From Exodus to Marvel: A brief history of Hollywood’s justification of Israeli war crimes
October 3rd, 20220 The introduction of an Israeli Mossad agent as the latest Marvel movie character crosses the line, even by Hollywood's poor moral standards. However, the Israeli superhero, Sabra, must be understood within the rational progression of the Israelification of Hollywood, a phenomenon that is surprisingly new. Sabra is a relatively old...
“Avenging Sabra and Shatila”: On Israeli massacres and Palestinian resistance
September 14th, 20220 September 16 marks the 40th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, the killing of around 3,000 Palestinians at the hands of Lebanon’s Phalangist militias operating under the command of the Israeli army. Four decades have passed, yet no measure of justice has been received by the survivors of the massacre. Many of them have...
The road to fascism: How the war in Ukraine is changing Europe
September 11th, 20222 As soon as I landed in Rome, I discovered that I was no longer able to access any Russian media whatsoever. Unfortunately, threats by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that Europe should sever all links with “Russia’s propaganda machine” were taken seriously by the Italian government. As a journalist, having...
Helping students see through a free program at Hamtramck Public Schools
September 8th, 20220 Sarah Peslar is a clinical social worker at Children’s Hospital of Michigan Nearly 1 in every 5 children is near-sighted or has a vision impairment requiring glasses to see at school. While it goes without saying that clear vision is imperative to a student’s success in school, not every child has an opportunity to access...
Investigating the victim: On Abbas’ “holocaust” and the depravity of Israeli Hasbara
September 4th, 20220 “There was no Massacre in Jenin” was the title of a Haaretz editorial on April 19, 2002, one week after Israel ended its deadly onslaught on the besieged Palestinian refugee camp in the northern West Bank. The unwarranted conclusion by Haaretz, other Israeli media and, ultimately, numerous Western outlets was not the outcome of a...
Fake neutrality: How Western media language misrepresents Palestinians, shields Israel
August 27th, 20220 While U.S. and Western mainstream and corporate media remain biased in favor of Israel, they often behave as if they are a third, neutral party. This is simply not the case. Take the New York Times' coverage of the latest Israeli war on Gaza as an example. Its article on August 6, “Israel-Gaza Fighting Flares for a Second Day” is...
Superbugs are getting stronger. Our defenses are getting weaker
August 24th, 20220 – David Thomas, MS, is vice president of industry research at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. Emily Wheeler is director of infectious disease policy at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. A version of this piece originally ran in MedPage Today. Drug-resistant infections pose a growing threat to public health....
Starting out the school year strong
August 22nd, 20220 — Nabil Nagi is the interim superintendent of Hamtramck Public Schools. The article was edited for style. While saying goodbye to another incredible Michigan summer is always difficult, our team at Hamtramck Public Schools (HPS) is thrilled to see the seasons changing! It brings us that much closer to welcoming our students back into...
Israel’s premature “victory” celebration: The defining war in Gaza is yet to be fought
August 20th, 20220 For years, Palestinians, as well as Israelis, have labored to redraw the battle lines. The three-day Israeli war on Gaza, starting on August 5, clearly manifested this reality. Throughout its military operation, Israel has repeatedly underscored the point that the war was targeting the Islamic Jihad Movement only, not Hamas or anyone...
Reckless driving has become Dearborn’s epidemic
August 20th, 20221 DEARBORN — Reckless driving has no doubt become the city’s personal epidemic and the revving engines and mufflers screaming like banshees throughout neighborhoods on a daily basis are now our perennial background noise. Sadly, the number of fatal accidents, too, do not seem to be going away any time soon and the keen interest...
The problem of being insured while Arab, Chaldean or Muslim
August 20th, 20220 The problems of racial and religious animus are unfortunately ongoing challenges for Michiganders with ancestry from the Middle East or who adhere to the Islamic faith. These challenges exist despite the density of Arab and Chaldean Americans and American Muslims who reside in Southeastern Michigan. Although issues such as hate crimes...
Hamtramck: Building community at the Family Fun Fair
August 18th, 20220 — Liz Alpert, Hamtramck Public Schools school and community facilitator, contributed this article. It has been edited for style. The best part about heading back to school is getting to see friends, neighbors, teachers and staff after a long summer away. For me, catching up on what everyone has been up to is always a highlight. I...
