Resilient Neighborhoods: O’Hair Park: From a “terrible waste of land” to a neighborhood treasure
December 30th, 20240 By Jaishree Drepaul For some Detroiters, the houses in their neighborhoods are more than just brick and mortar puzzled together. They're a complex Rubik's Cube of community challenges, historical and current, and of resilience over time. This is especially true for many people living in the city's O'Hair Park neighborhood, where today...
Arab American entrepreneur Nora Farhat flourishes with franchises
December 30th, 20240 Being a multi-brand business owner takes a lot of work. Metro Detroit-based Arab American entrepreneur Nora Farhat franchises with finesse. Farhat started her career working at an automotive supplies company while earning her bachelor’s degree in technical and professional communications from the University of Michigan. She has...
Resilient Neighborhoods: Keeping Detroit homes in the family for future generations
December 30th, 20240 By Sarah Williams Poppy red stairs splash from the white house. Planters of brilliant geraniums hang. A front porch stretches wide to offer shade and swing. It’s a place to call home, all right. In the yard, Jeanine gardens to keep ancestors happy. Digging in the dirt is her least favorite thing, but the generations of women who...
Trump’s picks of pro-Israel “dream team” worry some Arab and Muslim Americans who voted for him
December 13th, 20240 Just weeks after winning several of the nation’s largest Arab-majority cities, President-elect Trump has filled top administration posts with staunch Israel supporters, including an ambassador to Israel who has claimed “there is no such thing as Palestinians.” The selections have prompted mixed reactions among Arab Americans and...
White House releases U.S. National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate
December 13th, 20240 On Thursday, the White House released the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate. The Strategy was developed through a whole-of-government collaboration with a broad range of civil society partners to describe and address the bias, discrimination and threats Muslim and Arab Americans have long faced....
Dearborn Heights appoints Hussein Farhat interim police chief
December 12th, 20240 DEARBORN HEIGHTS - Mayor Bill Bazzi has announced that Dearborn Heights Deputy Police Chief Hussein Farhat will be appointed interim police chief effective Jan. 6. This appointment comes with the resignation of current interim Police Chief Kevin Swope, who has accepted a similar position in another city. Swope had been appointed...
Dearborn announces grants to beautify commercial buildings’ façades on Warren Ave., applications open until January 24
December 6th, 20240 DEARBORN – As part of its efforts to enhance and redesign Warren Ave. in northeast Dearborn, the city’s Economic Development Department, in collaboration with the Warren Business District Improvement Authority (WBDIA), announced the launch of a grant program Tuesday, aimed at improving commercial façades along the bustling street...
Amir Ali makes history as the first Arab American Muslim appointed to the federal bench
November 29th, 20240 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Egyptian American lawyer Amir Ali recently made U.S. history by becoming the first Arab American Muslim appointed to the federal bench. This milestone comes as part of a broader push by Senate Democrats to finalize judicial appointments before losing control of the chamber in January. On November 20, the U.S....
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...
Lielle Saad appointed as new director of Dearborn Heights Community and Economic Development Department
November 29th, 20240 DEARBORN HEIGHTS – Mayor Bill Bazzi has announced the appointment of digital marketing specialist Lielle Saad as the new director of the city's Community and Economic Development Department (CEDD). Bazzi expressed optimism about Saad's ability to advance the department in alignment with the city’s goals and the needs of its residents...
From Dearborn to Washington: Calls to expedite implementation of a national law preventing drunk drivers from operating vehicles
November 22nd, 20240 WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a push to expedite the implementation of new legislation aimed at preventing drunk drivers from operating vehicles, activist Rana Abbas Taylor from Michigan joined a sit-in alongside members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and U.S. lawmakers. The group urged swift enforcement of the new law, set to take...
Resilient Neighborhood: Dearborn Mayor Hammoud inaugurates second Peace Park in East Dearborn, with a third under construction
November 22nd, 20240 DEARBORN – In the presence of community leaders and local officials, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud inaugurated the second Peace Park in East Dearborn on Friday, November 15. This park is part of a city project to establish three public parks under the name PEACE Parks, which stands for Parks Equality and Access to Civic...
Zaman International featured in Giving Machines in Campus Martius Park
November 19th, 20240 DETROIT - Zaman International is one of five Detroit-area nonprofit organizations featured in the Giving Machines in downtown Detroit. The Giving Machines, sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints work as “reverse vending machines,” allowing users to give rather than receive and items can be donated to people...
