Netflix spotlights Arab American comedian Mo Amer
May 25th, 20180 By Jen Rice HOUSTON, Texas — Comedian Mo Amer calls Houston home and he’s coming to Austin next month to record his first hour-long Netflix comedy special. He’s been called a pioneer of Arab American standup and he’s toured for years with Dave Chappelle. Amer made international headlines when he was upgraded to a...
Young Arab American on track to becoming a professional author
May 25th, 20180 By Sarah Kominek DEARBORN - Maya Audi, a 15-year-old sophomore at Dearborn High School, has her eyes set on becoming an author. In April 2016, Audi and her mother entered her story “The Raven Gem” in the National Endowment for the Arts’ (NEA) Big Read Dearborn, hosted by the Dearborn Public Library. In partnership with...
U.S. returns thousands of smuggled ancient artifacts to Iraq
May 2nd, 20180 WASHINGTON - About 3,800 artifacts, including Sumerian cuneiform tablets dating to 2100 B.C., that were illegally smuggled to retailer Hobby Lobby Stores Inc were returned to Iraqi officials in Washington on Wednesday, according to Reuters. U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials signed over the artifacts to Iraqi Ambassador...
Arab American actor lands role on HBO’s ‘Westworld’
April 23rd, 20180 LOS ANGELES — Boualem Hassaine has always loved acting. He would stand in front of the mirror and practice as a child for hours. All that practice has led to roles in "American Sniper", "The Accountant" and most recently, HBO's "Westworld." Hassaine, who primarily grew up in Algeria, now lives in Litchfield Park, Arizona, a suburb...
Student groups at U of M, MSU and EMU join forces to host PALIFEST
April 6th, 20180 By Farah Harb The Arab American News ANN ARBOR – On Saturday, March 31, the University of Michigan’s Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), in conjunction with Students for Justice in Palestine (SPJ) at both Michigan State University and Eastern Michigan University, hosted PALIFEST — A celebration of...
Palestinian filmmaker wins at Ann Arbor Film Festival
April 6th, 20180 ANN ARBOR – Filmmaker and media artist Razan AlSalah has enjoyed presenting content in a performative way since her primary schooling while growing up in Beirut, Lebanon. On March 25, AlSalah won the Barbara Aronofsky Award for an Emerging Experimental Video Artist at the 56th Ann Arbor Film Festival. Her short film, “Your...
Local director’s short film ‘Detroit Diamond’ set to compete for Academy Award nomination
March 30th, 20180 DETROIT – On Thursday, April 5, local filmmaker Mohamed “Hamoody” Jaafar’s “Detroit Diamond” will make its world premiere at the Cleveland International Film Festival, an Academy Award qualifying festival. “Detroit Diamond” follows a young single mother attempting to regain custody of her child from the state, despite...
Detroit Film Theatre screens Palestinian move, ‘In Between’
March 23rd, 20180 DETROIT — The Detroit Film Theatre held five screenings of Maysaloun Hamoud's first feature film, "In Between (Bar Bahar)", over the weekend of March 16. The film follows three Palestinian women as they share an apartment in Tel Aviv. Elliot Wilhelm, the curator of the Detroit Film Theatre since 1974, said he thought the audiences...
Framing humanity: How an art student’s trip to Lebanon turned into an award-winning project
March 16th, 20180 DEARBORN — A young Syrian refugee girl had no idea when she was selling gum on the streets of Beirut, but the cryptic expression of fear and confidence on her face would become part of a visual story of struggle that aims to connect everyone with a story to tell. Mayssa Fakih, a 17-year-old art student at Mercy High School, an...
Former Dearborn resident Ali “HaBZ” Habhab releases debut album
March 9th, 20180 DEARBORN — Ali Habhab, a former east Dearborn resident who goes by the name HaBZ, released his first album, PaTHOGENS, in November. Habhab wrote all of the music on the album and got help producing it with his friend and fellow artist, Rajiv Dhall. Habhab, 26, graduated from Crestwood High School in 2009. After graduation, he began...
More Lebanese movies gain recognition in America
March 2nd, 20180 By Farah Harb The Arab American News NEW YORK — The Lebanese movie "Yesterday Went with Yesterday", written and directed by Los Angeles based Lebanese American filmmaker Issam B. Makdissy, will make its U.S. premiere when it opens at Cinema Village on March 16. The story revolves around a Lebanese Canadian citizen's past and...
This is why Arabs are questioning Hollywood Oscar nominations, boycotting ‘The Post’
February 2nd, 20180 Not so subtle agenda – Hollywood, Washington and Israel sprung from the same DNA. By Farah Harb Hollywood and Washington have been two faces on the same coin for the past century, where political messages have often been imported through Hollywood's media content. As renowned scholar Jack Shaheen has pointed out through...
