Pope Leo XIV to visit Turkey and Lebanon on first foreign trip, focused on peace and unity
November 30th, 20250 Pope Leo XIV’s first foreign trip, to Turkey and Lebanon, will be packed with opportunities to advance relations with two of the Catholic Church’s top priorities: Orthodox Christians and Muslims. It will also give history’s first American pope the spotlight to speak in broader terms about peace in the Middle East in languages...
Lebanese Consulate in Detroit invites community to celebrate Independence Day
November 22nd, 20250 DEARBORN – In cooperation with Lebanese community organizations across Michigan, the Consulate General of Lebanon in Detroit will host an official celebration marking the 82nd anniversary of Lebanon’s Independence Day on Tuesday, November 25, at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center in Dearborn. Community event returns after years of...
Osama Siblani: Lebanese Americans are rising in U.S. politics, Lebanon must recognize its power
November 22nd, 20251 In an extensive political appearance on Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV channel, as part of the program Al-Hadath, journalist and anchor Samar Abu Khalil hosted Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News and president of the Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC), in an episode that aired Sunday, November 16. The discussion...
Netanyahu manipulates Gaza ceasefire, escalates in Lebanon and roams in Syria
November 22nd, 20250 Over the past week, significant developments unfolded on multiple fronts across the Middle East. As Tel Aviv escalated its attacks on Lebanon amid growing threats of launching a full-scale war in response to Hezbollah’s refusal to lay down its arms, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the occupied Syrian south, accompanied...
The new kill zone: Gaza’s borders after the “ceasefire”
November 20th, 20250 The so-called Gaza ceasefire was not a genuine cessation of hostility, but a strategic, cynical shift in the Israeli genocide and ongoing campaign of destruction. Starting on October 10, the first day of the announced ceasefire, Israel transitioned tactics: moving from indiscriminate aerial bombardment to the calculated, engineered...
U of M student government passes Gaza Divestment Resolution despite fierce opposition
November 20th, 20250 ANN ARBOR — The University of Michigan’s Central Student Government (CSG) narrowly passed a major divestment resolution Tuesday evening, calling on the Board of Regents to investigate and end financial investments linked to Israeli human rights abuses, including those tied to the ongoing military campaign in Gaza. The measure, known...
Palestinian deaths in Israeli custody have surged. A prison guard describes rampant abuse
November 20th, 20250 The number of Palestinians dying in Israeli custody surged to nearly 100 people since the start of the war on Gaza, according to a report published Monday by a human rights group that says systematic violence and denial of medical care at prisons and detention centers contributed to many of the deaths it examined. The picture that...
The majority without power: Lebanon’s Shi’as and the politics of exclusion
November 14th, 20250 Lebanon prides itself on being a democracy, but for countless citizens, that ideal exists only on paper. No community feels this disconnect more deeply than the Shi'a. Though they are widely believed to be the country’s largest sect — perhaps even its true majority — they remain excluded from genuine political power and access to...
Michigan Medical delegation brings relief to dozens of Lebanese patients with joint replacement surgeries
November 14th, 20250 BAALBEK, NABATIEH – A two-week humanitarian medical mission led by Lebanese American physicians from Michigan delivered life-changing care to dozens of patients in Baalbek and Nabatieh, performing 50 free orthopedic surgeries and providing consultations to scores of others. The mission logistics, sponsored by the Arab American...
Iraqi PM al-Sudani’s coalition comes first in parliamentary election
November 13th, 20250 A coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has emerged as winner in Iraq’s parliamentary election, according to electoral authorities. The Independent High Electoral Commission said on Wednesday that al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Change coalition received 1.3 million votes in Tuesday’s election, about...
Polishing genocide: Israel’s desperate war to erase history
November 13th, 20250 Israel’s allies worldwide are desperately scrambling to help Tel Aviv re-establish a convincing narrative — not only about the Gaza genocide, but the entire legacy of Israeli colonialism in Palestine and the Middle East. The perfect little story, built on myths and outright fabrications — that of a small nation fighting for...
Verdict from the people: Why the Gaza tribunal is about accountability, not symbolism
November 7th, 20250 In the face of the international legal and political systems' paralyzing silence and utter failure to hold Israel accountable for its genocide in Gaza, international civil society has refused to stand idly by. Instead, it continues to forge a path, presenting essential working models for what true justice in Palestine must look...
The end of blind loyalty: Why America must reconsider its ties to Israel
November 7th, 20250 The world has become a witness to unimaginable suffering. In Gaza, entire families have been erased from the registry of the living. Children, once filled with laughter, now silenced by hunger, dust and fear, stare blankly from hospital beds that have no medicine in hospitals that no longer have walls. Every explosion feels like an echo...
