Trump’s reckless U.S. occupation plan for Gaza is outrageous and unlawful
February 7th, 20256 In a press conference at the White House on Tuesday, attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump announced a controversial plan that includes U.S. control over the Gaza Strip and the resettlement of its Palestinian residents in Egypt, Jordan and/or other countries. Trump described Gaza as a “demolition...
A dictator and a war criminal meet in the Riviera
February 7th, 20252 By Abdul-Majeed Azad A couple of weeks before the general election, Imam Husham Al-Husainy of Iraqi descent, who runs the Shi'a Karbala Islamic Education Center in Dearborn, MI, in his miserable myopia and total ignorance on Trump’s history of religious conviction, said, “I lean towards Mr. Trump because I found him closer to the...
White supremacists and the far right are the real threat to America’s security
January 31st, 20250 By Peter Schurmann Donald Trump has ridden the xenophobic political tiger into the White House once again, convincing Americans that immigrants in this country are an existential threat to our safety and the well-being of the nation. It’s a politically effective trope that in practice diverts attention and, critically, resources from...
Gaza’s unbreakable resistance: A historical perspective on the war and its aftermath
January 31st, 20250 The problem with political analysis is that it often lacks historical perspective and is mostly limited to recent events. The current analysis of the Israeli war on Gaza falls victim to this narrow thinking. The ceasefire agreement, signed between Palestinian groups and Israel under Egyptian, Qatari and U.S. mediation in Doha on...
Carter was our “best ex-president”
January 26th, 20250 Jimmy Carter spent four years as president of the United States and 44 years as ex-president. It’s his extraordinary career as our former president that we are most likely to celebrate. Prior to Carter, former presidents were likely to go off to a comfortable retirement. Carter, who died last month at 100, changed the pattern. He...
Gaza ceasefire at last: How Israel’s “first defeat” will shape the country’s future
January 26th, 20250 The headline in the Times of Israel says it all: “For the First Time, Israel Just Lost a War.” Regardless of the reasoning behind this statement, which the article divides into fourteen points, it suggests a shattering and unprecedented event in the 76-year history of the State of Israel. The consequences of this realization will...
Trump’s war on immigrants a threat to public health
January 26th, 20250 By Edward Kissam President Trump’s inaugural speech Monday signaled his continued commitment to characterizing immigrants as criminal invaders and an impediment to his campaign mantra of “making America great again.” Following his speech, Trump signed a slew of executive orders — declaring a national emergency...
Israel destroyed Gaza “for generations to come” and the world stayed silent
January 17th, 20250 The first official reference to Gaza becoming increasingly uninhabitable was made by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 2012, when the population of the Gaza Strip was estimated at 1.8 million inhabitants. The intention of the report, “The Gaza Strip: The Economic Situation and the Prospects for...
The war criminal “victim”: Netanyahu’s inevitable fate
January 10th, 20250 Suddenly, Yoav Gallant, Israel's notorious minister of defense, disappeared into obscurity. The man who served in his country's military for about 35 years, in politics for nearly 10 and oversaw major wars, including the ongoing genocide in Gaza, quickly retreated from headlines and political significance. In his resignation letter,...
Jimmy Carter was a true American hero
January 4th, 20250 By Tom Watkins Former President Jimmy Carter has died after a remarkable 100 years of life. He is the longest-lived ex-commander in chief. His life is not measured in years or even his ascent to the presidency, but by the kindness and human decency he shared here at home and around the globe. The humble president from Plains,...
A Palestinian year in review: Genocide, resistance and unanswered questions
January 2nd, 20251 The story of the Israeli war on Gaza can be epitomized in the story of the Israeli war on Beit Lahia, a small Palestinian town in the northern part of the Strip. When Israel launched its ground operations in Gaza, Beit Lahia was already largely destroyed due to many days of relentless Israeli bombardment which killed...
Unity above else: The only road to the liberation of Palestine
December 30th, 20240 A new kind of unity around Palestine is finally finding its way to the Palestine solidarity movement worldwide. The reason behind this unity is obvious: Gaza. The world’s first live-streamed genocide in the Gaza Strip, and the growing spontaneous compassion, thus solidarity, with the Palestinian victims, helped recenter priorities...
