The Arab American News
Author's Posts
New York: An intifada against common sense
Once again, the hard-hitting, no-nonsense journalists of the New York Sun, the New York Post, and Fox News, led as always by intrepid scholar Daniel Pipes, have struck a blow in the war against terrorism. I'm referring, of course, to the rooting out of the former principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, an alleged terrorism...Who are the fanatics?
President Jimmy Carter was demonized for pointing out in his book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," that there are actually two sides to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Distinguished American scholars, such as John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt have suffered the same fate for documenting the excessive influence the Israel lobby has on...
Toledo mosque has roots going back 75 years
September 19th, 20070 From Interstate 75, the sight is striking: A gleaming white mosque with twin minarets in the classical Islamic style rises out of the Ohio countryside. A visit to the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo during Friday prayers offers another remarkable scene. Inside the mosque's domed prayer hall, as light streams through stained-glass...In Lebanon, DNA may yet heal rifts
BYBLOS, Lebanon (Reuters) — A Lebanese scientist following the genetic footprint of the ancient Phoenicians says he has traced their modern-day descendants, but stumbled into an old controversy about identity in his country. Geneticist Pierre Zalloua has charted the spread of the Phoenicians out of the eastern Mediterranean by...U.S. denies visas to Iranian religious leaders
WASHINGTON (IPS) — A religious delegation from Iran has canceled a scheduled visit to the United States this week after members of the group were denied visas by the State Department. The denial of the visa applications of four of the 14 delegation members was denounced by one of one of the trip's sponsors, who suggested Washington's...An important marker has been passed in global boycott effort against Israel
From a limestone hill rising above Qalandia refugee camp, you can see Jerusalem. I watched a lone figure standing there in the rain, his son holding the tail of his long tattered coat. He extended his hand and did not let go. "I am Ahmed Hamzeh, street entertainer," he said in measured English. "Over there, I played many musical...Fallon derided Petraeus, opposed the surge
Their differences highlight one of the worst clashes between military leaders in U.S. history WASHINGTON (IPS) — In sharp contrast to the lionization of Gen. David Petraeus by members of the U.S. Congress during his testimony this week, Petraeus's superior, Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command (CENTCOM), derided...
Murder of Iraqi leader hurts Bush
September 19th, 20070 Ten days after President George Bush clasped his hand as a symbol of America's hopes in Iraq, the man who led the U.S.-supported revolt of Sunni sheikhs against al-Qa'ida in Iraq was assassinated. Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha and two of his bodyguards were killed either by a roadside bomb or by explosives placed in his car by a guard, near...
ACC’s annual gala focuses on diversity
September 18th, 20070 The Arab American and Chaldean Council’s (ACC) 28th Annual Civic and Humanitarian Awards Gala on Sept. 8 celebrated a night of philanthropic endeavors and achievements. A sold out crowd gathered at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center to commemorate ACC’s role in dedicating time and service to the Metropolitan Detroit area. The...Humanitarian day event for the homeless in Detroit
SOUTHFIELD — Life for Relief and Development (LIFE), an American non-profit humanitarian relief organization based in Southfield, Mich., is proudly sponsoring the Humanitarian Day Event for the Homeless in Detroit, in an effort to help ease the hardships of those less fortunate. The event is part of LIFE's continuing humanitarian efforts...Muslims scapegoated in Canada
Fear-mongering at the expense of Muslims is the current political game in Canada. In Quebec we have a public consultation on what constitutes "reasonable accommodation" of minorities. That consultation grew out of the code of conduct adopted by the town of Hérouxville, which denounced such behavior as stoning women to death and female...Ashkar named to Leadership Detroit
DETROIT — Fouad Ashkar, manager, economic development and ethnic marketing for DTE Energy, was among 65 professionals selected to participate in the upcoming Leadership Detroit program. Leadership Detroit is the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce's premier leadership development and training program. "The Leadership Detroit...Meeting with an Arab-Canadian priest and his daughter
Father Robert Assaly is an Anglican priest, born in Ottawa to Lebanese parents. His grandparents were Orthodox immigrants to Saskatchewan, but since there was no Orthodox church within a convenient distance, they went to the Anglican church. Episcopalians are the U.S. branch of the Anglican communion. Assaly is an honorary assistant...Megabus.com first in United States to introduce intercity double-decker bus travel
DETROIT — Megabus.com, a daily express bus company that offers $1 fares, announced it will begin service of the first double-decker buses to carry passengers intercity in the United States with an inaugural trip from Chicago to Minneapolis on September 7. Megabus.com, a subsidiary of Coach USA, purchased 17 wheelchair-accessible...Permanent Resident Cards without expiration dates must be replaced
WASHINGTON — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced this week a proposal to require nearly 750,000 lawful permanent residents carrying “green cards” without an expiration date to replace their current cards. USCIS published in the Federal Register a rule open for public comment that proposes to require lawful......