Michigan Lebanese community pushes for six parliamentary seats for expatriates
November 1st, 20250 Osama Siblani: “Those who claim to represent the Lebanese diaspora in America speak only for a small minority, not for the majority in Michigan.” By Roaa Qassem – Al-Akhbar (Lebanon) Since 2017, Lebanon has witnessed ongoing debate over its parliamentary election law and the place of expatriates within it. As was the case before...
The unvanquished will: Gaza’s triumph of spirit against the architecture of genocide
October 31st, 20250 For the last two years, my social media algorithm has been relentlessly dominated by Gaza, particularly by the voices of ordinary Gazans, displaying a blend of emotions that centers on two core principles: grief and defiance. Grief has characterized life in Gaza for many years, a consequence of successive Israeli wars, the unrelenting......
Trump pressures Israel to maintain Gaza ceasefire and halt West Bank annexation, while letting it loose in bombing Lebanon
October 24th, 20250 Despite ongoing Israeli violations of the Gaza ceasefire, President Trump’s administration spent the past week showing some seriousness about consolidating the truce and reining in Israel’s far-right, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, not only in Gaza but also in the occupied West Bank, after the Knesset’s initial vote to annex it to...
The broken truce: How Israel turned the ceasefire into a weapon
October 24th, 20250 The ink had barely dried on the ceasefire agreement when the bombs began to fall again. The air that was supposed to carry the sighs of relief now carries the roar of warplanes. The brief illusion of peace between Israel and Hamas has vanished into smoke and rubble. Both sides are trading accusations like gunfire. Israel claims that......
“You cannot fight the world”: The hidden meaning behind Trump’s warning to Israel
October 24th, 20250 A single, candid statement by U.S. President Trump during a Fox News interview on October 9 may illuminate the true calculus behind Israel’s decision for a ceasefire in Gaza, following a relentless, two-year genocidal campaign that has tragically killed and wounded nearly a quarter of a million Palestinians. “Israel cannot fight the...
Sharm el-Sheikh summit hails Gaza truce, but “Phase Two” threatens fragile peace
October 17th, 20250 SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — Led by President Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the “Peace in the Middle East” Summit convened on Monday, October 13, in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, bringing together leaders and representatives from 30 countries to celebrate the signing of the Gaza ceasefire...
Lebanese consul general in Detroit urges diaspora to register for 2026 elections by November 20
October 17th, 20250 Charara reassures voters of ballot secrecy and highlights global representation for Lebanese abroad Despite uncertainty surrounding Lebanon’s next parliamentary elections, scheduled for the spring of 2026, and ongoing debate over the electoral law under which they will be held, Ibrahim Charara, Lebanon’s consul general in Detroit,...
America’s breaking point: How public outrage forced Israel’s ceasefire
October 17th, 20250 Temporary peace, permanent doubt: The fragile truce between Israel and Gaza Here is a clear-eyed look at the new Israel Gaza ceasefire. It is a moment many people prayed to see. The guns have fallen quiet. Hostages are coming home. Prisoners are stepping off buses to tearful embraces. The United Nations and aid agencies are rushing......
Trump’s Gaza “peace plan” falls short: vagueness, distrust, and the illusion of progress
October 17th, 20250 If President Trump hopes to earn a Nobel Peace Prize, he’s going to need to do better than his 20-point “Comprehensive Plan to End Gaza’s Conflict.” Characteristically exaggerating, Mr. Trump called the plan’s release “one of the greatest days in human history”, but poring over Arab, Israeli, and U.S. press reveals that...
Through Gaza’s lens: How leaders fail the people they represent
October 16th, 20250 The Gaza war has become more than a humanitarian disaster — it has become a lens through which we see the truth about power, leadership and representation. For Muslims around the world, it has been a moment to face difficult questions about who governs in our name, whose interests they serve and whether they share the moral convictions......
Lebanese American communities in Michigan welcome Lebanese Ambassador to Washington Nada Hamadeh Moawad
October 10th, 20250 DEARBORN — In her first trip outside Washington, D.C. since assuming her post in mid-June, Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United States Nada Hamadeh Moawad visited Lebanese communities across Michigan on Friday, October 3, meeting with numerous community, religious and civic leaders in Dearborn, Clinton Township, Birmingham and...
Lebanese Consulate in Detroit engages community leaders to boost expat voter registration for 2026 elections
October 10th, 20250 SOUTHFIELD — The Consulate General of Lebanon in Detroit held a meeting at its location in Southfield on Wednesday, October 8, bringing together numerous Lebanese community and religious organizations from Michigan and Ohio to discuss mechanisms for registering Lebanese expatriates wishing to vote in the Lebanon’s 2026 parliamentary......
