Our endorsements
July 22nd, 20160 This election season has been marred by negative campaigning and "dark" turns. But that should not discourage you from participating in the Aug. 2 primaries. Voters will decide on several judicial, legislative and county races. Although it is only a primary, the election will likely determine who will represent Dearborn in the State...
9/11: 28 Pages Later
July 21st, 20160 In December of 2002, Congress released its report on the "Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001." Part of that report, anyway: 28 pages remained classified until July 15, 2016, when they were finally presented to the public with significant redactions. Why the...Where the election stands
The next few weeks in politics are a little like the All-Star break in baseball. With the Republican and Democratic national conventions upon us, it's a good time to step back and assess this year's election. Which carries bad news for both parties. The Republicans face a steep electoral challenge. If Hillary Clinton carries Florida...
Keep it civil
July 15th, 20160 In democratic societies, elections cause ideological divisions. Candidates and their supporters disagree on the issues. But the differences should remain within the realm of ideas without turning personal. Unfortunately, this election season at the level stage has been unlike any other. Presidential candidates have reverted to...
America’s Chilcot Report: Bush Administration should be investigated for Iraq invasion
July 8th, 20160 "Whether George W. Bush was the worst president in American history will be long debated, but his decision to invade Iraq is easily the worst foreign policy decision ever made by an American president," writes biographer Jean Edward Smith in a scathing verdict on the Bush presidency. Yet, Bush and his administration officials have not...
The numbers in Obama’s drone death report don’t add up
July 7th, 20160 More than three years after President Obama pledged to be transparent about the United States' lethal drone program, his administration has finally come forward with an accounting of the numbers of civilian deaths that resulted from drone strikes between Jan. 20, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2015. But the numbers only cover airstrikes...
Leave Sayed Qazwini alone
July 1st, 20160 Bint Jebail Cultural Center after it was vandalized with anti-Qazwini graffiti last yearThe local Arab American community is suffering enough attacks and divisions on all levels. When the Islamic Center of America controversy started last year, it took the community by storm.Unfortunately, some members of the community want the storm to...
What Clinton should learn from Brexit
July 1st, 20160 President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton.BREXIT — the stunning British vote to leave the European Union — is a clear and dramatic rebuke of the country's political and economic elites. A majority voted to leave, even though the heads of the United Kingdom's two major parties, more than a thousand corporate and bank...Cheating taxpayers for political advantages
Politicians who limit the effectiveness of government agencies for short-term political advantages cheat taxpayers and short-change the government. I first met Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), a brash young Republican, at a gathering of EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center), which challenges invasions of privacy by big...
How Israel uses water as a weapon of war
June 24th, 20160 Entire communities in the West Bank either have no access to water or have had their water supply reduced almost by half. This alarming development has been taking place for weeks, since Israel's national water company, Mekorot, decided to cut off or significantly reduce the supply to Jenin, Salfit and many villages around Nablus,...
We should face terror with unity and solidarity
June 24th, 20160 “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” -Martin Luther King, Jr. In the wake of the murderous Orlando shooting, Michiganders embodied the words of the civil rights icon by coming together in solidarity against terrorism and...
Beyond the selfies: Federal watch lists do not solve gun violence
June 24th, 20160 Democratic lawmakers in the House were hailed in liberal circles for their 25-hour sit-in to force a vote on gun regulation bills. Dramatic selfies of Congress members on the Capitol’s floor flooded social media. It was a successful media stunt that failed to adequately address the issue of gun violence. Democrats are pushing for...
Trump is assailing the Constitution, not simply Muslims
June 23rd, 20160 "Religious freedom is not an issue for conservatives or progressives, deists or agnostics, Christians or Muslims. This is an American issue."GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump has ratcheted up his politics of fear campaign strategy by exploiting the recent mass shooting in Orlando. This was no surprise to American Muslims and other...