Finkelstein, DePaul settle tenure scandal
Chicago's DePaul University and professor Norman Finkelstein have come to some settlement following a controversy surrounding his bid to get academic tenure. The political science professor was up for tenure, a permanent post that is one of the highest levels of professional accomplishment for an academic. Norman Finkelstein...Outing the “Israel Lobby”
WASHINGTON (IPS) — When John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt published their controversial essay "The Israel Lobby" in the London Review of Books in March 2006, their work elicited the kind of response of which most academics only dream. But it was also attacked and condemned by critics for its provocative and pointed argument that......
Saudi peace plan is Arabs’ greatest compromise toward Israel
After nearly 60 years, Israel is still not at peace with most of its neighbors. The Saudi peace plan, first proposed in 2002, is the latest in a series of Arab overtures aiming to end this situation. It offers Israel full normalization of relations in return for withdrawal from the territories it conquered in 1967, and a negotiated...Lebanon’s rising jihadi threat
Even after the Lebanese Army defeated Muslim militants Sunday, Al Qaeda's credo is spreading in Palestinian camps. Nahr Al-Bared — Lebanese military helicopters flew low Monday over the smoking ruins of this Palestinian refugee camp as soldiers scoured the nearby countryside for remnants of the Al Qaeda-inspired group whose three-month...Celebrating our 23rd anniversary
As we put this issue of The Arab American News to bed, on Friday, September 7, 2007, we solemnly remember that it is our 23rd anniversary. When we began The Arab American News 23 years ago, we had no idea a global information revolution was about to begin. Neither, of course, could we forsee the first and second Palestinian intifadas,...Robert Fisk: Even I question the ‘truth’ about 9/11
Each time I lecture abroad on the Middle East, there is always soameone in the audience — just one —whom I call the "raver." Apologies here to all the men and women who come to my talks with bright and pertinent questions — often quite humbling ones for me as a journalist — and which show that they understand the Middle East tragedy a......
Bush plans war on Iran
The Sunday Times of London is reporting that the Pentagon has plans for three days of massive air strikes against 1,200 targets in Iran . Last week, Alexis Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center , told a meeting of The National Interest, a conservative foreign policy journal, that the military did not...
Michigan Dems set new primary date
September 11th, 20070 LANSING —The leadership of the Michigan Democratic Party this week announced their intention to comply with the new state law establishing a January 15, 2008 presidential primary, and to select their delegates to the Democratic National Convention on that day. This was in response to what they say is the Democratic National......
Examining the religion-building enterprise
Blaming Islam for the lack of democratic and scientific developments in Muslim countries is not a new idea but an old enterprise, rooted in the nineteenth and twentieth century European Orientalism. The late Edward Said succeeded, in the 1980s, in unmasking Orientalist notions within Western academia and exposing its false pretense. In...Is a citizen-led boycott of Israel morally justified?
That question is raised by an expanding academic, cultural and economic boycott of Israel. The movement joins churches, unions, professional societies and other groups based in the United States, Canada, Europe and South Africa. It has elicited dramatic reactions from Israel's supporters. U.S. labor leaders have condemned British unions,......