From applause to arrest warrants: The distance between the U.S. Congress and the ICC
December 6th, 20240 The way the U.S. Congress and the International Criminal Court (ICC) view and handle matters involving the Israeli prime minister is significantly different. The U.S. Congress demonstrates unwavering support for the Israeli prime minister despite widespread international concerns over potential criminal actions. On the other hand, the...
Amnesty International investigation concludes Israel is committing genocide
December 6th, 20240 “We will look back and say, ‘Why did we not do more earlier?” Amnesty's director tells Zeteo. By Prem Thakker A young Palestinian man walks in the rubble following Israeli airstrikes on Khan Yunis, Gaza, on April 7. File photo Israel is committing...
Most Americans aren’t obsessed with politics
December 6th, 20240 The 2024 election is over, but the arguments about what it means are continuing. Did Donald Trump and the Republican Party win a mandate to govern as they wish? Did Democrats try too hard to appeal to their political base? Or not hard enough? But drawing conclusions about the meaning of an election, especially about what it says about......
No more “deals” – what Palestinians want and will fight to achieve
November 29th, 20240 A major problem in American thinking in the Middle East is the utter rejection of the notion that Palestinian rights are fundamental, if at all relevant, to the coveted peace and stability. Long before Donald Trump’s first “Deal of the Century” was officially revealed on January 28, 2020, successive U.S. administrations...
A nation in denial: Why Israel’s defeat is imminent
November 22nd, 20240 The paradoxical phrase, “running away forward” is one of the most apt descriptions that illustrates the state of Israeli affairs now. It seems that everything that Israel has done in the past year or so is a mere attempt to deny, distract from or escape imminent future scenarios – all of which are bleak. Indeed, the last year......
Don’t expect predictable foreign policy in Trump’s second term
November 22nd, 20240 The voters have spoken, and Donald J. Trump will be the 47th president of the United States. With a Republican-controlled Senate and strong backing in the House, Trump will be in position to implement his agenda, starting in January. What does that mean for foreign policy? It’s hard to say with certainty. In Trump’s first term, from...
Voting against genocide — How Gaza defeated the Democratic establishment
November 15th, 20243 Arab and Muslim American voters did not remove Democrats from office, nor did they cost Kamala Harris the Oval Office. They merely sent a strong message that Palestine matters, not only to Arabs and Muslims but to many Americans as well. The ones who cost the Democrats the elections are the Democrats themselves. Their humiliating...
Arab Americans’ perspectives on the Middle East crisis
November 15th, 20241 It is time to realign our compass with the values that we and this nation stand for and reshape our narrative to leave a heroic and meaningful legacy for future generations. For months, countless children, women and the elderly have lost their lives or severely injured. An immeasurable number of children are now orphans, women have lost...
Reich warns voters to beware Trump’s “red mirage” Election Night trick
November 3rd, 20240 In a four-minute YouTube video, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich warned of a “dirty Trump trick” voters need to look out for on Election Night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XEQ_7zZ-bw “He used it in 2020 to try to overturn the election and he’s going to do it again,” Reich said. “But it doesn’t work if you know......
Bernie Sanders disagrees with Harris on Gaza, but argues she’s the better choice than Trump
November 3rd, 20240 In a six-minute YouTube video posted on Oct. 28, titled Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said that a vote for Kamala Harris is the better choice for those angry about the war in Gaza. “I understand that there are millions of Americans who disagree with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the terrible war in Gaza; I am one of...
Thirty reasons why voters should vote for Harris and not for Trump
November 2nd, 20240 Dear editor of the Arab American News: Palestinian American, Muslim and other voters who are justifiably angry regarding the U.S. supply of weapons to Israel, thereby making it complicit in Israel’s massive killing and destruction in Gaza and Lebanon, should think twice before staying home from the polls and not voting on November......
Harris most likely to hear our voice
November 1st, 20240 Dear readers, I am a second generation Arab American with family originating in Lebanon and Syria. My stomach turns each time I see destruction anywhere in the Mid East. Despite this, I know that governance within America is more than foreign policy. Domestic policies protecting our civil rights are paramount to sound foreign policy....
White America’s defense of apartheid Israel is indefensible
November 1st, 20240 By Ahsen Khan As the recent exchange between Tony Dokoupil and Ta-Nehisi Coates illustrates, there is a deep disconnect between how many White people view Israel versus how people of color view it. Like Mr. Dokoupil, White Americans support Israel to a far greater degree than other demographic groups. This suggests they either do not......