Where was the oversight? The American Arab Chamber of Commerce owes the community answers
August 28th, 20260 The unfolding controversy at the American Arab Chamber of Commerce is painful to watch, particularly for those of us who once invested time in the organization and believed deeply in what it could be. The Chamber announced last week that it had terminated its executive director, Bilal Hammoud, after discovering that organizational...
The siege of Qusra reveals Israel’s blueprint for the West Bank
August 28th, 20260 If you want to understand the bleak future awaiting the occupied West Bank, do not look away. Just pay attention to the events unfolding in the small Palestinian town of Qusra, south of Nablus. The story of the future of the West Bank begins here. While much of the media is treating reports emerging from the area as simply another...
El-Sayed defeats AIPAC, dark money and the Democratic establishment
August 28th, 20260 In what, I believe, will be seen as this year’s most significant election; Dr Abdul El-Sayed won a victory in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary. It was a close contest — a nail-biter, as we say — but it was an important win that marks a watershed moment in U.S. politics. It was the first time that Israel’s genocidal war in...
One house, many doors: America’s choice between fear and hope
August 28th, 20260 There is a moment in every election cycle when the air grows thick with something other than debate. Not necessarily the clash of ideas that fills the room, but the murmur of suspicion, whispered warnings about the other, the outsider, the one who does not belong. This is the moment when democracy falters, not in its institutions but in...
Note to Rick Scott: Stop tweeting and cut up that government credit card
August 20th, 20260 "Our national debt just hit 40 TRILLION DOLLARS!" some guy tweeted on August 19. "This is bad. Congress needs to get spending under control and BALANCE THE BUDGET. Americans deserve better." That does sound like a good idea. But coming from U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL), it's just hot air. A "Readers added context they thought...
No coming back from Genocide: Israel’s global counter-offensive has begun
August 20th, 20260 Colombia's decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights marks a dangerous turning point. By becoming only the second country in the world — after the United States — to endorse Israel's illegal annexation of Syrian territory, Bogotá has signaled a complete reversal of Gustavo Petro's foreign...
Does criticism of Netanyahu fuel anti-Semitism?
August 14th, 20260 Does criticizing actions of the Israeli government or its prime minister fuel anti-Semitism? Despite this argument’s stretch of logic and the danger its bizarre conflation presents to American Jews, some U.S. pro-Israel organizations are working overtime to establish the case that criticizing Israel puts American Jews at risk. Benjamin...
Solidarity is not enough: Why the world must force accountability on Gaza now
August 14th, 20260 It is now official: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has flatly rejected the core conditions of the Board of Peace framework, explicitly stating that Israel will neither adhere to a ceasefire nor withdraw its forces from Gaza. During a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu stated with unambiguous language: "Israel rejects the...
The meaning of Tell: Why the West Bank may be nearing a breaking point
August 7th, 20260 The events in Tell, southwest of Nablus, were not an isolated act of violence. They were a warning. For years, Israel has treated Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank as open spaces for military raids, settler invasions, land theft and collective punishment. The expectation was that Palestinians would endure the violence, bury...
The Arab American News endorsements for Michigan’s pivotal August 4 primary election
July 31st, 20260 Michigan’s primary election carries exceptional importance for shaping political representation and determining policies that will affect the future of our community and communities across the state. Strong, informed participation by Arab American voters in this election is more than a constitutional right; it is an urgent necessity...
The death count trap: Why tallying victims won’t stop Israel’s genocide
July 31st, 20261 The words "killed", "injured", "maimed" and the like often lose a great part of their meaning when they are repeated so relentlessly. Take, for example, a headline like: "13 Palestinians Killed in Gaza, Others Wounded." Though many of us can still feel a deep sense of sadness over such a tragedy, the news itself becomes less shocking...
U.S. consensus on Israel is dead
July 31st, 20260 Evidence keeps piling up that the bipartisan consensus on U.S. support for Israel is dead. Signs appear almost daily that Israeli behavior and the pro-Israel lobby’s heavy-handed tactics for browbeating elected officials into unquestioning support for Israel are being rejected by both Democratic voters and elected officials. Events...
Is it just about AIPAC’s money, or does the U.S.-Israel rot run far deeper?
