The Arab American News
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Woman takes on Sudan’s ‘indecency laws’
August 7th, 20090 Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, a Sudanese journalist, is at the center of a high profile trial in Sudan. She was charged by the government with "indecency" for wearing trousers. This crime carries the penalty of forty lashes from a whip. Lubna Hussein, a former journalist and U.N. press officer, talks to the media outside the court...Soccer reunites friends from Yemen
Soccer is the most popular sport on Earth in large part because of its breathtaking individual displays of skill. But when it comes to winning championships, Unis AlHidary knows that nothing beats teamwork. Unis AlHidary AlHidary and fellow Michigan Yemen Sports Association player Ismail Nasser would know, as they both won...Chance of a breakthrough with the Kurds?
WASHINGTON — A recent meeting between Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Kurdish President Massoud Barzani appears to be a crucial step in lowering tensions in the country, but it has also prompted questions as to whether the two leaders can put an end to their differences. Kurdish President Massoud Barzani The...Fatah fights for survival
BETHLEHEM — Fatah, the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), is fighting for its very survival as the movement faces implosion and attacks from all sides. The issues have come to the fore at the sixth revolutionary council of the party that began in Bethlehem Tuesday. Palestinian President Mahmoud...
Our excuses outnumber our votes
August 7th, 20090 It's hard times for Arab American candidates for public office in Dearborn. From the incumbents to the first-timers, they have found it next to impossible to break through the stigma and hesitation that many of the city's majority-white electorate have displayed in historical voting patterns. Thus, they greatly underperform amongst the...
DEARBORN ELECTION RESULTS: Five Arab Americans move on to November election
August 5th, 20090 DEARBORN – The field of 25 City Council candidates was cut to 14 after Tuesday primary elections. The 14 survivors will move on to the November general election, where they'll fight for seven seats. Five Arab Americans, including three incumbents and two newcomers, made the cut. Incumbents George Darany, Suzanne Sareini and...
The seven pillars of Arab vulnerability
July 31st, 20090 A Damascus bazaar BEIRUT — It's bad enough for ordinary Arabs to sense large gaps in their personal quality of life and widespread dysfunction in the public management of their societies. It is much more painful — though always useful — for such self-awareness to be documented in a credible report by knowledgeable...Fatah’s leadership crisis deepens
Palestinians, whose houses were destroyed during the three-week offensive Israel launched last December, take part in a protest in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, July 29, 2009, calling on international donors to help in reconstructing their houses. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa WASHINGTON (IPS) — Fifty years ago, a small group...News in pictures: Milking camels for chocolate
A camel is hand-milked in the early evening at a farm located near Al Nassma's Camelicious camel farm in Dubai. REUTERS/Steve Crisp Miniature chocolate camels are displayed at Al Nassma's Camelicious camel farm store in Dubai, July 29, 2009. Dubai's Al Nassma, the world's first brand of chocolate made with camels' milk,...The old Bibi is back
JERUSALEM — "Reckless", "cavalier", "unscrupulous", "petty politician, not statesman"…these and such epithets applied to Benjamin Netanyahu by friends and foes alike — not that he ended up with many friends — when he was first Israel's Prime Minister back in the late 1990s. Benjamin Netanyahu Re-elected in...
Ashkelon speaks: The story of the Middle East conflict
July 31st, 20090 The modern Israeli city of Ashkelon, 20 kilometers north of the Gaza border, presents a picturesque setting along the Mediterranean coast. Sparkling white beaches matched by whitefaced apartment buildings, green lawns and several wide boulevards depict a tranquil and content city. Ashkelon, 20 kilometers north of the Gaza...Occupation of Iraq continues despite rhetoric
"If the Iraqi forces require further training and further support, we shall examine this then at that time, based on the needs of Iraq," Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki recently informed President Barak Obama in Washington. Iraq's Defense Minister Abdel Qader Jassim (L) sits alongside U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert...