Amena Khan loses her L’Oreal gig after 2014 tweet calling Israel a “child killers” unearthed
January 24th, 20180 LONDON - Just days into her role, a British Muslim model has quit a major beauty brand's campaign after right-wing media outlets published her tweets from 2014, in which she criticized Israel's war in Gaza. Amena Khan, who runs the Pearl Daisy fashion blog, became L'Oreal's only hijab-wearing model to front its haircare campaign,...
Local café offers healthy desserts
January 12th, 20180 DEARBORN — According to Ali Hachem, owner of Cheat Treats, The Protein Dessert Co., his establishment's sweet treats are actually good for you. "Everything I make is high in protein and low in sugar," Hachem told The AANews. "There's nothing hidden in there, it's all out there." Cheat Treats, located at 5828 Schaefer Rd., had...
Egyptian singer jailed over video inciting debauchery
December 15th, 20170 CAIRO — An Egyptian court jailed a little-known singer for two years on Tuesday for inciting debauchery, judicial sources said, after she appeared in a music video in her underwear and suggestively eating a banana. Shyma's song, titled "I have issues", sparked controversy on social media in the conservative country. The singer,......
National Arab Orchestra to host first annual Christmas concert
December 15th, 20170 DETROIT — Come celebrate the Holiday season with the National Arab Orchestra (NAO) at its first annual "Holiday Collage" concert featuring the NAO Takht Ensemble along with members of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. The "Takht" is a chamber ensemble and was considered the primary one in the Arab world, prior to WWI. The takht...
Shady Srour sells ‘Holy Air’ in Nazareth, a must see film
November 23rd, 20170 NAZARETH—“You see them, you love them; they are human like you,” Shady Srour, writer and director of the film “Holy Air”, said about the movie’s two main characters, Adam and Lamia. “They are modern, they want to live.” Srour is a self-described minority inside a minority. He grew up an Arab living in Nazareth. He......
Shady Srour sells “Holy Air”, his Nazareth-based film debuting in select American theaters
November 17th, 20170 NAZARETH—“You see them, you love them; they are human like you,” Shady Srour, writer and director of the film “Holy Air”, said about the movie’s two main characters, Adam and Lamia. “They are modern, they want to live.” Srour is a self-described minority inside a minority. He grew up an Arab living in Nazareth. He...
Palestinian refugee’s catering company subject of documentary
November 10th, 20170 BOURJ EL-BARAJNEH — When you’ve lived your entire life in a 69-year-old refugee camp, you’d probably never expect your own journey to be documented and potentially qualify for an Academy Award, as there are so many living in similar circumstances— but that’s the exact story of Mariam Shaar and her friends. In the...
Native and Arab American filmmaker talks film and politics
October 20th, 20170 BROOKLYN, NY — "We say we're Ojibtian." Adam Khalil and his younger brother Zack use that term when referring to their maternal indigenous Ojibway roots, and their paternal Egyptian heritage. Khalil's mother is Native American, and his father is Egyptian. Khalil, 29, grew up in Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan's Upper Peninsula...
National Arab Orchestra plays stereotypes away, empowers youth
October 13th, 20170 DEARBORN — It was a night reminiscent of an era most Arab Americans are uncannily familiar with, but had never experienced themselves. On October 1, concert goers traveled back in time to hear traditional Arabic musical classics presented by the National Arab Orchestra (NAO). It was its eighth season of “A Night of Tarab” at the......
Novelist Mohsin Hamid on migration, love and his latest book, “Exit West”
October 13th, 20170 DEARBORN— Can you imagine a borderless planet? Where people are free to roam from one region to another? Where knowledge is easy to access and everyone’s desire to travel can be satiated without barriers or lines at airport security? Or can you imagine your daily routine of family time, work, dinner and prep for the next day of...
Modestly stylish: Muslim women succeed in the fashion world
September 29th, 20171 NEW YORK — The fashion industry has been dominated by women of a certain ethnicity, body type and style. Being a fashion icon or starting a line of clothing in the United States usually entailed clothing that caters to an audience flexible in terms of how revealing their line of clothing would be. So where do Muslim women......
National Arab Orchestra to unveil eighth season concert on Oct. 1
September 29th, 20170 DETROIT – Join the National Arab Orchestra as the curtain rises on its eighth season of thrilling audiences of all nationalities and cultures. “A Night of Tarab” will feature musical splendor and surprise performances from the Dearborn Fordson High School Choir. The term “tarab” is used in Arab culture to describe the...
From refugee camp to runway, hijab-wearing model breaks barriers
September 14th, 20170 NEW YORK - Roughly one year ago, Denise Wallace, executive co-director of the Miss Minnesota USA pageant, received a phone call from 19-year-old Halima Aden asking if she could compete in the contest wearing her hijab. “Her photo popped up and I remember distinctly going, ‘Wow, she is beautiful,'” Wallace said. The......
