Bank of America acquitted of discrimination against Muslim charity
August 19th, 20160 DETROIT — Committed to serving Arabs and other communities in Michigan, countless Arab American charity organizations of varying sizes have popped up since waves of immigrants made Metro Detroit home.Founded by Iraqi Americans in 1992, Life for Relief and Development opened its doors as an international relief association and says it...Michigan unemployment rate lowest since 01
Michigan’s unemployment rate in July dipped slightly by one-tenth of a percentage point to 4.5%, according to data released today by the State of Michigan.Despite the reduction in the unemployment rate thanks to 8,000 fewer people on the unemployment rolls, total employment also decreased by 20,000 over the month. State...
‘Nobody is safe anymore’: Arab Americans react to deadly hatred
August 19th, 20160 TULSA — On Friday, August 12, 37-year-old Oklahoma resident Khalid Jabara was brutally murdered by his neighbor who had directed racial slurs at him for years. On Saturday, August 13, Imam Maulama Akonjee, 55, and his assistant, Thara Uddin, 64, were killed in Queens, New York by a lone gunman as they were walking home. Both...
Arab Americans lead a cosmetic surgery craze
August 19th, 20160 Farmington Hills resident Mimi, an Assyrian American. DEARBORN — Rhinoplasty. Lipo. Botox. Lip injections. Butt implants. The Kardashians are not the only staples at cosmetic surgery facilities. Arab Americans have made cosmetic surgery a booming industry in the metro Detroit region–and that's evident by the ever-morphing...
Mass transit in Metro Detroit closer to reality
August 19th, 20160 A rendering of the railway system in Pontiac, MI.DEARBORN — Last Thursday, the Southeast Michigan counties affected by a proposed regional mass transit plan ironed out the final kinks, guaranteeing the plan's placement on the November ballot. Voters from Wayne, Macomb, Oakland and Washtenaw counties will be able to choose whether they...
Planning commissioner made anti-Muslim posts before denying mosque
August 19th, 20160 STERLING HEIGHTS — The city claims it denied a mosque proposal last year because of planning technicalities, but anti-Muslim social media posts by a planning commissioner who voted against the Muslim house of worship painted a different picture. "Oh, no the terrorists are gonna attack, according to the media, this weekend. Come to the...Lutheran Church calls for ban on U.S. aid to Israel
Israeli soldiers look on as Palestinian homes are demolishedNEW ORLEANS — A sense of unease set in Albert Asfour as the tourist bus he was in rolled to a stop. Young Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint looked unhappy with the group leader and the handful of American students, who were heading to Jerusalem from Ramallah for an educational...Clinton aide meets community representatives in Dearborn
DEARBORN — Huma Abedin, vice chair for the Hillary for America campaign, met with Arab and Muslim American leaders on Aug. 11, to discuss issues that matter to the community. Community representatives included heads of organizations, small business owners, doctors, lawyers and other professions. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn)...Court of appeals panel upholds straight-party voting
CINCINNATI — An appellate Court panel rejected a motion by Michigan's Secretary of State to restore the ban on straight party voting after a U.S. District Court judge in Detroit ruled it unconstitutional. In December, the Republican-controlled legislature passed the measure, which would have barred voters from choosing all the...
Attorney: Dearborn man who pled guilty had no intention of joining Hezbollah
August 16th, 20160 Mohammad HamdanDETROIT — Mohammad Hamdan, who pled guilty on Friday to lying to a federal agent, had no intention of joining Hezbollah and would not have broken the law before his contact with a government agent provocateur, his attorney said. Hamdan, a 24 year-old Dearborn resident, was arrested in 2014 while trying to travel to...
Dearborn teenager drowns while saving sister
August 13th, 20160 A 14-year-old Dearborn teenager died after being pulled from the Huron River on the afternoon of Thursday, Aug. 11., after jumping in the water to save his sister. On Friday the family of Abdulrahman Labak mourned his death following the tragic incident in Ann Arbor. His sister is still hospitalized, but is expected to...