Dearborn native runs in NYC marathon
November 19th, 20240 DEARBORN - Zahraa Boussi, a local social worker and teacher, was selected by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to be part of its Team TCS Teachers program and to run in the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon. Boussi, whose parents immigrated from Bint Jbeil, Lebanon in the late 1970s, took up running to lead a healthier lifestyle and...
Dearborn couple get married at Zaman’s 15th Annual Run Walk Picnic
November 19th, 20240 DEARBORN - A couple that met through Zaman’s Detroit Run Team in 2023, got married at the finish line at Zaman’s 15th Annual Run Walk Picnic. The Dearborn couple, Alia Sareini, 27, and Morteza Fradi, 25, had met in October 2023 when they were running with the run team, a running club that helps its members achieve their personal......
Analysis of election results in Arab American majority cities
November 15th, 20240 • Harris’ losses surpass 20,000 Votes in the three cities compared to Biden’s 2020 results • Trump gains around 6,000 additional votes in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and 2,000 in Hamtramck to what he received in 2020. Dearborn For the first time since 2000, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won the cities of...
Dearborn’s free porch and step replacement program has received some 1,300 applications
October 18th, 20240 Dearborn Code Enforcement Manager Renault Arseneau said the city has received more applications than expected for its Front Porch and Step Rehabilitation Program for homeowners, which is funded by federal Community Development Block Grants and the City Council. There have been about 1,300 applications since the program’s launch at......
Poll: Trump slightly leads Harris among Arab American voters, Gaza war is top priority
October 14th, 20242 The ongoing war in Gaza has turned historical Arab American support for Democratic candidates on its head, with 46 percent of likely voters polled by the Arab American Institute saying they would support former President Trump, while 42 percent said they would back Vice President Harris. Normally, Democrats have a 2-to-1 advantage among...
Dearborn launches free front porch steps repair or replace initiative for homeowners
October 4th, 20240 On Wednesday, the city of Dearborn announced a new program to help homeowners rehabilitate, repair or replace damaged or deteriorating porches and outdoor steps, funded in part by federal grant dollars. As of Monday, Sept. 30, eligible homeowners can apply to the Front Porch & Step Rehabilitation Program through the...
Crestwood Superintendent named as 2024 Superintendent of the Year
September 26th, 20241 DEARBORN HEIGHTS - During a recent gathering in California, Crestwood School District Superintendent Dr. Youssef Mosallam was named as the 2024 Superintendent of the Year. Mosallam was selected out of the 21 finalists at the National Association of School Superintendents (NASS) Annual Conference for his “transformative leadership,...
Republican Senator John Kennedy repeatedly accuses Arab American activist of being a “Hamas” supporter at hate crimes hearing
September 20th, 20240 WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, a Senate hearing on hate-related incidents was capped off by a male Republican Senator yelling at a witness and falsely accusing her of supporting terrorism. The strange scene played out in front of the cameras at a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which met to discuss rising rates of......
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) concludes its national conference in Dearborn: Palestine as the main focus
September 20th, 20241 DEARBORN – Departing from its usual practice of holding its annual conference in Washington, D.C., the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) chose to hold its national conference this year in Dearborn. The event featured presidential candidates, academic scholars, human rights activists, journalists and religious leaders,...
40 years of holding on to our principles and commitments
September 6th, 20241 On September 7, 1984, when the Arab American community in Dearborn was almost exclusively centered in the "Dix" area in the southern part of the city, and when the number of Arab-owned businesses in Dearborn could be counted on one hand — not to mention the marginalization, racism and lack of political participation and involvement in......
Belal Muhammad becomes first MMA fighter of Palestinian descent to win UFC title
August 6th, 20240 Belal Muhammad has become the first mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter of Palestinian origin to win a UFC title. Beating English champion Leon Edwards and snatching away his welterweight crown, Muhammad is the first to defeat Edwards since 2015, according to reports. Muhammad, 36, was born to Palestinian immigrants in Chicago. He...
Biden’s administration tells Americans in Lebanon: “Be prepared to shelter in place”
August 2nd, 20240 WASHINGTON – D.C. – On Wednesday, the Biden administration urged Americans in Lebanon to “shelter in place” amid rising tensions in the Middle East over a series of attacks and retaliation among Hezbollah, Israel and Iran. The State Department updated its travel advisory for the entire country of Lebanon to Level 4: Do Not......
