The Arab American News
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Palestine Film Fest to open March 10
ANN ARBOR — The Ann Arbor Palestine Film Festival is set to open on Wednesday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m. featuring "Pomegranates and Myrrh," with director Najwa Najjar on hand at the Michigan Theater, 603 East Liberty St. "Pomegranates and Myrrh" was an official selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and won Audience Award for...New president for ADC national
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's national office this week announced that Sara Najjar-Wilson took over as the group's president on Monday, replacing former Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar. New ADC President Sara Najjar-Wilson Najjar-Wilson had been serving as ADC's executive director since November. "Working for...Take advantage of Passport Day
U.S. State Department officials representing the Detroit Passport Agency met with Arab American leaders on Wednesday to discuss opportunities and issues of concern to immigrant communities. The officials encouraged summer travelers to take advantage of upcoming Passport Day on March 27, in which the Detroit office, 211 West Fort...Arab American finishes second in Texas primary race for governor
Going into the 2010 Democratic primary election in the state of Texas, few people thought Farouk Shami had a chance to compete for the party's nomination. Palestinian native Farouk Shami made his mark as a hair care products mogul before entering the Democratic race for Texas...ACC partners with Detroit Public Library in educational program for welfare recipients
DETROIT — The American Arab and Chaldean Council's (ACC) JET (Jobs, Education and Training) Program will partner with the Detroit Public Library (main branch) in a math and literacy tutorial project on Tuesday, March 9. The collaboration is aimed at improving basic literacy and math skills for welfare recipients who have scored low...Arab League backs Middle East talks
Arab states have agreed to a U.S. proposal for indirect Palestinian-Israeli talks, the Arab League secretary-general has said. The foreign ministers of Arab states agreed to give the diplomatic initiative a four-month window at a meeting in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Amr Mussa, the Arab League chief, said after two days of talks:...Media on Israel: All in the family
Recent exposés revealing that New York Times' Israel-Palestine bureau chief Ethan Bronner has a son in the Israeli military have caused a storm of controversy that continues to swirl and generate further revelations. Many people find such a sign of family partisanship in an editor covering a foreign conflict troubling — especially...University network for Lebanese students takes off
With several American universities boasting large Lebanese American populations in recent years, the need for an organization to connect them quickly became apparent. Lebanese Collegiate Network spokesman Rami Haddad, right, with acting Consul General of Lebanon in Detroit Bashir Tawk and other Lebanese professionals and...Debate over military action against Iran gains steam
WASHINGTON (IPS) — While the ongoing U.S. military "surge" in Afghanistan continues to capture the headlines, Iran's nuclear program — and how best to deal with it — is rapidly emerging here as this year's biggest foreign policy challenge. Although the administration of President Barack Obama remains hopeful that a combination...
Iraq elections: 6,000 candidates running for 325 parliament seats
March 6th, 20100 Six thousand candidates from 80 political entities are vying for seats in Iraq's parliament. For the first time, voters can vote for the specific candidate and their political movement of choice, as opposed to a system of proportional representation. Ahead of the March 7 vote that aims to rid Iraq of sectarian divisions, there has been...
Rachel Corrie’s family brings civil suit over death by Israeli bulldozer in Gaza
March 6th, 20100 The family of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza seven years ago, is to bring a civil suit over her death against the Israeli defense ministry. A month after Rachel Corrie's death, the Israeli military said an investigation had determined its troops were not to blame and said the...Papaya expands with additional location
DEARBORN — Since 2002, Khalil Saad and his uncle Faried Saad have owned Papaya Fruit Market in Detroit, a place so popular that the partners once purchased an adjacent housing lot just so they could add more parking space. Papaya Fruit & Grocery Market has locations in Detroit (left) and now in Dearborn (above); The new...
