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...Michigan’s jobs numbers show more people looking for, finding work
January 27th, 20240 Michigan’s monthly unemployment number remained steady from November to December of last year at 4.3 percent and the state’s 2023 average is below where it was in 2019 just before the COVID pandemic. The Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget released the seasonally adjusted December jobless numbers released this...World health leaders warn of pandemic 20 times worse than COVID
January 27th, 20240 At the recent World Economic Forum, the World Health Organization issued a warning to world leaders, saying the world could face a pandemic 20 times worse than COVID-19 in the future. Scientists call it Disease X, a term that recognizes the next global pandemic could come as the result of an unknown pathogen rather than the spread...A book chronicles the fight and legacy of Imad Fadlallah, the revolutionary principal of Dearborn Schools
January 27th, 20240 They thought the truth died when he did. But he left the truth behind. The Late Sayed Imad Fadlallah, God rest his soul, is widely recognized as the most revolutionary principal in the history of the Dearborn Public Schools. And now—seven years after his sudden passing—he is publishing a new book. The shocking memoir—which......
Feds open an investigation into the Ann Arbor Public Schools over alleged Islamophobic incident
January 27th, 20240 ANN ARBOR — The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened a formal investigation into the Ann Arbor Public Schools district on Tuesday, Jan. 23. The investigation will look for signs of discrimination over shared ancestry, a category that includes racial and nationality-based discrimination. The investigation...CAIR-MI sues Oakland County Sheriff’s Office for allegedly removing Dearborn woman’s hijab
January 27th, 20240 On Monday, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) said it is suing the Oakland County Sheriff 's Office for allegedly removing by force the hijab of a Dearborn Muslim woman when she was detained last year in the Oakland County jail. On Jan. 16 CAIR-MI sent a Notice of Claim alerting Oakland......
Dearborn Heights police chief announces leave of absence due to “employment induced health concerns”
January 26th, 20240 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Dearborn Heights Police Chief Jerrod Hart announced a leave of absence due to “employment induced” health concerns and voiced frustrations over actions taken by the City Council during a recent Council meeting. During the Jan. 23 City Council meeting, the Council passed a “no confidence” resolution against...Dearborn Heights City Council’s “no confidence” resolution against mayor deepens division in city
January 25th, 20240 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The City Council passed a “no confidence” resolution against Mayor Bill Bazzi, Corporation Counsel Roger Farinha and Police Chief Jerrod Hart in a 5-2 vote and unanimously voted to cancel the salary and benefits of two directors within the Police Department. The resolution passed with “yes” votes from Mo......