The Arab American News
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Canadian Conservatives bow to Islamophobia
There are problems with Canada's electoral laws. As currently written, in order to vote a person has to have a street address. The authors of the law did not stop to think that, as written, the law would disenfranchise large numbers of rural voters who have only a post office box number. It would also take the right to...Engaging Hamas and Hizbullah
Nothing could be easier in the present atmosphere than to accuse anyone who calls for recognition of and dialogue with Hamas, Hizbullah and other Islamist movements of being closet supporters of reactionary "extremism" or naive fellow travelers of "terrorists." This tactic is not surprising coming from neoconservatives and Zionists. What...Please let’s prioritize Palestinian dignity
Mahmoud Jnaid recently doused himself in fuel and tried to set himself on fire before other Palestinian on-lookers overpowered him. "I am Mr. Nobody," he said in an October 19th Reuters article. "When I poured the petrol on my body I felt life was the same as death," the 25-year-old said while sitting next to his wife and...Last chance for two-state solution
The prevailing worldwide view of how to resolve politically the conflict of two nationalisms in Israel/Palestine is the so-called two-state solution that is, the creation of two states, Israel and Palestine, within the boundaries of the onetime British Mandate of Palestine. Actually, this position is not at all new. One might argue...Egypt challenges Israeli smuggling claims
CAIRO (IPS) Throughout October, Israeli officials reiterated longstanding claims that Egyptian authorities were failing to prevent weapons from being smuggled into the Gaza Strip, which has been governed by Palestinian resistance faction Hamas since June. According to many local commentators, however, the Israeli accusations are...Kucinich seeks honesty, reconciliation in foreign policy
DEARBORN Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, while meeting with editors of The Arab American News on Sunday at a Dearborn restaurant, said that if elected, he would be willing to meet with anyone in order to work for peace in the Middle East. Even, he said, if it meant talking to groups currently designated by the...
AAPAC kicks off election season with grand banquet
November 3rd, 20070 Event dubbed largest Arab American political gathering in state DEARBORN About 625 people gathered at a banquet hall in Dearborn on Friday to celebrate ten years of services from an influential group of community organizers. The Arab American Political Action Committee's 10th Annual Dinner was scheduled right before local elections,...
Palestinians freed after 20 years of legal battles
November 3rd, 20070 After a twenty-year legal ordeal, Palestinian-American activists Khader Hamide and Michel Shehadeh can finally rest. The two were part of the "LA 8," a group of seven Palestinians and a Kenyan activist based in Los Angeles. The government wanted to deport them for their activism, saying at first that they were promoting...1980 bomber pursued
Back in 1980, an organization called the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Special Operations, detonated a bomb near a Paris synagogue, killing four people and injuring 20 others. Just recently, German authorities uncovered a membership list for that organization, which appears to be distinct from the Popular Front...Canadians politicians speak up for minority rights
Socialist New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton spoke briefly at the recent Canadian Islamic Congress gala, reminding those present of his party's opposition to security certificates and to injustice and discrimination experienced by Muslims since 9/11. Also present was Marcel Lussier, Member of Parliament for the Bloc Quιbιcois,...Goddard Prize awarded
The Canadian Islamic Congress awarded the Captain Nichola Goddard Scholarship to Fatima Ahmed at its Gala dinner in Ottawa on October 29. The award, named for Goddard, the first Canadian woman soldier killed in Afghanistan, is worth $3,000. It is given to an undergraduate student studying in a field related to peace and...Nasr speaks of art
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University, spoke in Ottawa, one stop in his presentations for Islamic History Month in Canada. His topic was "Islamic Architecture, Science, Art, and Spirituality." Nasr said that sacred art is the heart of religion. Theology is secondary. Thus,...New leadership and new direction
Dr. Zijad Delic came on board with the Canadian Islamic Congress as Executive Director last November, and his presence has entailed a definite shift in perspective. The hiring of an Executive Director gave the Congress the ability to do more "on the ground" with Muslims and in reaching out to the wider Canadian society. He...Islamic art discussed
The Canadian Islamic Congress has been successful in having cities across the country declare October as Islamic History Month. Crowning the effort was a similar declaration by the House of Commons. Some 80 events in celebration have been held across Canada. In one event in Ottawa, Dr. Zijad Delic showed a film about the...Lebanon to U.N.: Israel violating resolution
Lebanon has accused Israel of nearly 300 encroachments into Lebanese air space since the end of the Second Lebanon War, in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, Army Radio reported on Thursday. In a letter to the United Nations, Beirut alleges that the Israel Air Force has performed 290 sorties into Lebanese......
Few candidates attend leadership meet
DEARBORN The importance of the Arab American voice was the recurring topic during day one of the Arab American Institute (AAI)'s National Leadership Conference, on Friday, October 25. The issue was reinforced by several key leaders throughout the many panels, forums and discussions that took place throughout the day. At the...
Republican maverick calls for Iran talks
November 2nd, 20070 WASHINGTON (IPS) Amid growing contention among Democratic presidential contenders about U.S. policy toward Iran, a senior Republican lawmaker has appealed to President George W. Bush to pursue "direct, unconditional, and comprehensive talks" with Tehran. The appeal, which was sent to Bush by Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel two weeks......
Arar gets his day in U.S. Congress via satellite
Maher Arar testified before a joint hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives foreign affairs and judiciary committees on October 18, in spite of the fact that he is not allowed into the country. Videoconferencing to the rescue. The hearing dealt with extraordinary rendition. Participating members of the House fell over one another...Cleaning out the Pipes
DETROIT On October 8th, Daniel Pipes, author and founder of the Middle East Forum and Campus Watch, spoke at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the threat from radical Islam. Pipes, an advisor to Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani and a columnist for...Islamic, African American art museums team up in New Orleans
It seems like an unlikely collaboration: an exhibit of 75 paintings by more than 10 Muslim artists from five different countries, co-sponsored by Southern University at New Orleans; the New Orleans African American Museum of Art, Culture and History; and the International Museum of Muslim Cultures, Jackson, Miss. But according to the...
AAPAC celebrates 10 years of political work
October 28th, 20070 DEARBORN After a decade of fighting to amplify the voices of Arab Americans on a local and national level, the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) is preparing for its 10th Annual Banquet on Nov. 2 at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center on Miller Rd in Dearborn. AAPAC has endorsed and opposed election candidates and ballot......
Bush risks falling off Turkish-Kurd tightrope
WASHINGTON (IPS) - Spurred by the deployment of at least 100,000 troops along Turkey's border with Iraq, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is pressing its closest clients in Iraqi Kurdistan to crack down hard against the Kurdish Turkish Workers' Party (PKK), which Washington considers a terrorist organization. Given...Respected Bint Jebail mayor dies of cancer
BINT JEBAIL Dr. Ali Bazzi, mayor of this southern Lebanon village which has thousands of former residents living in Dearborn, died of cancer in a local hospital here on Saturday, October 20. He was 65 years old. Dr. Bazzi was a medical physician, having graduated from medical school in the former Soviet Union with a specialty in......
Workshop tackles misrepresentations of Islam, Arab culture
DEARBORN With her dark good looks, Arab family structure and independent spirit, actress and comedienne Kathy Najimy of theatre, movie and activist fame has always been different. "At school other kids brought toys or hobbies in to show and tell," she quipped, in an address to a diversity conference here this week. "I brought in...Festival promises first rate films
Morocco, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria without leaving Dearborn? Or better yet, without leaving the Arab American National Museum? The museum is sponsoring the third annual Arab film festival, a series of first-rate films from the Arab world. These films feature a range of different countries and narratives highlighting all......