Slip and fall law in Michigan: You’d better watch where you’re going
Unexpected falls can often lead to serious injuries. Anyone who has been seriously injured can attest that no amount of money is worth nearly as much as good health. However, our system of justice is powerless to repair broken bones and can do nothing to ease the pain, resulting from injuries. The only thing our system...
Not in my name: A reflection on the Muslim and Arab American community response to the Boston Marathon bombings
April 26th, 20130 It has been nearly two weeks since the Boston Marathon bombings, yet no amount of time that will pass can alleviate the remaining shock of having, once again, become targets in our own backyards. This time, the attack took place during one of our country’s most cherished annual traditions. The first thoughts that Muslim and...The hour scoop: A breakdown of Dearborn’s ‘Arabic time’
Arab Dearborners of the 90’s will recall this little tune from the evening lineup of an Arabic television program broadcasted locally on cable, which was, until the advent of Internet and satellite TV, one of the local Arab community’s links to the Arab world along with several Arabic cable programs that was driven out of business by...
A peaceful but difficult farewell
January 12th, 20130 It was an extraordinary Monday morning by all measures. The sun was shining and there wasn't a single cloud in the crisp, bright sky. At the same time, it was a day that I never wanted to come. It was 10 in the morning and time for the countdown for Kay Siblani's funeral services, then to the grave site where she would be laid to...
Kay’s story is our story
January 5th, 20130 The June 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon that led to the occupation of its capital Beirut again exposed a glaring lack of Arab opinion in America's mainstream media, and it became a breaking point later that year for three individuals from different worlds who wanted to make a change. The biased reporting on Arab issues that continued...
Blackburn, Lane re-elected despite puzzling endorsements for Petlichkoff
November 12th, 20120 Even though former Dearborn School Board member Mary Petlichkoff had the endorsement of Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly, five Dearborn City Council Members, the current State Rep. and a former State Rep, she failed to win a seat on the School Board, and was defeated by a wide margin. When all votes were tallied, Aimee Blackburn came...
Election 2012: Accomplishments we can build on
November 9th, 20120 There's no such thing as a perfect Election Night, but for the Arab American community in Dearborn, this past Tuesday's results, and the historic turnout in our community that made them possible, constituted something pretty close. First off, give yourselves a big hand. Despite the ongoing logistical challenges many in our...
Blackburn, Lane re-elected despite puzzling endorsements for Petlichkoff
November 9th, 20120 Even though former Dearborn School Board member Mary Petlichkoff had the endorsement of Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly, five Dearborn City Council Members, the current State Rep. and a former State Rep, she failed to win a seat on the School Board, and was defeated by a wide margin. When all votes were tallied, Aimee Blackburn came...Romney anything but a moderate on foreign policy issues
I have been reading Mitt Romney's memoir, ‘No Apology.’ It is as if Romney is two people, one a wise, thoughtful person who could work with Democrats and lead the country, the other an unreflective, unsophisticated ideologue who is dangerous. The chapter on health care shows a man who has done his homework. I know this field...The glaring contradiction in anti-Iran policy
President Barack Obama, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have at least one thing in common when it comes to Iran. All are guilty of flagrant self-contradiction.Each says that a nuclear-armed Iran could not be effectively contained the way the U.S. government contained the...
Government must join us in efforts to stop hate
September 22nd, 20120 There's a true disaster going on in this country today. It's a crisis of no conscience, a revolution over race, a dance with the devil, a handshake with hate. Nowhere is this culture of evil more evident than in the raging Islamophobia sweeping the country. Day after day, week after week, Muslims and Sikhs are being harrased,...
Misreading the Arab street’s anger
September 22nd, 20120 We begin by noting our sadness over the deaths of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and the others who were killed at the consulate in Benghazi. Hillary knew and worked with Chris Stevens during her service in the State Department; he was very highly regarded, professionally and personally, among his colleagues. People watch as they stand...We need the truth on 9/11
Another year has passed since the awful attacks on 9/11. As always, we send condolences to all those who lost loved ones on that day, and praise and gratitude to all those who so readily assisted in the rescue and recovery of survivors. What other Americans rarely think of are the millions of Arabs killed by us in wars in the Arab World...
