The Arab American News
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APCO Oil Company holds informational meeting for jobbers
DEARBORN — APCO Oil Company, Inc. held a customer jobber meeting on March 31 at The Fairlane Club in Dearborn. In attendance were representatives from the Marathon Oil Company who presented to APCO's dealers several programs regarding image and co-brands.APCO Oil Company, Inc. has been a successful Jobber Branding Marathon to gas...
Smoking ban will hit hookah cafés hard
April 12th, 20100 DEARBORN — With the May 1 implementation date for Michigan's state-wide indoor smoking ban looming, many local business owners will be forced to make what could be one of the most important decisions of their lives.For the many dozens of mostly Arab-owned cafes and restaurants that include hookah smoking, from Dearborn all the way to...Hate group using Qur’an as toilet paper
WASHINGTON — The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) this week called on American Muslims and other people of conscience to urge Republican leaders to insist that Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC) withdraw her support for an anti-Islam hate group after one of its Florida representatives was exposed bragging in a YouTube video that...Racism, hate activity linked to mental health problems in victims
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For the first time, researchers have connected mental health issues in Arab Americans and American Muslims with reported bias and discrimination following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The researchers say their study is the first representative, population-based investigation of the health and psychological impacts...New strategy removes terrorism lens on Muslims
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's advisers plan to remove terms such as "Islamic radicalism" from a document outlining national security strategy and will use the new version to emphasize that the U.S. does not view Muslim nations through the lens of terrorism, counterterrorism officials say.The change would be a significant...Obama said to mull Israel-Palestinian peace plan
WASHINGTON (IPS) — Amid still-unresolved tensions over Jewish settlement expansion in East Jerusalem, two major publications reported Wednesday that President Barack Obama is seriously considering proposing later this year a U.S. peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Both the Washington Post and The New York Times...Leaked video of shooting spurs calls for new probe
WASHINGTON (IPS) — Journalist advocacy groups called for the reopening of an investigation into the 2007 killing of a Reuters photographer and his driver after the WikiLeaks website released classified video footage on Monday of a 2007 helicopter attack in Baghdad which killed 12 people. Undated file photo of Reuters driver Saeed...Rights group alleges war crimes
WASHINGTON (IPS) — The Yemeni government and Houthi rebels should investigate allegations that war crimes took place during recent hostilities between the two groups in the northern region of the country, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released Wednesday."It is time to end the impunity surrounding the cycle of civilian...The limits of ‘state secrets’
Four and half years after the Bush administration was caught eavesdropping on Americans without court approval, a federal judge in San Francisco has ratified a conclusion many Americans reached long ago: that the administration exceeded its legal authority in the war on terror. But U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker's ruling does more...Accountability needed at DHS
The Department of Homeland Security must make drastic changes in its policy and personnel. There is a crisis of leadership at the Department. The right hand doesn't know what the left is doing. How else to explain an enforcement policy memo that directly contradicts the President, the rescue of Haitian evacuees only to jail them once...Peace for Israelis and Palestinians? Not without America’s tough love.
More than 20 years ago, many Americans decided they could no longer watch as racial segregation divided South Africa. Compelled by an injustice thousands of miles away, they demanded that their communities, their colleges, their municipalities, and their government take a stand.As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is a...Flawed U.S. strategy has undermined Iraq’s stability and security
Millions of Iraqis braved bombs and bullets to vote on March 7, 2010, in Iraq's second free elections in a half-century. The vote counting process proved to be more chaotic than expected, with accusations of fraud by leading parties, divisions among highly politicized electoral officials and chaos in disclosing the results. In the...Facts are stubborn things
As the confirmation of Robert Ford for the post of Ambassador to Syria goes through its due process, it is a propitious moment to examine the premises of the U.S.-Syrian dialogue. While we have certain undeniable differences, we share common visions and common opinions — the simplest of which is that neither side is under any...Panels discuss issues of immigration, inclusion and discrimination
DETROIT — Wayne State University Law School hosted a conference put together by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Michigan and other groups April 7 featuring diverse panels as part of the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review. Dearborn Judge Mark Somers (left) moderates a panel discussion on law...U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to keynote Civil Rights Luncheon at ADC’s convention
WASHINGTON — The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has announced that US Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., will deliver the keynote remarks at the Annual Civil Rights Luncheon during ADC's 30th Anniversary National Convention. The Luncheon will take place on Friday June 4, 2010, from 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM......
ADC cautiously welcomes revised TSA policy
WASHINGTON — The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has cautiously welcomed the decision by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reverse a prior security policy based on national origin or racial profiling. Prior directives targeted individuals, including U.S. citizens, traveling from Muslim majority or...
Gas station owner gets $50 million jury verdict in epic battle against Shell Oil
April 4th, 20100 It's not too often an attorney from a tiny firm battles a company like Shell Oil on behalf of a single plaintiff and walks away with a $50 million jury verdict. This looks like a gas station, but note no pumps. Atallah had to rent his defunct station to Smog Busters, which tests to ensure cars meet California emission control......
Israel recognizing Obama means business
JERUSALEM (IPS) - Against all expectations, it's becoming the forerunner of a peace plan. Indeed, it might in the end even surprise the world as Israelis and Palestinians are forced into a peace. Even if, for now, it's shaping up as anything but peaceful. It's a battle royale. A Palestinian youth carries a box filled with...U.S. poll reveals sharp partisan divide
WASHINGTON - Eighty-one percent of U.S. citizens say the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has hurt their country's interests, according to a new poll, although a sharp partisan divide increasingly frames the issues. An Israeli border police officer removes a Palestinian flag placed by a demonstrator at the controversial Israeli...Uphill coalition-building for Iraq election winners unfolds
WASHINGTON (IPS) - Iraq's major political forces are beginning what is likely to be a lengthy and uncertain process of talks to form a government. A key question is whether Iraq's politically diverse groups will join forces based on ideological, ethnic, sectarian or merely pragmatic considerations. Iraq's President Jalal...Obama pushes speedy Iran sanctions
The U.S. president has pressed for tougher U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program to be passed in a matter of weeks. Barack Obama, in a joint press conference with Nicolas Sarkozy, his visiting French counterpart, said it was time to get moving on the sanctions after prolonged negotiations with China, Russia, Germany......
Roumieh Prison breeds criminality not reform
BEIRUT (IPS) - Lebanon's notorious Roumieh prison, the scene of a stand-off between inmates and security personnel this month, is no stranger to rioting, escapes, corruption and abuse. An army helicopter flies over Roumieh Prison, Lebanon's biggest jail, in the hilly eastern suburb overlooking the capital Beirut, Lebanon,...Arab summit is political theatre
Arab leaders met last week in Libya in a ritual summit held almost annually since the end of the Second World War. Although the League of Arab States (also commonly referred to as the Arab League) was established in 1945, it was not until 1964 that member states met for the first time at the Cairo headquarters to discuss the Israeli......
Time to stand up to Israel
As I listened to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu address an animated crowd of supporters on March 22, I felt physically sick. The man has already displayed time and again a complete lack of moral sense or ethical framework in his words and actions. A protester puts a Palestinian flag on an uprooted tree during a...
DPS leader wants more Arab American students
April 4th, 20100 DETROIT - Detroit Public Schools' Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb met with The Arab American News Publisher and spokesman of the Congress of Arab American Organizations (CAAO) Osama Siblani on Tuesday, March 30 at the Fisher Building in Detroit to discuss plans to attract more Arab American children to Detroit......