Sterling Heights settles mosque lawsuit amid residents’ outcries
February 27th, 20172 STERLING HEIGHTS — Tempers flared to such a degree at the City Council meeting Feb. 21 that the mayor ordered the chamber cleared and an impassioned mob burst through the doors, shouting "This is just a show" and "they will be so sorry." Residents and others were forced to watch the remainder of the meeting, in which council members...
O’Reilly: Crime rates down, home values up and businesses being courted
February 27th, 20170 DEARBORN —Mayor Jack O'Reilly delivered his annual state of the city address through a five-part daily video series, Feb. 12-16, that discussed the successes and development of some of Dearborn's major components — the fire department, police department, economic development, neighborhoods and his vision for Dearborn's...
Open carry and intimidation put community, police on edge
February 27th, 20170 DEARBORN — On Sunday, February 19, a group of five armed individuals were spotted marching along Warren Avenue on Dearborn's east side. The open carry advocates walked down Schaefer towards Warren during peak business hours that morning. A video taken by a Dearborn resident who witnessed the protest accrued thousands of likes on...
ADC-MI in transition, new director to be named
February 27th, 20170 DEARBORN — The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) was established in 1980 by former Senator James George Abourezk (D-SD) in response to the growing tide of anti-Arab rhetoric in the United States. Since then, those tides have increased, with the impact felt strongest in Dearborn, home to the U.S.'s most concentrated...
Identity Politics: Denying and distorting Arab women’s experiences
February 10th, 20170 DEARBORN — Arab women have reached the summit of their education and careers, yet one perception prevails in many Westerners' minds— "They are oppressed." According to Arab American women, no one answers the question, "Who said so?" rationally or allows them to speak for themselves. Instead, Westerners use the news as their...
State audit finds no fraud in Detroit vote
February 10th, 20170 DETROIT— On Thursday, Feb. 9, the state released a review indicating that “an abundance of human error” caused discrepancies between the number of ballots cast and the number of voters recorded in Detroit. There was no fraud. In a separate audit, the state found at least 31 people voted twice in the fall presidential election...
Arab American to run for governor
February 10th, 20170 DETROIT— Public Health Director Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat, told local media outlets that he plans to resign and run for governor in the 2018 election. "Right now, I'm focused on taking care of our health department to make sure that I leave it better than how I found it and to make sure the transition is smooth," he...
Islamic Center of America holds vigil for victims of Quebec mosque terror attack
February 10th, 20170 DEARBORN— Last Friday, the Islamic Center of America held a candlelight vigil to honor six worshippers killed in the Jan. 29 Quebec City mosque shooting. A small crowd gathered in the cold outside the ICA at 6:30 p.m. as dignitaries and community leaders spoke about the terror attack. “This week six of our brothers walked...
US Federal Court poised to rule over Trump’s travel ban
February 10th, 20170 A Feb. 7 hearing about whether to overrule a federal judge in Seattle’s restraining order was heard within a Federal appellate court in San Francisco Tuesday. The case presented pertains to Washington state and Minnesota having filed suit against the Trump administration over the President’s executive order issued Jan. 27 instantly...
NSA contractor arrested, indicted for stealing documents
February 10th, 20170 On Wednesday, a former NSA contractor was indicted by a grand federal jury on charges he willfully retained national defense information. US government officials claim the incident could be possibly the largest government seizure of stolen information in history. Facing 20 criminal counts each amounting to 10 years maximum in...
Texas state advocates anti-sanctuary bill
February 10th, 20170 Senate bill 4, a legislation that would punish local and state government and college entities that refuse to comply with federal immigration officials laws or requests. The bill, pushed by Texas state Sen. Charles Perry received its approval from the Republican controlled Texas Senate on Wednesday. The vote projected a 20-10...
New Senate bill would designate, punish organizations deemed to be affiliated with Muslim Brotherhood
February 10th, 20170 The Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, now pending in Congress, is a new piece of legislation following in step with Trump’s travel ban. Introduced in January by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the act is intended to “protect against the violent jihad carried out by the Muslim Brotherhood affiliates both in the United States and in...
