The South’s Nazi flag
The savage act of racial terrorism at “Mother Emanuel”, the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C., has been met with extraordinary expressions of faith in that community. On Thursday, June 18, the victims’ relatives offered the terrorist their forgiveness. On Sunday, Mother Emanuel’s doors opened for regular...Israel’s race to economic and moral bankruptcy
Two recent reports suggest that Israel could face catastrophic consequences if it fails to end the mistreatment of Palestinians under its rule, whether in the occupied territories or in Israel itself. The Rand Corporation’s research shows that Israel could lose $250 billion over the next decade if it fails to make peace with the...No more coming in second and winning the presidency
In the history of the United States, four presidential candidates who came in second in the popular vote were “elected” president (John Quincy Adams in 1824, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, Benjamin Harrison in 1888, and George W. Bush in 2000). This inversion of democratic elections was due to the fifty states’...What this world needs is some really honest journalists
Writing about and reporting on the Middle East is not an easy task, especially during these years of turmoil and upheaval. But I cannot remember another time in recent history where we needed journalists to shine, to challenge conventional wisdom, to think in terms of contexts, motives and alliances, not ideological, political or...The good, bad and uncertain about recognizing ‘Palestine’
No matter what Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas does, his popularity is declining. In some ways, Abbas’ threshold for popularity was really never impressive to begin with, a trend that is unlikely to change in the near future. But now that a power struggle in his Fatah party is looming, and his two-decade...Congress is giving away its war powers
A few weeks ago, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia made a small splash in the press when he took Congress to task for failing to authorize our nation’s ongoing war against Islamist militants. “The silence of Congress in the midst of this war is cowardly and shameful,” he said. “his Congress, the very body that is so quick to...Fear: The Art of sale
It has long been said (maybe the renowned sociologist Vance Packard said it first) that Madison Avenue’s advertising campaigns pivot around man’s conscious or subconscious fears. Fear is the catalyst. Indeed, man’s fears, insecurities and regrets are what make possible the Art of the Sale. Examples of fertile ground: The fear...Beyond Baltimore: Arab-Black solidarity needed for social change
As the Baltimore uprising began to take hold in reaction to the killing of Freddie Gray by Baltimore police officers, an unassuming tweet about a young African American man in New York made the rounds through Arab and Arab-American social media: "Last night in jail I (Black) was wearing a #Palestine T-shirt sitting next to a...Birzeit wins again: Students of the West Bank unite
In November 1993, I was on a mission. At the age of 21, I wanted to change the world, starting with Birzeit University, the second-largest Palestinian university in the West Bank, situated near Ramallah, in the heart of the occupied territories. Back then I had made a name for myself with my nationalist poetry and my first poetry...Baltimore and the Human Right to Resistance
Anti-Black racism, always just beneath the surface of polite racial discourse in the U.S., has exploded in reaction to the resistance of Black youth to another brutal murder by the agents of this racist, settler-colonialist state. With the resistance, the focus shifted from the brutal murder of Freddie Gray and the systematic...Money and politics: We need change now
I’ve seen a lot over my decades in politics, and not much alarms me. But I have to be blunt: Money is poisoning our political system. The people who matter most to a representative democracy — the ordinary voters in whose interests elected politicians are supposed to act — feel as though they’ve become an afterthought in the...U.S. and Iran seem positioned to strike a deal
Self-serving lawmakers in Washington keep trying to make it impossible for President Obama - and his international partners - to reach a pragmatic agreement with Iran. Fortunately, the momentum for a finalized deal by the end of June looks too strong to reverse. The consequences of these negotiations are huge. Failure to bring the...
