The Arab American News
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Panel discusses needs of Iraqi refugees
ANN ARBOR � Refugees, or people who flee from their homes in times of crisis, are often treated as political pawns. Political leaders debate who caused the refugees, what should be done with them, and what their status means politically. Meanwhile, the refugees are ignored, victimized or treated as a burden. ...Rights group needed now more than ever
ADC struggling for funds as anniversary approaches DEARBORN � The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in Michigan will hold its Annual Fundraising Gala on Friday, December 7, at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn. ADC Michigan will host the Gala for the eighth year, as it celebrates another year of promoting the civil...Ann Arbor peace groups discuss support for Annapolis conference
ANN ARBOR � A group of peace organizations against the occupation in Palestine gathered in Ann Arbor on Tuesday to show support for the Annapolis Mideast peace conference, despite being generally skeptical of its chances for ultimate success. "We feel we should support whatever can happen there," said Odile Hugonot-Haber, of the Women's...Fight dedicated to slain uncle
DEARBORN � One of two local Arab American boxers initially scheduled to perform at an upcoming nationally televised event in Dearborn has pulled out of the show. Undefeated middleweight Brian "The Lion" Mihtar and promoters of the event said they could not agree on the amount of money Mihtar was to be paid and the opponent he was to...Students donate to Locks of Love
DEARBORN � A group of Dearborn girls had their long hair lopped off last Monday at McDonald Elementary School, offering their thick locks to a charity that provides hairpieces for disadvantaged children who suffer from illness-related hair loss. Fifth-grade teacher Reem Bathish organized an assembly at the school where students with...Niqab farce continues
When my partner Ad�le, unable to get around because of knee replacement surgery, filled out her ballot at home, no one came around to see if she was wearing a niqab or other face covering. Perhaps the matter was overlooked. The bill forbidding voting while wearing a face covering is now moving through Canada's House of...Liberal leader attacks Khadr’s Gitmo ordeal
St�phane Dion, leader of Canada's opposition Liberal Party, has called upon Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to "demand that Omar Khadr be removed from Guantanamo Bay detention facility to be transferred to the United States to be tried in a legitimate court." Khadr, a Canadian citizen whose family has had close ties to Osama...Almrei denied bail from Gitmo North
Hassan Almrei is the last inmate of Guantanamo North, the detention facility for people with suspected terrorist affiliations seeking to avoid deportation from Canada. The facility is on the grounds of the Kingston Penitentiary. Justice Fran�ois Lemieux refused to give him bail. Judge Lemieux listed several factors...Abu Dhabi spending billions in Alberta
Because of their province's substantial oil wealth, Albertans have been called Canada's blue-eyed Arabs. Now some dark-eyed Arabs are moving in. Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA), majority-owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, has put down $5 billion to purchase Prime West Energy Trust, through its Canadian subsidiary TAQA...Muslim groups support rape victims
Recently, a Muslim student was sexually assaulted on an Ottawa campus. At first, the media described the assault as rape, a description which was later corrected. The woman made a point of having the correction noted because of the shame associated in some Muslim traditions with being the victim of rape. In response to...Canadian Islamic Congress stubs its toe
With Maclean's, the simplest description would be that it is more or less the Canadian Time, though, while over the decades Time has become somewhat less right wing, Maclean's has moved in the other direction. On October 20, Maclean's carried an excerpt from a book by Mark Steyn in which he argues that, as the title puts it, "The...Carter documentary makes you care about Mideast
Even before anyone realized that Jimmy Carter's book "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid" would stir up controversy and a lively but sometimes vicious debate, filmmaker Jonathan Demme decided to follow the former president during his book tour. Demme has produced a powerful documentary, "Jimmy Carter: A Man from Plains," now...
