The Arab American News
Author's Posts
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,......
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......