The Arab American News
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Fear of Arabs and Muslims on the rise in America
August 14th, 20070 Anti-Muslim and anti-Arab acts in the streets, schools and homes of America have shocked many in recent weeks. In the span of a few short days, a fire devastated a mosque in California and a political controversy set back an Arabic school set to open this fall in New York. The mosque fire, if intentional, was violent and illegal. Such...
ACC continues upgrade of Detroit neighborhood
July 29th, 20070 The Seven Mile Project - Phase III DETROIT – The neighborhood of 7 Mile and Woodward is one filled with a deep, prideful history. It is a place with great diversity, where black and white residents have lived side by side for decades. It is also the original settlement for the largest population of Iraqi Chaldeans outside of the...Workplace discrimination subject of annual EEOC meet
DETROIT — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held a candid panel discussion on workplace discrimination during its Annual Detroit Seminar on Thursday, July 19, at the Wayne State University School of Law. The panel, entitled "Diversity in the Workplace," focused on issues of race discrimination, stereotyping and...ADC hosts DHS officials at reception
Washington — This week the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) hosted a dinner reception for speakers and participants in the "Roundtable on Security and Liberty: Perspectives of Young Leaders Post 9-11." The two-day roundtable was hosted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil...All thing Lebanese at Birmingham festival
Birmingham - The first annual Lebanese Festival – dubbed Leb Fest - took place Wednesday in downtown Birmingham, attracting hundreds of Arabs and non-Arabs alike. The event had specialty food booths that offered visitors a taste of genuine Lebanese cuisine, as well as a variety of musical and dance shows that included Detroit...Arab ambassadors attend Michigan conference
WASHINGTON - A delegation of Arab ambassadors attended the annual meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA) last week in Traverse City, Michigan. The trip was organized by the National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC), whose President & CEO, David Hamod, described the visit as a "unique opportunity for Arab...
Poll shows most Muslims reject extremism
July 29th, 20070 WASHINGTON (IPS) — Growing numbers of Muslims in the Middle East and in predominantly Muslim countries in Asia and Africa are rejecting "Islamic extremism" and the use of suicide bombing, according to a new 47-nation global attitudes survey released by the Pew Research Center on Tuesday. The percentage of Muslims who say that suicide...Refugees cause worry about state economy
DETROIT — The area in southeast Michigan where 2,000 Iraqi refugees are expected to resettle already has 169,000 people out of work. Some fear the influx will push the state's unemployment rate even higher. Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, is concerned that the area cannot support...Raids on charities made all look guilty
Dearborn’s Arab American and American Muslim communities were shocked by the serious allegations made by federal authorities this week against two Dearborn-based charities. The FBI raided the offices of Al-Mabbarat Charitable Organization, U.S.A and Goodwill Charitable Organization. The U.S. Treasury Department also froze the assets and...Current peace process not what it seems
As opposed to the forecast, energetic diplomatic activity — which in the distant past was called the "peace process" — began during the July-August vacation, of all times. Summit meetings, a prisoner release, economic gestures, optimistic declarations and diplomatic plans are all making us feel that something serious is really happening....Bush line distorts Iran’s real interest in Iraq
WASHINGTON (IPS) — As U.S. and Iranian diplomats met in Baghdad thisweek for a second round of talks on Iraq, the domestic U.S. political climate appears decidedly more supportive of an aggressive U.S. posture toward Iran than just a few months ago, reflecting the apparent triumph the George W. Bush administration's narrative on Iran's...U.S. evangelicals meet Muslim envoys
OAKLAND (IPS) — That it happened at all was a major feat. That not much was resolved was not surprising. That those involved are determined to meet again is fascinating. That it was organized by a controversial faith healer has made it that much more noteworthy. In early July, a historic meeting took place "behind closed doors" at the...A South African in Palestine
The first vice-president of the South African Municipal Workers' Union (SAMWU) received first-class Israeli treatment as he attempted to fly from South Africa to Israel-Palestine. Mr. Xolile Nxu went through a process all too familiar to many Palestinians. He was “detained, interrogated and strip searched by Israeli security” in the...E.U. support of U.S. Mideast policy challenged
BRUSSELS (IPS) — The European Union's foreign policy supremo Javier Solana this week declared himself "fully behind" the call for an international conference on the Middle East made recently by U.S. President George W. Bush. But is it time for the E.U. to cease being guided on the Israeli-Palestinian question by the United States, which...Report details Israeli war crimes in Lebanon
One year after the month-long bombardment and invasion of Lebanon, a new report highlights Israel’s many violations of international law. For 34 days from July to August, 2006, Israel carried “out a massive military offensive against Hizbullah military targets, Lebanon’s public infrastructure, and Lebanese civilians and their......
