The Arab American News
Author's Posts
Concert of Colors rocks Motown
DETROIT — With a beat-driven lineup propelling its 16th year, the 2008 Concert of Colors promotes peace and respect through the universal language of music with four days of free performances at the Max M. Fisher Music Center, 3711 Woodward Avenue, in Detroit. Designed to celebrate the many ethnic and cultural groups that comprise...
Greenfield Manor offers lap of luxury
July 18th, 20080 DEARBORN — When it comes to different kinds of weddings at Greenfield Manor, Nina Bazzy has seen them all. Bazzy, the director of operations for the banquet hall on Greenfield Road in Dearborn, helps plan a different one for just about every day of the week. "We see so many different types of weddings here," said Bazzy. "I think...
AAPAC conducts interviews for primary election, will issue endorsements July 22
July 18th, 20080 Abdul Algazali (R), a Hamtramck city councilman and candidate for state congress, being interviewed by endorsement committee members of the Arab American Political Action Committee Nabih Ayad, Samir Olabi, Abed Hammoud (Inset, R), Don Unis and Hoda Berry on Tuesday. The committee interviewed several local political candidates and...
Arab and Chaldean festival this weekend at Hart Plaza
July 18th, 20080 One of the largest Arab and Chaldean American cultural event in North America will celebrate its 37th year at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit on Saturday and Sunday. Featuring a variety of Arab and Chaldean foods, an ethnic cultural gallery, an entertainment program featuring well-known dancers and singers, and a children's fair on...A new moderate voice on U.S./Israeli relations
For too long now, when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other issues of war and peace in the Middle East, the mainstream media and too many politicians in the United States have deferred to the most extreme right-wing positions represented by organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)...Linking Obama with Islam and terror is a double offense
The cartoon cover page of the July 21st issue of The New Yorker depicts Obama the "Muslim," and his wife the "terrorist." While the Obama campaign finds the cartoon unfair, Muslims find it pejorative and profane. Muslims wonder: "Is Islam considered a plague in America?" The New Yorker has taken an aggressive editorial step...The coming of the third Palestinian exodus
Israel has once again sealed off the Gaza Strip from all but limited humanitarian aid, spawning widespread food, water and fuel shortages and crippling the local economy in the overcrowded territory of 1.5 million people. By depriving Palestinians of the basic conditions of a normal life, it is assumed that they will eventually...
DeBakey dead at 99
July 18th, 20080 Dr. Michael DeBakey, a pioneering heart surgeon acknowledged as the father of modern cardiovascular surgery, died at age 99 on July 11 of natural causes at The Methodist Hospital in Houston. DeBakey performed more than 60,000 heart surgeries and authored more than 1,000 medical reports, papers, chapters and books on medicine and...Imperialism, Islamophobia and the “war on terror”
The events of Sept. 11 have to be seen in two ways — as the predictable and inevitable consequence of our unchecked imperial policies and as the growth of Islamism as the only popular alternative to the status quo. The irony is that these aren't mutually exclusive forces; in fact, more than anything, they reinforce each other....Flawed argument on Muslim condition
In this book, Razack argues that Muslims are being "evicted" from Western law and politics. We are given the myth, she says, of the dangerous Muslim man, the imperiled Muslim woman, and the civilized European. The myth includes the idea that the Muslim is benighted and pre-civilized and the European enlightened and...Guantánamo video, deserter case draw Canadian criticism of U.S. ties
Toronto — At a glance, they look like unrelated events unfolding thousands of miles apart and yet, they're both windows into Canada's passive partnership with the U.S. in the war on terror. On Tuesday, the release of a previously classified video shows a Canadian teenager accused of killing a U..S soldier in Afghanistan sobbing...Has the ‘surge’ in Iraq worked?
