The Arab American News
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2008 year in review
December 26th, 20080 The Arab American News' top headlines and front pages of 2008 International • Iraqi refugees struggling in U.S., want to go back • Hundreds of thousands cross downed Gaza wall • George Habash leaves legacy of resistance • Afghan torture scandal widens • Hizbullah commander killed in Syria blast • Hamas renews...
Auto meltdown
December 26th, 20080 PHOTO: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook A 63-year-old Ford auto dealership has been bought out as pressures increase to thin the number of Detroit-area dealerships. A worker carries away a Ford logo sign from Al Long Ford auto dealership in Warren in the photo at left, taken Dec. 23. The image illustrates the intense uncertainty...
UNIFIL troops treat Lebanese children
December 26th, 20080 AIN IBL, LEBANON - Ten toddlers at a nursery school in this southern Lebanon village had a surprise visit from an unlikely version of Santa Claus this week when French United Nations soldiers dressed up to hand out Christmas gifts. A French UNIFIL soldier with a toddler at the Ain Ibl nursery school in South Lebanon, where the...DOJ and Treasury rebuff calls to investigate alleged $60 billion Israel money laundering ring
WASHINGTON - Case files of U.S. Justice and Treasury Department refusals to investigate money laundering allegations since the year 2005 are now online at: //www.IRmep.org/ila/moneylaunder An Israeli man walks in Ma'ale settlement near the West Bank city of Ramallah September 14, 2008. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen On March 3,...Improving the United States’ image in the Middle East
Concern about the United States's image in the Middle East is not simply a frothy concern about being liked, because the United States's image is crucial to its soft power. When the United States is unpopular in the region, it is more difficult for governments there to cooperate with it and it becomes politically rewarding for leaders to...Shoe hurtling political, not cultural
Analysts tying event to cultural phenomenon, obscure motive A protester holds up a placard, in support of the Iraqi TV journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, in front of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran December 24, 2008. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl The symbolism of last week's shoe throwing incident is explosive, but unfortunately the...Economy, ties with West are key to Iran polls
TEHRAN (IPS) - The main issue in Iran's June 2009 presidential election is certain to be the country's economic woes, but both candidates will be linking the economy to the issue of relations between Iran and the West, according to Iranian politicians and political analysts. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran,...Qatari boat arrives with aid for Palestinians in Gaza
GAZA - The "Dignity" boat docked at the Gaza city harbor at an early hour on Saturday carrying one ton of Qatari medical aid along with representatives of Qatari charitable society and other activists. MP Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the popular anti siege...Overcoming the zero-sum hurdle
WASHINGTON (IPS) - It seems as if the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been dissected from every possible angle. An Israeli soldier gestures from a tank near Kibbutz Kissufim, just outside the central Gaza Strip December 22, 2008. Palestinian armed groups in Gaza observed a 24-hour halt to rocket fire against Israel at the...U.S. military defiant on key terms of Iraqi pact
WASHINGTON (IPS) - U.S. military leaders and Pentagon officials have made it clear through public statements and deliberately leaked stories in recent weeks that they plan to violate a central provision of the U.S.-Iraq withdrawal agreement requiring the complete withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities by mid-2009 by...Can Obama restore our image in Mideast?
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama waves to onlookers as he leaves Anderson Hall after meeting with U.S. Marines on Christmas day at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kailua December 25, 2008. REUTERS/Hugh Gentry Sitting in a focus group, a young Jordanian bewailed America's relationship with his region: "Since 1948, we have...Thirteen U.S. deserters face deportation
Video frame grab of U.S. President George W. Bush (L) ducking from a shoe during a news conference in Baghdad December 14, 2008. An Iraqi reporter called visiting U.S. President Bush a "dog" in Arabic on Sunday and threw his shoes at him during a news conference in Baghdad. REUTERS/Reuters TV In this protest, one size fits all. On...The Arab American News silver anniversary approaches
This issue of The Arab American News brings us to the close of 24 years of publishing. As we have for the past few years, we have combined the final two issues of the year to give our staff a much-needed break and to facilitate the observance of all the year-end holidays of 2008. We very much look forward to the coming year, to...Cab driver assaulted by college basketball coach, team official
University of Mississippi men's basketball coach Andy Kennedy was arrested last Thursday, Dec. 18 in Cincinnati, Ohio after a cab driver said he punched him and called him "bin Laden" and other racially-insensitive names, according to a report by the Detroit Free Press. The man who filed the complaint, Mohamed Moctar Ould Jiddou, said...
