Obama’s Attorney General pick encouraging to Arabs, Muslims and all Americans
Despite the failures on all fronts of the Bush administration, nothing will stigmatize the legacy of the outgoing president and his party more than the un-American assault on civil liberties and the unjustified stigmatization and isolation of Arab Americans and American Muslims. Eric Holder, former Deputy Attorney General at the...
The problem with keeping Gates
November 22nd, 20080 Press reports say Barack Obama may retain George W. Bush's Defense Secretary Robert Gates as a gesture to war-time continuity, bipartisanship and respect for the Washington insider community, which has embraced Gates as something of a new Wise Man. However, if Obama does keep Gates on, the new President will be employing someone who...
Pact will end Iraqi dependence on U.S. military
November 22nd, 20080 WASHINGTON (IPS) — The text of the U.S.-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed by U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari Monday closes the door to a further U.S. military presence beyond 2011 even more tightly than the previous draft and locks in a swift end to Iraqi dependence on the U.S....Conservatives try to keep the lid on
The Conservative government is going to court to prevent the Military Police Complaints Commission from holding hearings on allegations that Canada ordered its soldiers to hand prisoners over to Afghan security, while aware of torture practiced by the Afghans. Government lawyers make the novel argument that the Commission can only...Balfour: Palestine donated to Zionism
It has been nine decades since the British government generously "donated" Palestine to the Zionist federation. The actual drafter of the famous Balfour Declaration was Lord Alfred Milner. The British cabinet met on October 31, 1917 and approved the declaration, which then was drafted by the foreign secretary, Arthur James Balfour...
Tractors one win from state meet
November 22nd, 20080 DEARBORN — They've been talking about it all year, and now, the moment is finally here. The Dearborn Fordson football team is just one win away from Ford Field and the Division I State Championship Game. The Dearborn Fordson Tractors (team on the left), shown here against Dearborn, will make it to a game even bigger than their...
Ayad named to help lead ALPACT
November 22nd, 20080 DEARBORN — Prominent attorney and civil rights leader, Nabih Ayad, was elected by unanimous decision to serve as co-chair of Advocates and Leaders for Police and Community Trust (ALPACT) at its monthly meeting last Friday. Nabih Ayad, ADC Advisory Board Chairman (R), and Shelli Weisberg, of the ACLU, during a monthly meeting...
Reward offered in search for killers
November 22nd, 20080 A reward of up to $6,000 has been announced by the group Crime Stoppers for information leading to arrests of men who beat to death 21 year-old Maher Almaweri outside a Southwest Detroit gas station in August. Maher Almaweri The group said callers do not have to identify themselves. On August 21, Almaweri, a U.S....
Paper featured on Arab station
November 22nd, 20080 DEARBORN — The U.S. government-run AlHurra satellite television network visited The Arab American News office in Dearborn on Monday to film a segment for an upcoming show about Arab newspapers in America. Correspondent Naser Abudiab (left) of the U.S. government's AlHurra satellite television network interviews The...
Dearborn unveils mass transit plans
November 22nd, 20080 DEARBORN — City officials here unveiled detailed plans Tuesday for a rail passenger intermodal station to be a part of the Ann Arbor to Detroit commuter rail line set to be completed by October 2010. Dearborn's proposed intermodal station would accommodate passengers on the Ann Arbor to Detroit commuter rail line planned for...
Duvall students show spirit of season
November 22nd, 20080 DEARBORN —Duvall Elementary School students showed their Thanksgiving spirit this season by collecting hundreds of gift-wrapped shoe boxes filled with goods over two months to give to students of a Detroit school in a very low-income area. Duvall Principal Radewin Awada (L) with students Madelyn Hass, 10, Jordan Lessnau, 10,...
Community celebrates Lebanese Independence Day
November 21st, 20080 DEARBORN — Lebanese Americans throughout the Detroit area are celebrating the 65th anniversary of Lebanon's independence. Consul General of Lebanon in Detroit Bashir Tawk displaying a citation from the state of Michigan signed by Sen. Irma Clark-Coleman recognizing Lebanese Independence Day. Lessening political tensions in the...
