The Arab American News
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Will there be an electoral upheaval in 2008?
April 18th, 20080 America seems poised for a great upheaval. While it would be rash to predict the winner of next November's elections, there seems to be an overwhelming desire for change right across the United States. The polls suggest that 75 percent of Americans think their country is on the wrong track. This is a stinging indictment of...Torturers in the White House
We now have confirmation that the president of the United States gave the OK for his national security team to violate international law and plot the sordid details of torture. The Democrats in Congress should be raising the roof. The biggest news of the last week went virtually uncovered by the mainstream, print...CORRECTION
In last week's edition of The Arab American News we reported on Canadian Marc Kielburger, founder of Save the Children, and his latest cause regarding Third World men being tricked into driving trucks from Kuwait into Iraq under dangerous conditions. Kielburger is founder of "Free the Children" not "Save the Children." We apologize...Dearborn schools tie for top spot in tennis tournament
Dearborn High, Dearborn Divine Child come out on top, Fordson, Edsel Ford trail DEARBORN � In a tennis event that used to include only Dearborn schools, it was fitting that two of them were able to tie for first place. Dearborn High and Dearborn Divine Child tied for the championship in this past Saturday's Press &...
Reality ignored in hearings on Iraq
April 11th, 20080 Sure, Arizona Senator John McCain's campaign may still be selling him as some kind of "maverick" or "independent thinker" � and most of the media may still be buying that ridiculous line. But when it comes to the fundamental foreign policy issue of the 2008 race � whether to continue the war in Iraq, and at what cost � McCain's a...
Hizbullah has new weapons to wage war
April 11th, 20080 Teir Dibba � The Shi'a "martyrs" of this hill village are normally killed in the dangerous, stony landscape of southern Lebanon, in Israeli air raids or invasions or attacks from the sea. The Hizbullah duly honors them. But the body of the latest Shi'a fighter to be buried here � from the local Hashem family � was flown back to...
New Wal-Mart spurs opposition
April 11th, 20080 DEARBORN � It's a concern that enters the minds of citizens every time a new Wal-Mart comes to town: What's going to happen to the small businesses in the area? With the recent opening of the Wal-Mart in Dearborn, one local group is hosting a meeting for concerned citizens, government officials and business owners. The group,...Film shows Arab Americans as they are
A poignant film captures the beauty of the Arab culture through its moving storyline and engaging characters, while examining immigration issues that many are being faced with today. "The Visitor," an honest, touching film set in New York City, centers on the character of Walter Vale, played by Richard Jenkins. Walter is a...U.S. lawmakers invested in Iraq, Afghanistan wars
WASHINGTON (IPS) � U.S. lawmakers have a financial interest in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a review of their accounts has revealed. Members of Congress invested nearly 196 million dollars of their own money in companies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a day from Pentagon contracts to provide goods and...Muslim reformer’s ‘heresy’: The Islamic state is a dead end
Abdullahi Ahmed an-Naim has seen what can happen to an Islamic reformer: His mentor was executed in 1985 in Sudan; he himself had to flee the country. Still, the self-described "Muslim heretic" has no trouble traveling the Islamic world spreading his controversial message: There is no such thing as an Islamic state. A secular...Progressive Israeli journalist speaks at UM
ANN ARBOR � Many see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as being about land, religion or just hatred. For veteran Israeli journalist Amira Hass it is about both Israeli domination and masculinity. The obsession with militarization, she argued in front of nearly 200 audience members here this week, is also symbolic of "male...West needs to better assess Islam
BOSTON � The United States is a confused and frustrated country when it comes to dealing with the wide variety of voices and actions coming out of Muslim societies. Everywhere in the public sphere, discussions of foreign policy issues inevitably touch on how to deal with "Islamic extremism," often revolving around the "terrorism" and...Dearborn to show off at Big Open House
DEARBORN � The City of Dearborn, along with its marketing campaign, WelcomeHomeDearborn.com, will promote great features of the community to potential home buyers through activities at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center (The Center) on Sunday, April 27. Dearborn's activities are in conjunction with The Big Open House, a...Council approves plans for Ward site
Dearborn � City Council voted 4-2 on Tuesday to approve a redevelopment plan for the old Montgomery Ward site at Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road, giving the go-ahead for a $70 million project to replace the historic building with a major medical complex. Retail/office space and a 95-unit senior living facility will also be...Sixth Annual Great Lakes PeaceJam conference scheduled
Kalamazoo � Great Lakes PeaceJam this year will welcome 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi of Iran, to the 6th Annual Great Lakes PeaceJam Youth Conference on April 19 & 20, 2008 at Western Michigan University (WMU). Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the......
Awada named president of ACCESS Board
Dearborn � The Board of Directors of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) accepted the resignation of recently elected Board President Fawwaz T. Ulaby during its April 5 meeting in Dearborn. The Board has named its vice president, Andrea Awada, as its new president. Awada, a resident of Dearborn...New Chairman of Associated Food & Petroleum Dealers
Farmington Hills � The Associated Food and Petroleum Dealers, Inc. (AFPD) recently elected Chris Zebari, of Canton, Michigan, as its Chairman of the Board of Directors. Zebari has worked in the industry for 30 years in a variety of roles, starting out in his family's Michigan grocery stores: Wagon Train Market in Detroit, Country......
Community honors environmentalists
DEARBORN � The Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) honored individuals who exhibited an exemplary commitment to the environment at its 5th annual Environmental Leadership Celebration here on Wednesday, April 9, 2008, at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center in Dearborn. International environmental and community...Oakland University panel discusses Mideast
Rochester � The Lebanese Club of Oakland University hosted a panel discussion in the university's Fireside Lounge Wednesday, covering a number of issues relating to the Middle East and the Muslim world. Debates were held on topics including women in the Arab world, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and America's "War...Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to lead study mission to Middle East
Atlanta � Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will lead a study mission to Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan April 13-21, 2008, as part of the Carter Center's ongoing effort to support peace, democracy and human rights in the region. ...Imam detained, may be deported
AUSTIN � Members of Austin's religious community are rallying around a Muslim cleric who is being detained in West Texas and may be deported to Pakistan. Imam Safdar Razi, who led a Northwest Austin mosque for six years before taking a job in Dearborn, Mich., in 2006, was arrested on immigration charges at his home in Plano on......
Iraqi Olympians dodge violence and politics on the path to Beijing
A sprinter and an archer � two of the four Iraqis who have qualified so far � struggle to train amid sectarian divides and a dearth of equipment. BAGHDAD � It's a glorious spring day and sprinter Dana Hussein Abdul-Razzaq is busy stretching and warming up ahead of her morning training routine. Nearby, under the shade of...Play explores Pakistani culture
In Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner," Baba enthusiastically encourages his son Amir to fly kites and to defend the record he set as a child for cutting down the most opponents' kites in Kabul. But in "Kite on the Wind: A Tale of Pakistan," a collaboration of the Pakistan National Council on the Arts, the Embassy of Pakistan, and......
Basra battles: What reporters omitted and fabricated
The latest battles in Basra, Iraq�s largest city and a vital oil port, provide ample examples of misleading and manipulative practice in corporate journalism today. One commonly used tactic is to describe events using self-styled or "official" terminology, which deliberately confuses the reader by giving no real indication or...Standing in the shoes of the foe
My life in the West Bank during the summer of 2006 was a lot less dramatic than some might imagine. I wasn't kidnapped and I didn't see any gunbattles in the street. I went to university every day, ate delicious food, and traveled throughout various cities in the area. This is not to say that life is normal in this part of the......