Afghan prisoner abuse again raised
After a row in Parliament, Canada reached a new agreement in May with Afghanistan to permit Canada to monitor captured fighters turned over to Afghan authorities. On November 14, Canadian officials reported on the seventh complaint by prisoners since the agreement was signed. The Canadian government has tended to downplay such...Secret negotiations between Canada and Israel
Israeli Minister of Public Security, Ari Dichter and Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, have been developing a cooperative approach to terrorism and related issues, involving exchange of information, technology, and operations. The Israeli Ministry web site reported on these developments, but Day's office was caught off...Canadian heads investigation into Hariri killing
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Canadian Daniel Bellemare, former chief of Canada's Federal Prosecution Service, to head the investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri. He will only begin his work some time next year, however. As well as the Hariri killing, the investigation will also address several...Khadr trial begins under a cloud
Omar Khadr's trial at Guantanamo is on again. He is accused of being an illegal enemy combatant, having been involved in a firefight in Afghanistan while serving with al-Qaeda fighters when he was 15. He is now 21, still held at Guantanamo. At the trial, Khadr's lawyer Lt. Commander William Kuebler asked the judge what he...Canadian Muslim is new ambassador
Arif Lalani is Canada's new ambassador to Afghanistan. He is a Muslim who came to Canada as a child when his family was driven from Uganda by Idi Amin. Lalani joined with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in prayer at the end of Ramadan. By Reuel S. AmdurJamal out on bail
After 17 months in jail, Abdul Qayyam Jamal was released on $100,000 bail on November 5. He is the oldest of the group arrested in the Toronto area on charges related to planned terrorist attacks. A charge of plotting a bombing was dropped, but two other charges remain: involvement in a terrorist act and leading terrorist...Jahanagir defends religious freedom
Speaking recently at the University of Ottawa, Asma Jahanagir, U.N. Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief, expressed cynicism about how religions treat women. She remarked sardonically that efforts at mutual understanding among religions might be possible because they can find common ground: suppression of women. All...
Fight over gas prices ends in death
November 17th, 20070 DETROIT The owner of a Southwest Detroit gas station was shot and killed by the owner of a competing gas station at about 10:30 a.m. Friday morning, according to Detroit Police.An argument over gas prices was said to have escalated into a physical confrontation involving a baseball bat and then leading to the 51-year-old owner of a...
LAHC observes 25th anniversary
November 17th, 20070 A local soccer club put together in 1982 is now a 25-year-old cultural organization thats given about $1.5 million to Arab American students in scholarship money.The Lebanese American Heritage Club will celebrate its 25th anniversary Nov. 21 at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn. The group expanded its role in...Hersch gives pessimistic assessment
In keynote speech renowned journalist says there is no hope for Mideast with Bush, Cheney DETROIT Renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh spoke with blunt pessimism about various Middle East conflicts and the Bush administration at a banquet in Detroit on Thursday. The Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter keynoted the American...Two area mosques burglarized
DEARBORN Money from donation boxes was stolen from two mosques broken into this week in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, according to officials from the Islamic House of Wisdom (IHW) and the Islamic Center of America (ICA).An ICA employee said Dearborn police have been given surveillance footage of a suspect caught by cameras there early...Gilda’s Club to host international visitor leadership program
Royal Oak Gilda's Club in Detroit will host 17 medical delegates from the Near East and North Africa in Michigan as part of an exchange program to explore breast cancer awareness and community outreach. The group that includes high-level medical experts will convene at Gilda's Club Metro Detroit, 3517 Rochester Road, Royal Oak, 48073,...Arab youth community summit
ANN ARBOR It's being billed as the Arab Community Summit 2007, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Sponsored by the Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs (MESA), the conference is taking place Saturday, November 10, 2007 at the Trotter Multi-Cultural Center, 1443 Washtenaw. Questions up for discussion include what does...Low voter turnout frustrates activists
DEARBORN Dearborn voters approved two ballot proposals Tuesday at the polls, clearing the way for City Council to attempt to sell the Dearborn Towers, and passing revisions to the city charter. Voters also re-elected school board member Joseph Guido and chose 20-year resident Mary Petlichkoff to replace outgoing board member Mary...Crime took life of husband, father
Detroit Detroit Police are still searching for a man who opened fire in a laundromat on Detroit's west side Sunday, killing one man and wounding another. The suspect entered the business about 7:30 p.m., forced open a door to an office, and started shooting at Hassan Chaaban, 47, owner of the laundromat on the 18000 block of West......
Senate hearing urges engagement with Muslims
Washington At a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing held last week about "The Role of Local Law Enforcement in Countering Violent Islamist Extremism," Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) called for enhanced engagement by local law enforcement agencies and American Muslim...Dearborn boxer looking to the future
DEARBORN Wistful fans of old-time boxing like to complain that modern fighters don't fight enough, and in some respects, they may be right. But for up-and-coming fighters like Dearborn's Brian "The Lion" Mihtar, the next challenge is often only days away. The 28-year old, 162-pound Mihtar just finished up a grueling stretch in......
Great American smokeout coming
New interactive resources available to help smokers quit Southfield The American Cancer Society will celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Great American Smokeout on Thursday, November 15. With exactly half of the United States now protected by smoke-free laws, and a variety of cessation resources available, there has never been a...‘Engaging the Other’ focuses on dialogue
People from various backgrounds and cultures came together to participate in open dialogue during the "Engaging the Other" conference, on October 25-28, at the Dearborn Inn Marriott. The conference entitled "The Power of Compassion" included various panels and interactive group discussions that covered a wide variety of subjects,...Turfe gives to UM-Dearborn
DEARBORN There's a saying by French mathematician Jean D'Alembert that Al Turfe is fond of passing on to his mathematics students at the University of Michigan-Dearborn: Algebra is generous; she often gives more than is asked of her. Yet, it's Turfe himself who has been generous this year, giving back much more to his students than...
AAPAC kicks off election season with grand banquet
November 3rd, 20070 Event dubbed largest Arab American political gathering in state DEARBORN About 625 people gathered at a banquet hall in Dearborn on Friday to celebrate ten years of services from an influential group of community organizers. The Arab American Political Action Committee's 10th Annual Dinner was scheduled right before local elections,......
Palestinians freed after 20 years of legal battles
November 3rd, 20070 After a twenty-year legal ordeal, Palestinian-American activists Khader Hamide and Michel Shehadeh can finally rest. The two were part of the "LA 8," a group of seven Palestinians and a Kenyan activist based in Los Angeles. The government wanted to deport them for their activism, saying at first that they were promoting...Goddard Prize awarded
The Canadian Islamic Congress awarded the Captain Nichola Goddard Scholarship to Fatima Ahmed at its Gala dinner in Ottawa on October 29. The award, named for Goddard, the first Canadian woman soldier killed in Afghanistan, is worth $3,000. It is given to an undergraduate student studying in a field related to peace and......
Nasr speaks of art
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University, spoke in Ottawa, one stop in his presentations for Islamic History Month in Canada. His topic was "Islamic Architecture, Science, Art, and Spirituality." Nasr said that sacred art is the heart of religion. Theology is secondary. Thus,...New leadership and new direction
Dr. Zijad Delic came on board with the Canadian Islamic Congress as Executive Director last November, and his presence has entailed a definite shift in perspective. The hiring of an Executive Director gave the Congress the ability to do more "on the ground" with Muslims and in reaching out to the wider Canadian society. He......