The Arab American News
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Iraqi faith in security forces shattered in Baghdad blasts
August 22nd, 20090 BAGHDAD — At the site of the deadliest Baghdad bombing in 18 months, Iraqi faith that their security forces could protect them lay shattered in the wreckage. A victim of a bomb attack in a hospital cries while waiting for receiving a medical treatment in Baghdad, August 19, 2009. A series of explosions killed at least 75 people...
Third Arab American Comedy Show a runaway success
August 22nd, 20090 As a veteran of New York City's Arab American Comedy Festival, comedian Mike Mosallam knew that the idea had a ton of potential if it could just find the right audience. "Love Match," a dating show spoof with fictional host Khaled Woolery, far left, drew big laughs from the Ford Performing Arts Center crowd at the 3rd Annual...
Why are we in Afghanistan?
August 22nd, 20090 As we approach the eight-year anniversary of the war in Afghanistan — the "good" war — we should ask ourselves an embarrassingly simple question: Why are we there? Amidst talk of troop levels, suicide bombings, coalition casualties, and "democratic" elections, more fundamental questions arise. How did we get there? What are we doing?...
Rights group withdraws support of Cohen
August 22nd, 20090 The following press release was issued on 18 August 2009 by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and the New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel: Author, poet, songwriter, musician and singer Leonard Cohen. Amnesty International has announced today that it will abstain from any involvement...Israel turns dubiously to Africa
JERUSALEM (IPS) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been busy pursuing one aspect of the Obama administration's agenda — carrying to Africa the U.S. message of accountability. With a rather different agenda, Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Liberman also has Africa in his sights. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary...
Local family’s relatives evicted in Jerusalem heist
August 15th, 20090 A Troy man whose three brothers are literally living on a street in East Jerusalem with their wives and children after being evicted from their homes to make room for Jewish settlers is appealing for support from activists and elected officials in protesting his family's displacement. Protesters hold candles during a rally in...
Reaching the next generation with ‘Muppet diplomacy’
August 15th, 20090 When Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard invaded Kuwait in 1990, they brought back some unusual war booty to Baghdad: tapes of the region's "Sesame Street" show. Troops also took a Muppet camel. The furry blue monster, Mahboub. Haneen and Karim are two of the Muppet stars in "Shara'a Simsim," the Palestinian version of...The Berber dance is over
RABAT (IPS) - The satellite receiver has sped up the process of wiping out the cultural heritage of Morocco's Berbers. Old traditions are now dying out under the influence of television imams. A young Berber goat herder poses for a photograph with a kid in the village of Tisgui Ntknt in Imlil district, Morocco. Tisgui Ntknt is a...Nuclear capability in Iran after 2013, says U.S. intelligence
WASHINGTON (IPS) - Iran is unlikely to be able to produce the highly enriched uranium (HEU) necessary for a nuclear weapon until at least 2013, according to a U.S. government intelligence estimate made public Thursday. The estimate, which sets a notably later date for Iran's acquisition of a nuclear capability than other claims that...Turkey, Russia move closer
ISTANBUL (IPS) - Once the worst of enemies, involved in 12 wars in three centuries, Turkey and Russia have suddenly become the best of friends, forging strong bonds that could be a counterpoint to the European Union if it freezes Turkey out of full membership. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) with Russian...Saudi Arabia may not follow Obama’s plan
erusalem WASHINGTON (IPS) - Pro-Israeli lobbyists here won the support of 77 senators (out of 100) for a letter sent to President Barack Obama that urged him to "press Arab leaders" to consider making dramatic, upfront peace overtures to Israel. But one key Arab state, Saudi Arabia, has already clearly communicated its...New blood invigorates Fatah leadership
BETHLEHEM (IPS) - Despite internal divisions, much criticism and against enormous odds, the Fatah movement has emerged from its Sixth Revolutionary Council here with new blood in its leadership and hopes for a fresh agenda. F Employees of the Fatah election committee count votes during the Fatah congress in the West Bank town of...Lebanese brothers wounded by cluster bombs
BEIRUT - An undetonated cluster bomb originally fired by Israel went off on Wednesday, August 12, injuring 13-year-old Abbas Awali and his 10-year-old brother Hussein as they were gathering wood. A Cluster bomb The date marked the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions that formally outlined international law on the...Fatah: A new beginning or an imminent end?