Small business owners struggle to benefit from U.S. stimulus
March 2nd, 20100 After the U.S. government's $787 billion economic stimulus package passed a year ago, Nasr Moussa hoped to expand his meat market in the heart of the long Warren Avenue row of Middle Eastern-themed, Arab-owned businesses straddling the Detroit-Dearborn border. Amana Meat Market, on Warren Avenue in the heart of east Dearborn’s...
Hizbullah chief Nasrallah meets Ahmadinejad in Syria
February 27th, 20100 Lebanon's Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (L) chats with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (C) and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) while on their way to an official dinner in Damascus February 25,...A Mossad hit backfires on Netanyahu… again
That same old feeling for Benjamin Netanyahu must be excruciating. And it is probably cold comfort for the Israeli prime minister that his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, is likely to suffer along with him. Pictures of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a former Hamas commander, are seen in front of al-Wasim mosque at al-Yarmouk camp,......
Dubai hit exposes Hamas’ weaknesses
RAMALLAH (IPS) — Hamas has closed ranks and is licking its wounds following the Jan. 20 assassination in Dubai of one of its top operatives, Mahmoud Al Mabhouh. It is alleged that one of its own was responsible for providing the hit team with vital logistical information. The father of senior Hamas military commander Mahmoud...Opposition grows against Egypt-Gaza barrier
CAIRO (IPS) — Activists and opposition groups are stepping up pressure on the Egyptian government to stop constructing a barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip. Officials say the barrier will prevent cross-border smuggling, but critics say it will seal the fate of the people on the Gaza Strip. Egyptian police take up......
Haaretz: Hamas leader’s son ‘was Israeli spy’
(BBC) – The son of a jailed Hamas leader who converted to Christianity and moved to California has gone public to say that he spied for Israel. Speaking before the release of a book about his life, Mosab Hassan Yousef made the assertion in an interview for Israel's Haaretz newspaper. Mosab Hassan Yousef A former deputy...James Baker Institute urges greater U.S. presence in peace process
WASHINGTON (IPS) — The United States needs to take on a more aggressive presence in peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, according to a major report published earlier this month by the James Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. James Baker Baker, who served as President George H....
Locals to participate in Iraqi election
February 27th, 20100 Iraqi Americans will have the oppurtunity to vote locally in Iraqi parliamentary elections beginning March 5. The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission has been preparing polling stations throughout the world to allow expatriates to vote. In Iraq, elections are to be held March 7. Iraqis living outside the country can...
Mideast Christians face uncertain future
February 27th, 20100 Christians in the Arab world who played an important role in developing pan-Arab movements in the 1950s and enriched its culture have serious concerns about their future in the Middle East. Hundreds of thousands of Christians have left and many Christian communities were uprooted. The reasons behind the mass exodus differ from one......
Christmas day crotch bomber tied to FBI, Israel
The Christmas Day "terrorist" is the latest in a series of staged incidents meant to make the "Clash of Civilizations" appear plausible and "the war on terrorism" rational. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab The storyline does not hold together. Not even a little bit. As usual, the source of this media-fueled fear campaign...
Israeli women soldiers break the silence
February 27th, 20100 What's it like to be a woman serving in the Israeli occupation force in the West Bank? Is a woman's experience as an occupier any different than a man's? Yes indeed, say some women who have just broken their silence and offered a glimpse into the grim reality of the occupation. Female Israeli soldiers make up their face in......
Communities suffering effects of climate change want U.S. to act now
February 27th, 20100 U.S. public concern about climate change has waned. The climate change summit in Copenhagen – largely viewed as a failure – did little to elevate concern over the issue among the public. Climate change is foremost among the concerns of ethnic communities, however. It is our responsibility, as the media that serve them, to call for...The new freedom agenda: Will push meet pull again?
In his June 2009 Cairo speech to the Muslim world, President Obama paid lip service to the need for greater Middle East democracy. But since then he has done very little concretely to back this up in terms of quiet pressure for democratic change on the part of allies like Egypt, Jordan or Morocco. Indeed, the administration's ramping up......