Teenager drowns at Huron River
August 12th, 20160 Abdulraham Labak.SCIO TOWNSHIP - A 14-year-old boy has died after being pulled from the Huron River on the afternoon of Thursday, Aug. 11. The boy, identified as Abdulraham Labak, was wading in the water when he began to struggle and went under, around 3:45 p.m. pm Thursday, August 11. Family and friends attempted to locate...ACRL: Two Yemeni Americans unjustly arrested for supposedly fake insurance
Mohamed Wassel (second from left) speaks at an ACRL press confrence, Aug. 8 - Photo by The AANewsHAMTRAMCK — Not even insurance agents could convince Hamtramck police that the proof of insurance of two detained Yemeni American residents was authentic, a complaint filed with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights says. The Arab...
Police, community weigh on strained relationship
August 12th, 20160 A girl with an officer at the National Night Out on Crime eventDEARBORN — Two weeks ago, in the early hours of Friday morning, Dearborn officers pulled over three young Arab Americans near Ford and Chase Roads. They abrasively searched their vehicle, as AANews reporters, who happened to be near the scene, watched from afar.Eventually,...UMD clarifies its stance on Trump
DEARBORN -The University of Michigan-Dearborn is making it clear that its chancellor’s open letter to faculty and students condemning Trump is not a reflection of the university’s views. University officials posted the Dec. 9 letter on its website after an undated copy was circulated on social......
HFC’s Arab and Islamic art history courses teach heritage and dispel stereotypes
DEARBORN — Henry Ford College is located in the hometown of the largest concentration of Arab Americans outside of the Middle East; and that is evident in a specialty of academic courses offered to its students. Arab American Fulbright scholar Dr. Hashim Al-Tawil continues to lead the Arab and art history departments with three...
Dearborn Police adds a community voice to the force
August 11th, 20160 Officer Farhat with his wife and two daughters.DEARBORN – Officer Mohamad Farhat was on duty at Dearborn’s Homecoming when a lost child who only spoke Arabic came up to him and asked for assistance. “There were a lot of kids who were lost,” said Farhat, who helped children on three separate occasions......
ASU members repair Dearborn Heights park
ASU members from Crestwood High School repair Van Houten Park.DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Summer is still in the air, but that hasn't stopped students in the Arab Student Union (ASU) at Crestwood High School from dedicating their services to the city. Van Houten Park, located on Silvery Lane, had fallen into disrepair in recent years, with...
Tlaib: I protested Trump’s speech for my children
August 11th, 20160 Secret service escort Tlaib out of Trump's speech in Detroit.DETROIT — Donald Trump chose Detroit to announce his economic platform. Given the city's bankruptcy and its struggle with poverty and unemployment, it seemed like the ideal place. But Detroiters do not take well to Confederate flags and racial and religious profiling. At...
Muslim center sues Sterling Heights over denying mosque
August 11th, 20160 STERLING HEIGHTS — The Office of Planning had found that the American Islamic Community Center met all the technical requirements for building a mosque that was denied by the City of Sterling Heights last year, a legal complaint revealed. The AICC is suing the city, accusing officials of violating the First Amendment rights of...Study finds Michigan schools lack in special needs services
LANSING - A new study commissioned by the state legislature in 2015 has discovered that Michigan schools need to spend more money helping students with special needs. The findings were presented to the Board of Education this week, the same day the Board discussed a statewide initiative to make Michigan a Top 10......
Sterling Heights officials thought mosque petitioners could be terrorists
August 10th, 20160 STERLING HEIGHTS — While the Sterling Heights planning commission denied a mosque project last year because of technicalities, anti-Muslim protesters celebrated the decision as a triumph. Bias was also prevalent inside city government, emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request revealed. Although petitioners for the...Family of woman fatally shot By Dearborn Police file $10 million lawsuit
DEARBORN – A $10 million wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the City of Dearborn and an officer who was involved in the fatal shooting of a 31-year-old woman in January. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the family of Janet Wilson, the 35-year-old who was shot by an officer during a pursuit. Wilson was killed Jan.......
Dearborn by the numbers: Passions, tenstion dominates the democratic process
August 5th, 20160 DEARBORN — The long primary season is finally over. The draining campaigning was not always positive. It escalated into personal attacks and animosity in the community. However, the passion, which turned into rage that bordered on madness, did not trickle down to the polling locations on Tuesday. Despite...
State report highlights immigrants’ contributions: Snyder calls for immigration reform
August 5th, 20160 Imad Mohamad at his naturalization ceremonyLANSING — At a time when nativism is on the rise and politicians are calling for building walls and shutting our doors to newcomers, a report by the state of Michigan reiterated that immigrants help move the economy in the right direction. The Michigan Office for New Americans and the......