Only Omar Mateen is responsible for his actions
June 17th, 20160 Omar Mateen claimed to support ISIS, Nusra Front and Hezbollah. He was a gay man who claimed to be disgusted by homosexuals displaying public affection. He was clearly a disturbed individual — confused, hateful and violent.Only Mateen is responsible for his despicable actions.Law enforcement officials rightly labeled his attack an...
Smile… It’s Ramadan
June 17th, 20160 A Muslim boy at prayers marking Eid al-Fitr in Jakarta, Indonesia, 2015.The Arab American News wishes you a Ramadan Mubarak.The Holy Month arrives at a time when Arab and Muslim nations are going through tumultuous times, as our local communities face an unprecedented wave of bigotry and hatred. Meanwhile, terrorist psychopaths and......
Gaza: Resistance Through Poetry
June 17th, 20160 Muin Bseiso“(At dawn) … I will resist ... (Since) upon the wall there is still a white sheet … And my fingers are yet to (completely) dissolve.” This is a translated verse from Muin Bseiso's "Three Walls of the Torture Chamber." He has been one of Gaza's most influential intellectual and renowned poets. After Israel...
Detroit businesses should join Project Green Light
June 17th, 20160 Mayor Duggan and city leaders announcing new businesses joining Project Green Light, May 23.Detroit is a city for the future. Despite the remaining challenges, there is a financial and political willpower to turn the city around. Arab American business owners have no choice than to adapt and contribute to this turnaround or be left out......
It’s Ramadan, we should celebrate considerately
June 10th, 20160 Customers eat in the early morning at Golden Bakery in Dearborn.Ramadan is a month of spirituality and forgiveness for Islamic communities around the world. It is also a time of joy and celebration. As local Muslim Americans celebrate the month, they should have compassion and consideration for those who do not observe...
What’s allowed when dealing with Israel?
June 10th, 20160 Activists rally against Israel.That "terrorism" is a malleable term of propaganda, with no fixed meaning or consistent application, is now quite well-established. Still, its recent application to a spate of violence targeting Israel's occupying soldiers in the West Bank is so manipulative and extreme that it's...
Muhammad Ali: A profile in moral courage
June 10th, 20160 "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong — no Viet Cong ever called me nigger." With those pointed words, Muhammad Ali explained his opposition to the war in Vietnam and justified his refusal to submit himself to the draft. He declared himself a conscientious objector. After declining three times to step forward for induction...
Restricting hookah bar hours is bad for business
June 3rd, 20160 The nature of Southeast Michigan's economy has changed over the past decades. Dearborn's leaders do not seem interested in adjusting to the new realities. Despite the partial recovery of the auto industry, carmakers can no longer sustain the region's economy or operate as go-to employers. We live in a post-industrial,......
Ya’alon’s morality and Israel’s future is terrifying
June 2nd, 20160 Israeli society is constantly swerving to the right. The country's entire political paradigm is redefined regularly. Israel is now "ruled by the most extreme rightwing government in its history." This statement has grown from being an informed assessment to a dull cliché over the course of only a few years. In fact, that exact...
May 25: Liberation Day should be hailed and celebrated
May 27th, 20160 Woman celebrates the victory with Lebanese army soldiers.Six days. It took Israel six days to defeat the combined armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria in 1967. Demoralized Arabs had gotten used to catastrophes and setbacks as Israel colonized their land before the resistance in south Lebanon reclaimed their honor. It wasn't until......
Americans are helping eight million people break this bad law
May 27th, 20160 Last week immigrants, their families and legal advocates rallied outside the Supreme Court as eight justices heard oral arguments in United States v. Texas, an immigration case concerning the Obama Administration's Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) program, which would have offered deferred...
Sykes-Picot, 100 years later: Redrawing the maps
May 20th, 20160 A map of Iraq and Syria showing flags of warring sidesA century has passed since the Sykes-Picot Agreement was struck. The geopolitical madness in the Middle East indicates that the region is heading toward more fragmentation. The 100-year-old plan to control the Arab world is still at work to divide what has already been......
