The Arab American News
Author's Posts
Arab American among state’s top high school wrestlers
March 28th, 20090 DEARBORN — The journey to the State Finals is so difficult that many wrestlers only make it there once in their entire high school careers. Khodor Hoballah, third from right, of Dearborn High School, took third place in the 160-pound division of the state wrestling championship finals. Photos courtesy of Radwan Hoballah On top...
Community briefs: Asian American group reports voting rights violations
March 28th, 20090 A report released by the Asian American Legal Defense Education Fund found that Asian Americans face many barriers preventing them from exercising their right to vote. AALDEF volunteers monitored polling stations in Detroit-area precincts with Arab American populations during the November election as part of the study. The report,...Moroccan born soccer coach realizes dreams in the United States
When Abdelali Alaoui left Casablanca, Morocco aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight headed to New York in the spring of 1995, he was a young man full of big dreams and solid ambition. He set his sights on becoming a Major League Soccer player in the United States. Abdelali Alaoui With a few dollars in his pocket and a smattering...Freeman affair puts Israel lobby in spotlight
WASHINGTON (IPS) — Although the successful campaign to keep Amb. Charles "Chas" Freeman out of a top intelligence post marked a surface victory for the pro-Israel hardliners who opposed him, the long-term political implications of the Freeman affair appear far more ambiguous. Charles "Chas" Freeman Freeman's withdrawal...
Israeli soldiers expose atrocities in Gaza
March 21st, 20090 JERUSALEM (IPS) — Based on testimony from Israeli soldiers who took part in the recent war in Gaza, Israel is being confronted directly with the serious charge that permitted rules of engagement allowed for the killing of Palestinian civilians and widespread destruction of Palestinian property. A Palestinian boy stands in...
Immigrants face detentions, few rights
March 21st, 20090 America's detention system for immigrants has mushroomed in the last decade, a costly building boom that was supposed to sweep up criminals and ensure that undocumented immigrants were quickly shown the door. Instead, an Associated Press computer analysis of every person being held on a recent Sunday night shows that most did not...U.S. Muslim coalition considers suspending relations with FBI
WASHINGTON — A coalition of major national Muslim organizations this week announced that it is considering suspending outreach relations with the FBI, citing recent incidents in which American mosques and Muslim groups have been targeted. In a statement, the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT),...Israelis using ‘excessive’ force against protesters
RAMALLAH (IPS) — The critical wounding of a U.S. activist has highlighted the excessive use of force by Israeli forces. The activist, Tristan Anderson, 38, was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the Palestinian West Bank last week. He remains in intensive care in Tel...World Briefs: Rival Palestinian factions agree on elections
CAIRO — Reconciliation talks between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah in Cairo this week yielded an agreement to hold national elections early next year. The two sides, however, remain deadlocked over the proposed terms of a national unity government. "Talks are at a standstill on the issue of the government," a member of...America must find courage to stand up to Israel, injustice
During a recent visit to Washington, I met with several members of Congress to discuss the prospects for Palestinian and Israeli peace. This included a marvelous, unexpected introduction to Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the courageous civil rights advocate. The Palestinian National Initiative, which I head, works to emulate the nonviolent...Obama rides the same old policies in Palestine
President Obama has ridden in on the winds of change, promising diplomacy rather than belligerence as U.S. foreign policy; but he has yet to speak clearly against the policy of underdevelopment and "removal" Israel deploys against Palestinians living under occupation. Unfortunately, Obama's voice overseas, Secretary of State Hillary...
HOPE banquet to feature outspoken advocate Galloway
March 21st, 20090 DEARBORN — Two weeks after a month-long journey leading a 100-vehicle aid convoy into Gaza, George Galloway is to speak to an eager crowd in Dearborn on March 27 at a major student-led fundraiser for the battered Palestinian territory. British politician George Galloway (C) sits with Palestinian students near their school, the...
