The Arab American News
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The day of the dead
Cindy Sheehan I was on an airplane flying to Orange County from Sacramento to attend the al-Awda Conference, which is a Palestinian Right's Conference (al-Awda translates to "The Returning"), when the pilot's voice filled the cabin to make an announcement that I think went unnoticed by most of my fellow passengers, but I...Aerial bombing makes terrorists
During the last thirty years of wars in Afghanistan, Afghan civilians have had one safe place to escape to: Pakistan. Men carry a victim of a bomb blast through the streets of Peshawar, in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province May 28, 2009. Two bombs exploded on Thursday in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing...Bigger, badder jihad plot in ‘Obsession’ rebooted
WASHINGTON (IPS) — A new documentary from a shadowy non-profit, the Clarion Fund, has ties to groups widely accused of Islamophobia. "The Third Jihad" purports to educate U.S. citizens about the threat of a "cultural jihad" by the country's own American Muslim population. The film goes to great lengths to define itself as an expose...Holy Land Foundation, AIPAC cases are a travesty of justice
In case you happen to think that the "war on terror" is no more because the Obama administration won't use that Bushian phrase, think again. The legal and policy structures that made the war on terror so objectionable are still in place, and they are still trampling on Arab and Muslim rights. In this most recent case, an unfair...Arab American defensive tackle takes game to the NFL
He began his college career as the only Palestinian player to ever play Division-I football, and now former Ohio State defensive tackle Nader Abdallah is taking his game to the next level. Jacksonville Jaguar Nader Abdallah Abdallah, an undrafted free agent following last month's NFL Draft in New York, signed with the...NEWS BRIEFS: Senate bill builds momentum for immigration reform
Four Democrats have introduced a measure in U.S. Congress that ethnic community advocates say would help legal immigrants reunite with their families and end decade-long waiting times for legal immigrant visas. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, along with co-sponsoring Sens. Kristen Gellibrand, D-NY, Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Charles...
FILM REVIEW: Lemon Tree
May 29th, 20090 Starring Hiam Abbass, Doron Tavory, Ali Suliman and Rona Lipaz-Michael. Written by Suha Arraf and Eran Riklis. Directed by Eran Riklis. Not rated. Now playing at the Landmark Maple Art Theatre. Life often gives lemons to the Palestinians, and they don't always have the option of making lemonade. When an Israeli Defense...Red Wings four wins away from back-to-back Stanley Cups
After a 4-1 series win over the rival Chicago Blackhawks, there's just one team standing between the Detroit Red Wings and back-to-back Stanley Cups: the Pittsburgh Penguins, their finals opponent in 2008. Detroit Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood (L) and Tomas Holmstrom wave to the fans after the Red Wings defeated the...Israel abuzz with Obama Plan rumors
JERUSALEM — The Middle East has been abuzz in anticipation of the peace plan U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to unveil in Cairo next month. Some who can't wait to hear official details have extracted what they claim is a preview of it, reported today in Israeli newspapers and the London-based Al-Quds...Hamas condemns Palestinian cabinet
The Palestinian Hamas faction that governs Gaza has condemned the appointment of a new government by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and leader of Fatah. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad holds a news conference after the first cabinet meeting of the new Palestinian government in the West Bank city of Ramallah May...Netanyahu up against a new U.S.
JERUSALEM (IPS) — June 5 is a date that resonates powerfully in the troubled modern history of the Middle East. On that fateful day, 42 years ago, the seminal 1967 Arab-Israel war erupted. Six days later, Israel was in control of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Syria's Golan Heights and all of the Palestinian territories. Israeli...U.S., Israel forming working group on Iran
The United States and Israel are quietly forming a high-level working group to assess the progress of President Obama's outreach to Iran and to share intelligence about the Islamic Republic's nuclear weapons program, officials familiar with the two countries' deliberations said Tuesday. The agreement, reached during Monday's meeting...
