Hezbollah warns of partition, commits to Syrian war
BEIRUT — Hezbollah says the Middle East is at risk of partition and sees no end to the war in Syria, where it is fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad against insurgents supported by his regional enemies. Sheikh Naim Qassem, deputy leader of the Iranian-backed group, said the insurgents would be unable to topple the Assad...ISIS seizes Syria’s ancient Palmyra
DAMASCUS — "Islamic State" militants tightened their grip on the historic city of Palmyra in Syria, days after capturing a provincial capital in neighboring Iraq, suggesting the growing momentum of the group which a monitor says now holds half of Syrian territory. The twin successes pile pressure not just on Damascus and Baghdad,...Nasrallah to declare victory in Qalamoun
DAMASCUS — Lebanon's Hezbollah and Syria's army made big advances against insurgents in mountains north of Damascus on Wednesday, Hezbollah and Syrian state media said, shoring up President Bashar al-Assad's grip on the border zone. The Arab American News correspondent in Beirut, Nabil Haissam, learned from sources close to Hezbollah...
Nakba should be the center of the Palestinian strategy
May 22nd, 20150 “What is the Palestinian strategy?” is a question that I have been asked all too often, including on May 15, the day that millions of Palestinians around the world commemorated the 67th anniversary of the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians by Zionist militias in 1947-48. The question itself doesn’t require much...The Palestinian Nakba becomes the Arab Nakba
Palestinian refugees at the Jaramana Refugee Camp, Damascus, 1948.In a western capital far away from Gaza and Cairo, I recently shared a pot of tea with an “Egyptian refugee.” The term is familiar to me, but never have I encountered an Egyptian who refers to himself as such. He stated it as a matter of fact by saying: “As an...Obama vows to ‘stand by’ Gulf allies amid concern over Iran threat
President Obama welcomes Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef at the White House, May 13.MARYLAND — President Obama vowed on Thursday to back Gulf allies against any "external attack", seeking to reassure them of Washington's iron-clad commitment to their security amid Arab anxiety over U.S.-led efforts to reach a nuclear...Sectarian violence, bombs leave 17 dead during Baghdad pilgrimage
BAGHDAD — Deadly violence erupted overnight when Shi'a worshipers marched through a Sunni neighborhood on their way to a shrine for an annual ritual, police said Thursday. Mobs burned several buildings in the Sunni district of Adhamiyah, which the pilgrims have to cross to reach the holy Shi'a site on the other side of the...Egypt is justice minister resigns over classist remarks
CAIRO — Egypt's justice minister has resigned after raising a public uproar by saying in a TV interview that the children of garbage collectors are too lowly to become judges. The comments on Sunday by Mahfouz Saber brought a heavy backlash on social media from Egyptians denouncing elitism and what some saw as the arrogance of...
Nasrallah to declare victory in Qalamoun
May 15th, 20150 DAMASCUS — Lebanon's Hezbollah and Syria's army made big advances against insurgents in mountains north of Damascus on Wednesday, Hezbollah and Syrian state media said, shoring up President Bashar al-Assad's grip on the border zone.The Arab American News correspondent in Beirut Nabil Haissam learned from sources close to Hezbollah...Seven children killed in Benghazi rocket attack
BENGHAZI — Eight people were killed, including seven children, when a rocket hit a residential building in the city of Benghazi in eastern Libya on Thursday, medics said, two days after a similar attack claimed by "Islamic State" militants. A Reuters reporter saw several dead children in a hospital in the city, where army forces...Syria-linked Lebanese ex-minister sentenced to 4.5 years in bomb plot
BEIRUT — A former Lebanese minister who was arrested three years ago for smuggling explosives into Lebanon from Syria was sentenced on Wednesday to four and a half years in prison for forming a group to carry out terrorist attacks. Michel Samaha was tried by a military court on charges related to a plot allegedly devised with Syria's...
Vatican recognizes state of Palestine
May 15th, 20150 VATICAN CITY — The Vatican concluded its first treaty that formally recognizes the State of Palestine, with an agreement on Catholic Church activities in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority, the Holy See said on Wednesday. The agreement "aims to enhance the life and activities of the Catholic Church and its recognition at...