August 7: Cast your vote, protect your interests
August 6th, 20120 Do Michigan Arab Americans and Muslims really understand the threat posed to them and their families by ranting xenophobic, Islamophobic civic, religious and media leaders in America? Do they comprehend the rapidly expanding scope of the attacks against their faith, culture and intersets? Do they possess the knowledge and the...
Ramadan: Time for caring, sharing and getting closer to Allah
July 21st, 20120 Millions of Muslims around the world begin the annual observance of Ramadan as we go to press today. It behooves a newspaper with a large, English-speaking, non-Muslim readership to review the practice and meaning of this holiest of observances on the Islamic calendar. Ramadan is considered to be the holiest month of the Islamic......
Houla Massacre: Crocodile tears by West an obvious pretense
June 1st, 20120 Last Friday a massacre was committed against Syrian civilians in the village of Houla in the governance of Homs. More than a hundred were killed including 49 children and 39 women. UN Security Council meeting.It was an awful, heinous crime against the Syrian people, and exactly the kind of event this newspaper has been warning would...
Lebanon Liberation Day: Time to celebrate and reflect
May 25th, 20120 May 25 is an exceptional day on the Lebanese calendar. In fact, and under normal circumstances it should be a day to celebrate across the Arab World. It is the Liberation Day of Lebanon. A Lebanese woman celebrating Liberation Day in a village in south Lebanon. PHOTO: Al-AkhbarOn that day 12 years ago, a few committed......
NDAA is authorization to go to war with Iran
May 18th, 20120 Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is urging Members of Congress to reject H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act, FY 2013 because it prepares the way for a disastrous war with Iran. He is right. Even if the House accepts a proposed amendment by John Conyers (D-MI) to state that the authorization is not a specific declaration...Global intifada demands change in war on terrorism
This week's been a game-changer in the fight against terrorism.The five men arrested for plotting to blow up a bridge over the Cuyahoga River in Ohio were not Arab, Sikh, Indian or Muslim. They were white, American-born and raised, self-declared anarchists, no doubt pumped by the world-wide protests going on against government corruption...
Helen Thomas deserves more than a seat at White House correspondents’ dinner
April 5th, 20120 It was 50 years ago this year that veteran journalist Helen Thomas convinced President John F. Kennedy to boycott the White House Correspondents' Association's annual dinner. If women weren't invited to attend, the president announced, he wouldn't be going, either. ThomasMs. Thomas, who had been assigned to cover the president — making...
We bid farewell to our busiest news year
December 26th, 20110 Arab Americans and American Muslims have witnessed an extraordinary year in 2011. As we close out the year, we wonder if the Arab Spring begun in January will blossom, wither or simply stagnate. Will our civil rights at home continue to evaporate now that the tenth anniversary of 9/11 has passed? Will the Occupy movement succeed......
TLC defangs Islam, hate groups can’t stand it
December 16th, 20110 In an inexplicable, indefensible marketing decision revealed last week, home improvement uber retailer Lowe's pulled advertising from TLC's new reality show "All-American Muslim." The show captures the (very normal) daily lives of five Muslim families in Dearborn.Lowe's initial decision to advertise on the show should be commended. In...Inside the Mideast prisoner swap
In recent days, we've witnessed the rare spectacle of Israelis and Palestinians celebrating at the same time. Ironically, this was the result of negotiations between the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian resistance organization Hamas, which Israel and the United States describe as "terrorists" It......
Lessons in freedom from the CIA
September 17th, 20110 Agency pulls ads over spying article Three weeks ago, The Arab American News published a story written by The Associated Press about the CIA and the NYPD cooperating in a massive spying operation on the entire Muslim community in the New York/New Jersey area. The following week, we published an article detailing the CIA's...
27 years of defining and defending our community
September 3rd, 20110 This week marks the 27th anniversary of The Arab American News. It has been a very long roller coaster ride — the ups when we were able to make the community's mark on policy formation or public discourse, the downs when we couldn't make payroll or pay the printer. The news itself has been difficult to bear, even as we have been able......