The Arab American News
Author's Posts
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,...Anti-discrimination work must go on
Six years after the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, it is important to assess the condition of the Arab American community. Although the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has repeatedly condemned the attacks on record, we note that the entire community is still feeling the implications of our government's policies...Judge strikes down parts of PATRIOT Act
New York - A federal judge struck down parts of the revised USA Patriot Act as unconstitutional Thursday, saying courts must be allowed to supervise cases where the government orders Internet providers to turn over records without telling customers. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero said the government orders must be subject to...Palestinians poorer than ever
BRUSSELS (IPS) — Poverty in the Palestinian territories has reached "unprecedented levels" because they have been held under an "economic siege" for almost seven years, a United Nations body has found. During 2006 the number of Palestinians living in "deep poverty" almost doubled to more than 1 million. Some 46 percent of public...FISA has groups fearing U.S. scrutiny
WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The recent congressional expansion of surveillance powers, aimed ostensibly at terrorists abroad, has Jewish groups at home worried that their dealings with Israel could invite U.S. government scrutiny. The amended Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, rushed through Congress and signed into law by President Bush...Presidential hopeful visits Syria, Lebanon
BEIRUT — A Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency, Dennis Kucinich, met separately with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on a six-day trip to the region over the Labor Day holiday. The trip began in Syria. In the Golan region, they visited the site of the...Treasury meets with community on charities
Members of the Arab American community voiced their growing concerns regarding charitable contributions during a special town hall meeting on Tuesday, September 4, at the Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn. The meeting was arranged by BRIDGES and the office of U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy, and hosted Michael Rosen, a Policy......
The Shi’a power struggle: Not good news in Iraq
The decision made by Shi'a cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to halt his Mahdi Army's attacks on occupation forces and Iraqi security is likely to be considered the single most promising breakthrough for the U.S. military in Iraq. Although the move comes ahead of several reports to be presented to the U.S. Congress later this month, the decision...Let Arabs tell the truth
Case Number One: Architect and political analyst Raed Jarrar lives in America. A year ago, he was in New York's Kennedy Airport getting ready to board a plane back to his home in Oakland, California, when a federal Transportation Security Administration official told him he would not be allowed on the airliner unless he removed his......
Canada: Dual citizenship in question
When Canada spent $100 million to rescue Lebanese-Canadians from the war between Israel and Hizbullah last year, some Canadians reacted by accusing these people of being fair weather—or, rather, ill weather—Canadians. As former Immigration Minister Montel Solberg put it, “Canadians want to know that citizenship means something, that we...Lebanon’s only chance is the army
I had the opportunity to spend the last six weeks in Lebanon, making pleasure and working visits to different areas of the country and engaging in political and other discussions with local officials, academics and opposition activists. The experience has been instructive, simultaneously heartening and depressing, but has also suggested...Arabic spoken? Plane grounded!
Woman's gripe over men speaking Arabic grounded plane bound to Chicago SAN DIEGO - A woman who complained that some fellow passengers spoke Arabic and "had odd behavior" prevented a Chicago-bound American Airlines flight from departing San Diego, police said Wednesday. Flight 590, scheduled to depart at 11 p.m. Tuesday,...Muslims and anti-Semitism
The responsibility of the Muslims and the Jews in the West is tremendous: living together, both citizens of the same countries, they should raise their voices in the name of justice and mutual respect. In France, for example, one finds a unique situation; namely, the largest Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe living together. In......
Arab American and Chaldean Council to mark 28 years of service
DETROIT — The Arab American and Chaldean Council (ACC) will host its 28th Annual Civic and Humanitarian Awards Gala at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center at 6 p.m. Sept. 8. Every year the non-profit human services organization sets the stage for a unique and prestigious event to honor extraordinary individuals who are visionaries in...The new illiterate Orientalism
How do you defend an entire nation's literature and poetry in one small book? When the country to defend is Iran, and the people who need convincing are Americans, the question becomes particularly difficult. Books like Geraldine Brookes' "Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women,"Khaled Husseini's "The Kite Runner,"Azar......
Strange request from Bush on detainees
The American government has approached Canada on several occasions with a request to admit 17 Ugyhurs being held in Guantanamo. Canada is reluctant to grant this strange request. Obviously, the U.S. has decided that they are not terrorists and not a danger. Yet, it refuses to admit them to the United States and continues to imprison the...Who are the Yazidis?
Iraqi Yazidis have been in the news lately, and not pleasant news. Back in April, Yazidis beat and stoned a 17-year-old girl to death because she had a Muslim boyfriend. Shortly after, gunmen forced a bus to empty out and separated the Christians from the Yazidis, killing all 23 Yazidis, apparently in retaliation for the earlier......