On my visit to New Zealand: Can Christchurch heal our collective wounds?
April 2nd, 20190 I visited the city of Christchurch on May 23, 2018, as part of a larger speaking tour in New Zealand that also took me to Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton and Dunedin. New Zealand is an exceptional country, different from other countries that are often lumped under the generalized designation of the “Western world.” Almost immediately...
A special thanks to our supporters and sponsors
March 29th, 20190 It was a great 35th anniversary celebration for The Arab American News last Friday. Thanks to everyone who took the time to attend the event. We had around 700 friends and guests. We appreciate all of our sponsors and supporters. Special thanks to Papaya Fruit Market and Midwest Recycling and their respective CEO’s, Khalil...
After 35 years of ups and downs, the story is about successes and challenges
March 15th, 20191 As we approach our 35th anniversary celebration on Friday, March 22, we can't help but reflect on the challenges we've faced, the successes we've achieved and the issues we've reported on and overcome together as a community. Running a media publication has always been difficult, challenging and complex, especially in ethnic...
Why the outrage? “Jewish Power” Party is the new norm in Israeli politics
March 9th, 20190 Immediately after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forged an alliance with the fringe political group Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), a widespread outrage ensued. The anger did not emanate only from the Center, Left and Arab parties, but from some in the Right as well. Even the pro-Israel lobby in the U.S., known for its hawkish...
It’s a new day on Capitol Hill
March 9th, 20190 On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a resolution by a vote of 407-to-23 to condemn both anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hatred, among other forms of bigotry, including those of White Supremacists, a development Democratic U.S. Reps Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Andre Carson of...
Netanyahu has gone too far right for the right
March 1st, 20190 After all these years, we are now seeing politically what followers of the cruel occupation of Palestine have known for many years: Benjamin Netanyahu has gone way too far to the right, and his political career is finally now careening toward its dramatic end as a result. The Israeli prime minister has been indicted in three cases...
Israel’s supporters are panicking: The game is over
February 22nd, 20191 Hardline supporters of Israel are in panic mode. It was in evidence earlier this week with the all-out assault on the first Somali, African-born immigrant, refugee, Muslim woman elected to serve in the U.S. Congress. Her crime was that she dared to point out, as a leading New York Times columnist and so many others have in the past, the...
The first rule of AIPAC: You do not talk about AIPAC
February 22nd, 20190 Washington's political establishment went berserk when U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) publicly noted that U.S.-Israel relations are "all about the Benjamins" — slang for $100 bills, referring to money shoveled at American politicians by the American Israel Public Affairs Group (AIPAC). Omar was accused of antisemitism —...
What great legislators have in common
February 16th, 20190 Each of the great politicians and legislators I’ve known over the course of my career in Congress was very different. They were masters of the rules, or unassailably knowledgeable about a given issue, or supremely watchable orators or consummate students of people. But they also shared key traits that I wish more elected officials...
Gaza rallies for Caracas: On the West’s dangerous game in Venezuela
February 16th, 20190 Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of besieged Gaza to show their support for the democratically-elected government of Venezuela and its legitimate leader, President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela is struggling to defeat a coup attempt that is supported by the United States, Israel and many Western governments. The...
American politics’ great divide
February 15th, 20190 One of the more striking political developments of the last few years has been the partisan sorting of American voters. It used to be that both the Republican and Democratic parties covered some ideological ground. Now, it’s so habitual for conservatives to make their home in the GOP and liberals in the Democratic Party that party and...
Omar was right about AIPAC, her apology is a mistake
February 15th, 20190 This weekend, just hours after U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) posted a tweet implying that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) pays off American politicians to defend Israel, she had already apologized, in response to a swift rebuke from House Democratic leaders. In two separate tweets, Omar called out AIPAC as a...
Enough Western meddling and interventions: Let the Venezuelan people decide
February 15th, 20190 American politicians from the two main parties have finally found something to agree upon: More intervention in Venezuela. “Now, despite (President Nicolas) Maduro, there is hope (in Venezuela),” wrote Democratic Senator Dick Durbin in USA Today. “These events (meaning the current political instability in the country) are a...
