The Arab American News
Author's Posts
How does it feel to be part of the solution?
August 29th, 20080 Racism is as American as apple pie, H. Rap Brown/Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin once said, and any cursory observation of American history and culture would conclude that racial hatred and categorization is an integral and predictable fact of American life. From slavery and the dispossession of Native Americans to Jim Crow, from the...My response to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit
In a press release issued August 27, 2008, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit (JCRC) criticized my article "Detroit Jewish Federation: Celebrating racism and making money at it" as "despicable." The article was published in the August 9-15, 2008, edition of The Arab American News and is available on the...Troupe adds new twist to belly dancing
SOUTHFIELD — Samir Haddad has had plenty of guests on his "Arabian Candles" afternoon radio show before. But on Monday, August 26, he had perhaps his three most intimidating guests ever in studio. They were three fairly large corn snakes, which happen to be a big part of his other two guests' popular belly dancing show. The...
Fordson football ready to shine in 2008
August 29th, 20080 DEARBORN — At Dearborn Fordson, expectations for the football team are always high, and the 2008 season is no different. The Tractors return a ton of experienced seniors, especially on defense, and a handful of their players have even been contacted by college scouts. But to take the next step and advance past the second round of...Crossing the bridge: Poetry, hip-hop and the Palestinian experience
In 1948, my grandmother was expelled from Palestine. Like many of the 780,000 evicted that year, she never saw her birthplace again. But she always dreamed of a dignified return: to Yaffa, her home city, a place of warmth and beauty; to her house, which in her heart, towered higher than the hills of Lebanon; and to an unfettered...
Obama taps local woman for state outreach
August 29th, 20080 Michigan Arab American outreach coordinator for the Obama campaign Rashida Tlaib, R, with Obama supporters during a convention watch party at La Cigale restaurant in Dearborn on Thursday. Two weeks after accepting the resignation of its national Arab American outreach coordinator, the campaign of now-official Democratic presidential...Student photographers exhibit at AANM
Dearborn — Over the last 12 months, middle school students of diverse backgrounds from Dearborn and southwest Detroit learned digital photography skills as part of the Arab American National Museum's SURA Arts Academy, a program funded by The Skillman Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of State....The audacity of critique
African Americans should pressure Senator and Democratic presidential nominee Barak Obama to change U.S. policy toward the occupation of Palestine. Despite the warm response Obama enjoys from American Muslim and Arab American voters, we should stand for the right of our Muslim and Arab brothers and sisters to critique Obama. We should in...Iraqi tragedy outlined
AbdullahThabit Abdullah and his wife, Iraqis, were in Syria when the U.S. invaded in 2003. Yes, they were glad to see that Saddam Hussein was on the way out, but at the same time they had real concerns about U.S. intentions, concerns that were unfortunately prescient. This book is an account of recent Iraqi history and...
Imam al-Sadr commemoration scheduled
August 29th, 20080 The legacy of Imam Moussa Al-Sadr, a leading Shi'a Muslim figure in southern Lebanon during the 1960s and 1970s who disappeared in 1978 in Libya, has grown to hold special significance in the U.S. not only to Lebanese Americans, but to interfaith advocates of many faiths. A commemoration of the 30th anniversary of his disappearance...Arar case back in court
In June, a federal Appellate Court in New York tossed out Canadian engineer Maher Arar's suit against John Ashcroft and other officials for shipping him to Syria to be tortured. Technically, the court held, he was never in the U.S. He was taken into custody while transferring from an overseas flight en route to...
Detroit Ignition’s Assadpour talks goals
August 29th, 20080 Independence Park, on Denton road in the suburb of Canton, is an unlikely place for a soccer camp for kids, given the sport's relative unpopularity in Michigan – and the United States for that matter. In addition, the Detroit Ignition, an indoor soccer team that's part of the Major Indoor Soccer League, runs the camp, despite the...Illegal Israeli settlements get tax breaks
JERUSALEM (Reuters) — The United States says Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank threaten any peace between Israel and the Palestinians — yet it also encourages Americans to help support settlers by offering tax breaks on donations. As Condoleezza Rice flew in on Monday for another round of peace talks, Israeli and American...New Web site geared toward Arab youth
The struggling Michigan economy has been known to close a lot of doors for hard-working people. But sometimes, the need to adapt and find creative new ways to make a living opens doors as well. That just might be the case with Nofila Seklawi, a 24-year old Henry Ford Community College student from Dearborn who created and...