Arab American lawmakers push back against discriminatory Michigan bills
February 10th, 20170 Julia Kassem The Arab American News LANSING— In response to the growing tide of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim legislation put forth by Donald Trump’s executive orders, Michigan legislators have pushed forth— as well as against— legislation pertaining to Trump’s immigration ban and assault on sanctuary cities. Arab...
Confronting the culture of conspiracy
February 10th, 20171 By Julia Kassem The Arab American News DEARBORN— While the United States faces a battle with fake news that reflects the misinformed vitriol definitive of the political climate, the Arab world has faced its share of ongoing problems of politicized and polemical misinformation. The irony is that such false information,...
ACCESS hosts emergency town hall to fight Trump’s Muslim ban
February 3rd, 20171 DEARBORN—On Wednesday, ACCESS’s Take on Hate campaign organized an emergency town hall in response to President Trump’s executive order on immigration. The event, originally scheduled for the Arab American National Museum, had to be moved to the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center to accommodate the unexpectedly large......
Pushing for sanctuary cities amidst institutional racism
February 2nd, 20170 By Julia Kassem The Arab American News Detroit is poised in a peculiar position. In 2014, it became a “welcoming city”, joining 40 other cities across the country, such as Boston, Los Angeles and Boise, in adopting the voluntary designation. 2014 was also the year Flint began to face the contamination of its water supply...
Does protesting work?
February 2nd, 20170 Does protest work? By Julia Kassem The Arab American News Street protests are all the rage these days. They're also displays of a lot of rage. Demonstrations, marches and the like never had a chance to become passe in systems of power unmitigated by oppression and wealth disparity. Protest entered the Western discourse......
LAHC declines CVE grant
January 29th, 20171 DEARBORN- After the Department of Homeland Security awarded Dearborn’s Leaders Advancing and Helping Communities a Countering Violence Extremism (CVE) grant, the group ended up declining it Thursday night, according to a press release. The community group sought funding for existing programs, focused on youth development,...
Arab American joins WXYZ-TV as anchor/reporter
January 29th, 20171 SOUTHFIELD – Born and raised in Detroit, Ameera David has returned to her hometown to work at WXYZ/WMYD as a 7 Action News anchor/reporter after hosting “Boom Bust,” RT America’s flagship financial news program, headquartered in Washington D.C. The show airs daily and is broadcast to 700 million homes in over 100...
Henry Ford Museum officially changes name
January 29th, 20170 DEARBORN - On Monday, the Dearborn tourist destination The Henry Ford announced that it will change the name of the Henry Ford Museum to Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. “Henry Ford Museum has always been about ideas and innovations that changed the world,” Moordian said. “We believe adding the word innovation to...
Warren city officials call on Fouts to investigate himself
January 29th, 20170 WARREN — On Tuesday, Warren City Council called for its battered mayor to inspect the recordings that appeared in the past month of him or someone else disparaging disabled people, older women and African Americans. The plan passed 4-3 and asks the mayor to use state and local agencies to help him find the source and verify the......
Women’s group to hold third annual networking event
January 29th, 20170 DEARBORN - On Thursday Feb. 2, the Arab American Women’s Business Council will teach community professionals the art of networking and give them the opportunity to catapult their businesses or careers at their annual Speed Networking Event. “This is the 3rd Annual AAWBC Speed Networking Event and we normally get between 30-50...
Race politics: Racializing Islam and seeing beyond stereotypes
January 29th, 20170 DEARBORN— In today’s political climate, many people overlook the difference between the “religious” and the “fanatical”, as the media often hastily interlaces those terms when it comes to Islam. Western media have regularly designated persons who allegedly follow Islam and have committed atrocious crimes as Muslims in......
Metro Detroit’s DACA immigrants anxious about new administration
By: Julia Kassem DEARBORN— President Obama’s second term ushered in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act (DACA), legislation that protected immigrants from deportation by securing resident and immigration rights for children of undocumented immigrant parents. Since DACA was enacted, more than 600,000 young...
Detroit man executed outside son’s school
January 26th, 20170 DETROIT- Police are investigating the execution of a father in front of his son's school in southwest Detroit on Wednesday morning. Police said, after he dropped his son off and the boy entered Mark Twain Elementary School, the father was shot in the head by a suspect who was sitting in the backseat of a victim’s car. The suspect......
