The Arab American News
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Lebanon’s economic task is daunting but possible
The challenge for the national unity government in Lebanon is how to pull the country out of poverty and address its many problems. For Lebanon to grow at self-sustaining rates of seven to ten percent for one or two decades, it must significantly increase its economic freedom. This can be achieved by implementing three top-priority...Collapse of the Middle East peace process
Political turmoil and uncertainty in both Israel and the United States have now brought an end to the grim farce of Middle East peace-making. Under the faltering sponsorship of U.S. President George W. Bush, no discernable progress has been achieved since the Annapolis summit of November 2007, and no progress can be expected for...Opposition critic talks of Palestine and Israel
Bob RaeBob Rae, the opposition Liberal Party's foreign policy critic, spoke to an audience on Parliament Hill on August 6, at the invitation of the National Council of Canada Arab Relations and the Middle East Discussion Group. He made an important observation: Israelis to whom he spoke when he visited there recently were...
Businesses collaborate on Kitty Klassic Kruise adoption event
August 15th, 20080 DEARBORN The Friends For the Dearborn Animal Shelter, along with six local businesses, invite everyone to "cruise on in" to the first annual Kitty Klassic on Saturday, August 16. The Kitty Klassic Kruise is a unique attempt to solve a seasonal problem: the Dearborn Animal Shelter is bursting at the seams with over 240 cats and...Businesses collaborate on Kitty Klassic Kruise adoption event
DEARBORN The Friends For the Dearborn Animal Shelter, along with six local businesses, invite everyone to "cruise on in" to the first annual Kitty Klassic on Saturday, August 16. The Kitty Klassic Kruise is a unique attempt to solve a seasonal problem: the Dearborn Animal Shelter is bursting at the seams with over 240 cats and...Local saxophonist uses music as escape
Kamal Kareem was once an engineer with a good job in Iraq, but there was always something missing inside him. His uncle taught him to play the saxophone as a young man, and he later taught himself to play guitar, keyboard and flute. But, Kareem said, a tense political and religious atmosphere in the city he lived in prevented...Arab countries win three Olympic medals
After a week of competition at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, two Arab countries are on the board with medals, all of them coming in judo. Judo is a modern Japanese martial art and combat sport of grappling and throwing. It usually features a heated field of competitors. Competitors are typically called judoka and wear a...Three wrongs make a big mess
Trivia time: This Middle Eastern country has long denied a genocide happened in the past. It has worked, in public and behind the scenes, to convince others this genocide didn't happen and undo any efforts to recognize the event as such. Now, what country am I talking about? If your answer is Iran, that's understandable, given the...Neocon flap highlights Jewish divide
WASHINGTON (IPS) A mushrooming media controversy pitting neoconservatives against a prominent Jewish-American political commentator could mark a new stage in the growing battle over who speaks for the U.S. Jewish community on foreign policy issues, particularly regarding the Middle East. Joe KleinTIME columnist Joe Klein's...U.S. shifts ‘hearts and minds’ fight
Washington Nearly seven years after the 9/11 attacks spawned the question, "Why do they hate us?" and made the repair of America's poor international image a top foreign-policy pursuit, the Bush administration is taking a new tack in the "war of ideas." Out, or at least de-emphasized, is the effort to explain America and its...The startling truth about Gitmo
Three firefighters raise an American flag over the ruins of the World Trade Center at Ground Zero in New York a moment in time captured for the records of history by a newspaper photographer, forever symbolizing the tragic events of the September 11, 2001 attack, and the American resolve to overcome any challenge. It's an image in...Palestinian Authority rejects Israeli proposal
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected an Israeli peace proposal because it did not provide for a contiguous Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, Abbas' office said Tuesday. Nabil Abu Rdainah, Abbas' spokesman, told the official Palestinian WAFA news agency Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert's plan showed a "lack of...In defense of prejudice
Palestinians look at rubbish that was thrown by Jewish settlers outside a mosque in the West Bank. REUTERS/Nayef HashlamounBeyond the Golden Gate, on a sandy shore of the cold North Pacific, spayed by black rocks and frequented by Sirens, lies Marin County. In this most delightful part of California, the Sirens do not ravish seamen;...