Local restaurant offers free Thanksgiving dinner
November 21st, 20080 Leon's employees and volunteers entertain the crowd during a free Thanksgiving dinner celebration at a Leon's restaurant in a past year. PHOTO: George NakadDEARBORN — On Wednesday, November 26th, the day before Thanksgiving, Leon's Restaurant on Michigan Avenue will host a free Thanksgiving dinner open to the public from 2-8 p.m.With...
P.F. Chang’s brings lettuce wraps, big horse to Dearborn
November 21st, 20080 DEARBORN — The big horse has come to Dearborn.Popular Chinese restaurant chain P.F. Chang's opened its first location in Dearborn on Monday, complete with two of its trademark 11-foot tall horse statues at its entrance. Not to mention the restaurant's famous lettuce wraps, wok-cooked traditional entrees and Great Wall of...
CBP searches imam’s laptop, data mysteriously wiped out
November 15th, 20080 Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, of the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights, who wears the traditional headwear and robe of a Shi'a leader, lost all the information on his laptop after Customs and Border Protection personnel searched the computer at Metro Airport on Oct. 22. Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi He was returning from a......
Will Obama change US foreign policy?
November 15th, 20080 Obama foreign policy may not require clean break WASHINGTON (IPS) — While much of the world and many of his U.S. supporters are expecting a sharp break with his predecessor's foreign policy after President-elect Barack Obama takes office Jan. 20, they may be surprised by the degree of continuity between the two...
Fordson two games away from Ford Field
November 15th, 20080 With their victory over Detroit Cody last week, the Dearborn Fordson football team has done something that the program hasn’t done since 2003. They’ve made it to the third round of the playoffs. The Dearborn Fordson football team will have to play with as much intensity and focus as they did earlier in the year against......
Closing for Jewish holidays ends at York U.
For 34 years, Toronto's York University shut down on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. The University of Windsor Law School also closed for these Jewish holidays. This practice has come to a halt in both institutions. At York, Professor David Noble, himself a Jew, defied the closure and held class on Rosh Hashana. He also filed a complaint...Have we been conned again?
If the change President-elect Obama has promised includes a halt to America's wars of aggression and an end to the rip-off of taxpayers by powerful financial interests, what explains Obama's choice of foreign and economic policy advisors? Indeed, Obama's selection of Rahm Israel Emanuel as White House chief of staff is a signal that...You can stop the foreclosures
It was always happening to them, not us. Hurricanes, tornadoes, factory closings and foreclosures. We paid attention but didn't really care. People who had their sights on retirement have seen their life savings disappear right in front of their eyes, and people who worked for the Big Three, and felt secure, are now running in panic....
International peace activists spotlight Palestinian struggle
November 15th, 20080 DEARBORN — South African, Canadian and American advocates for Palestine addressed two crowds on Thursday at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, and at Byblos Banquet Hall, comparing South Africa's apartheid past to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and imploring people to be more active in pushing for a just......
Blight Busters empowering Detroit in tough times
November 15th, 20080 DETROIT — Blight Busters co-organized Angel's night here this past Halloween, mobilizing thousands of volunteers to patrol Detroit neighborhoods and helping to reduce the number of burnt homes from 327 last year to about 150. Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel, Jr. held a news conference in front of the spirit of Detroit statue during which he...
Pierce’s persistence pays off
November 15th, 20080 This past election season was unusually long and grueling for many. But for Judge Lynne Pierce, the journey to 3rd Circuit Court started back in 2001. Her 7-year effort to make her name a familiar one throughout Wayne County came to a successful end on Nov. 4, when she was elected to fill one of three open seats on the court, along......
Detroit Mayor, police chief speak at chamber event
November 15th, 20080 Meeting introduces new chamber director Fay Beydoun DEARBORN — Detroit Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr. addressed a group of Arab American businesspeople Wednesday during an American Arab Chamber of Commerce (AACC) reception at Byblos Banquet Hall, as the group introduced its new executive director, Fay Beydoun, ahead of its annual banquet...
City agrees to save woman’s home despite lawsuit
November 15th, 20080 DEARBORN — The city has helped a 61-year-old woman keep her home after she claimed she was injured and lost her job when she tripped on an elevated sidewalk slab in April. Dearborn resident Maria Gavrau and her attorney Rick Martin attempt to address City Council on Nov. 3. Martin was prevented from speaking about a pending......
