Zeina Jaafar
Author's Posts
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud hosts Iftar dinner uniting all walks of life
March 15th, 20252 DEARBORN — Mayor Abdullah Hammoud hosted an Iftar dinner on Wednesday, March 12 at Byblos Banquet Hall, bringing together some 700 people of different backgrounds for an evening of unity to celebrate an important part of the holy month of Ramadan. Community members, appointed and elected officials, esteemed individuals and members...
Dearborn Heights Council Chairman Mo Baydoun hosts fourth annual Iftar dinner with Fire Department
March 15th, 20250 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Dearborn Heights City Council Chairman and mayoral candidate Mo Baydoun hosted the fourth annual Iftar dinner with both the Dearborn Heights Fire Department and the Dearborn Heights Police Department. Baydoun told The Arab American News that this initiative started four years ago when he challenged Battalion Chief...
Illinois man found guilty of murder of Palestinian American boy
March 7th, 20250 PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, IL – Plainfield Township resident Joseph Czuba has been found guilty of murder and hate crime charges for fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Palestinian American and gravely wounding his mother in October 2023. Czuba, 73, was the landlord of the home where the 6-year-old, Wadee Alfayoumi, and his mother, Hanan...
Dearborn Public Schools providing free take-home meals for fasting students during Ramadan
March 7th, 20250 DEARBORN — Dearborn Public Schools is offering free Iftar meals to students during the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan, a spiritual month when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, is widely observed by the Dearborn community, including the substantial Muslim student population within the Dearborn Public Schools. In a video posted on...
Eighth grade student says her teacher told her to “go back to your country” after sitting for the Pledge of Allegiance
February 28th, 20250 An eighth grade student said she was racially discriminated against after not standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Danielle Khalaf, an Arab American student at East Middle School in Plymouth, said she made the decision to sit during the Pledge of Allegiance on Jan. 10 as an act of protest against what is happening in Gaza. Danielle...
Ramadan Village event to be held at the Canteen in Dearborn
February 21st, 20250 DEARBORN — The holy month of Ramadan is approaching, and much of the Dearborn community is preparing for this spiritually significant time when Muslims abstain from food and water from dawn to dusk for 30 days, while also engaging in prayer and community. Throughout the month, large Iftar gatherings — the meal when Muslims break...
Fordson High School head football coach Fouad Zaban retires after 18 seasons
January 31st, 20250 DEARBORN — Fordson High School head football coach Fouad "Walker" Zaban has announced his retirement after 18 years of leading the tractors. Finishing his nearly two decade career with a 135-56 record, Zaban took the football program to the MHSAA state playoffs in 17 of his 18 seasons with the tractors. He has built a meaningful...
Dearborn High School senior earns full-ride scholarship to Ivy League institution Columbia University
December 30th, 20240 DEARBORN — Bissan Elzein, a senior at Dearborn High School, has earned a full-ride scholarship to Columbia University, an Ivy League institution located in New York City. Through the QuestBridge National College Match Program, a program that that helps connect high-achieving low-income students with top universities across the...
Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield announces run for mayor
December 13th, 20240 Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield officially launched her campaign for mayor of Michigan's largest city Tuesday evening. Sheffield aims to succeed Mayor Mike Duggan, who has decided not to seek re-election and announced his run for governor last week. Sheffield, 37, who has been a Detroit City Council member since 2013, is...
The Gallery in Dearborn Heights opens
November 29th, 20240 DEARBORN HEIGHTS - The Gallery — a new culinary and lounge experience — has opened on Ford Road between Beech Daly and John Daly. Established by Dearborn Heights City Council President Mo Baydoun and two partners, The Gallery is a showcase of the finest cuisines and features Sicily's Pizza and Kai Sushi along with a coffee station....
Dearborn woman launches donation initiative for people in Lebanon after her family was displaced
November 29th, 20240 DEARBORN — A woman from Dearborn has started her own initiative to donate goods to Lebanon as Israeli strikes continue to hit parts of the country, displacing and killings thousands. Suzana Hassan, a mother of three, felt compelled and inspired to help after she learned that her entire family in Lebanon was displaced. Through...
Taylor woman charged with second-degree murder in the crash that killed Dr. Ghada Mustapha
November 29th, 20240 A woman from Taylor has been charged with second-degree murder in the car crash that killed 33-year-old Dr. Ghada Mustapha from Dearborn, according to a Wayne County Prosecutor's Office press release. On July 19, just before 8 a.m., Felecia Sunshine Lazo's car crashed into Mustapha's pickup truck while driving at an extremely high...
