The Arab American News
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NewPolicy.org: A call to action
During the past week, we have witnessed the desolate state of the peace process in Israel/Palestine. We grimaced at the sight of Vice President Joseph Biden landing in Israel, as his host country announced the building of 1600 units in an illegal settlement in East Jerusalem. We have winced in shame as the Lancet journal reported...A fatwa against terrorism that might work
Newark, Delaware — Dr. Tahir ul-Qadri, a Pakistani Islamic scholar visiting the United Kingdom, recently released a 600-page fatwa, or non-binding opinion in Islamic law, against terrorism. This fatwa might actually have an impact. It is comprehensive, direct and does not dodge any of the issues. It has come at a time when there is...Don’t confuse boycott with censorship
On March 5, 2010, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported that producer Shuki Weiss, who has been involved in producing many of the Israeli concerts headlined by international stars in recent years, has attacked human rights activists for calling on the Pixies to cancel their June 9 concert at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds. Weiss is reported to...Census: The time is now
Some Arab Americans are pushing a movement to fill in "Arab" under the "Other" category for the question on race. DETROIT — Census forms were mailed this week to homes accross the country. Mayor Dave Bing was at the Arab American and Chaldean Council's Youth Recreation and Leadership Center in Detroit on Thursday speaking on...Man killed in apparent racing accident
DETROIT — An apparent high-speed race between two cars on Warren Avenue near Greenfield Road in Detroit near the Dearborn border on Monday left one dead and local residents fearing for their safety after a black SUV collided with a man attempting to cross the street. The accident happened around 1 p.m. on Warren Avenue near Montrose...Developer pulls out of West Dearborn project
DEARBORN —'For Sale' signs bearing the phrase "The Dream is Over" have been posted on multiple Downtown West Dearborn buildings owned by developer Hakim Fakhoury. One of several 'For Sale' signs posted on multiple buildings owned by developer Hakim Fakhoury in Downtown West Dearborn. PHOTO: Khalil AlHajalFakhoury has blamed...Congressional candidate looks to claim district for Democrats
DEARBORN HEIGHTS — A candidate for U.S. Congress vying to uproot a conservative incumbent in an evolving local district met with Arab Americans Tuesday in Dearborn Heights. Candidate for U.S. Congress Natalie Manoogian Mosher, center, with a group of Arab Americans Tuesday. Natalie Manoogian Mosher, of Canton, is trying to...EEOC decides Almontaser rights violated
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has found that the New York City Department of Education in 2007 discriminated against Debbie Almontaser, who was forced to resign from her position as principal of an Arabic-language public school in Brooklyn. Debbie Almontaser, former head of Khalil Gibran International Academy,...Attorney general candidate raises funds in Dearborn Heights
DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Republican candidate for Michigan attorney general Bill Schuette met with a group of fundraisers that included Arab Americans Tuesday in Dearborn Heights at Antonio's Cucina Italiana. Michigan attorney general candidate Bill Schuette, standing, during a Tuesday campaign fundraiser in Dearborn Heights. He...Bernero gets union endorsement
The Michigan AFL-CIO endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernero last week. Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero Support from the coalition of 50 unions, representing some 600,000 workers and retirees, can give the Lansing mayor's campaign a major financial and organizational boost. Bernero, 45, will face fellow...Blues reach out to community
DETROIT — CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Daniel Loepp spoke to the Arab American and Chaldean Council's Board of Directors and Advisory Board on March 8, addressing the state's economic outlook and health care reform. BCBSM and ACC CEOs Dan Loepp and Haifa Fakhouri Loepp described the health care industry as a rare...Upscale and down home at the same time
With so many people looking for both new tastes and healthier food choices, the spread of Lebanese cuisine in southeast Michigan has occurred at a rapid pace. Le Chef offers authentic Lebanese cooking in an elegant, upscale setting. But when owner Edward Bitar decided to open his new Lebanese restaurant Le Chef in Farmington...
