Dutchess in West Bloomfield, dresses, blazers, tops and other high fashion garments can be found marked at $30 to $80. The deals set it apart from most swanky stores. Co-owner Leslie Binno said in today’s economy people want to look good without......
Advocates, players debate: Are some too young for tackle football?
August 20th, 20110 Fordson High School football coach Fouad Zaban (in sunglasses and white t-shirt) speaks to his players at practice on Wednesday, August 17. Zaban said that his team is closely tended to by medical staff and also noted that players will undergo concussion testing prior to the season as many advocates have suggested for high school...Dearborn Public Schools receive mostly passing marks in state report card
LANSING/DEARBORN — Statistics were released on Monday by the Michigan Department of Education showing Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reports for the state's public school as part of its annual Michigan School Report Card. The reports are a key part of the No Child Left Behind Act.The Dearborn Public School district received mostly...Constan wants recount of Heights clerk race
DEARBORN HEIGHTS – Bob Constan, who currently serves as a State representative (D-Dearborn Heights), has asked for a recount of August 2's hotly contested primary race for the city clerk job. Incumbent Walter Prusiewicz came in first with 1,456 votes while Councilwoman Janet Badalow had 905, ten more than Constan. The top two...‘March Without Fear’ this Saturday
DEARBORN — On Saturday, August 20, 2011, CAIR-MI will join lawmakers, advocates and concerned community members for a rally in Southwest Detroit to protest discrimination and profiling by U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs Border Protection (CBP). In recent months, CAIR-MI has received numerous complaints regarding CBP agents......
Commentary crossed line from perspective to stereotype
To The Editor:It is not unusual to find harsh criticism of Israeli government policies published in The Arab American News. But Mazin Qumsiyeh's piece in the August 13th issue crossed the line into blatant stereotyping of Jews and should have been edited or excluded from the paper. Ancient anti-Semitic canards of Jewish...
Libya rebels push towards Tripoli, tighten noose on Gaddafi
August 20th, 20110 BENGHAZI — Libya's rebels pushed to strangle two supply lines to Tripoli on Wednesday, hoping to ratchet up pressure on the regime as their leaders prepared for the transition to democracy. Rebel fighters celebrate after taking control of the coastal town of Sabratha, 65 km (40 miles) west of Tripoli, August 18, 2011. Libyan rebels......
Yemen opposition forms council to lead transition
August 20th, 20110 SANAA — Yemen's opposition elected an umbrella council on Wednesday aiming to take over power from embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in Riyadh for 10 weeks recovering from a bomb blast.A 143-member "National Council for the Forces of the Peaceful Revolution" was elected by around 800 representatives of diverse...Accused Jordanian, Israeli spies to go on trial October 2 in Egypt
CAIRO - The trial of a Jordanian and Israeli accused of spying for the Jewish state is to begin on October 2 in Cairo, the state-run MENA news agency reported on Tuesday.Detained Jordanian national Bashar Abou Zeid, a telecommunications officer and Ofer Herari, an escaped Mossad officer will be tried at the High Emergency State......