The Arab American News
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Our endorsements for the August 7 primary elections
July 27th, 20180 This election is a defining event for America This election, for many reasons, is perhaps the most important one in America’s modern history. First, our democracy is in grave danger. During the last presidential election and since Donald Trump took office, there have been a systematic attack on our democracy at all levels. The...
Judge allows lawsuit against citizenship question on 2020 Census to continue
July 27th, 20181 WASHINGTON — On Thursday, July 26, U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman of the Southern District of New York rejected the government’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had the authority to reintroduce...
Arab Americans share views on recreational marijuana legalization
July 27th, 20181 By Tamara Ajjour and Eman Jassem The Arab American News interns DEARBORN — On November 6, Michigan residents will be able to decide whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use. In the United States, nine states and Washington D.C. have already legalized recreational use of the drug. If the drug is legalized,...
Syria set to recover Golan frontier as surrender deal with rebels reached
July 22nd, 20180 BEIRUT/AMMAN — President Bashar al-Assad is set to recover control of the Syrian frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in a major victory over rebels who have agreed to surrender terms, sources on both sides said on Thursday. Backed by Russian air power and unopposed by Assad’s foreign adversaries, government forces...
The massacre of Inn Din: How Rohingya are lynched and held responsible
July 22nd, 20180 “In my four years as high commissioner, I have heard many preposterous claims. That claim is almost in its own category of absurdity. Have you no shame, sir, have you no shame? We are not fools.” These were some of the remarks made by the outgoing United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, in his...
The Trump-Putin summit uncovers the depth of divisions in America
July 22nd, 20180 For nearly 80 years the U.S. and Russia (or the former Soviet Union) have held summits. In each case, it has been a forum for domestic political debate. The president’s supporters always say the summit took solid steps towards peace and understanding, even while the president remained forceful and unyielding. Meanwhile, the...
Get involved, be a true American citizen
July 22nd, 20181 Back in 1883, Teddy Roosevelt wrote an essay on what it takes to be a true American citizen. He did not mince words. “The people who say that they have not time to attend to politics are simply saying that they are unfit to live in a free community,” he wrote. “The first duty of an American citizen, then, is that he shall work in...
Donate with honor, not to a sham charity
July 22nd, 20180 Would you donate to a charity called Help the Vets? What about if you get a robocall that asks you to donate your car to “Veterans of America?” Unfortunately, just because the word “veterans” is in the name, it doesn’t mean that an organization actually helps veterans. For example, Help the Vets didn’t help disabled and...
Two candidates for Detroit area State Senate seat have controversial pasts
July 22nd, 20180 DETROIT— Among the seven Democratic candidates seeking to fill a Detroit-area State Senate seat left open by a term-limited incumbent who pleaded guilty to federal theft and conspiracy charges, two have histories involving crime and controversy. Former State Sen. Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park) resigned after pleading guilty to...
Reps. Hammoud, Wittenberg propose clear kosher, halal guidelines to protect consumers
July 22nd, 20181 LANSING — State Reps. Abdullah Hammoud (D-Dearborn) and Robert Wittenberg (D-Huntington Woods) have introduced House Bills 6119 and 6120, which would revise kosher and halal food service laws in Michigan to increase transparency and address fraud. “The goal of my bill is to increase transparency and promote truth in...
Israel adopts divisive Jewish nation-state law, entrenches apartheid
July 21st, 20180 Israel passed a law on Thursday declaring that only Jews have the right of self-determination in the country, something members of the Arab minority called racist and verging on apartheid. The “nation-state” law, backed by the right-wing government, passed by a vote of 62-55 and two abstentions in the 120-member...
Texas man convicted of hate crime in 2017 mosque burning
July 21st, 20181 VICTORIA, Texas — A Texas man was found guilty this week of a hate crime in the burning of a local mosque in January 2017, an attack that a rights group connected to an increase in anti-Muslim incidents in the United States, on Wednesday. Marq Vincent Perez, 26, was also found guilty on Monday by the jury in Victoria, Texas, of...
Is Dearborn still an attraction for young Arab Americans?
July 21st, 20180 By Tamara Ajjour The Arab American News intern Dearborn — Dearborn has long been known as the hub for all things Middle Eastern. From Lebanese, Iraqi and Yemeni restaurants and grocery stores to cafes, bakeries, mosques and a museum highlighting Arab culture and way of life, many Arab Americans find everything they're looking for...