Palestinians bury poet Darwish in West Bank
August 15th, 20080 Palestinians bade an emotional farewell on Wednesday to their national poet Mahmoud Darwish, who was laid to rest on a hilltop overlooking the West Bank city of Ramallah. Darwish died Saturday in Houston at age 67 after complications from open-heart surgery. He was the first Palestinian to receive a state funeral since Yasser...
Bomb blast rocks north Lebanon
August 15th, 20080 A bomb explosion in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli has killed at least 18 people, including nine soldiers. The blast, which also left 45 others injured, hit a military bus in central Nour Square early on Wednesday, officials said. The explosion happened near a bus pick-up point in the busy commercial district as people......
Israeli arms sales to Georgia raise new concerns
JERUSALEM (IPS) Β With the eruption of fighting between Russia and Georgia, Israel has found itself in an awkward position as a result of its arms sales to Georgia, caught between its friendly relations with Georgia and its fear that the continued sale of weaponry will spark Russian retribution in the form of increased arms sales to...Faith and Values Media announces winners of grants
NEW YORK Faith & Values Media, the nation's largest coalition of Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith groups dedicated to media production, distribution and promotion, has chosen the winners for its 2008 member productions grants. The awards were given to Faith & Values Media members whose productions showed an innovative......
Series of break-ins concerns community
August 9th, 20080 A series of break-ins in a mostly-Arab American neighborhood in Southwest Detroit has citizens on edge, with residents claiming that local police aren't doing enough to keep their families safe. More than 12 burglaries have occurred in the past two weeks near the intersection of Lonyo and Dayton streets, which is close to the...Queen Rania uses Web to break stereotypes of Arabs
AMMAN Queen Rania Al Abdullah already had something of an Internet following for her dashing beauty. Now her majesty is leveraging her relative celebrity to shatter stereotypes about the Arab world. With personal videos, slide shows, and documentaries, Jordan's first lady has created her own YouTube page in a virtual experiment...
The might of incumbency: Candidates advance to November ballot
August 8th, 20080 DEARBORN β Arab American state congressional candidate Rashida Tlaib triumphed over eight other Democrats in Tuesday's primary election, garnering about 44 percent of the vote in her bid to represent Southwest Detroit residents in the 12th District. Dozens of young Arab Americans also won seats as precinct delegates for the...
Best Home Furnishings – literally!
August 8th, 20080 DEARBORN Plenty of furniture stores have come and gone in the East Dearborn part of Michigan Avenue, but most customers have never seen a store quite like Best Home Furnishings. While most furniture stores offer products made of pressed wood that's heavy and susceptible to breaking, Best Home Furnishings, the month-old store......
Dearborn Mayor O’Reilly yet to appoint new police chief
August 8th, 20080 DEARBORN The Police Department will remain under its current, established chain of command until Mayor Jack OReilly appoints a new Chief, according to city officials. The department was left without an individual leader last week when longtime Chief of Police Michael Celeski died of a heart attack on July 28. "The Mayor will...
Leaders get “REV’d up”
August 8th, 20080 DEARBORN Arab American leaders from human service agencies across the country gathered in Dearborn last week for a conference aimed at communicating methods of educating, registering and turning out communities to vote. The event was part of the REV Campaign: Register, Educate, Vote, recently launched by the National Network for......
The 2008 Summer Olympic Games
The 2008 Summer Olympic Games will begin today in Beijing, China, and Arab nations will be well-represented. Participating countries from the Arab World include Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen,...Sadam Ali: First ever Arab American boxer to compete in Olympics
When Mohammed Ali's boxing career took off in the United States, he became an athletic pioneer who used his status as a platform for social change. Now, another boxer with the same last name is poised to blaze a new path for the Arab American community to follow. The 2008 Summer Olympics will kick off in Beijing, China with the......