The Arab American News
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Emergency Financial Manager law opponents nearing signature goal
LANSING — The state's six-month-old emergency financial manager law has come under fire from numerous sources, and organizers of a petition drive have said they are close to having enough signatures to put a challenge to the law on the ballot. The total needed is 161,000 signatures. Those opposing the law believe it denies...Bacall gets life sentence in shooting death of nephew
DETROIT — Detroit businessman Hayes Bacall, a Chaldean immigrant, has been sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of first-degree murder in August of his nephew, Saif Jameel, at Jameel's BP gas station in Troy. Police and prosecutors said Bacall was angry over a $400,000 loan that Jameel had stopped making payments on...Dingell, Berry among those honored by Dearborn Education Foundation
DEARBORN – Two of the city's most distinguished leaders were honored by the Dearborn Education Foundation on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at a fundraiser at the Michael Berry Career Center for an organization that benefits students at a time where more help than ever is needed. U.S. Congressman John Dingell (D-Dearborn) and longtime community...
Raising funds and awareness to help famine-stricken Somalia
September 30th, 20110 DEARBORN — Arab Americans raised about $70,000 for Somalis during a fundraising dinner at Byblos Banquet Hall on Tuesday, and donations are still expected. Today, people living in the Horn of Africa are suffering from the region's worst drought in 60 years with nearly 12 million people affected by food shortages. "This is a...Food stamp fraud raids net 11 suspects
DETROIT — A total of 11 people have been arrested in a recent sweep including one store owner from Dearborn, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara McQuade announced on Wednesday. The U.S. government has begun focusing more on alleged cases of food stamp fraud during which the stamps can be exchanged for...Michigan experiencing least traffic deaths since 1940s
LANSING — The state of Michigan has continued to see traffic fatality numbers since 2008 under the 1,000-per-year mark for the first time since 1943 according to a report from Michigan Radio. Experts believe the reduced deaths are due to improved car safety technologies such as airbags, seat belts and other engineering...Arab American Women’s Business Council holds annual breakfast
DETROIT (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Arab American Women's Business Council (AAWBC) will hold its Fifth Annual Breakfast on Thursday, November 10, 2011, at Byblos Banquet Center, 7258 Chase Rd., Dearborn. Cindy Pasky, CEO and president of Strategic Staffing Solutions (S3) and Chair of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, will deliver the...
Dearborn family files suit over double-selling of family plot
September 30th, 20110 PLYMOUTH — When Waad Charara's family bought a cemetery plot in 1996 at United Memorial Gardens, they did so with the hope of keeping their loved ones together in peace. But the family's peace has been corrupted after a discovery that raised a host of ethical questions as well as a lawsuit against United Memorial, a popular...
Young Arab man victim of Dearborn Police brutality, witnesses say
September 30th, 20110 DEARBORN - According to accounts by 20 customers at the Tim Hortons on Greenfield, an Arab man in his early twenties was physically assaulted Wednesday night around 10:30 p.m. when a Dearborn policeman slammed his head into a glass door. The officer also twisted the man’s arm and placed his knee on the victim’s neck making it hard...
Detroit police, fire officials respond to business owners’ concerns
September 30th, 20110 Lack of patrols, excessive fees cited as key problemsDEARBORN – For Detroit business owners, staying afloat and keeping their operations safe and secure is a daily struggle. Accessibility of Detroit Police department heads is one of the most-cited issues from owners looking for answers to their concerns or help in the form of...Second bridge vote will happen this fall, Republicans say
MACKINAC ISLAND — Leaders of Michigan's Republican Party say they want to move forward in October with a much-debated proposal to build a second bridge between the U.S. and Canada in Detroit.The bridge would be publicly owned and Republicans said it would benefit businesses and connect major highways leading to more exports to Canada...
UN statehood bid deals a death blow to the old diplomacy
September 30th, 20110 Amid the applause in New York and the celebrations in Ramallah, few seem to have paused to consider where the Palestinian bid for statehood is ultimately leading.The Palestinian application, handed to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last week, will now disappear from view — possibly for some time — while the United...