July 24th, 20260 Two major stories regarding the United States and Israel in recent days represent profound watershed moments in the history of the relationship between both countries. The first incident occurred on July 8 when U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) and his delegation were detained by armed, illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West...
Rahm Emanuel’s speech: Not all it was hyped to be
July 24th, 20260 Several observations can be made regarding Rahm Emanuel’s recent speech at Tel Aviv University: what he said and didn’t say, and what impact (if any) his words might have. Emanuel has been a fixture in U.S. politics for decades. After volunteering with the Israeli Defense Forces in 1991, he returned to the U.S. to work in the...
The Democratic establishment is panicking
July 17th, 20260 Watching elements of the Democratic Party establishment respond to insurgencies is fascinating. After Senator Bernie Sanders won several early contests in the 2020 presidential nominating process, the establishment panicked. In 2016, Sanders had almost beaten their favorite, Hillary Clinton, before they put their thumb on the scale,......
Defense of the Constitution summons reputation of James’ anti-Muslim bigotry
July 10th, 20260 United States House of Representative member John James’ recent attacks against Michigan Muslims are emblematic of ignorance that must be confronted if we wish to ensure the constitutional rights of all in Michigan. In a recent interview on NewsMax, James misrepresented an Ashura procession in Dearborn as being a gathering of...
Israel debated: Why Palestine is rewriting the rules of domestic U.S. politics
July 9th, 20260 A major showdown on the House floor seemed imminent. An amendment, advanced by the Rules Committee, was poised to force a rare and telling record vote on stripping Israel of $3.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid. Brought forward by Republican Representative Thomas Massie and drawing support from key progressive Democrats like......
John James’ comparison of Dearborn’s Muslims to “Iraqi extremists” is a political disgrace
July 3rd, 20260 U.S. Rep. John James' recent remarks on the conservative television network Newsmax were not merely an unfortunate slip of the tongue that can be brushed aside with a routine apology. They amount to a full-fledged political disgrace and reveal a profound disconnect from the social and demographic reality of Michigan, the very state he...
Israel Is out of control: Will Trump rein them in?
July 3rd, 20260 In today’s Middle East, it’s important to recognize that Israel is completely out of control, and no one has the will to rein them in. This should have been understood back in July 2024, in the waning days of the Biden administration, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to Washington to address a joint session of...
Treason in the age of kleptocracy
July 3rd, 20260 A single social media post, amplified by the world's richest man, can in a matter of hours transform a dedicated public servant into a traitor in the court of public opinion, without a single shred of evidence to support the accusation. The recent comments by Elon Musk regarding Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin serve as a potent case...
The illusions of Western virtue: Ursula von der Leyen and Europe’s moral bankruptcy
July 2nd, 20260 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has every right to condition European relations with any other country or bloc on respect for human rights. That, of course, would hold true if she genuinely cared about such values herself. In response to the June 19 signing of the memorandum of understanding between the United......
A garden of resilience
July 2nd, 20260 Death, destruction, loss and grief in Lebanon The neighborhood bully is at it again. He tore up our garden— recently replanted, tender and bursting with color Why would he rip the deep roots of my sturdy Poppy? It brightened our community spring, the crimson foundation of this ancient land held by our family for...
Monsters playing victims: Danny Danon’s twisted war on the truth
July 2nd, 20260 Whether Israelis will ever comprehend the irreparable damage inflicted upon their country’s reputation by their U.N. ambassador, Danny Danon, is a moot point. The damage Israel has done to itself through its barbaric practices in occupied Palestine is simply impossible to overcome. Danon, however, utilizes a peculiar approach to......
The Hezbollah excuse: Why Lebanon really collapsed
June 27th, 20260 Every time I listen to some Lebanese news programs, political commentators or popular podcasts, I keep hearing the same explanation repeated like a broken record: that Hezbollah's arms are what keeps Lebanon backward, paralyzed and economically bankrupt. According to this narrative, if Hezbollah simply disarmed, Lebanon would suddenly...
Arab Americans have invested in America. Why is citizenship becoming more expensive?
June 27th, 20260 Few communities better illustrate the immigrant story than Arab Americans. Across the United States — and especially in Metro Detroit, home to the nation's largest Arab American community — immigrants from Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and elsewhere across the Middle East and North Africa have built......
