Arab boy chooses ballet for career
Ayman Saffah is a 17-year-old Israeli Arab from the town of Kafr Yassif, in Galilee, but he has chosen to live a life and develop a career beyond the cultural norms of his community. He fell in love with ballet while watching it on television, and he secretly practiced the steps which he saw. When he was 14, he asked his mother for...UAE recruiting in Quebec
Bernard Grenier, president of Personnel Outaouais, has recently returned from Dubai, and his firm is recruiting personnel to work in the United Arab Emirates. The Outaouais is the region of Quebec just across the river from Ottawa. He visited Dubai along with representatives from some 15 other Quebec head-hunting firms, under...No hijab in Manitoba judo
Here we go again! Another girl ruled out of a sports competition for wearing a hjijab, this time in Manitoba. Eleven-year-old Hajar Outbin was barred from a judo competition on November 17. Dave Minuk, president of Judo Manitoba, explained, "It has nothing to do with religion. It's a safety issue." The...Woman suspended for skirt length
Halima Muse, a Muslim woman working as a screener at Toronto International Airport, was suspended from her job because she wore a skirt longer than the regulation skirt provided by Garda, her employer. Garda requested direction from the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), with whom it has the contract, but CATSA...Imams filing airline suit claim victory
WASHINGTON The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) welcomed a ruling this week by a federal judge in Minnesota that rejected almost all of the arguments made by U.S. Airways and the Metropolitan Airports Commission in the case of six imams, or Islamic religious leaders, removed from a flight last year in Minneapolis, then...Suspect in rapes arrested
DEARBORN A Dearborn Heights man was arrested Monday and arraigned Wednesday in 19th District Court on multiple charges related to the home invasion/rape of a West Dearborn mother on Sept. 5. Kenneth Gunther, 26, is also suspected of a second rape of a mother in Dearborn Heights that occurred Oct. 19, police said. Kenneth GuntherIn...Local doctor provides holistic healthcare
DEARBORN Michigan is behind the rest of the country when it comes to alternative medicine, according to local acupuncturist Mostafa Belkhalfia. The state implemented laws regulating acupuncture just last year, becoming the 41st state to do so. Belkhalfia came to Dearborn from California after the laws passed, looking to offer a new...Public invited to Dearborn events
Christmas benefit party on Dec. 13 will raise funds for Dearborn Firefighters Burn Drive DEARBORN The Dearborn Firefighters Burn Drive, a local charity organization created by members of the Dearborn Fire Department, is holding a Christmas benefit party on Thursday, Dec. 13, from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. The charity fundraiser will be held...Peace with justice banquet scheduled
DETROIT The Central United Methodist Church of Detroit will hold its annual Justice and Peace Banquet here on Dec. 2 at 6 p.m. at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center. The church is looking for sponsors to assist it in meeting the needs of many seniors living on fixed incomes, the homeless who rely on the...Tight border security disaster
On November 11, the emergency call came in to Lacolle, Quebec. The local volunteer fire department was desperately needed to assist in putting out a fire across the border in nearby Rouses Point, New York. The six firemen from Lacolle piled into their fire engine and raced for the border, siren sounding and lights...Ashcroft’s lawyer: Arar belongs to al-Qaeda
During a U.S. Court of Appeals hearing on November 9, Maher Arar's lawyer David Cole, from the Center for Constitutional Rights, sought to re-start a suit to recover damages for Arar's extraordinary rendition to Syria, where he was tortured. A lawyer for former Attorney General John Ashcroft charged that Arar had "unequivocal...Afghan prisoner abuse again raised
After a row in Parliament, Canada reached a new agreement in May with Afghanistan to permit Canada to monitor captured fighters turned over to Afghan authorities. On November 14, Canadian officials reported on the seventh complaint by prisoners since the agreement was signed. The Canadian government has tended to downplay such...Secret negotiations between Canada and Israel
Israeli Minister of Public Security, Ari Dichter and Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, have been developing a cooperative approach to terrorism and related issues, involving exchange of information, technology, and operations. The Israeli Ministry web site reported on these developments, but Day's office was caught off......
Canadian heads investigation into Hariri killing
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Canadian Daniel Bellemare, former chief of Canada's Federal Prosecution Service, to head the investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri. He will only begin his work some time next year, however. As well as the Hariri killing, the investigation will also address several...Khadr trial begins under a cloud
Omar Khadr's trial at Guantanamo is on again. He is accused of being an illegal enemy combatant, having been involved in a firefight in Afghanistan while serving with al-Qaeda fighters when he was 15. He is now 21, still held at Guantanamo. At the trial, Khadr's lawyer Lt. Commander William Kuebler asked the judge what he......
Canadian Muslim is new ambassador
Arif Lalani is Canada's new ambassador to Afghanistan. He is a Muslim who came to Canada as a child when his family was driven from Uganda by Idi Amin. Lalani joined with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in prayer at the end of Ramadan. By Reuel S. AmdurJamal out on bail
After 17 months in jail, Abdul Qayyam Jamal was released on $100,000 bail on November 5. He is the oldest of the group arrested in the Toronto area on charges related to planned terrorist attacks. A charge of plotting a bombing was dropped, but two other charges remain: involvement in a terrorist act and leading terrorist...Jahanagir defends religious freedom
Speaking recently at the University of Ottawa, Asma Jahanagir, U.N. Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion and Belief, expressed cynicism about how religions treat women. She remarked sardonically that efforts at mutual understanding among religions might be possible because they can find common ground: suppression of women. All...
Fight over gas prices ends in death
November 17th, 20070 DETROIT The owner of a Southwest Detroit gas station was shot and killed by the owner of a competing gas station at about 10:30 a.m. Friday morning, according to Detroit Police.An argument over gas prices was said to have escalated into a physical confrontation involving a baseball bat and then leading to the 51-year-old owner of a......
LAHC observes 25th anniversary
November 17th, 20070 A local soccer club put together in 1982 is now a 25-year-old cultural organization thats given about $1.5 million to Arab American students in scholarship money.The Lebanese American Heritage Club will celebrate its 25th anniversary Nov. 21 at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in Dearborn. The group expanded its role in...Hersch gives pessimistic assessment
In keynote speech renowned journalist says there is no hope for Mideast with Bush, Cheney DETROIT Renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh spoke with blunt pessimism about various Middle East conflicts and the Bush administration at a banquet in Detroit on Thursday. The Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter keynoted the American......
Two area mosques burglarized
DEARBORN Money from donation boxes was stolen from two mosques broken into this week in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, according to officials from the Islamic House of Wisdom (IHW) and the Islamic Center of America (ICA).An ICA employee said Dearborn police have been given surveillance footage of a suspect caught by cameras there early...Gilda’s Club to host international visitor leadership program
Royal Oak Gilda's Club in Detroit will host 17 medical delegates from the Near East and North Africa in Michigan as part of an exchange program to explore breast cancer awareness and community outreach. The group that includes high-level medical experts will convene at Gilda's Club Metro Detroit, 3517 Rochester Road, Royal Oak, 48073,......