Silent protest held in support of Yemen revolution, future events planned
September 30th, 20110 DEARBORN – City hall has long been the site of vocal protests from local community members, but on Saturday, Sept. 24, demonstrators stood in silence as a means of expressing their views on a key international issue. A demonstrator holds a sign in support of the peaceful youth revolution in Yemen at City Hall last Saturday. Photo...
Palestine in criminal court triggers Western, Israeli fears
September 30th, 20110 UNITED NATIONS — If Palestine fails to achieve full statehood recognition at the United Nations, the only other viable option is to get "enhanced" observer status with the 193-member General Assembly, the U.N.'s highest policy making body. A Palestinian boy has the national flag painted on his face at a gathering to watch President...
Politics throws Palestine under the bus
September 30th, 20110 WASHINGTON (IPS) — The right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu could not be more pleased.Not only did the allegedly most "anti-Israel" president ever repeat, for the nth time, that "America's commitment to Israel's security is unshakeable," but also made crystal clear that Washington will veto any Palestinian......
Palestinian statehood discussed by international law experts at Wayne State
DETROIT – The topic of Palestine's quest for UN statehood and how it relates to international law was the focus of a Thursday, Sept. 22 event at Wayne State University. International law experts Steve Ratner, left, and Brad Roth say that Palestine’s statehood bid won’t change much immediately but could provide more options and...Dearborn among cities with violent crime increase in 2010
DEARBORN — An FBI report released on Monday, Sept. 19 shows that Dearborn was one of two communities in Michigan with increases in violent crime from 2009 to 2010 among those in the top ten. Dearborn jumped from 339 incidents to 373 according to FBI statistics while Clinton Township jumped from 277 to 351. Overall, Flint had......
Gas station owner, bookkeeper convicted of tax crime
DETROIT — A federal jury last week reached a verdict of "guilty" against Elsayed Kazem "Tom" Safiedine and Mary Fawaz according to the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service. Safiedine and Fawaz were found guilty of conspiring to defraud the United States by impeding and impairing the lawful functions of the IRS....Michigan poverty rate increased according to new data
WASHINGTON — Recent data released by the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau showed that the nation's official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent, an increase from 14.3 percent in 2009. There were 46.2 million people living in poverty in 2010 and the rate has increased annually for three years in a row. In Michigan, a substantial rate...Champions of justice honored at ADC annual Judges Night
DEARBORN — The local chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee celebrated the annual tradition of its Judges Night on Wednesday at Byblos Banquet Hall. The goal of the event is to honor judges who have done a remarkable job upholding the core values of the country's legal system in their courtrooms.Speaking before...‘Life in the Terror Decade’ editors: Detroit Arab community growing despite challenges
DEARBORN — Life in the past decade has been difficult for millions in America and internationally since September 11, 2001, but despite challenges faced through discrimination, guilt by association and constant verbal attacks from conservative politicians, the Arab American and American Muslim communities in Detroit are thriving and......
Palestine and the UN: History of a double standard
Nowhere have the U.N. ideals and mechanisms been more mired in power politics than in Palestine. The efforts to neutralize U.N. intervention have been championed mainly by the United States. This week's efforts by the Obama administration working on behalf of Israel took advocacy to a whole new level. Failure to...Palestinians prepare for settler attacks over UN vote
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territories, Israeli settler violence in the West Bank is on the rise and is contributing to the risk of displacement of many Palestinian communities. JERUSALEM (IPS) — Amidst reports that the Israeli military is......
Pressure piles up on Syria as EU announces new sanctions
BRUSSELS — The EU is to slap fresh sanctions against Syria on Saturday, including a ban on investments in the oil sector and on delivering bank notes and coins made in Europe, diplomats said Wednesday.The sanctions due to come into effect on Saturday will be the seventh round of European Union measures targeting President Bashar...
CIA apologizes, resubmits ads to The Arab American News
September 24th, 20110 The CIA abruptly yanked all its advertisements two weeks ago from The Arab American News because it ran a widely-published Associated Press story that said the intelligence agency was helping the NYPD spy on American Muslims.DEARBORN — The CIA has apologized to the The Arab American News and resubmitted its......
