Julia Kassem
Author's Posts
Non-Muslims reflect on fasting during Ramadan
June 18th, 20170 DETROIT — Each Ramadan, many non-Muslims admire their friends, neighbors and co-workers' willingness to fast. The communal effect fasting has on Muslim populations is another dimension of Ramadan to which many have become attuned. Even Hyundai CEO Mong Hyun Yoon, amazed at his Muslim workers' ability to abstain from food and...
Chaldean, Iraqi communities across Metro Detroit scramble to act following ICE detentions
June 16th, 20171 SOUTHFIELD — On Monday, June 12, dozens gathered outside the Mother of God Chaldean Catholic Church in Southfield to protest a recent wave of ICE raids that targeted, captured and detained dozens of Iraqi immigrants at multiple locations across Metro Detroit, including local churches, homes and even a hospital. Shocked and outraged...
50 years later, the 1967 Naksa continues to shape policies and inflict misery
June 10th, 20171 DEARBORN — The 1967 Six Day War was one of the most salient events of the Arab-Israeli conflict, its effect evident through its shaping of Israeli and Arab political discourse. While its byproducts continue to resonate, the events of the Six Day War are solidified largely through oration and narrative. "There's historical...
Mental health professionals discuss quality care challenges
June 10th, 20172 DEARBORN — President Trump's proposed fiscal year 2018 budget cuts dealt a huge blow to mental health and substance abuse prevention, with funding to face projected cuts by almost $400 million. Michigan is no stranger to debilitating cuts to areas such as education or health care, with cuts to these programs a routine practice of...
Saudi artist reflects the unspeakable through works, exhibitions
June 2nd, 20170 RIYADH — Saudi artist Abdulnasser Gharem spent years pursuing his passion on the side, working a government job as a lieutenant colonel in the Saudi Arabian army. Like his art suggests, he, too, is a diasporic duality of conflicting cultures, identities and ideas. "I went into the army because it was hard to be an artist at the...
Troy City Council unanimously passes ‘welcoming city’ resolution
May 26th, 20170 TROY — On Tuesday, May 23, the Troy City Council passed a unanimous resolution giving the municipality "welcoming city" status. The passage of the resolution followed a long and lengthy process, starting with the introduction of the idea by Welcoming Michigan, in coordination with Troy's Global Advisory Committee, of including the...
Women’s limited roles in mosques and churches: Religious or cultural?
May 26th, 20171 DEARBORN — "Qali'bu Maryam", translated as "the Heart of Mariam", became the first U.S. women's mosque when it opened up in northern California in April. Describing the mosque as an "inclusive space", founder Rabi'a Keeble opened up a center where men and women pray side by side. "What is important to me is not, necessarily, to...
BREAKING: ICE detains employees at Ann Arbor restaurant
May 24th, 20170 ANN ARBOR-After eating breakfast at popular Ann Arbor restaurant, Sava's, a small team of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Officers proceeded to interrogate and detain between three and five employees. The officers entered the restaurant, located at 216 S. State around 11:30 A.M. on Wednesday, entering the kitchen while the...
Palestinian cartoonist shares his people’s struggle at ‘artist talk’ in Detroit
May 19th, 20170 DETROIT — Palestinian cartoonist Mohammed Sabaaneh came to terms with his heritage as a child, which forever changed the orientation of himself and his work and shaped, from an early age, his activism. " I was 6-years-old, I asked the name of my country," Sabaaneh said. His mother replied, "You are from Palestine." As part of...
Reps. Dingell, Hammoud address substance abuse, mental health at town hall
May 12th, 20171 DEARBORN — On Monday, May 8, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) and State Rep. Abdullah Hammoud (D-Dearborn) convened a town hall to address and discuss their approaches and strategies toward infrastructure development and substance abuse issues. The event took place in the Michigan Room at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and...
Arab Americans have played key roles in union activism
May 5th, 20170 DETROIT — Arab Americans are typically not regarded as a subset of immigrants with a history tied to labor movements. However, Arab American involvement in labor movements is interwoven within the greater framework of workers' protests in the United States. This renders Arab American history in the U.S., via its political...
Social barriers hamper cancer screenings for women
May 5th, 20170 DEARBORN — Many minority groups in the U.S. report lower levels of screenings for health issues such as cervical or breast cancer. The many reasons for disparities in breast cancer screenings boil down to income, access to care, cultural barriers or educational misconceptions around health and health care. Arab and Arab...
