The Arab American News
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Rampaging settlers shatter fragile calm
RAMALLAH (IPS) — The northern Palestinian West Bank is turning into a flashpoint as Israeli settlers continue to attack Palestinian civilians and their property as part of a "price tag" policy. Jewish settlers attack a Palestinian woman in 2003 file photo. On Tuesday Walid Assaf, a Palestinian Legislative Council member, was...Black scholar’s arrest raises profiling questions
BOSTON — Supporters of a prominent Harvard University black scholar who was arrested at his own home by police responding to a report of a break-in say he is the victim of racial profiling. Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. had forced his way through the front door of his home because it was...How the Israel lobby took control of U.S. foreign policy
In the early 1960s, Senator William J. Fulbright fought to force the American Zionist Council to register as agents of a foreign government. The Council eluded registration by reorganizing as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. AIPAC has since become what Fulbright most feared: a foreign agent dominating American...
The Byzantine world of immigration detention
July 25th, 20090 NEW YORK — Duarnis Perez, a native of the Dominican Republic, became a U.S. citizen at 15 when his mother was naturalized. But he didn't know that meant he was also a citizen. He thought he was an illegal immigrant, and so did the authorities. He was deported and subsequently arrested trying to sneak back into the U.S. from Canada....
Palestinians are on their own
July 25th, 20090 I will never forget the image of the elderly woman whose son was dying in a hospital in Egypt. She only wanted to be with him. Crying, her hand touching the glass window of the office of the Egyptian intelligence services, she pleaded, "Please, please. I beg you, show mercy, let me go in." Another woman sat by the State Security office,...
Arab Canadian actress enjoys mentor role
July 25th, 20090 Canadian Christine Solomon, an actress, model, entrepreneur and author of Egyptian, Syrian and Lebanese descent, is a firm believer that passion accompanied by hard work can bring any dream to life. Actress Christine Solomon Solomon hopes to bring this belief to life in the hearts of aspiring actors, as a mentor from the...Third Annual Arab American comedy show ready for breakthrough August performance
The cast members of the five skits that comprise the 3rd Arab American Comedy Show, scheduled to take place August 14 and 15 at the Ford Performing Arts Center (Civic Center), are working hard rehearsing their roles at the Fairlane Club. Director Mike Mosallam rehearses a skit with cast member Amir Makled in preparation for the...Arab American group supports Sotomayor confirmation
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) last week expressed its support for the confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. U.S. Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, L, steps up to speak after U.S. President Barack Obama announced her as his choice of nomination in this May 26, 2009...Local Arabs and Jews meet, address political differences
DEARBORN — A group of pro-Israeli American Jews and pro-Palestinian Arab Americans came together at the Lebanese American Heritage Club on Tuesday in a rare meeting aimed at sparking long-term dialogue acknowledging the two communities' general views on the Middle East conflict. Brenda Rosenberg, L, and Imad Hamad introduced...Pre-election forum to present Hamtramck candidates
HAMTRAMCK — A candidates' forum is be held on Thursday, July 30, 7 p.m. at the BHA Hall, 2320 Caniff Street. The forum will allow the five mayoral and 12 city council candidates to speak to citizens and answer questions. "We have to get the views of the candidates," said Michael Prentiss, organizer of the event. Each candidate...City looks at anti-profiling measure
KALAMAZOO — Public safety officials may soon implement a city-wide anti-profiling policy in an effort to increase cooperation between police and the community. The policy would ban discrimination or profiling based on appearance, ethnicity, gender, dress, origin, physical characteristics, race, religion or sexual orientation....Group to use Section 301 process to highlight U.S.-Israel relations
A non-profit group focused on U.S.-Middle East policy plans for the second time to use the petition process under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to call into question Israel's status as a U.S. ally, the group's director said this week. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative this month rejected the first petition by the...Census takers looking for partners
The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking partnerships in Arab American communities ahead of the 2010 Census. In a news release from the Census Bureau and the Arab American Institute, officials said the bureau is seeking over 100,000 partnerships with organizations, religious institutions, businesses and schools in preparation for the...A Michigan staycation awaits
Between the allure of the new "Pure Michigan" ad campaign and the importance of saving money, it seems like more and more families are opting for Michigan vacations this summer. And when it comes to vacation spots in Michigan, they don't get much more popular than Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island at the top of the Lower...
