The Arab American News
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Yemen: United on paper only
Nojoud Muhammed Nasser is apparently the most famous Yemeni girl in the world. Last week, the 8-year-old went alone to a courthouse in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a and personally requested that a judge accept a petition against her father, who forced her to marry a 30-year-old man. She also demanded that the judge compel her husband...Understanding the six basic issues for HAMAS
Achieving a peaceful Israeli-Palestinian win-win situation is to deal with HAMAS in the total context of its actions. This means understanding that HAMAS represents: resistance, respect, reciprocity, reconstruction, rights and refugees. BEIRUT — The controversy over whether former U.S. President Jimmy Carter...U.S. and Iran holding ‘secret’ talks on nuclear program
Iran and the United States have been engaged in secret "back channel" discussions for the past five years on Iran's nuclear program and the broader relationship between the two sworn enemies, The Independent can reveal. One of the participants, former senior U.S. diplomat Thomas Pickering, explained that a group of former American...European, North American Christians show solidarity with Hebron’s persecuted orphans
Hebron — In a conspicuous contrast to Christian Zionists who rabidly support Israeli repression of Palestinians, scores of Christian activists from Europe and North America this week arrived in this southern West Bank town to show solidarity with the Islamic Charitable Society, Palestine's largest charity. A few weeks...New American Jewish lobby wants to be alternative to AIPAC
WASHINGTON (IPS) — A new group of prominent U.S. Jews who believe that the so-called "Israel Lobby" has been dominated for too long by neo-conservatives and other Likud-oriented hawks has launched a new organization to help fund political candidates who favor a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a stronger...
Iraqi chaos hardening sectarian fiefdoms
April 18th, 20080 To the extent that a government in Iraq exists, it provides services on a sectarian basis WASHINGTON (IPS) — There are an estimated 2.7 million Iraqis who have been displaced within their own country. No house; no food; no security. Who do they turn to for help? The international community's humanitarian organizations?...
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......