Maliki teams with U.S. universities to rebuild Iraqi education
July 31st, 20090 Students preparing to graduate from the University of Karbala, Iraq. Aiming to restore the once renowned prestige of its devastated education system, Iraq plans to send up to 50,000 students abroad for advanced studies over the next five years, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told a group of educators gathered Saturday...When did making a profit become the only reason to do anything?
It used to be that there were some services and institutions so vital to our nation that they were exempt from market pressures. Not anymore. How about this for a New Rule: Not everything in America has to make a profit. It used to be that there were some services and institutions so vital to our nation that they were exempt from...Monkey See, Monkey Do, The Wiggles Tour Is Coming To You!
DETROIT — The most beloved family entertainment band in the world, The Wiggles, are setting out on their wildest adventure to date. The fab four from down under are back with a brand new live show! This spectacular musical extravaganza will showcase old favorites as well as their latest hit "Monkey Man" featuring Australian pop......
House approves bill to pump $2 billion more into ‘Cash for Clunkers’
The U.S. House on Friday voted to rush an additional $2 billion into the popular "cash for clunkers" car purchase program. The government was forced to suspend the program Thursday due a quick draining of funds. Nearly $1 billion set aside for the program, initially expected to last until November, had been used up after only four...
Crowded field in Detroit City Council race
July 31st, 20090 An Arab American couple walks along the Detroit riverfront. PHOTO: Khalil AlHajal/TAAN DETROIT — A field of 168 candidates running to serve on the nine-member Detroit City Council will be cut to 18 after August 4 primary elections. Voters will make their final choices in the Nov. 3 general election. In a city......
Obama gives Arab American painting to Iraq
July 31st, 20090 WASHINGTON — During Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's visit to the United States last week, President Barack Obama presented the leader with a gift, a painting by Arab American artist Helen Zughaib. Zughaib's art work is notable for its rich use of colors and for depicting scenes of Arab life in hopeful, healing and spiritual...Dearborn primary could come down to a few votes
DEARBORN — When it comes to city council elections, many analysts and politicians agree: they have a bigger impact on peoples' lives than the presidential election. But despite that viewpoint, voter turnout for city council primary elections in Dearborn is usually low, especially compared to presidential races, and it's expected to...Tips to catch a homebuyer’s eye
The housing market's financial slip is making it hard to get homes off the selling block. To help speed up the selling process, homeowners and agents may want to consider hiring a stager. Stagers are hired to rearrange a home's contents and furniture to better catch the eyes of buyers. Realtors and sellers who have used staging...
Get out and vote!
July 31st, 20090 Voters go to the polls next Tuesday, August 4, for the city of Dearborn's primary election. Twenty five candidates will vie for 14 spots on the ballot in the November 3 general election, when seven of them will be voted in to seats on the city council. An unprecedented eight candidates are of Arab descent in the city council primary.......
Former wrestling coach sues Dearborn Schools, Fordson principal
July 31st, 20090 A longtime Fordson High School wrestling coach whose contract was not renewed last year filed a federal lawsuit against Dearborn Public Schools and Fordson Principal Imad Fadlallah on Monday, claiming he was terminated because of his Christian religious beliefs. The suit was filed in Detroit by a Livonia law firm and the Ann...Passion for life, not for boxing
"Hey it is you! You photographed my wedding," yelled Tarick Salmaci from inside his white Caddy, where I was meeting him at Starbucks in West Dearborn. Tarick Salmaci "Can you believe it has been twelve years since I got married?" he added as he walked toward me. He stopped and chatted with a friend passing in his car,......
Netanyahu plays “Deal or No Deal” with Israeli settlements
An Israeli settlement in the West Bank When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argues unjustifiably for the need to continue the construction of West Bank settlements to allow for "natural growth" of settler families, he reminds me of the risk-driven guest player on the popular TV show "Deal or No Deal." In this show, the...
Community stunned after freak car accident in Beirut claims local father and daughter
July 25th, 20090 The deaths of a Dearborn Heights man and his young daughter, killed in a freak car accident in Beirut on July 19, have left many stunned in the local community and abroad. Family members have memorialized them in the following essay. Mohamad A. Habhab of Dearborn Heights, beloved husband and father of three, and his three-year-old......