There is nothing to surveil in Dearborn
August 7th, 20150 Reports about an FBI-owned plane that was surveilling Dearborn over the weekend are alarming. The bureau has denied that it was targeting the Arab community and added that it is not aware of any threats in Metro Detroit. However, there is a growing irrational and unfounded fear of Dearborn being a hub for extremism. The city of 95,000...Greater cooperation needed between police and businesses in Detroit
Excessive ticketing of gas stations and liquor stores owners continues to be a problem in Detroit. Once again, business owners are receiving multiple tickets for not having the proper licenses, missing invoices and other suspected violations. Sometimes the owners get several tickets for the same offense while in the processes of...Anti-Gulf bigotry is inexcusable
Intra-Arab bigotry is a known matter. The Lebanese don't like Iraqis. The Iraqis think they are better than Yemenis. Yemenis think all Lebanese are condescending bigots. The clash of national identities is a tragedy in our community, especially since anti-Arab xenophobia does not differentiate in its hatred for us. Moreover, because...
I was barred from entering my homeland
July 29th, 20150 I waited more than seven hours and endured six different interrogations; and this is the conversation (from memory) that barred me from entering my homeland on the grounds that I was uncooperative. It was with an extremely unpleasant woman in uniform, red hair and massive amounts of makeup (for some reason, that's relevant). Keep...Camps for Arabs and Muslims?
Bigotry in America is reaching dangerous levels. There has always been a fear in our community that the growing xenophobia would lead to World War II-style interment camps for Arab and Muslim Americans. While the idea seemed far-fetched, a national figure recently suggested putting people who are "likely to be radicalized" in...The Iran deal is a good one
A historic deal has been reached with Iran over its nuclear program. The Obama administration has succeeded in convincing the Islamic Republic to considerably reduce its nuclear activities to a point that makes it impossible to produce a nuclear weapon. The agreement, which lifts economic sanctions on Iran, is sensible. It...
The Dearborn Heights hijab settlement: Positive change is possible
July 10th, 20150 The Dearborn Heights Police Department will no longer require women who wear the hijab to remove their headscarves during the booking process when they are arrested. Although this policy change is overdue— given the growing Muslim population in the city— it is a positive step that ensures that the police do not violate...If you don’t like it, call your representative
After the Dearborn City Council approved the first reading of an ordinance to ban smoking at parks, hundreds of social media users expressed outrage at the decision, saying that it targets Arab Americans hookah smokers. But how many of those Facebook activists have called a council member to convey their feelings? Not many.Lack of...Is Dearborn shunning its Arabs?
Who is hurt by some Arabs sitting in their garages, passing the time? Some White residents of Dearborn might not understand that our mothers and wives turn our houses into museums, prohibiting us from bring our friends inside. It doesn’t matter whether or not we men own the house. See, you don’t have to believe Fox...
Ramadan an opportunity to unite and celebrate
June 29th, 20150 Ramadan arrives this year at a critical time for Arabs and Muslims, both around the world and in the United States. Muslims are suffering from divisions and violence in the Middle East, while Muslim Americans are facing a frightening wave of hatred and bigotry. The holy month is a festive occasion. We can use Ramadan to rise above our...Our schools are essential to the future
The future of our country and community is in the schools. Children in classrooms across the nation will be the next generation of leaders, workers and artists. The quality of education at Dearborn Public Schools, which host more than 13,000 Arab American students, is critical to the wellbeing of our community. A new...
From Chapel Hill to Charleston, it is the same terror
June 19th, 20150 A White man murdered nine people at a historic African American church in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday night. The 21-year-old suspect had clear hate motives. Dylann Roof made racially charged statements during his shooting spree and is seen in a photo with a jacket featuring the flag of apartheid South Africa. The...We all have a role to play in fighting Islamophobia industry’s influence
A small group of foundations and wealthy donors are funding the multi-million dollar network that fuels Islamophobia in the United States. The network is led by anti-Muslim activists who receive lucrative profit from turning the American public against Muslims and Islam. According to a report from the Center for...Rejecting Obama’s action on immigration is racism
"One cannot praise immigration while working to disenfranchise immigrant families."The last time the Congress declared war on another country was during Word War II. Since then, our government has engage militarily in Korea, Vietnam, several conflicts in Central America, Bosnia, Libya and twice in the Gulf, mostly on presidential...
