Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani visits Metro Detroit, meets with community
April 19th, 20240 On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani paid a quick visit to Metro Detroit. The Iraqi leader's first stop was at the Islamic Institute of America, a Dearborn Heights mosque, and his second stop was at the Shenandoah Country Club in West Bloomfield, where he had dinner with local Iraqi Americans. al-Sudani's visit was...
USC cancels graduation speech by valedictorian who has supported Palestinians
April 19th, 20240 The University of Southern California canceled the graduation speech from this year's valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, a biomedical engineering major and first-generation American of South Asian descent. According to reports, the school said this decision was made due to security concerns because of warnings of a plan to disrupt the...
U.S. vetoes widely supported resolution backing full U.N. membership for Palestine
April 19th, 20240 NEW YORK – The United States vetoed a widely backed U.N. resolution Thursday that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent. The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 12 in favor, the United States opposed and two...
Killing humanitarian workers as a strategy: Israel’s endgame in Gaza
April 12th, 20240 Israel described its clearly deliberate killing of seven humanitarian aid workers in Gaza on 1 April as a “grave mistake”, a “tragic event” of a kind that “happens in war.” Obviously, Israel was lying. In fact, this entire so-called war in Gaza — which is in reality a genocide — has been based on a series of lies, some of...
Muslim and Arab American leaders are “out of words” as they tire of the White House outreach on the war in Gaza
April 12th, 20240 WASHINGTON , D.C.— Osama Siblani was sipping his morning coffee at the office when his phone buzzed with a message from one of President Biden’s advisers. As publisher of The Arab American News in Dearborn, Michigan, Siblani serves as an occasional sounding board, and the White House wanted to know what he thought of Biden’s recent...
“Death to America” chants during Al-Quds rally in Dearborn receive strong condemnation from Arab Americans: It has no place in our community
April 12th, 20240 DEARBORN – Anti-American chants from some participants in the International Day of Al-Quds or “International Jerusalem Day” march held in Dearborn last Friday sparked wide condemnation by local Arab and Muslim Americans. Several local officials and leaders in the Dearborn area were quick to condemn the chants, while the right-wing...
Tehran vows revenge after U.N. Security Council fails to condemn Israel’s strike on its embassy in Syria
April 7th, 20241 On Wednesday, the United States, Britain and France opposed a Russian-drafted U.N. Security Council statement that would have condemned an attack on Iran's embassy compound in Syria, which Tehran has blamed on Washington's ally Israel. Press statements by the 15-member council have to be agreed to by consensus. Diplomats said the U.S.,...
Hamas sticking to ceasefire conditions, including Israeli pull out of Gaza
April 7th, 20240 Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday that his Palestinian Islamist movement at war with Israel was sticking to its conditions for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, including an Israeli military withdrawal. Israeli officials visited Egypt earlier this week in a renewed effort to secure a deal, but a Palestinian official close to...
U.S. looking at report that Israel used AI to identify bombing targets in Gaza
April 7th, 20240 The United States was looking into a media report that the Israeli military has been using artificial intelligence to help identify bombing targets in Gaza, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told CNN on Thursday. Kirby, in the CNN interview, said the U.S. had not verified the content of the media report published...
Palestinian doctor walked out of Biden meeting, underscoring tensions over war in Gaza
April 7th, 20240 WASHINGTON, D.C. – A private meeting between President Biden and Muslim community leaders at the White House underscored tensions between the two camps as the Israeli war on Gaza rages on. Palestinian American doctor walked out of Tuesday evening's closed-door session, which was part of the administration's scaled-back events to mark...
White House cancels Iftar dinner after Muslim American leaders decline invite
April 6th, 20240 WASHINGTON D.C. — The White House canceled an iftar dinner after Muslim American leaders declined the invite due to President Biden's support for Israeli war on Gaza. Due to the invitees' rejection, the White House held a smaller dinner with a meeting on administration policy. Wa'el Alzayat, leader of a Muslim Advocacy...
World Central Kitchen aid workers killed in Israeli strike in Gaza
April 6th, 20240 Seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed by an Israeli attack in Gaza. They were delivering aid when their convoy was hit. Chef Jose Andres, founder of the WCK charity group, said he had communication with the Israeli military, and that they knew the aid workers' locale. Some of the workers killed included Lalzawmi...