This is hardly the rational order of things. An overpowering military occupation was meant to be resisted by an equally determined, focused and unyielding national movement, hell-bent on liberation at any cost and by any means. This is the unwritten law that has governed and shielded successful national liberation projects throughout...City’s high schools promise exciting football season in new division
DEARBORN - It's a season of new beginnings for the Dearborn, Dearborn Edsel Ford, and Dearborn Fordson programs as the three high school football teams each move into the newly-created Western Wayne County Blue Division. And if it turns out anything like last season, there will be plenty of happy football fans in the area as all......
A shake-up among teachers, administrators in Dearborn Schools
DEARBORN - In mid-August, no matter how hard they try to fight it, the thought of going back to school starts creeping into the backs of kids' minds. In Dearborn, many of them will see some new faces when they go back in September. A major shift in principals and administrators throughout the district has taken place this summer in a...City council seat open in Dearborn Heights
DEARBORN HEIGHTS - City officials are looking to appoint a new City Council member to replace Bob Brown, who resigned on July 14. Resumes and letters of interest are being accepted at City Hall through Aug. 26. Candidates will have a chance to introduce themselves at a Sept. 1 meeting and on Sept. 8 the council is expected to......
New language education initiatives
Two new federally funded initiatives are offering college students unique opportunities to learn or make use of Arabic language skills through the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Georgetown University in Washington. The National Security Education Program has provided a Language Flagship Initiative grant at U-M to "change the...
Flint teen linked to missing Macomb County man
August 15th, 20090 DETROIT - A 17-year-old Flint teen of Lebanese descent has been linked to the disappearance of a Chesterfield Township man, and a series of other crimes in Macomb County, according to reports Thursday by The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. Ihab Maslamani Ihab Maslamani was arraigned Thursday afternoon in Clinton...
Nader was right: Liberals are going nowhere with Obama
August 15th, 20090 The American empire has not altered under Barack Obama. It kills as brutally and indiscriminately in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as it did under George W. Bush. It steals from the U.S. treasury to enrich the corporate elite as rapaciously. It will not give us universal health care, abolish the Bush secrecy laws, end torture or...Post office may close area facilities
Fifteen Detroit-area U.S. Postal Service locations may have to close. Officials have said the Postal Service has lost $4.7 billion so far this year and expects the number to grow to $7 billion by the end of the fiscal year, because of the recession and increased use of electronic billing and messaging. The agency has proposed......
U.S. stands to lose if peace process stalls
August 15th, 20090 Barack Obama is in a bit of a bind. Unlike any of his predecessors, this American president chose, admirably, to attempt to tackle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict shortly after taking office, realizing that this long-festering issue has seriously damaged the US image in the Middle East. A Palestinian boy climbs up from a...coney captions
Top to bottom: Favorite halal food items like coney dogs will be available 24-7 throughout Ramadan at Leo's Coney Island in Dearborn. Georgena Baydoun (left) and her daughter Owatif of Dearborn Heights enjoy a meal at Leo's Coney Island in Dearborn. Server Ahmad Farhat offers up a Greek salad at the new Leo's Coney Island in......
New halal coney island to open 24 hours for Ramadan
DEARBORN - It's easy to find plenty of quality halal food choices in Dearborn, but up until now, one of Detroit's favorite culinary creations was hard to come by. Leo's Coney Island in Dearborn on the corner of Ford and Greenfield has changed all of that by offering authentic coney island-style food favorites, all with certified halal...The ongoing danger of nuclear war
This August, when hundreds of Hiroshima Day vigils and related antinuclear activities occur around the United States, many Americans will wonder at their relevance. After all, the nuclear danger that characterized the Cold War is now far behind us, isn't it? A girl prays in front of a cenotaph for the victims of the the U.S.......