Saudi sectarianism is turning into terror
May 27th, 20150 People examine the debris after a suicide bomb attack in the village of al-Qadeeh, May 22Saudi King Salman has vowed to punish the perpetrators of the suicide attack that targeted a Shi'a mosque, killing 21 civilians in the eastern part of the kingdom on May 22. The monarch called the bombing, which was claimed by ISIS, a "heinous......
Terror against Muslim Americans gets ignored
Robert Doggart "Our small group will soon be faced with the fight of our lives. We will offer those lives as collateral to prove our commitment to our God." These are not the words of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi or one of the 9/11 hijackers. They are the words of a Christian American terrorist, who admitted planning attacks...
We will not yield to threats
May 15th, 20150 Last weekend, family members of the man who killed his wife before committing suicide in Dearborn called the home of one of our reporters, making death threats and harassing his family. The threats were crimes in both the legal and ethical senses. Responding to words with threats is cowardly and uncivilized. We will not tolerate it. We......
Nakba Day: Palestine will not be forgotten
May 15 marks the 67th anniversary of al-Nakba, the catastrophe of Palestine that still haunts the conscience of every Arab on the globe. More than 700,000 Palestinians were driven out of their homeland to make space for the creation of the state of Israel. And while Palestinians commemorate their loss that continues to grow by the day,...We condemn terror and bigotry in Texas
Two gunmen were shot dead Sunday while trying to attack a gathering in Garland, Texas that showcased cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammad. These men did not represent the Muslim community. Muslim Americans, like all Americans, reject violence and terrorism. But there is another side to the incident. The woman behind the cartoon...
We all have a duty to combat domestic violence
May 6th, 20150 A Dearborn man murdered his wife and committed suicide on Sunday. The ordeal unfolded in front of the couple's children. According to police, the husband was "estranged", but sources who knew the victim said he was abusive during the days of their marriage. Domestic violence is wrong, inexcusable and can turn deadly. We all have a...ACCESS should be commended for this year’s honorees
At its annual banquet in 2014, ACCESS (The Arab Community Center for Economic & Social Services) honored former congressman and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood as its "Arab American of the Year." The Arab American News, along with many others, criticized this selection. But this year the social services organization made amends......
We endorse proposal 1
After years of the Legislature's incompetence and failure to fix our roads, our lawmakers passed the burden of making a major decision on taxes and infrastructure directly to the voters. Proposal 1, which will be on the ballot in a special election Tuesday, May 5, promises to secure funds to fix our roads after a hike in the sales and...
Thank you for your support
April 24th, 20150 The Arab American News' 30th anniversary dinner was not only a testament to its influence, but to the growing success of Arab Americans. About a dozen prominent mainstream journalists and elected officials took the podium to praise the newspaper and pay tribute to its quality journalism. "Looking at recent copies of the......
America’s moral failure: Abandoning U.S. citizens in Yemen
A C-17 aircraft evacuating Indians stranded in Yemen.Thousands of Americans are trapped in war-torn Yemen. But the U.S. government, which is legally mandated to protect and evacuate its citizens from dangerous situations anywhere in the world, is doing nothing to help them. Instead, the Obama administration is delivering weapons to...Rosa Parks should be the face of the $20 bill
An organization committed to gender equality is demanding that President Obama put a woman on the $20 bill, which currently features Andrew Jackson. Wilma Mankiller, the first elected female chief of the Cherokee nation; civil rights leader Rosa Parks; former first lady and human rights activist Eleanor Roosevelt and African American......