The shameful senate vote that endangers our free speech
February 8th, 20190 On Tuesday, the Senate passed S.1, the "Middle East bill" that included the “Combating BDS Act of 2019”, a measure that encourages state and local governments to enact legislation that bars state agencies from contracting with individuals or companies who support boycotts of Israel, more commonly known as the Boycott, Divestment and...
Now Chad, then Mali: Why African countries are normalizing with Israel
February 4th, 20190 Forget the hype. Israel’s “security technology” has nothing to do with why some African countries are eager to normalize relations with Israel. What is it that Israel is able to offer in the technology sector to Chad, Mali and others that the United States, the European Union, China, Russia, India, Brazil, South Africa and......
False ‘victories’: Is the PA using the ‘State of Palestine’ to remain in power?
January 26th, 20190 The "State of Palestine" has officially been handed the chairmanship of the G-77, the United Nations' largest block. This is particularly significant considering the relentless Israeli-American plotting to torpedo the Palestinian push for greater international recognition and legitimacy. It is now conclusive that the main mission for...
Give Trump his wall and give us back our government
January 25th, 20190 Let us assume that you are a federal government employee who is about to miss his second paycheck because of the government shutdown. That’s one month without pay. Also, let's say that you are a Democrat and a staunch anti-Trump individual. You should be asking the Democrats on Capitol Hill to give Trump the money for his wall and......
On its 90th anniversary, Dearborn must pledge support for most neglected neighborhoods
January 18th, 20190 This week Dearborn marked the 90th anniversary of what has become one of the largest and most diverse cities in the state. But as the city moves forward with plans to turn west Dearborn into a modern business and entertainment hub, the age and neglect of its "other" parts is evident. A lack of support has taken its toll on the east...
Bahia Amawi and the strangest loyalty oath Americans are forced to take
December 21st, 20181 Bahia Amawi works as children's speech pathologist for the Pflugerville Independent School District in Texas. Or, rather, she used to work as a children's speech pathologist for the district. After nine years, Glenn Greenwald reports at The Intercept, the district's administration declined to renew her contract because she refused to...
We must fix our priorities as a nation
December 15th, 20180 Let us talk about the future, our priorities and what we are facing in this country today. Mohamad Osman passed away after a long and hard fought battle against cancer and left us with a monumental task to complete. His passing wasn’t an accident, it was of illness that could have been healed, if we had invested soundly in the...
Among my biggest disappointments in politics
December 14th, 20180 The other day, a friend asked what surprised me most about politics. This may seem strange, but I’d never really thought about the question. My response was off-the-cuff but heartfelt. The biggest surprise is also among my biggest disappointments with American political life: The ongoing effort by politicians to suppress......
From Central America to Syria: The conspiracy against refugees
December 10th, 20180 Watching the ongoing debate between U.S. liberal and right-wing pundits in U.S. mainstream media, one rarely gets the impression that Washington is responsible for the unfolding crisis in Central America. In fact, no other country is as accountable as the United States for the Central American bedlam and resulting refugee...
Netanyahu’s predicament: The era of easy wars is over
December 3rd, 20180 When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his army to carry out a limited operation in the besieged Gaza Strip on November 12, he certainly did not anticipate that his military adventure would destabilize his government and threaten the very survival of his right-wing coalition. But it did, far more than the multiple......
The struggle to advocate for Palestinians has never been easy
November 24th, 20180 It has never been easy for Arab Americans to advocate for Palestinian rights; and while we have made real progress, the challenges continue to grow. I learned early on that this was not ever going to be a fair fight. In their relentless effort to silence our voice, supporters of Israel waged a relentless campaign to delegitimize...
The real midterm elections wave wasn’t blue, it was Muslim
November 22nd, 20180 The Muslims are no longer coming—they are here! Well, in reality Muslims have been in America and contributing to it even before the nation was formed, since approximately 15 percent of the slaves from Africa were Muslim. But now Muslim Americans are “here” in a whole new way as a record number won their elections on Nov. 6.......
