Death and destruction in Gaza leave local Muslims little to celebrate in Ramadan this year
March 22nd, 20240 From new fundraisers to event cancellations for extra reflection, Ramadan looks especially different this year. The Ramadan Suhoor Festival in Dearborn usually attracts thousands of people to the Fairlane Town Center. Founder Hassan Chami said he canceled the event this year because he doesn’t think the joy is justified, even if the...
Dearborn native Fayrouz Saad appointed as an assistant to DHS Secretary Mayorkas
March 15th, 20240 WASHINGTON, D.C. – On February 25, Dearborn native Fayrouz Saad was appointed to serve as the assistant secretary, office of partnership and engagement, at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In this role, Saad serves as the primary advisor for DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on external engagements and the impact of the...
War on Gaza costing Starbucks in the Dearborn area big bucks
March 15th, 20240 DEARBORN – Starbucks cafés in the Dearborn area are witnessing an unprecedented decline in customers’ demand for the chain’s most famous products, just as they are elsewhere in the U.S and around the world. This decline comes in conjunction with continuing campaigns on social media platforms to boycott the company, which is...
Delegation from UNRWA visits Dearborn, meets with mayor and community leaders
March 15th, 20240 DEARBORN – Amid preparations by U.S. officials for a potentially indefinite suspension of funding to the principal U.N. agency supporting Palestinians due to Congressional opposition, the American Human Rights Council (AHRC-USA) welcomed a delegation from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to...
New program aims to wipe out up to $700 million in medical debt for Wayne County residents
March 8th, 20240 DETROIT – Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans has announced a new program to provide critical relief from medical debt and the financial hardship it has caused for up to 300,000 Wayne County residents. The county has teamed up with RIP Medical Debt, a national non-profit organization that will work with providers like hospitals,...
A Canadian man arrested for a homicide in Vancouver and making threats against Hamtramck mayor, City Council members
March 8th, 20240 Last week, FBI Detroit Special Agent Mara Schneider told the Detroit Free Press that the FBI helped Hamtramck police in identifying and locating the person accused of making threats against Mayor Amer Ghalib and other City Council members. Ghalib said that he and some City Council members received death threats from a man in Canada...
Hamtramck unveils the renaming of Holbrook Street to Palestine Avenue
March 8th, 20240 Hamtramck City Councilman Khalil Refai unveiled Palestine Avenue on Thursday afternoon after the City Council passed Resolution 2023-184 in December to rename a section of Holbrook street as a symbolic gesture of remembrance and support to the people of Gaza. The honorary Palestine Avenue is located between Buffalo and Saint Aubin...
The Muslim vote: An overlooked “swing factor”
March 8th, 20240 By Selen Ozturk At a Feb. 22 briefing held by Houston Ethnic Media, AJ Durrani — treasurer of Emgage Texas and the first Muslim American to serve on the Democratic National Committee — highlighted record national and state-level increases in the Muslim vote, and its impact in light of the 2024 elections. Expanding the Muslim...
Dearborn Heights appoints new director of emergency management
March 5th, 20240 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Dearborn Heights Mayor Bill Bazzi has announced the appointment of a new director of emergency management for the city. Hussein Farhat, a 29-year veteran of law enforcement, began his career as a deputy sheriff with the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department before moving into a position with the Romulus Police...
Dearborn Heights appoints an internal affairs investigator
March 2nd, 20240 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Just over a month after the City Council canceled the salary and benefits of two police directors, one of them has been appointed to a “newly-formed” role of internal affairs investigator. Mayor Bill Bazzi has appointed Paul Vanderplow, Dearborn Heights Police Department director of support services, to the...
Resilient Neighborhoods: Islamic Center of Detroit’s Muhammad Ali Park brings community together
March 1st, 20240 DETROIT – The Islamic Center of Detroit opened Muhammad Ali Park last spring as one of its many initiatives to bring together District Seven. Islamic Center of Detroit Community Relations Director Muthanna Al-Hanooti said the area, formerly known as Belton-Mark Twain Park, transformed into a beautiful space. “We converted the...
Fadwa Hammoud leaves AG’s Office to join Miller Johnson as Detroit managing member
February 23rd, 20240 DETROIT – Miller Johnson has announced that Fadwa Hammoud, chief deputy attorney general of the state of Michigan and former solicitor general of Michigan, has been named managing member of the firm’s Detroit office. Hammoud will help lead key lines of service for Miller Johnson, including crisis management, dispute resolution,...