Without Palestine, there is no Arab unity: Why normalization with Israel will fail
August 14th, 20220 It seemed all but a done deal: Israel is finally managing to bend the Arabs to its will, and Palestine is becoming a marginal issue that no longer defines Israel’s relations with Arab countries. Indeed, normalization with Israel is afoot, and the Arabs, so it seems, have been finally tamed. Not so fast. Many events continue to...
A unique pathway to success: Recognizing Amal Al-Sabahi’s experience
August 8th, 20220 — This article, contributed by Nuo Ivesaj, principal of Horizon High School at Hamtramck Public Schools, has been lightly edited for style Among the many excellent students attending Hamtramck Public Schools (HPS), Amal Al-Sabahi, a recent Horizon High School graduate, has combined interest and opportunity to create success for...
Why resistance matters: Palestinians are challenging Israel’s unilateralism, dominance
August 5th, 20220 Until recently, Israeli politics did not matter to Palestinians. Though the Palestinian people maintained their political agency under the most demoralizing conditions, their collective action rarely influenced outcomes in Israel, partly due to the massive discrepancy of power between the two sides. Now that Israelis are embarking on......
Why voting matters
August 1st, 20220 By Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans For the past two years, the concept of free and fair elections has come under serious attack. The January 6 insurrection provided Americans with a first-hand look into the efforts to dismantle the Constitution and make it harder for some Americans to vote and have their ballots counted. The...
Anti-boycott laws are an affront to free speech. They also don’t address anti-Semitism
July 29th, 20220 — This article by Hamzah Khan, legal intern at the the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ New Jersey Chapter, was first published by the New Jersey Record and USA TODAY Network. It has been edited for style In a world where there are hundreds of companies manufacturing and selling the same product, the freedom to choose a......
Washington is the problem, not the solution: Why Mahmoud Abbas is seeking new “powerful” sponsors
July 28th, 20220 To judge U.S. President Biden’s recent visit to Israel and Palestine as a “failure” in terms of activating the dormant “peace process” is simply a misnomer. For this statement to be accurate, Washington would have had to indicate even a nominal desire to push for negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian...
The pox on our house
July 27th, 20220 — This article by Abdul El-Sayed originally appeared in the newsletter The Incision. It has been edited for style. Subscribe to The Incision here: incision.substack.com Over the weekend, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared monkeypox a “Public Health Emergency of International...
The shameful U.N. “List of Shame”: Equating between the Israeli perpetrator and the Palestinian victim
July 23rd, 20220 By Ramzy Baroud “We regret we failed to protect you.” This was part of a statement issued by U.N. human rights experts on July 14, urging the Israeli government to release Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Manasra. Only 14-years-old at the time of his arrest and torture by Israeli forces, Manasra is now 20-years-old. His case is a...
Op-ed: Andy Levin is the right choice for a more united and understanding future
July 15th, 20220 — Rex Nazarko is a staffer with the Emgage Michigan team This past June, our team at Emgage and our allies came together in a celebratory event on Capitol Hill to honor and inspire Muslim American civic engagement. As our event was about to begin, we encountered heightened security measures on the Hill, which brought about......
The new age of learning is here to stay: Hamtramck Public Schools Virtual Learning Institute
July 12th, 20220 —This article was contributed by Dr. Adnan Aabed, the director of Hamtramck Public Schools Virtual Learning Institute. It has been edited for style. COVID-19 brought many changes to the education landscape and now we realize that some of those changes are here to stay. To produce the best learning environments for students across...
The Hajj is back and Saudi Arabia is hoping to cash in
July 9th, 20220 — This article by Abbas Al Lawati originally appeared in CNN Business. It has been edited for style. Oil has added trillions of dollars to Saudi Arabia’s coffers over the decades, but it’s a resource that will someday run out or lose value as the world turns to alternative energy. Despite current high oil prices, the kingdom......
Something to remember as we celebrate July 4
July 2nd, 20220 By Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans The July Fourth holiday is when most of us celebrate American independence and the freedoms we are all accustomed to taking for granted. Yet the ongoing January 6 Commission hearings serve as a painful reminder of how those freedoms — indeed our entire democracy — are coming under...
A teacher asked students their thoughts about the Middle East. The answers were stunning.
June 20th, 20220 By Ahlam Yassin Tell me the first words that come to mind when you think of the Middle East. My usually talkative class was quiet. I, their visibly Muslim, Arab American teacher looked around the classroom during a dramatic pause and in the moment I realized how strange this may have seemed to them. After a minute or so, a brave soul......