Restoring standards and honor to the Detroit Hardship Panel
August 29th, 20080 At a time when foreclosure rates are up and Michigan citizens are scrambling to make ends meet, our state needs city counsel-appointed committees to ensure those who are struggling the most can receive financial assistance. The Detroit Hardship Panel was created for this purpose, however, the press has recently reported that......
Georgia and the push for Cold War
John McCain said it first: "In the 21st century nations don't invade other nations." George W. Bush said it, too: Russia's way is not the "way to conduct foreign policy in the 21st Century". And Condoleezza Rice on August 19 said it: "Russia is a state that is unfortunately using the one tool that it has always used whenever it...
Parking enforcement starts in October for Dearborn’s Public Service Days program
August 29th, 20080 DEARBORN — People in Dearborn should be aware that enforcement begins in October of the City ordinance prohibiting parking on the street during Public Service Days in their neighborhoods. Public Service Days mean cleaner neighborhoods in Dearborn. Twice a month, the City delivers concentrated services like street sweeping to......
Dearborn Police cleared following investigation into 2004 bar fight
August 29th, 20080 DEARBORN — The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, in conjunction with the Michigan State Police, has closed its extensive investigation of the Dearborn Police Department regarding a 2004 bar fight, concluding there is no credible evidence of any illegal behavior by members of the department. Robert Donaldson, lead attorney of the...
A downsized occupation disguised as withdrawal
August 29th, 20080 Back in January, the Bush administration proposed a Status of Forces Agreement to govern relations between American troops and the Iraqis after the U.N. mandate expires in December 2008. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton accused the White House of trying to tie the hands of a future American president and many Democrats in...
ACC chairman elected head of Republican committee
August 29th, 20080 MunfakhThe Executive Committee of the 11th District Republican Committee elected former Plymouth Township Trustee Abe Munfakh as its Chairman on July 29. The committee is elected by Republicans of the 11th District of Michigan, which covers communities in Western Wayne and North Oakland Counties. The District is...Hizbullah’s triumph is blow for Israeli policy
NEW YORK (IPS) — Since the 34-day Israel-Lebanon two years ago, and particularly after the Doha accord in May which restored Hizbullah to the Lebanese government and essentially gave it the veto power it demanded, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been the most popular figure anywhere in the Arab world. "For decades, the Shi'a......
U.S. Treasury Department holds roundtable with Arab Americans
August 22nd, 20080 On Friday, August 15, members of the Arab American and American Muslim communities gathered at the U.S. Department of Treasury in Washington, D.C. to participate in a roundtable discussion entitled "Charitable Principals of Good Governance and Anti-Terrorist Financing Best Practices." The day-long event was co-organized by the...Arab countries take six medals
After winning three medals in their first week at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics last week, Arab countries upped the ante and won three more medals this past week, including their first two gold medals. Both gold medals represented landmark achievements for their countries, as Oussama Mellouli won the first swimming medal for......
Local café has college town feel
August 22nd, 20080 DEARBORN — When Ahmad Hamdan opened up the Hot Spot Café on Michigan Avenue in West Dearborn in February, he brought with him a tremendous understanding of the sandwich business. Hamdan had owned a Subway franchise in Inkster and worked at a Tubby's, and he knew what his customers liked. But what he didn't know was how to cook...
U.S., Iraq have draft to pull U.S. troops out
August 22nd, 20080 BAGHDAD — Iraq and the U.S. have reached a preliminary agreement to withdraw American forces from Iraqi cities by next June, six years into the increasingly unpopular war, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Thursday after meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The negotiations over a withdrawal timetable follow......
