‘Jewish Voice for Peace’ stands with Egyptian protesters
'Jewish Voice for Peace,' a national organization with a Michigan branch that is committed to ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine, released a statement in support of the Egyptian uprising and struggle for democracy and freedom. The following are excerpts from the statement: “We at Jewish Voice for Peace are deeply inspired by...From an Egyptian to my fellow Americans
Dear fellow people of America, I am Egyptian. I have been ruled by the state of emergency for 30 years…yes 30 years. During these thirty years, 40 percent of my people have lived under the poverty line; 30 to 40 percent are illiterate. During these black years, and unlike you, we never had fair and transparent elections; we, unlike...
Proud to be an Arab
February 4th, 20110 We are at one with the people of the Arab world who are now standing up for their individual and collective rights. The Tunisians, the Egyptians, the Palestinians, the Jordanians, the Yemenis, the Lebanese - all of them and the others in the Arab world fighting for democracy and human rights have our full support as they attempt to break...As Arab regimes are shaken, allies and foes ponder the future
Palm Beach Gardens — The Arab political coma is over. The spirit of Tunisia is in the Arab psyche. The knees of Arab despots are shaking in North Africa, West Asia and the Gulf states. A woman walks near a wall with graffiti which reads "Long live for Freedom" in Tunis February 1, 2011. Tunisia's security forces must be...Why did Finkelstein avoid Zionism questions?
Norman Finkelstein’s talk at UM-D on Wednesday was instructive and revealing—though not, I’m sure, in the way he intended. The event began with him speaking for about an hour and 20 minutes, mostly on the December 2008 invasion and massacre in Gaza. He recounted the usual facts about that tragic event, facts that were...A new truth dawns on the Arab world
Riot police clash with protesters in Cairo January 26, 2011. Thousands of Egyptians defied a ban on protests by returning to Egypt's streets on Wednesday and calling for President Hosni Mubarak to leave office, and some scuffled with police.REUTERS/Goran TomasevicLeaked Palestinian files have put a region in revolutionary...
Lebanon should reject Hariri tribunal
January 28th, 20110 A supporter of Lebanon's outgoing premier Saad al-Hariri prays at the grave of assassinated former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, during a protest against the appointment of Najib Mikati as Prime Minister, in Beirut January 26, 2011. Hundreds of angry protesters burnt tyres and blocked roads across Lebanon on Tuesday after Mikati,...Blockading Gaza is irrational and illegal
In June, columnist and Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer wrote an article titled “Blockading Gaza Rational and Legal” on the Israeli attack of the flotilla which was heading towards the Gaza Strip from Turkey, killing nine. In typical fashion, the country’s intellectuals attempted to justify such brutal acts, paying little...White Terrorism
The attempted assassin of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), was clearly mentally unstable. But the political themes of his instability were those of the American far Right. Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged assassin of Federal judge John M. Roll and five others and attempted assassin of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), was clearly...WSU should honor diversity pledge, re-instate award
Wayne State University surprised many in the metro Detroit community with a decision that was clearly not studied carefully enough. "Retiring" the Helen Thomas Spirit of diversity Award in the media due to political pressure was not only unbecoming of a respectable public university administration, it was also a strategic mistake....Alexandria attack has nothing to do with religion
I strongly condemn the recent assault on the sanctity of Christian places of worship in Alexandria, Egypt. This heinous crime did not target only the Christian community, who are our partners in homeland, blood and history in our dear country. Rather, it is a wicked attack on our national unity and coexistence. It is an attack on the...Wikimania and the First Amendment
Thomas Blanton, the esteemed director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University described Washington's hyper-reaction to Wikileaks' transmission of information to some major media in various countries as "Wikimania." In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last Thursday, Blanton urged the Justice...Muslims in America are in need of help
(Khaleej Times) – Since 9/11 hundreds if not thousands of Muslims have faced "preemptive prosecution," where Muslims who are deemed "dangerous" are prosecuted before they commit a crime. In these prosecutions, there are so many holes in the government's theories that the case is nothing but a list of unsubstantiated accusations. When...Special Tribunal for Lebanon recipe for failure
American democracy has often perplexed me, because it has a number of times trampled on democracy. Richard Nixon spied on his adversaries. Ronald Reagan sold arms to the Iranians and George W. Bush invented the Patriot Act. And now the Obama administration expects the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indictment to be unrelenting because it...Why do Jewish groups ignore Glenn Beck?
Has anyone noticed that right-wingers are really exercised about anti-Semitism these days except when it emanates from right-wingers? This week in Forbes, Abigail R. Esman pens an utterly over-the-top column called "World To Jews: Drop Dead." Dead! She claims that, even here in the United States, anti-Semitism is no longer a "fringe"......
The returning issue of Palestine’s refugees
Before his murder in 1948, Lord Folke Bernadotte, the first UN mediator to the Arab-Israeli conflict, stated: "It would be an offense against the principles of elemental justice if these innocent victims of the conflict were denied the right to return to their homes, while Jewish immigrants flow into Palestine." Lord Bernadotte paid for...Race relations in Detroit have worsened since 9/11
To the editor: I am that which could be called a "standard-issue white guy." My mother was Irish, my father was French-Canadian. I live, and work, in Detroit, and I am married to a black woman, with whom I have two sons. I mention all of that to illuminate the fact that while I am, in some ways, "on the outside looking......
Journalism degree from WSU no longer what it once was
To the editor: I read in the papers that my beloved alma mater, Wayne State University, has "retired" the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in the Media award because of controversial remarks made by the award's namesake. In reading some of these remarks – at the time they were made, and again today – I find that, in every...Standing together against U.S. government witch hunt
The following editorial appeared in The Electronic Intifada this week. As The Electronic Intifada reported in November, international solidarity and anti-war activists are facing a new wave of repression in the United States. Since September 24, two dozen activists in Minneapolis, Chicago and other cities across the country...No slack for anti-Zionism
Ruminating on the backlash against Helen Thomas' comment at the December 2, 2010 "Images and Perceptions of Arab Americans" conference that "Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street are owned by Zionists," I cross my fingers and hope that I'll be judged by what I've done with my life, rather than by one or two of my many dumb...
Praise for passing Amer Act
December 18th, 20100 Last week the Michigan legislature passed the so-called "Relative Placement Bill," House Bill 4118, which requires DHS to place foster children with relatives before strangers, as long as the best interests of the child are not harmed by doing so. The law grew out of the nightmare experienced by Ahmed and Rehab Amer, who had three of......
Helen Thomas is a Semite herself
December 10th, 20100 Helen Thomas is far more than a renowned author, celebrated civil rights leader, and award-winning journalist. She is also a Semite. While many Americans are unaware of her ancestry, the Lebanese American leader traces her ancestry back to the very roots of those of her staunchest rivals, who have recently branded her "ant-Semitic"...
WSU should reverse decision to pull Thomas diversity award
December 10th, 20100 We strongly disagree with Wayne State Univeristy's decision last week to pull its Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity in the Media Award following comments she made at a diversity conference in Dearborn. Thomas, an Arab American, is perhaps the best-known alumna of WSU, having covered every President of the United States from the last......
Pass the DREAM Act
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) this week released a report that paints a misleading financial portrait of the DREAM Act, federal legislation that would grant legal immigration status to certain undocumented immigrants who meet "good citizenship" requirements, like attending institutions of higher learning and serving in...Michigan’s children deserve more
This was the last week that the so-called "Relative Placement Bill," House Bill 4118, could be put to a vote in the Michigan Senate, making it into law. The bill would require DHS to place foster children with relatives before strangers, as long as the best interests of the child are not harmed by doing so. The bill grew out of the......