DHS lets Somali immigrants stay 18 more months
July 21st, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration said on Thursday it would allow some 500 Somalis to remain in the United States for at least another 18 months under protected status, given the violence in their home county. Somalis in the United States with Temporary Protected Status will be able to re-register for an extension of their...
Muslim candidates campaign in record numbers nationwide, but face backlash
July 20th, 20181 SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — When Muslim American Tahirah Amatul-Wadud heard about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's stunning upset over U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley in New York's Democratic primary last month, the first-time candidate saw parallels with her own long-shot campaign for Congress in western Massachusetts. Ocasio-Cortez, a liberal woman of......
Senate unanimously rebukes Trump’s consideration of allowing Russia to question Americans
July 20th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Senate has overwhelmingly approved a resolution against allowing Russia to question former U.S. ambassador Michael McFaul or other U.S. officials. It was a formal rebuke to President Trump, who touted the offer at the Helsinki summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump faced outrage on Tuesday for his...
EPA’s watchdog urges better water oversight after Flint crisis
July 19th, 20180 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was slow and ineffective in its response to the 2014 water crisis in Flint, Michigan, and needs to improve its communications with state and local regulators when citizen complaints arise, its internal watchdog said on Thursday. The EPA inspector general said in a 74-page......
Arab Americans share their heritage at 12th annual Bazaar in Bay Ridge
July 19th, 20180 BROOKLYN, NY - Sunday, July 9, Arab Americans celebrated their heritage at the 12th annual Arab American Bazaar in Bay Ridge, sponsored by the Arab American Association of New York. Attendees enjoyed a wide variety of regional foods and entertainment, with many dressed in traditional outfits from countries such as Egypt, Syria,...
Palestinians in Jerusalem demolish own homes rather than see Israelis move in
July 19th, 20180 JERUSALEM — Two Palestinian families on Thursday demolished the homes they had lived in for nearly two decades, saying they would rather destroy them than face the prospect of Israeli settlers moving in. Within two hours, two mechanical diggers smashed through the ceilings, walls and floors of the two buildings in Beit Hanina, a...
Lebanon to consider legalizing cannabis growing
July 18th, 20180 BEIRUT — Lebanon’s parliament is considering legalizing the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday, in an attempt to boost the struggling economy. “The Lebanese Parliament is preparing to study and adopt the legislation necessary to legislate the cultivation of cannabis and...
Michigan Supreme Court hears arguments over anti-gerrymandering ballot proposal
July 18th, 20181 LANSING — The Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments challenging a proposed November ballot initiative to change who draws congressional and legislative districts every decade. The justices held a special session on Wednesday and asked many questions during 75 minutes of arguments. Voters Not Politicians, a group backed by the......
Iran files suit in international court against U.S. over sanctions
July 17th, 20180 AMSTERDAM — Iran has filed a lawsuit against the United States alleging that Washington’s decision in May to impose sanctions after pulling out of a nuclear deal violates a 1955 treaty between the two countries, the International Court of Justice said on Tuesday. A State Department official said the application was without merit...
Iraqi police disperse protesters outside Zubair oilfield as unrest grows
July 17th, 20180 BASRA, Iraq — Iraqi police wielded batons and rubber hoses to disperse about 250 protesters gathered at the main entrance to the Zubair oilfield near Basra on Tuesday as unrest across southern cities over poor basic services gathered pace. Since demonstrations began nine days ago, protesters have attacked government buildings,......
Dearborn voters to decide on additional funding for CSO project
July 17th, 20180 DEARBORN– On August 7, voters will determine how to pay the remaining portion of the federally-mandated pollution control project known as the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) project, which updated much of the city’s infrastructure, including sewers, water mains and neighborhood roads. An additional $60 million in construction...
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell denies implying El-Sayed can’t win because he’s Muslim
July 16th, 20181 DEARBORN ― U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) has come under fire for implying during an interview with HuffPost at a rally in Ann Arbor on Saturday that gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed is less likely to win the election because he's a Muslim. Dingell is backing Gretchen Whitmer, a former Michigan Senate minority......