Dearborn Heights police officer files lawsuit against the city
February 16th, 20240 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Police officer Mohamad Bazzy has filed a lawsuit that alleges discrimination because of his race and religion, as well as retaliation, while employed at the Dearborn Heights Police Department. Bazzy, an American Muslim of Lebanese descent, experienced derogatory comments directed at him, investigations that were...
Legal battle in Dearborn Heights heats up between City Council, police and mayor
February 16th, 20240 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Less than a month after the police chief and directors filed a lawsuit against the city, the City Council has voted to hire its own attorney in a federal lawsuit of its own. With a 4-1 vote on Feb. 13, the Council members approved a resolution to hire its own legal counsel, former City Attorney Gary Miotke, to...
Tax millage on the presidential primary ballot in Dearborn will maintain School District operation, vote YES.
February 16th, 20240 The Arab American News Publisher Osama Siblani interviewed Dearborn Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko about the Michigan presidential primary election ballot. The election will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 27, with early voting available at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center Feb. 17 through 25. Voters can......
Jewish American organizations launch distortion campaign against the publisher of The Arab American News, incite violence against him
February 16th, 20240 Several American Jewish organizations led by the Anti Defamation League launched a campaign of distortion and intimidation against the longtime publisher and editor-in-chief of The Arab American News, Osama Siblani. This campaign of maligning Siblani came after his meeting with senior White House officials in Dearborn last week. The...
Police: Stabbing of Palestinian American in Texas is a hate crime
February 13th, 20240 The recent stabbing of a 23-year-old Palestinian American in Texas meets the standard for a hate crime, police announced on Wednesday. Bert James Baker, 36, was arrested on Sunday for allegedly attacking 23-year-old Zacharia Doar after Doar and friends were returning from a pro-Palestinian protest on Sunday near the University of......
Shame on you, Wall Street Journal. Dearborn is a jewel of Metro Detroit.
February 13th, 20241 By Randiah Camille Green Recently, the Wall Street Journal published an inflammatory op-ed under the headline “Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital.” Written by Steven Stalinsky, the article claims that “Imams and politicians in the Michigan city side with Hamas against Israel and Iran against the U.S.” This...
Detroit Metropolitan Airport launches SOAR program for small business operators
February 13th, 20240 DETROIT – Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), Michigan's gateway to the world, is committed to helping small businesses reach a global audience. Starting February 13, DTW will launch “Small Business Operators Arriving Ready” (SOAR). This program will create access and opportunity for business owners to operate their...Wall Street Journal opinion spews hate and incites violence against Arab Americans in Dearborn, receives widespread condemnation
February 9th, 20240 An offensive opinion article on the city of Dearborn published by the Wall Street Journal last week sparked feelings of anxiety and resentment among the local community, summoning a widespread wave of condemnation that included President Biden, Governor Whitmer and other prominent officials, while local Arab American leaders called in a...
Biden white House team meets with Arab American and Muslim leaders in Michigan
February 9th, 20240 DEARBORN – On Thursday, top Biden administration officials met with Arab American and Muslim leaders in Michigan at the Henry Hotel in an effort to mend ties with a community that has an important role in deciding whether President Biden can hold on to a crucial swing state in the November election. Biden is facing increasing......
Palestinian Americans decline an invitation to meet Blinken
February 4th, 20240 WASHINGTON, D.C.— Some members of the Palestinian American community who received an invite to meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday declined the invitation over their frustration with Washington's policy toward the conflict and crisis in Gaza. "A meeting of this nature at this moment in time is insulting and...
Dearborn Heights police chief, directors file federal lawsuit against city
February 2nd, 20240 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Barely over a week after the City Council passed a resolution canceling the salary and benefits for two police department directors and the chief of police announced a leave of absence, both directors and the chief have filed a federal lawsuit against the city. Directors Kevin Swope, Paul Vanderplow and Chief......
U.S. city councils increasingly call for Israel-Gaza ceasefire, analysis shows
February 2nd, 20240 Some 70 U.S. cities, including Chicago and Seattle, have passed resolutions on the Israel-Gaza war with most calling for a ceasefire, a Reuters analysis of city data shows, placing more pressure on President Biden ahead of a November general election to help end the fighting. At least 48 cities have passed symbolic resolutions calling...
Arab Americans in Dearborn cancel a scheduled meeting with Biden-Harris campaign: Ceasefire first
February 2nd, 20240 DEARBORN – The efforts of President Biden's campaign to restore the dialogue with Arab and Muslim American voters in the Detroit area failed following the cancellation of a meeting last Friday scheduled to bring together Biden-Harris National Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, local elected Arab American officials and community......