IN PICTURES: ‘Day of Rage’ clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli military
March 19th, 20100 A Palestinian schoolgirl walks past Israeli border police officers on her way home from school during clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian stone-throwers in the Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank near Jerusalem March 16, 2010. Palestinians mounted violent protests in Jerusalem on Tuesday and President Barack Obama's...Israel-U.S. tensions continue to develop
WASHINGTON — Despite assurances by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday that the United States and Israel share a "close, unshakable bond", the week-old crisis between the two allies continued to percolate here this week. An ultra-Orthodox Jew walks near a welcoming sign for Ramat Shlomo, a religious Jewish settlement in...‘Day of rage’ engulfs Palestine
Palestinians hurl rocks at Israeli soldiers at Atara checkpoint, north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 15, 2010. Israeli troops injured at least seven Palestinians during a confrontation in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinian medical sources said. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman View more photos of clashes on the......
Iraq PM’s bloc pulls ahead in vote tally
March 19th, 20100 Journalists monitor a screen showing the fractional results of national election in Baghdad, March 15, 2010. Early results from the March 7 parliamentary vote show Shi'a Arab Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law bloc ahead in seven of 18 provinces, while strong Sunni Arab support has propelled the secularist Iraqiya list...
Yemen to free Houthi rebels
March 19th, 20100 Yemen has come under heavy international pressure to end the northern war and focus on fighting al-Qaeda, whose Yemen-based wing claimed responsibility for a failed attack on a U.S.-bound plane in December. Supporters of the separatist Southern Movement march in an anti-government protest in the Radfan district in southern......
U.S. Department of Justice asked to regulate AIPAC as a foreign agent of the Israeli government
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Justice has been formally asked to begin regulating the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as the foreign agent of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A 392 page legal filing presented by a four person delegation of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in a two hour...
Poor patronage killing Arab cinema
March 19th, 20100 ROTTERDAM (IPS) - Arab cinema, which had a promising presence at international film festivals during the 1990s, may now be going through a declining phase for lack of patronage. Among the Arabic films that made it to the IFFR was "Time That Remains" by Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman and "Every Day Is a Holiday" by Lebanese...
Palestinians should now declare their independence
March 19th, 20100 This week the Obama administration – which gives Israel $3bn a year, more than they dole out to any other nation on earth – made a meek and craven request for Israelis to simply have a pause in seizing even more land, and to sit down with the Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded with a big concrete slap: the...Arabs organize to get counted in Census: “There is nothing ‘other’ about us.”
SAN FRANCISCO — A coalition of Arab American cultural organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area have launched a grassroots organizing campaign designed to send a clear message to Washington: that they, along with every other Arab in America, are in fact Arab, and not white. A custom designed T-Shirt to support the organizing......
Gap lingers between women’s political and legal rights
WASHINGTON — Last year, Kuwaitis elected their first female members of Parliament. Yet in countries like Yemen, child marriage remains common and personal status laws still discriminate against women in matters concerning marriage, divorce and child custody. Palestinian children shout during a rally marking International...Senate debates indefinite detentions
NEW YORK (IPS) — Civil liberties advocates and U.S. constitutional law scholars lost no time in condemning proposed legislation introduced in the Senate Thursday that would hand the government the power to indefinitely detain terrorism suspects without charge and to conduct trials through military commissions only. Typical was the......
Afghanistan can’t be war in a box
The event on the House floor Wednesday afternoon was monumental — the first major Congressional debate about U.S. military operations in Afghanistan since lawmakers authorized the invasion of that country in autumn 2001. But, as Rep. Patrick Kennedy noted with disgust on Wednesday, the House press gallery was nearly empty. He aptly...YOUR MONEY – How to challenge your property tax assessment
DEARBORN — It’s that time of year again. Local residents and business owners are receiving property tax notices of assessment. After three years of a battered real estate market, many suspect that they are being overtaxed on inflated property values. If you own a home or business you will receive a letter in the mail called a......