Judge Wygonik needs to issue a clear apology to the community
It has been four months since 19th District Court Judge Richard Wygonik came under fire for making disparaging comments about Arab Americans during a conversation with Dearborn Heights Councilman Tom Berry on July 10. There is no question about Berry's credibility. And the conversation was witnessed by another high-level...
Election results: CHANGE
November 8th, 20080 The Arab American News endorsed President-elect Barack Obama and 23 state and local candidates in October. All of them were successfully elected. They included US and state congressional races, judicial races at the state, county and district level, county races, school board races and a university board of governors...
Berry’s stunt did Abbatt in
November 8th, 20080 Negative campaign tactic backfires, causes loss In the most hotly contested race in Dearborn, 19th District Court Judge Mark Somers this week prevented Candyce Abbatt from taking over his seat, in spite of, or maybe because of, negative and poor tactics on the part of the Abbatt campaign and poorly chosen associations with some Arab...Khalidi, the Arab scapegoat
There's no question. The candidates agree, the pundits agree and the American people agree: this has been a tough election season. Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama have a palpable contempt for one another, and neither has been especially good at hiding it thus far. But it's possible for a candidate to cross the line. When they do,...
VOTE
November 1st, 20080 The Arab American News, AAPAC and Arab American community organizations all over the country urge citizens to VOTE on Tuesday, Nov. 4, and to press family and friends to do the same. In Dearborn, residents can vote early at the city clerk's office on Saturday between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Check with your local clerk's office in other...Yes on Proposal 1: Compassion, common sense and good medicine
As nurses, we are on the front lines of providing care and comfort to patients suffering from terrible illnesses. Michigan's nurses strongly support Proposal 1, the medical marijuana initiative. And, frankly, we are appalled at the misinformation being spread by opponents. There is simply no doubt that medical marijuana can relieve...Poverty Summit will reduce poverty and maximize economic opportunities for all
One medical emergency, one car accident, one missed paycheck, or one layoff notice and a working class family can descend into poverty. Ismael Ahmed Because of this reality, I would like to personally invite you to join Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, Martin Luther King III and me at the Voices for Action Network 2008 Poverty...
They deserve your vote
October 25th, 20080 Even from the sidelines, where Arab Americans and American Muslims have been relegated by the current anti-Arab, anti-Muslim climate of fear perpetrated upon America, this has been an exciting election year. History is being made, as the first African American nominated for president by a major political party seems closer to...America: The castrated bull
Once a bull is castrated, it loses its value and its reason to stay alive. It doesn't turn into a cow that can produce milk or calves. It is suddenly worth more dead than alive, good for nothing but meat. The castrated bull creates problems for linguists, accountants and politicians. What do you call a bull that has lost its...U.S. journalists and war-crime guilt
October 16 is an anniversary that should hold considerable interest for American journalists who have written in support of "Operation Iraqi Freedom" – the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Sixty-two years ago, on Oct. 16, 1946, Julius Streicher was hanged. Streicher was one of a group of 10 Germans executed that day following the...
Candidates cut from the same cloth
October 17th, 20080 Senator and presidential candidate John McCain betrayed more than a passing ignorance of all things Middle Eastern when he reassured a woman at one of his rallies last week that his opponent, Senator Barack Obama, is not an Arab. McCain self-righteously believed he was defending his opponent, which, if he really knew what he was talking...Arabs are decent family men too
I like to think I'm a decent African-American family man just like Barak Obama. So what I saw on October 10 was as stunning to me as two blows to the stomach. The first blow took my breath away: a supporter of Republican presidential candidate John McCain at a McCain rally in Lakeville, Minnesota declared he was afraid to raise his...ADC combats immigration fraud
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has received a generous grant from the American Bar Association (ABA) Fund for Justice and Education through a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, to combat the increasing problem of notario fraud within the Arab American community. According to the ABA, "notarios" or...There’s only one answer to the money crisis
The democratic system is the best governing system in the world, because it gives you a choice. The only problem is that the choice is between two negatives. It is like telling you: "You are getting ready to get slapped. Which hand do you want to get slapped with? The left hand or the right?" And the mainstream media gets you so involved...Islamophobia, the new anti-Semitism
Last year, when the notorious Daniel Pipes came to speak at the University of Michigan, there seemed to be a flurry of anti-Islamic activity occurring all over the place. The incidents below are just a random sampling of far right activities that have the perceived "Islamic threat" in common; its status as a political goldmine was......
Religious freedom ultimate protector
October 11th, 20080 During a press conference held this week at the Interfaith Alliance in Washington, DC, prominent religious Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders condemned the recent distribution of an anti-Muslim DVD to more than 28 million households in key election swing states. Rabbi Jack Moline, Chair of the Interfaith Alliance, also called on both...Vested interests drove new Pakistan policy
WASHINGTON (IPS) — The George W. Bush administration's decision to launch commando raids and step up missiles strikes against Taliban and al Qaeda figures in the tribal areas of Pakistan followed what appears to have been the most contentious policy process over the use of force in Bush's eight-year presidency. That decision has......
The Syria-Israel peace gambit
Few would argue that the indirect Israel-Syria talks through Turkish mediation, which were first announced 21 May, were a sign of political maturity and readiness for peace. In fact, while the discussions seemed concerned with the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and Israel's desire for security at its northern borders, the true...The license to target Islam
The late Reverend Jerry Falwell's comment about the "impersonal" God of Islam is a dramatic example of televangelical deviation from ethics of interfaith dialogue. Pope Benedict's unfortunate lecture on Islam and reason illustrates the characteristically condescending stance of the church on the faith of Mohammad. President Bush's...Shame on The Oakland Press
In an editorial this week, The Oakland Press attacked The Arab American News for running an opinion piece by Michelle Kinnucan on the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's celebration at the Michigan State Fairgrounds of Israel's 60th anniversary. ("Detroit Jewish Federation: Celebrating racism and making money at it," The Arab...
Our twenty-fourth year
September 6th, 20080 With this issue of The Arab American News, we head down the stretch to our Silver Anniversary. That momentous event will occur September 7, 2009. Twenty four years ago, not many people believed it would ever happen. Over the past year, we have strengthened our outreach to and coverage of the local community, one of our primary......
Hang up on Motorola
Advocates for Palestinian rights are calling for a boycott of Motorola phones. The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, an advocacy group based in Washington, DC, urged its members to contact Motorola leaders about the company's role in providing communications technology to Israeli occupation forces. Motorola...After ordeal, U.S. cancels some Palestinian Fulbright scholarships
Public disagreements between top Israeli and American officials are not too common. The most recent conflagration occurred over Israel's refusal to allow seven Palestinian Fulbright scholars to leave Gaza. It was widely seen as an embarrassment to American diplomats. After pressuring Israel to allow them......
Detroit Jewish Federation: Celebrating racism and making money at it
On Thursday, August 21, 2008, one of the country's wealthiest communities will celebrate the Nakba ? the violent ethnic cleansing and colonization of Palestine in 1948 ? in a poor neighborhood in Detroit. And if all goes well, a large group of folks, representing metro Detroit's large Black and Arab communities and other Palestinian...Our endorsements for the primary
Primary election day is Tuesday, August 5. Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. It's summer and many people are away. But important local races are taking place. They will decide who is to be on the ballot in November when the general elections, including for president of the country, will happen. We urge everyone to......