Netanyahu forms new government with far right
May 8th, 20150 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Naftali Bennett, the head of the right-wing Jewish Home party, May 6.TEL AVIV — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement Thursday giving a senior role to the far-right Jewish Home party, which firmly opposes a Palestinian state, hours after forging a new...Houthis attack Saudi town, air strikes continue
SANAA — Saudi-led forces said on Thursday they would respond harshly against Yemen's Houthi rebels following attacks on citizens in border areas, hours after the kingdom offered a five-day humanitarian truce if the militants stopped fighting. Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said the Houthis had...
Hezbollah advances in Qalamoun, U.S. military to train rebels
May 8th, 20150 DAMASCUS — Syrian army bombing in the mountainous area along the border with Lebanon killed dozens of insurgents and helped regain hilly territory overlooking Hezbollah strongholds, the Lebanese group said on Thursday. For years, hideouts in the Qalamoun mountains have allowed al-Qaeda-linked insurgents to attack Syrian soldiers and......
Libya’s coast guard detains almost 600 African migrants
TRIPOLI — Libya's coast guard detained on Wednesday almost 600 illegal African migrants, among them pregnant women and 18 children, who had tried to sail to Europe on a fishing boat, a security official said. The North African country, gripped by violence and a breakdown of state authority four years after the ousting of Muammar...Lauryn Hill cancels Israel show
HillLOS ANGELES — Singer and songwriter Lauryn Hill is canceling a planned concert in Israel because she was unable to schedule a performance in the Palestinian territories, she announced Monday, May 5.The decision was hailed as a victory by Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists, who had launched a campaign urging Hill to......
Reporter Robert Fisk discusses career, Syria, ISIS and the media
May 1st, 20150 Robert Fisk speaking to The Arab American News at his hotel in DearbornDEARBORN — The modern history of the Middle East is plagued by war. The books tell us about it, but British foreign correspondent Robert Fisk witnessed it first-hand and his work has contributed to our knowledge of that violent past.His non-conformist reporting has...Egypt sentences 69 to prison for church attack
A church looted and burnt in Egypt during the unrest in 2013.CAIRO — Sixty-nine suspected Muslim Brotherhood supporters were each sentenced to 25 years in prison in Egypt on Wednesday for attacking and burning a church in a village near Cairo in 2013, judicial sources said. The church in the village of Kafr Hakim, near Kerdasa just...Kurds arrest five over bombing outside U.S. consulate in Erbil
Smoke rises from the site of a bomb attack in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region, April 17.ERBIL — Kurdish authorities have arrested five men they say carried out a car bombing on behalf of "Islamic State" that killed two people outside the U.S. consulate in their autonomous region of northern Iraq. Four of the men are...Qatar unveils $1 billion environment project
DOHA — Qatar officially unveiled on Tuesday what it said is the world's biggest environmental project, a $1 billion plant to capture wasted gas. The Jetty Boil-Off Gas Recovery Project (JBOG) would capture enough gas to power 175,000 cars per year or 300,000 homes, Qatari officials said. It also allows Qatar, the largest producer......
Rebels advance in northwestern Syria
A rebel fighter raises his weapon, as smoke billows in the background, in the northern Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughur, April 25.DAMASCUS — Hard-line Syrian rebel groups seized the strategic town of Jisr Al-Shoughour on Saturday in northwestern Syria, sending government troops fleeing after intense clashes that have seen the opposition...Palestinian shot by Israeli troops dies of wounds
RAMALLAH — A Palestinian shot by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank died of his wounds on Tuesday, a hospital official said, the third Palestinian killed in a flare-up of violence over the past week. The Israeli military said soldiers spotted several Palestinians trying to cut through Israel's barrier in the West Bank, near......
Shared battlefield goals trump ideology among Syria rebels, for now
DAMASCUS — Hardline Islamists fighting side-by-side with groups backed by the United States have made gains in northern Syria in recent weeks while showing rare unity, which some fear may be short-lived. An Islamist alliance calling itself Army of Fatah, a reference to the conquests that spread Islam across the Middle East from the...Saudi King reshuffles centers of power
Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's interior minister, Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, a close friend of the United States and a scourge of Islamist militants, will be the country's first king from the third generation of its ruling dynasty. King Salman on Wednesday appointed the U.S. favorite and veteran security chief as......