Canadian Muslim group snubbed
Mohammed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, has attacked the Conservative minority government for refusing to meet representatives of his group. He said that they wanted to communicate with the government of Stephen Harper "on Afghanistan, on the Middle East, on U.S. intervention in Lebanon, the threat of the U.S....Canada shares info with torturers
On January 8, at a hearing into Canadian government involvement in torture abroad of three Canadian Muslims, Justice Department lawyer Michael Peirce, speaking for Foreign Affairs, the RCMP, and Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS), left everyone with raised eyebrows when he said that Canada can share information on people...Kucinich campaigns in Arab, Muslim communities
DEARBORN – Democratic presidential hopeful Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, up against only Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and Mike Gravel, D-Alaska, in Michigan's upcoming primary election, campaigned in the Detroit-area Friday, making stops in Dearborn and Hamtramck at two mosques and a popular Arab American bakery. US Rep. Dennis...Local activist moves on to new career
Dearborn —Longtime local activist Rana Abbas-Chami has left her position as deputy director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's Michigan chapter to join a company that manages linguistic contracts for the government. Friday was her last day at the Dearborn offices of the organization after 10 years of working for...Applications Sought for Arab-American Leadership Training Seminars 2008
The Hala Salaam Maksoud Foundation for Arab-American Leadership is now welcoming applications for its intensive, 5-day training seminars scheduled for 2008 in Washington, DC. The 2008 First Round seminars are scheduled for: Wednesday, March 12th - Sunday, March 16th; Wednesday, June 25th - Sunday, June 29th; Saturday, September...
Struggling in the U.S., some Iraqi refugees now want to go back
January 12th, 20080 With few good job prospects in depressed Lansing, Mich., many yearn for their old life in Baghdad. In Iraq, Nada earned a good income writing grants for an American organization. She lived in a two-story home with a private garden in a nice section of Baghdad. But when insurgents made threats because of her ties to a U.S. employer,...Sheriff to be recognized on MLK Day
DETROIT — Two major local civil rights organizations have chosen to honor Wayne County Sheriff Warren C. Evans during this year’s observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Birthday. Evans On Sunday, January 20, the Michigan Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLS) will present Evans with its top honor, the...City of Dearborn announces free bp gas cards sponsored by Armada Oil & Gas Co.
Armada Oil and Gas Company is the sponsor of the $25 bp gas cards to help the City in its campaign to attract homebuyers to Dearborn. DEARBORN —As the cost of filling your gas tank continues to rise, Dearborn will be awarding free gas cards to remind area residents and potential homebuyers that the City is centrally located to major...City of Dearborn announces free bp gas cards sponsored by Armada Oil & Gas Co.
Armada Oil and Gas Company is the sponsor of the $25 bp gas cards to help the City in its campaign to attract homebuyers to Dearborn. DEARBORN —As the cost of filling your gas tank continues to rise, Dearborn will be awarding free gas cards to remind area residents and potential homebuyers that the City is centrally located to major...ACLU sponsors rights conference
DEARBORN — The rights of Arab Americans and all Americans will be the focus of a conference and mobilization sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union on Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn. "With new revelations about wiretapping, Internet spying, torture cover-ups, and library censorship emerging...Prayer breakfast will commemorate Dr. King
DETROIT — A prayer breakfast will be held to commemorate and honor Dr. Martin Luther King's birth, his life, his vision, and his dream, which is the theme of the program, "More Than A Dream." Rasul Muhammad, Michigan's representative for Louis Farrakhan and son of Elijah Muhammad, will deliver the keynote address to speak on the...VNA of Southeast Michigan looking for hospice volunteers
DEARBORN — For a unique and truly rewarding life experience, the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan invites you to become a hospice volunteer. VNA is in search of kind, compassionate individuals to help support patients and families in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. Volunteers are needed Monday through Friday...DCC Offers Help Paying Energy Bills For Low-Income Families
The Downriver Community Conference (DCC) weatherization program has funds available for income-qualified Dearborn residents who need help paying their home energy bills. DCC will provide assistance based upon eligibility requirements. Those who qualify can receive up to $800 towards energy bill payments, based on the amount owed....A handbook for Muslim teens
Being a young Muslim in the U.S. got much tougher after 9/11, so a brother-sister team came up with a book to help peers in their faith.Growing up in today's culture can be exciting, confusing, and chock-full of challenges.For young American Muslims, navigating adolescence has proven especially daunting since the events of Sept. 11,...Jewish conscience confronts Palestinian tragedy
Garfinkel's book is an account of his journeys in Israel and Palestine, both actual and emotional. He is a poet and a playwright, and his account is informed by the preoccupations of his calling. The book is subtitled "Crossing the Israel/Palestine Divide," and his crossing is both awkward and revealing. Stylistically, there......
Study: Canadian Muslims less likely to vote
Muslims are less likely to vote than other Canadian religious minorities. That is a finding of a study sponsored by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW). CCMW engaged Daood Hamdani to produce a report on the political involvement of Muslim women in Canada. Funding was received from governmental sources.Looking at...British lawyers berate Canada
The British Bar Council, Law Society, Criminal Bar Association, Bar Human Rights Committee, and Commonwealth Lawyers Association have joined in criticizing Canada for failing to act on the case of Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, imprisoned at Guantanamo now for six years since his capture in Afghanistan when he was a 15-year-old child......
Ramadan attacks Muslim studies
Writing in Academic Matters, a Canadian journal, Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss Islamic scholar, attacks Western universities for the way in which they teach about Islam and the use they make of Muslim scholars. He charges that universities in the West have focused on the struggle against terrorism and extremism, to the neglect of its...The grinch who stole eid
Some people's noses are out of joint because of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's brand of season's greetings. His card wishes recipients a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah but does not mention Eid-ul-Adha, in spite of the fact that there are half again as many Muslims as Jews in the country. His website greetings make the...Grosse Pointe peace group discusses Bethlehem dilemma
GROSSE POINTE WOODS — News reports around Christmas-time told about a resurgence of tourists and pilgrims visiting Bethlehem as a result of relative stability in the ancient city over the past two years.But just before Christmas, a group of about 35 Christian peace activists gathered in a Grosse Pointe Woods Presbyterian church to...Should Lebanon become a neutral country?
Should Lebanon become a neutral country? That is the question addressed by André Patry, professor emeritus of international law at Laval University, in an article appearing in the French-language Quebec magazine "Forces." To begin, Patry distinguishes between two kinds of neutrality.Neutrality can be either perpetual or......
Terror prosecutions shed more heat than light
NEW YORK (IPS) — The U.S. government's spotty record in obtaining convictions of people charged with providing "material support" to terrorist organizations is adding new impetus to the efforts of prominent constitutional lawyers to seek substantial changes in the law.The latest failure in a terrorism-financing prosecution came late in...Security hurts trade
Canadian Minister of International Trade David Emerson charges that "Some of the rigid mindsets of the security establishment are really starting, I think, to threaten the special relationship that used to be there." He spoke of companies having to warehouse inventory on both sides of the border, "a just-in-case supply chain rather......
Dubai sheik pardons Canadian
Vancouver native Bert Tatham was working for an American company under contract to the State Department to assist the Afghan government in eradicating opium poppies. On arrival in Dubai, he was found to be in possession of 0.6 grams of hashish and two poppy bulbs. A urinalysis found traces of hashish. The judge in Dubai was...Arar book scheduled
Monia Mazigh, wife of Maher Arar, the Canadian who was rendered to Syria by American authorities, where he was tortured, has a deal with publishers to write a book about the family's experiences. The book, scheduled to appear in 2009 in both English and French, will be written in French and then translated. ......