Washington employs a blatant double standard, which is both evident and hypocritical
March 30th, 20240 By Jamal I. Bittar After numerous unsuccessful efforts spanning five months during Israel's destructive conflict in Gaza, the United Nations Security Council finally approved a resolution on Monday, urging for an immediate ceasefire. The United States, previously the sole obstacle to such a decision, opted not to veto the resolution...
The big question about the U.N. Security Council’s Gaza ceasefire resolution
March 30th, 20240 On March 25, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2728, regarding the ongoing war in Gaza, by a vote of 14-0. The United States abstained rather than — as it usually does when the Israeli regime dislikes a resolution — using its "permanent member" veto. The meat of the resolution "emands an immediate ceasefire for...
U of M faculty coalition calls out administration for treatment of Arabs and Muslims on campus
March 30th, 20240 ANN ARBOR – A growing coalition of University of Michigan faculty members has united to confront what they see as the university administration’s inadequacies in crisis response concerning the challenges faced by Palestinian, Arab and Muslim students and staff within the campus community. This collective action follows “biased”......
Ireland to intervene in South Africa Genocide Case against Israel at the International Court of Justice
March 30th, 20240 Ireland plans to file an argument in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, according to the Irish government, making the move as the country has strongly condemned Israel’s actions against civilians in Gaza. South Africa has brought a case against Israel in the I.C.J., the United...
World court orders Israel to take action to address Gaza famine
March 30th, 20240 THE HAGUE — on Thursday, Judges at the International Court of Justice unanimously ordered Israel to take all the necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies arrive without delay to the Palestinian population in Gaza. The ICJ said the Palestinians in Gaza face worsening conditions of life, and famine and starvation......
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war’s toll on Palestinian children
March 29th, 20240 An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned. One toddler died from a brain injury caused by an Israeli strike that fractured his skull. His cousin, an infant, is still...
Large crowd attended bintjbeil.org’s second annual iftar dinner in Dearborn, honoring 10 women for their distinguished contributions
March 29th, 20240 DEARBORN — On the 21st anniversary of its founding last Thursday, the well known Lebanese social media site BintJbeil.org held its annual iftar dinner in the Summit Banquet Center. Officials with the organization estimated that close to 1,000 guests attended the dinner, including elected officials and community leaders. The event's...
Governor Newsom’s open letter to California’s Muslim and Arab American Communities
March 22nd, 20240 To California’s Muslim, Palestinian American and Arab American communities: California is a better place because of you—our Muslim, Palestinian American and Arab American neighbors and friends who contribute so much to our state’s sense of faith and belonging. From countless achievements in literature, civil rights, arts,...
U.S. puts pressure on Israel with Gaza ceasefire resolution as talks continue in Qatar
March 22nd, 20240 Israel's spy chief was due to travel to Qatar on Friday for ceasefire negotiations while the U.S. planned to put a resolution calling for an immediate truce in Gaza to a vote of the U.N. Security Council, intensifying pressure on its ally. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday in Cairo he believed talks mediated by the......
Protesters gather in Hollywood calling for permanent ceasefire outside of Academy Awards
March 15th, 20240 HOLLYWOOD — Protesters in Hollywood filled the streets the night of the Academy Awards, denouncing the United States' funding of the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The protest, near the Dolby Theatre, was organized by various organizations, including the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, Centro CSO, Black Lives Matter LA,...
World Food Program executive director says famine in Gaza is approaching; aid urgently needed
March 15th, 20240 The United Nations has condemned Israel's intentional starvation of Palestinians in Gaza, declaring that famine is imminent. Following an unwarranted and violent massacre of Palestinians retrieving flour from aid trucks, the United Nations experts said that “Israel is not respecting its international legal obligations, is not......
Words vs. action: A supplication for Gaza, and humanity
March 15th, 20240 “All we can do for Gaza is just offer our Du’a.” This is an oft-repeated statement by enraged Arabs and Muslims who feel helpless before the Israeli genocide in Gaza. But is it true that only invocations and supplications are possible, as tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are being killed and wounded by the...
War on Gaza costing Starbucks in the Dearborn area big bucks
March 15th, 20240 DEARBORN – Starbucks cafés in the Dearborn area are witnessing an unprecedented decline in customers’ demand for the chain’s most famous products, just as they are elsewhere in the U.S and around the world. This decline comes in conjunction with continuing campaigns on social media platforms to boycott the company, which is......