Palestinian mural finally inaugurated
December 2nd, 20070 SAN FRANCISCO � After a two and a half year battle with campus administration, San Francisco State University became the first school to showcase a Palestinian cultural mural honoring Dr. Edward Said. But the General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS), the group that spearheaded the mural, says achieving it was no easy task. "Let's...‘Lions For Lambs’ hits note of realism
"Do you want to win the war on terror?" It's the central question of our times, one in which the answer not only reveals an individual political point of view, but also, if answered collectively, will determine the course of events in this so-called war. That's what lies at the heart of Robert Redford's new film, "Lions For Lambs,"...When the roadmap is a one way street
Israel's strategy for permanent occupation One may well think that the struggle inside the Jewish community of Israel is between those of the political right, who want to maintain the settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank so as to "redeem" the Greater Land of Israel as a Jewish country, and those of the left who seek a......
A Muslim belongs in the Cabinet
LAS VEGAS � Mitt Romney tells good jokes. I had the chance to hear a few of them this month at a political fundraiser in Las Vegas, where the Republican presidential contender gave his audience a few good chuckles before going into his domestic and foreign policy agenda. His platform seemed sound enough analytically � until he...Longshot candidate from Texas gains on GOP leaders
They were a lonely band of rebels until just a few weeks ago, backing the darkest of dark horse presidential candidates. But with Republican Rep. Ron Paul's fundraising on the rise � $4.2 million raised on the internet in one day this month � and his poll numbers jumping, the Texas congressman might no longer be a "who?" but a......
Advertisers boycott Savage show
SAN FRANCISCO �The newly-formed Hate Hurts America Community and Interfaith Coalition (HHA) this week announced that Wal-Mart and AT&T have joined a growing list of advertisers that have stopped advertising or refuse to place their ads on Michael Savage's "Savage Nation" program. HHA, a group of religious and civic organizations...U.S. senators, panel seek closure of Saudi Islamic school
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia � Twelve U.S. senators and a federal commission want to shut it down, and its most virulent critics have dubbed it "Terror High." The teachers, administrators and about 900 students at the Islamic Saudi Academy in Fairfax County have heard the allegations for years � after the Sept. 11 attacks and then a few years...Activists remember day of Palestinian solidarity
The e-mail notice from the group in Boston began, "the photo-op which was the Annapolis peace conference is over." Pro-Palestine activists did not forget the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Held on November 29th of every year, the day commemorates the 1947 partition of Palestine by the United...Detentions escalate in Diwaniyah
DIWANIYAH (IPS) � Detentions have become commonplace in Iraq, but now more than ever before people are being detained after being accused of membership in "militias supported by Iran." "Hundreds of our men were detained and accused of being militiamen supported by Iran," Mahmood Allawi, a 50-year-old lawyer from Diwaniyah,......
Israel’s Syrian air strike was aimed at Iran
Until late October, the accepted explanation for the Sept. 6 Israeli air strike in Syria, constructed in a series of press leaks from U.S. officials, was that it was prompted by dramatic satellite intelligence that Syria was building a nuclear facility with help from North Korea. But new satellite evidence has discredited that narrative,...Palestinians protest the Annapolis summit
We do not recognize those who hold talks in Annapolis; they do not represent the Palestinian people," said Ismail Haniyeh, the dismissed Palestinian Prime Minister, in response to the Washington-sponsored Palestinian-Israeli summit in Annapolis this week. The streets of Palestine bore witness that it isn't only the Hamas leader who......
‘Our Arab American Story’ profiles in a good way
December 2nd, 20070 DEARBORN � OK Arab Americans, get your hankies ready. After centuries of cultural isolation, decades of political ostracization and six years of post-9/11 social hysteria, our real story is about to be told. And when you watch Visionalist Entertainment Productions' documentary, "Our Arab American Story," the tears are gonna...
What happened in Annapolis?
December 2nd, 20070 BEIRUT � The Middle East peace gathering at Annapolis, Maryland, Tuesday was full of lofty rhetoric, some intriguing new promises, a few bold commitments and a tantalizing cast of characters � alongside plenty of rehashed old rhetoric, rigid positions and regurgitated failed diplomatic mechanisms. It left us with as many questions as......