Israeli soldiers admit war crimes
July 18th, 20090 JERUSALEM — Israeli combat soldiers have acknowledged that they forced Palestinian civilians to serve as human shields, needlessly killed unarmed Gazans and improperly used white phosphorus shells to burn down buildings as part of Israel's three-week military offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter. A Palestinian feeding......
Acquittal no guarantee of freedom
July 18th, 20090 NEW YORK (IPS) — Lawmakers and human rights advocates are questioning the assertion by the administration of President Barack Obama that Guantanamo terror suspects could be imprisoned indefinitely even if they are found not guilty by a U.S. court. A Guantánamo detainee, center, is escorted by U.S. military personnel in this...
Take your census form and shove it
July 18th, 20090 The first question I always get from "Americans" is 'Why do you keep calling yourself Arab American? You are American!'" It represents the rock and the hard place Arab Americans have been pushed in to by a lack of education among most non-ethnic Americans. It's aggravated by what I call the U.S. government's split personality when......
VIDEO: Heart-wrenching documentary follows organ recipients after shooting
July 18th, 20090 In 2005, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy was killed in Jenin by Israeli soldiers who said they thought his toy gun was real. But his heart still beats, because his family decided to allow his organs to be donated to six ailing children in Israel. Palestinian Ismael Khatib with Samah Gadban, a Druze girl in Israel who received a...Behind detainee release, a U.S.-Iraqi conflict on Iran
WASHINGTON (IPS) — The release Friday of five Iranians held by the U.S. military in Iraq for two and a half years highlights the long-simmering conflict between the U.S. and Iraqi views of Iranian policy in Iraq and of the role of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) there. Iranian officials, detained by the U.S....Israel and EU clash over settlements
RAMALLAH (IPS) — The Israeli Foreign Ministry's concern over an "unusually harsh statement" by the European Commission over Israel's settlement policy indicates a growing unease between Israel and the EU. A view shows the West Bank Jewish settlement of Adam at the north of Jerusalem, June 29, 2009. Israel's Defense Ministry...Kurds caught up in Biden’s diplomatic offensive
WASHINGTON (IPS) — The indefinite postponement of a referendum on Iraqi Kurdistan's controversial draft constitution just days after a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has given rise to speculation that Washington may have played a role in the delay. Supporters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) hold and wave......
Problems go far beyond narrow U.S. focus on terror
WASHINGTON (IPS) — Yemen's recent reappearance on U.S. radar due to its reputation as a safe haven for al Qaeda has brought more attention to the country of 23 million and its persistent underlying problems — the least of which may be terrorism. Yemeni al-Qaeda militants Ali al-Akbari (L) and Saeed Sankar (C) shout slogans...U.S. aid convoy reaches Gaza
A humanitarian convoy organized by American activists successfully reached the besieged Gaza Strip this week. The Viva Palestina U.S. convoy was the second such land convoy to successfully enter Gaza via the Egyptian border. Activists hope that such missions will break down the Israel-Egyptian embargo on Gaza, which has made the strip......
Succession issues face key U.S. allies
WASHINGTON (IPS) — Two key U.S. allies in the Arab world, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are now both facing succession crises that may absorb, or even split, their political elites. This promises a period of political unpredictability ahead in both countries. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak It may well also complicate Pres....Israeli spy ring threatens fragile peace
RAMALLAH (IPS) — The UN Security Council has warned that the existence of a large Israeli-run espionage network in Lebanon could threaten a fragile peace established between the two countries following the end of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war. Lebanon's citizens and its security establishment have been rocked by the arrest of over 30......