Chaldean sports reporter loves Detroit
March 21st, 20090 Thousands of people across the country dream about the prestige and excitement that comes with being a television reporter. But when the bright lights come on for the first time, many simply can't handle it. Heather Zara of WDIV-Local 4 feels a sense of teamwork with her sports colleagues. WDIV-Local 4 reporter Heather Zara is...
Durban II: No-show is slap in face of victims of apartheid
March 21st, 20090 A Palestinian boy watches a truck dump garbage in Gaza City March 17, 2009. Palestinian youngsters in the Gaza Strip have turned to scavenging through garbage in the Hamas-ruled enclave, where joblessness has soared. REUTERS/Ismail Zaydah More and more Western countries are either announcing their boycott or are threatening to...Economic recovery payments coming for people who receive Social Security and SSI benefits
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which the President signed into law in February, provides for a one-time payment of $250 to people receiving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. President Obama signs The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 this past February. The......
Arab playwriting initiative culminates in unique production
March 21st, 20090 LONDON— Al Amwaj (The Waves) is a brand new play, created by a group of Arab writers, to be broadcast on BBC World Service on Saturday, 21 March at 2001 GMT. It stems from a unique Arab playwriting initiative and is the first BBC play to be commissioned from writers in the Gulf region, all working in collaboration. The play,...
Community news briefs: Dearborn police officers charged with bribery, tax evasion
March 21st, 20090 DEARBORN — A police officer and an Arab American resident were charged March 13 in connection with bribery allegations involving traffic tickets. Dearborn resident Hassan H. Hojaije, L, and police officer Alex Brian Ramirez were charged March 13. Dearborn Police Officer Alex Brian Ramirez, 42 was arraigned in 19th District......
Job seekers flock to employment fair
March 21st, 20090 DEARBORN — The official start time for the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services' job fair was 9 a.m., but that didn't stop eager job-seekers from lining up as early as 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Job seekers engage employers and fill out forms at an ACCESS job fair in Dearborn on Wednesday. ACCESS Operations...
Iraq: Pulling out or digging in?
March 14th, 20090 A lot of Americans who voted for candidate Barack Obama because of his promises to end George Bush's war in Iraq are feeling dismayed, or even betrayed. Iraqi policemen frisk tribal sheikhs before entering a reconciliation meeting in Baghdad March 8, 2009. REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen During the election campaign, Obama vowed to...
In ruins for 18 months, a Palestinian enclave languishes in disrepair
March 14th, 20090 NAHR ALBARED REFUGEE CAMP, LEBANON — Rebuilding Gaza isn't the only effort under way to improve the Palestinians' plight. Eighteen months after it was wrecked in fighting between the Lebanese Army and Islamist militants, this impoverished refugee camp is just beginning to be put back together again in a project hampered by a...
Obama pick quits over Israel lobby
March 14th, 20090 The candidate for a leading U.S. intelligence post has withdrawn his nomination after accusing the country's Israel lobby of plumbing "the depths of dishonor and indecency" to assassinate his character. Charles "Chas" Freeman Charles "Chas" Freeman, a former U.S. ambassador who is now president of the Middle East Policy......
Profiling still plagues Muslim communities
NEW YORK — On the heels of a recent poll that found that American Muslims experience emotional turbulence due to the stereotypes and suspicion of Islam since the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, two major Muslim-American organizations issued scathing indictments of the tactics of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department...Islamist governments not the enemy, say Mideast experts
WASHINGTON — Scores of Middle East and democracy experts released an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday asking him to focus more of his foreign policy efforts at making reforms in the region, including boosting human rights. Signed by over 120 academics, scholars, experts and others, the letter said that previous......
Mini-summit pledges Arab unity
The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Egypt and Kuwait have pledged to work together to advance the causes of their region. Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak (L-R), Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah walk together at Riyadh airport March 11, 2009....Hot air brings no winds of change
JERUSALEM — Last November, on the day marking the assassination of Israel's peace-making leader Yitzhak Rabin, the now outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israelis something which, for decades, not even Rabin had dared say — we must end the occupation of the Palestinian territories and return to the 1967 borders.......