Chelsea Manning and the call of America’s conscience
April 10th, 20150 A screenshot from the leaked video video depicting an Apache helicopter killing Iraqi civilians.April 5 marked the five year anniversary of WikiLeaks' publication of the Collateral Murder Video. the footage of a secret U.S. military video depicted an Apache helicopter killing Iraqi civilians, including two Reuters journalists. It...Into the abyss: Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen
Houthi fighters ride a patrol truck outside Sanaa Airport, March 28.Not long before the founder of Saudi Arabia, King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, died in 1953, he is purported to have said, “the good or evil for us will come from Yemen.” With the commencement of air strikes on targets in Yemen, it is increasingly likely that the latter part...Netanyahu the mythbuster: ‘Special relationship’ no more
Imagine if an American presidential candidate made a plea to his supporters on election day with the following statement: “The Republican administration is in danger. Black voters are going en masse to the polls. Liberal NGOs are bringing them on buses.” Even in a country where Chris Matthews is a media celebrity and Pamela Geller......
Terrorism by non-Muslims goes under-reported
A man walked into the New Orleans airport on March 20, swung his machete at TSA officers and sprayed poison at them. His duffel bag contained six homemade bombs. His motives remain unknown; and to many Americans, his actions do, too, because the news media paid little attention to them.Richard White, the 63-year-old attacker, died...Ten arguments for raising minimum wage
Darlene Handy of Baltimore holds up a sign during a rally to support raising the minimum wage in Maryland.One: Seven Nobel laureates in economics endorse the higher minimum wage to $10.10 by 2016, saying it does not lead to fewer jobs. Two: Job losses from raising the minimum wage are negligible. Minimum wage has already been raised 23......
Beyond denying Sharia: let’s advertise Dearborn culture
Brian Stone.We should recognize a plain truth: Dearborn is unique in America because of our residents. We are beneficiaries of the ancient wisdom and culture of the Middle East. My question is, why don’t we advertise it? While some in Dearborn are focused on limiting the number of Hookah bars, regulating signage in Arabic and...Rasmea Odeh should be honored, not imprisoned
I remember distinctly the experience that pushed me to decide I wanted to dedicate my life to making the world a better place. In 2009, I spent the year working at the Arab American Action Network in Chicago and had the opportunity to interact with so many amazing individuals who were committed to working for positive social...Top seven myths about Daesh
The self-styled “Islamic State” Group (ISIS or ISIL), the Arabic acronym for which is “Daesh”, is increasingly haunting the nightmares of Western journalists and security analysts. I keep seeing some assertions about it that strike me as exaggerated or just incorrect. 1. It isn’t possible to determine whether Daesh is a...Students fight to keep affordable college from becoming extinct
My family's mantra is as American as apple pie and baseball: work hard, get an education and you'll succeed. It was clear, prescriptive and a fairly sound philosophy for those without great wealth or powerful connections. Like millions, I did what I was told. That recipe for success, however, comes with a very expensive price tag.......
The origin of terrorist militias in the Middle East
Bashir Gemayel and William Hawi supervising training of Phalanges militiamen at Tabrieh, 1972.There is an attempt underway to make the case that Islam, the religion, inspired or spawned the creation of various jihadist groups. The fact that the U.S. itself was a major catalyst for the creation of such groups, as that was its plot...Why is it different when the bloodshed is that of American Arab Muslims
The college student who works as a cashier at the community bakery I walked into this morning looked different than she does on most mornings. She had a grieving and distressed look on her face. As she rang up my order I said, “It’s the UNC murders, isn’t it?” She nodded her head and she needed to say no more......
Tort Law: The muscle of justice
The common law of torts, which originated from English common law, has been elaborated in tens of thousands of judicial decisions with one basic message: If a person suffers a wrongful injury or harm, he or she can seek remedy in court with a trial by jury. Through tort law, our civil justice system operates to compensate victims,...Gauging outrage: Media and the aftermath of the Paris attacks
Relatives of journalist Halid Ahmed who died during the attack of Israel, mourn near his funeral on July 20, 2014.Appropriately, thousands of comics have been published in response to the Charlie Hebdo attacks earlier this month. One of the most striking ones I’ve seen so far depicts the gunmen as they fire at the magazine’s office;......