Understanding Lebanon’s elections
May 23rd, 20090 In the Middle East, there are "elections" and there are elections. The majority, when they do occur, invariably fall under the first category. There are a few, however, that fall under the second — transparent, legitimate, meaningful contests that have both domestic and regional implications. Lebanese President Michel...Egypt tycoon gets death for singer’s slaying
A real estate mogul with ties to Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's son was sentenced to death this week for ordering the slaying of a Lebanese pop star in a case that sparked a media frenzy in a country where the elite is often perceived as being above the law. Egyptian construction magnate Hesham Talaat Moustafa (C) leaves the...UAE torture tape complicates nuclear deal
WASHINGTON (IPS) — A U.S. agreement to exchange nuclear information and materials with an Arab country in the Persian Gulf is facing opposition because of a video of torture conducted by a member of a ruling family from one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In the deal, the U.S. would be willing to sell raw nuclear material to the......
Obama defends Guantanamo closure, Cheney defends torture
May 23rd, 20090 NEW YORK — President Barack Obama cautiously minced his way Thursday through a political minefield filled with imminent explosions from human rights advocates, national security hawks, and a Congress terrified by the potential political backlash of any move to bring Guantanamo Bay prisoners to the U.S. for trial or...
UM-D officials meet with community leaders, discuss allegations of bias
May 23rd, 20090 DEARBORN — Top University of Michigan-Dearborn administrators are engaging American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and Congress of Arab American Organizations representatives in an ongoing dialogue addressing accusations of discrimination raised by members of the Arab Student Union on campus. Representatives of the......
New York “terror plot” a government set-up?
May 23rd, 20090 The corporate media and the authorities are having a field day lavishing saturation coverage on the so-called New York "terror plot" in which four men, three of them U.S. citizens, supposedly planned to blow up a Jewish temple and shoot down military planes, feverishly citing it as another example of why we should accept police state...Pelosi-CIA contretemps may spark wider probe
NEW YORK (IPS) — Congressional Democrats and many Washington journalists are predicting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's current dispute with the Central Intelligence Agency may ultimately hasten the push toward the last thing Republicans want — a comprehensive investigation of prisoner detention and interrogation during the...AIPAC’s hidden persuaders
Despite the ballyhoo of the recent AIPAC national policy conference in Washington, when Israel-U.S. bonds were feted, relations between the two countries are currently more strained than at any time since 1991. That was when the elder George Bush, as U.S. president, fiercely lobbied Yitzhak Shamir to join in the Madrid peace conference....Community briefs: Memorial Day parade Monday in Dearborn
DEARBORN — The 85th annual Dearborn Memorial Parade is to be held Monday, May 25. Arab American military veterans with Dearborn youth during a past Memorial Day commemoration. The Parade will begin at 10 a.m. at Michigan Avenue and Firestone Street and will go to Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road. Following the parade will......
Cousins killed in hit-and-run
DEARBORN — The bodies of two Dearborn men killed in a Detroit car crash on May 17 were on their way to Lebanon on Thursday to be buried in their family homeland. Mahmoud Bazzi, 20, L, and Hussien El-Zaghir, 26, were killed on May 17 when an SUV ran a yield sign and crashed into the side of their Chevrolet Malibu on Detroit's...
Support emerges for indicted attorney
May 23rd, 20090 DEARBORN — A group of Arab Americans has planned a June 5 event to show support for indicted attorney Tim Attalla. Tim Attalla The 49-year-old Miller-Canfield lawyer from Northville was recently accused of charges linked to a federal probe of the Michigan motorcycle gang the Highwaymen. Donations will be collected......
Ohio woman seeks return of her kidnapped son
A Toledo woman is stepping up an international fight to get back her U.S.-born son, taken from her by her ex-husband in Oman in 2006. Mohamed Jaafar, allegedly taken away from his mother by his father in 2006. Mary Hariri, with the help of the U.S. State Department, the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited...
Obama has real chance to change Arab opinion
May 23rd, 20090 WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has a major opportunity to improve the mostly negative views about the United States in the Arab world, but is likely to have only a short period of time to do so, according to a major new survey of public opinion in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates......