The Arab American News
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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...The neocon threat to American freedom
The Bush/Cheney White House, which told the American people in 2003 that the Iraqi invasion would be a three to six week affair, now tells us that the U.S. occupation is permanent. Forever. Attentive Americans of which, alas, there are so few, had already concluded that the occupation was permanent. Permanence is the obvious message......
Is there finally peace in Yemen?
The Sa'ada war in northern Yemen may be coming to a close. The Yemeni government announced on June 15 that a cease-fire had been negotiated through the good offices of the Emir of Qatar. Shi'a rebels agreed to lay down their arms after nearly three years of fighting. Hopes are high that an end to hostilities will allow immediate...Hamas wants Palestinian rights
The events in Gaza over the last few days have been described in the West as a coup. In essence, they have been the opposite. Eighteen months ago, our Hamas Party won the Palestinian parliamentary elections and entered office under Prime Minister Ismail Haniya but never received the handover of real power from Fatah, the losing party....The Palestinian experiment: A defining turn
All my forewarnings have suddenly actualized, all at once: Gaza has descended into total and utter chaos; Abbas has capitulated to Israel and to the United States without a shred of reservation, and the Palestinian democratic experiment, which was until recently an astounding success, has been smashed to bits. For years I have...
Bush, Olmert aim toward disastar
June 24th, 20070 What would it take to persuade Israel to rethink its attitude towards its Arab neighbors � and primarily towards the Palestinians? The Hamas victory in Gaza is surely a clear signal that an Israeli change of direction is urgently needed. All Israel�s efforts to break the democratically-elected Hamas government have failed. Its......
Carter blasts U.S. policy on Palestinians
June 24th, 20070 DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter accused the U.S., Israel and the European Union on Tuesday of seeking to divide the Palestinian people by reopening aid to President Mahmoud Abbas' new government in the West Bank while denying the same to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Carter Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize...
Why Mahmoud Abbas has failed
June 24th, 20070 The breakdown of the domestic political order in Gaza last week reflects the clear failure of the current Palestinian leadership under Mahmoud Abbas to achieve its people's national rights to statehood, security and a normal life, and the consequent need for a combination of new leadership blood and better policies. Since their......
Helen Thomas: Media watchdog 57 years in the front seat at White House press briefings
Helen Thomas has been the epitome of journalistic integrity for over 57 years, serving as a correspondent and White House bureau chief for United Press International. She has covered every U.S. president since John F. Kennedy, and continues to be a dynamic leader in the Washington press. Her leadership among women in the press is...Michael Husseini is an exceptional graduate!
DEARBORN � When Michael Husseini was one year old, his father wondered why he was rolling over rather than crawling like other children. Michael was not a small child, his father Samy Husseini recalls, "but he was incapable even of riding a tricycle. I thought he was lazy, he needed someone to push him." At two, Michael was walking......