In 2006, things seemed to be going badly for the U.S. military efforts in Iraq. The Iraq war became a top issue in the 2006 Congressional elections in the United States. It is generally agreed that the Republicans did poorly in those elections, largely because the U.S. electorate had become disillusioned with the viability and...Doves outnumber hawks in Jewish community
WASHINGTON (IPS) — A new poll suggests that U.S. Jews hold views about the Middle East that are considerably more dovish than frequently acknowledged, with large majorities favoring diplomacy with Iran, supporting a two-state solution in Israel/Palestine, and advocating U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. U.S. Jews also favor Barack Obama...Kucinich: Impeach Bush, create Department of Peace
Congressman Dennis Kucinich introduced a new article of impeachment against President Bush in the House last Thursday. In a single, pointed resolution, he charged the president with lying to Congress about the presence of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq, in order to obtain permission for a U.S. attack. In the hour...
Historic prisoner swap
July 18th, 20080 The Israeli cabinet's decision to strike a prisoner exchange deal with the Hizbullah movement in Lebanon — on the eve of the anniversary of the war between the two sides of July 12 — August 14, 2006 — will not be remembered as one of Israel's most glorious moments. Even its chief architect, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, has referred to......
‘Worse than apartheid’
I thought they would feel right at home in the alleys of Balata refugee camp, the Casbah and the Hawara checkpoint. But they said there is no comparison: for them the Israeli occupation regime is worse than anything they knew under apartheid. This week, 21 human rights activists from South Africa visited Israel. Among them were...U.S. changes course on Iran
WASHINGTON — In the seemingly never-ending internal battle between hawks and realists in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush for control of foreign policy, the realists appear to have chalked up another win over their once-dominant foes. The decision to send the State Department's third-ranking official to Geneva......
Serious allegations against local judge
July 18th, 20080 DEARBORN – 19th District Court Judge Richard Wygonik has come under fire for allegedly making several disparaging comments about Arab Americans during a conversation with Dearborn Heights Councilman Tom Berry on July 10. 19th District Court Judge Richard Wygonik Berry circulated details of the conversation in an email and...
Syria comes in from the cold
July 18th, 20080 Paris — Rarely has the French capital witnessed such an extravaganza as on July 13, when 43 heads of state and government launched the "Union for the Mediterranean" in the grandiose setting of the Grand Palais, and a day later attended a Bastille Day march past down the Champs-Elysées, undoubtedly the finest parade-ground in Europe....Palestinian village sues Canadian builders
The West Bank Palestinian village of Bili'n has filed suit in Quebec Superior Court for $2 million against two Montreal firms, Green Park International and Green Mount International, for building and selling homes on Bili'n land which was seized and joined to an Israeli settlement. Lawyers for Bili'n claim that the activities of...
July 11th, 20080 DEARBORN Homecoming is near, time for Dearborn families, relatives and neighbors to come together and enjoy an annual hometown tradition. The 29th annual Homecoming will take place at the Ford Field Park in Dearborn on the weekend of August 1-3. A majority of the activities take place from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Headlining...
...
City Councilman George Darany named 2008 Outstanding Rotarian of the Year
July 11th, 20080 DEARBORN — City Councilman and Dearborn Rotarian George Darany was recently presented with Dearborn Rotary Club's "2008 Outstanding Rotarian of the Year" award in recognition of his nearly 30 years of community service. Presenting the award at a recent Rotary meeting was Bob Ziolkowski, the Club's 2008-2009 president-elect, who...Prospects for the Syrian-Israeli talks
Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last week that the indirect talks which his country has been conducting with Syria in recent weeks through Turkish intermediaries would shortly make way for direct negotiations. This has been widely interpreted as a sign that progress is being made. By highlighting the talks with Syria,......
Conflict finds a creative side
BEIRUT (IPS) — Can beauty arise from conflict? When looking at the art scene in the Middle East, where a fault line of political instability stretches from Lebanon, Syria and Israel to Iraq and Iran, the answer seems to be a resounding 'yes.' Artists living in war zones tend to express the harsh realities of battle, depicting...Militance and defiance in the Middle East
WASHINGTON — One of the frightening lessons one learns from spending time in Washington, DC is that most of the men and women who make or influence American policy in the Middle East actually have little or no first-hand experience in the region. They know very little about its people, or its political trends at the grassroots level......