Wayne County Parks Lightfest 2008
December 26th, 20080 With more than 35 giant animated displays and over a million lights, the Wayne County Parks Lightfest is the Midwest’s longest light show. The complete route is over 4 miles along Hines Drive. There are walk-through displays, a Santa's Workshop and refreshments. Children can drop off letters to Santa at a giant mailbox. Open......
Probers link election night beating of Muslim teen with hit and run
Two white Staten Island teens already facing hate crime charges for attacking a Muslim teen the night Barack Obama was elected have been linked to another bias attack that left another victim in a coma. Ralph Nicolleti and Bryan Garaventa were arrested last month for beating 17-year-old Ali Kamara with a baseball bat as they shouted...
Sisters excel in academics, volleyball
December 26th, 20080 Coach credits mother as excellent role model for girls DEARBORN - Becoming a good volleyball player at the high school level is not easy. It takes discipline, commitment, and above all else, hours and hours of practice and hard work. The Bazzi sisters Sara (center) and Sahar (bottom) grew up playing volleyball together, giving......
Television goes digital in February
December 26th, 20080 Deadline to apply for converter coupons Dec. 31 On Feb. 17, 2009, the nation will switch from analog (over-the-air) television to digital television. More than 21 million households will be affected by the switch and most are unaware of the change, according to civil rights leadership education website civilrights.org. Using rabbit...Registration open for award-winning photo academy
Thirty slots available at no charge DEARBORN- SURA Arts Academy, a free, diversity-themed digital photography instruction program for youth run by the Arab American National Museum (AANM), is accepting registrations for the Spring 2009 semester, which begins on January 20 and concludes on April 7. Thirty (30) slots are available at no...
Black-Arab collaboration focuses on commonalities
December 26th, 20080 Music blends cultures, histories Rap Artists Zhao-Ski and Big A Local hip hop artist Zhao-Ski describes Detroit as a symbol of resolute optimism in spite of all the disasters it's endured. It's a city, he said, that encompassed hope of a brighter future for African Americans who endured Jim Crow oppression in the south,...
Salon’s secret is making clients feel at home
December 26th, 20080 DEARBORN - It's been just a month since Milan's on Monroe Nail Salon opened on the west side of Dearborn, but already, word has spread quickly across the city and beyond. Milan's on Monroe employee Zena Jawad (left) gives a manicure to fellow employee Fadia Shuayto (right) at Milan's on Monroe Nail Salon. PHOTOS: Nick......
The shoe heard round the world
December 20th, 20080 Donated shoes labeled with names of Iraqis who died during the war in Iraq are displayed during a protest in front of the White House in Washington December 17, 2008. REUTERS/Molly Riley It's not surprising that since the George W. Bush shoe-dodging incident the U.S. media has been recalling the infamous "shoeing" of the...
Gaza families eat grass as Israel locks border
December 20th, 20080 As a convoy of blue-and-white United Nations trucks loaded with food waited last night for Israeli permission to enter Gaza, Jindiya Abu Amra and her 12-year-old daughter went scrounging for the wild grass their family now lives on. A Palestinian displays her United Nations ration card as she asks for food supplies from the......
ADC fights to keep doors open amid economic downturn
December 20th, 20080 DEARBORN — The local regional office of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) continues to struggle with severe financial trouble and faces the possibility of cutting staff or even closing its doors, despite a sell-out crowd at its annual gala, held Dec. 12. Attorney David Cole (L) receives a "Guardian of Civil...Obama picks LaHood for transportation secretary
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama has selected U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood for transportation secretary, which would make him the second Republican in the Cabinet, a senior Democrat said on Wednesday. U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood Obama offered LaHood, 63, of Illinois the post and the lawmaker, who is retiring from Congress, is......