America waking up to scale of Iraq disaster
July 29th, 20070 The most probable result of U.S. withdrawal will be further bloodshed Iraq is over. Iraq has not yet begun. Two conclusions from the American debate about Iraq, which dominates the media in the U.S. to the exclusion of almost any other foreign story. Iraq is over insofar as the American public has decided that most U.S. troops should...Israel’s primal myth: A barrier to peace
Forget about Hamas, the wall, Gaza and the Occupied Territories. There can be no peace in the Middle East until Israel and the Palestinians deal with one key issue: the Palestinian demand that Israel recognize their right of return. That demand is based on the Arab charge that the Zionist state created the refugee problem in the war of......
Bush’s policies of fear and intimidation
We've been saying it for years. Instead of effectively addressing the terrorist threat to the United States that was clearly demonstrated by the 9/11 attacks, this administration chose to use those frightening and serious attacks as an excuse to invade the oil-rich country of Iraq, purely in the interests of advancing an economic and/or...New peace initiative met with skepticism
WASHINGTON (IPS) — A major policy address this week by U.S. President George W. Bush promoting a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine has been greeted with considerable skepticism by Middle East specialists here. Most analysts said Bush's speech — including his pledge to provide some 190 million dollars to support Palestine...Bush making a mockery of democracy
Two weeks ago President George W. Bush banned Lebanese and Syrian officials — whom Washington accuses of undermining the Lebanese government — from entering the United States. The list of Syrian officials the United States considers to have meddled in Lebanon includes Assaf Shawkat, director of Syrian military intelligence and...Ten reasons to talk to Hamas
1. Diplomacy is not mainly about talking to people you agree with, but to people you disagree with. 2. They won a free and fair parliamentary election in 2006. Fateh's Mahmoud Abbas won a free and fair presidential election in 2005. Outsiders have no credibility when they seek to include one of these parties while excluding and indeed......
Support The Parade Company
Anyone who had the pleasure this week of joining the crowd in downtown Detroit for the annual fireworks display in honor of America’s Independence Day knows it’s true that the Motor City is making a real comeback. International River Days kicked off the week-long celebration and grand opening of the Detroit International Riverfront, a...Arab American trailblazer from Southend
DEARBORN - Some people need just one story to describe their life. Others need more than one life to recount all their thoughts and accomplishments. Michael Berry was not just a successful attorney, bright politician, or even public figure; rather he encompassed all of these things with skilled dignity. He is a community leader who......
James Abourezk: Father of the Arab American civil rights movement
When James Abourezk moved to Washington more than three decades ago — serving first as a congressman and then as the first Arab American to be elected to the United States Senate — his knowledge of what was going on in he Middle East was modest. "It wasn't an issue that anyone talked about very much back home in South Dakota," he...What next after Samarra bombing?
ARBIL (IPS) — Iraq is again haunted by the ghosts of Samarra, with last week's attack on the Shi'a-revered al-Askari mosque raising fears that it could touch off a new wave of sectarian violence in a country already crippled by large-scale violence and political crisis. In a similar move last year, al Qaeda in Iraq bombed the......