Troy leads settlement, integration of immigrants and refugees
April 29th, 20170 TROY — While many associate a successful Arab American population with Dearborn, Troy is another city with a large and thriving immigrant community. Michigan was the fourth largest recipient of refugee cases and individuals in 2016, with the majority of their cases coming from Iraq. Troy recently surpassed Dearborn as the...
‘I had no choice:’ Odeh accepts plea deal, resists admission of guilt
April 27th, 20170 DETROIT— Hours before Rasmea Odeh entered her plea in court on Tuesday, dozens of supporters, ranging from organizers and Chicago-based defense team members, rallied outside the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in opposition to the parameters set around her conviction. Groups in attendance included the U.S....
Dearborn Heights considers purchasing Warren Valley Golf Course
April 21st, 20170 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Following months of passionate resistance by Dearborn Heights residents against the sale of the Warren Valley Golf Course to developers, Wayne County decided to sell the property. However, the site was not bought by real estate developers as originally intended. Rather, the county is contemplating selling to......
Literary journal ‘Mizna’ proves Arab art is timely and alive
April 21st, 20170 TWIN CITIES, MN — Since its inception in 1999, the literary journal Mizna has been a platform for the arts and free expression of a multitude of writers and artists from an Arab and Arab American nexus. The journal, published by Mizna.org, a non-profit arts organization that promotes contemporary expressions of Arab American...
Reagan-era documents detail U.S.’s longstanding commitment to contain Syria
April 14th, 20170 A CIA document recommended that the "U.S. should consider sharply escalating the pressures against Assad" through the orchestration of "simultaneous military threats against Syria." Three years later, that same conviction appeared in a memorandum that "explores alternative scenarios that could lead to the ouster of President...al-Assad......
Israel Lobby and American Policy conference offers counterpoint to national AIPAC conference
March 31st, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C.— Days before AIPAC’s national policy conference, a wide coalition of groups assembled for a counter-conference in Washington to address Israel’s ongoing P.R. ploy of mobilizing support for its policies and quelling dissent through Congress. The counter-conference, called “the Israel Lobby and American...
Local residents to open up arcade bar in downtown Detroit
March 31st, 20170 DEARBORN— THE AANEWS sat down with Mohamed Badaoui and Wael Gharbie, two Dearborn residents set to open their new arcade bar, Ready Player One, in the Globe Tobacco Building in Greektown in April. We asked about their idea, the process and their prospects for the arcade and restaurant that brings together all with a love for video...
AIPAC leads attack dogs on Capitol Hill
March 29th, 20170 WASHINGTON, D.C.-The move to levy sanctions against Iran in the House and Senate is hastened by this week's AIPAC conference held March 26-27 in Washington D.C. A hawkish stance against Iran is expected to be a key policy point for pro-Israel groups. Iran’s test of ballistic missiles in late January fired up US officials, Trump...
Concerns remain about AK Steel’s environmental impact
March 24th, 20170 DEARBORN — In 2015, The AANews reported on AK Steel's reluctant acceptance to pay $1.35 million to settle air pollution violations. The company, a violator of the Clean Air Act at its Dearborn facility years prior, received further backlash from residents when a temporary penalty failed to institute any structural or lasting reforms......
Groups from Amnesty International U.S.A. urge action on Middle East
March 17th, 20170 ALBUQUERQUE — Issues affecting the Middle East continued to be brought to light at the 2017 annual general meeting of Amnesty International U.S.A. members, which gathered human rights advocates from around the nation. The plight of refugees worldwide was commemorated in the #NoBanNoWall campaign— a slogan in defiant response to...
Dearborn educator’s sudden death shocks community
March 17th, 20170 DEARBORN— Imad Fadlallah, a passionate educator and former Principal of Forsdon High School, died suddenly on Monday, March 13 at his home. Fadlallah, who'd just been released from Henry Ford Hospital following major open heart surgery, died early in the morning, among family members. Survived by his wife, Sawsan Berry, and four......
Activists reject repackaged Muslim ban
March 10th, 20170 DETROIT— In a frantic attempt to salvage any attempt at positive PR following the chaotic and complicated fallout of President Trump's January 27 executive order, the president issued a revised travel ban, "Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States", omitting Iraq from the list and...
Chicago based artist combines Eastern and Western motifs
March 10th, 20170 CHICAGO-Chicago-based artist Zeinab Saab looks to Islamic art to develop an intricate patchwork in a Western nexus. With finesse, precision and passion, she draws together a narrative through imagery that she describes as “having both feet in two rivers.” A Fordson High School graduate originally displaying a penchant for......