International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
November 22nd, 20241 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself under mounting international and domestic pressure as he continues his aggressive attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. Despite failing to achieve his stated war objectives, Netanyahu persists in his policy of "forward escape," attempting to deflect attention from his legal troubles. He is...
Arab American Jinan Hamood wins open trial court seat in Washtenaw County
November 9th, 20240 Ann Arbor attorney Jinan Hamood has successfully secured her spot on the bench in Washtenaw County's trial court. Hamood received 65.84 percent of the vote, defeating challenger Jeffery Worosz, who received 33.46 percent, according to the unofficial county election results. The current Washtenaw County trial court judge is Timothy...
Trump wins presidential election; Arab American voters speak: turning points in Michigan’s general election as Harris loses the state
November 9th, 20243 Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States after receiving 295 electoral college votes, while Vice President Harris won 226. A candidate needs 270 votes to win the presidency. Winning in several swing states, including Michigan, Trump will begin his second presidential term Jan. 20. As of press time, with......
SMART offering free rides on Election Day
November 4th, 20240 WHAT: On Election Day, November 5, SMART will offer FREE transit service to all riders throughout Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties. This initiative aims to eliminate transportation barriers and support voter participation by ensuring access to the polls for all individuals. SMART will provide free rides on the following services: ...
Wayne County Sheriff’s Office promotes two Arab American officers, recruits two others
November 4th, 20240 DETROIT — The Wayne County Sheriff's Office, a diverse body of law enforcement officials, recently promoted two Arab American officers — Ali Mazloum and Milad Fadlallah — and also recruited two other Arab Americans, Agadeer Khadker and Hadi Hammoud. Mazloum, a Lebanese American, began working with the Sheriff's Office in 1999 as......
The booming coffee culture in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights
October 26th, 20240 The sound of coffee brewing and the hum of chatter can be heard in coffee shops across Dearborn and Dearborn Heights. Dearborn, Michigan is home to the largest concentration of Arabs outside of the Middle East and a special facet of Arab culture is coffee. Various Arab Americans in the Dearborn community have ventured into their own...
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie says U.S. taxpayers should not be funding Israel’s strikes on civilians in Lebanon
October 23rd, 20240 U.S. Rep Thomas Massie of Kentucky declared via the social media platform X that the United States should not be funding Israel's campaign of targeting civilian structures in Lebanon. Massie posted his thoughts on X alongside a video clip of an Israeli missile hitting and destroying a residential building in Lebanon. In his post he...
U.S. organizing flights to evacuate American citizens out of Lebanon as Israeli airstrikes intensify
October 14th, 20240 WASHINGTON D.C. — The U.S. State Department continues its efforts to evacuate American citizens out of Lebanon amid escalations between Israel and Hezbollah. During State Department press briefings with spokesperson Matthew Miller on October 8 and 9, discussion regarding the U.S.' efforts to evacuate American citizens out of Lebanon...
Palestinian-Egyptian couple with a story of triumph honored with philanthropy award
October 8th, 20240 In October 1954, a backpack was the only thing Michael Kardoush had to show for 18 years of life in his home country, Palestine, under occupation by Israel after it was established as a new state. On the cusp of adulthood, he faced an incredibly tough decision: flee his home and make the trek into a completely new country by foot, or......
Dearborn man and father of four killed by Israeli strike in Lebanon; bombardment worsens, displacing and killing hundreds
October 4th, 20240 Lebanon continues to be subjected to bombardment by Israeli missiles that have resulted in innocent civilians killed and city infrastructure destroyed. Beirut, the capital, has been heavily hit with an onslaught of airstrikes since Israel began targeting Lebanon amid its war with Hezbollah. As infrastructure is destroyed and...
Michigan judge temporarily blocks shipment of radioactive waste to Van Buren Township landfill
September 20th, 20240 A Wayne County Circuit judge has temporarily halted a shipment of radioactive waste from New York headed to a waste landfill in Van Buren Township. Judge Kevin Cox was able to issue a temporary restraining order that halts Wayne Disposal Inc. from receiving shipments of the World War II-era radioactive soil. Cox signed the injunction two......
Suspect charged in second assassination attempt against former President Trump
September 20th, 20240 Former President Trump was the target in what the FBI believes to be an attempted assassination. While Trump was golfing at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday, Secret Service agents fired shots at a man after seeing his rifle in the bushes of the Trump International Golf Club. Trump was reported unharmed and safe....
124 countries vote for resolution in U.N. General Assembly, calling on Israel to end its occupation in the Palestinian Territory
September 20th, 20241 The United Nations General Assembly has adopted a Palestinian-drafted resolution that demands Israel end its "unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which constitutes a wrongful act of a continuing character entailing its international responsibility, and do so no later than 12 months." The resolution received 124......
