Palestinian American man, 80, found dead after being held in Israeli raid
January 13th, 20220 OCCUPIED West Bank — An 80-year-old Palestinian American man was found dead after being detained and handcuffed during an Israeli raid on an occupied West Bank village, Palestinian officials and relatives said on Wednesday. The U.S. State Department said that Omar Abdalmajeed As'ad was a U.S. citizen and that it had sought...
No Visa waiver for Israel until Arab American rights are protected
January 12th, 20220 Last week the Jerusalem Post ran a story under the headline “Palestinian Americans to be allowed to land at Ben Gurion Airport.” Israeli officials are now saying that instead of only permitting Palestinian Americans to cross over the Allenby Bridge from Jordan, they will allow them to fly into Israel’s airport and proceed from...
New books by American Muslims: Muslims have stories to tell; are Americans ready to listen?
January 11th, 20220 — This article was contributed by Joseph Richard Preville to The Arab American News. It has been edited for style. Al Qaeda’s terrorist attack on America on September 11, 2001 was horrific, but what came next was far worse. The U.S. responded by unleashing a 20-year campaign of surveillance and harassment against its own Muslim...
U.S., Iran tensions at a high point over sanctions, 2020 Soleimani killing
January 11th, 20220 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House and Tehran have exchanged harsh words this month, as Iran symbolically sanctioned a list of Americans in connection with the 2020 killing of General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike. "We will work with our allies and partners to deter and respond to any attacks carried out by Iran," said White...
National year in review: Change of the guard, insurrection, impeachment and election challenges
January 9th, 20220 In 2021 there was a change of the guard in Washington, D.C., but this change was preceded by an unprecedented insurrection on Capitol Hill and a second impeachment of former President Trump. Arab Americans and Muslims made headlines on the national level with the first Muslim appointed to the federal bench and the U.S. Supreme Court...
A year on, the ideological insurrection against our democracy continues
January 8th, 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 When I told my parents that I was going to run for governor of Michigan, I could see through the windows of their eyes the emotions battling in their minds....
U.S. FDA authorizes Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster for 12- to 15-year-olds
January 4th, 20220 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the use of a third dose of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12 to 15, and narrowed the interval for booster shot eligibility to five months from six. The agency also authorized a third shot for children aged 5- through...
Passport fees set to increase by $20 starting Dec. 27
December 23rd, 20211 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. State Department said this week that on Dec 27, the cost for a passport book will increase by $20. The department said the the increased fee is necessary to ensure it continues to produce one of the most secure travel and identity documents in the world. Travelers can learn more about their...
CDC updates side effects of COVID-19 vaccines
December 22nd, 20210 WASHINGTON D.C. — While the COVID-19 cases keep increasing nationwide, the CDC has updated the side effects of getting the vaccine. As of Dec. 20, 241.9 million people or 72.9 percent of the U.S. population had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of those, 204.1 million or 61.5 percent are fully vaccinated and more...
House passes bill to combat Islamophobia after racist remarks made by Trump-endorsee U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert
December 17th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a bill that would establish a special envoy office at the U.S. State Department with the aim to "monitor and combat" international Islamophobia. The Combating International Islamophobia Act, introduced by U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Jan Schakowsky...
Hundred of Virginia school students walk out, asking accountability over Islamophobic attack on student
December 17th, 20211 Hundreds of Fairfax High School students in the town of Fairfax, Virginia walked out on Thursday and demanded their school take action following a disturbing attack on one their Muslim schoolmates by a fellow student. On Tuesday, a boy reportedly pushed a Muslim girl to the ground, took off her Islamic head scarf or hijab and beat her...
Muslim Somali American Deqa Dhalac inaugurated as mayor of predominantly White Maine city
December 7th, 20210 MAINE — The City Council of South Portland, Maine unanimously voted on Monday to elect the city’s first Muslim mayor. Deqa Dhalac, 53, is believed to be the country’s first Somali American mayor. Dhalac won a City Council seat back in 2018, being the only non-White candidate for a Council seat in the Whitest state in the U.S....
U.S. State Department phones hacked with Israeli company spyware
December 4th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — Apple iPhones of at least nine U.S. State Department employees were hacked by an unknown assailant using sophisticated spyware developed by the Israel-based NSO Group, according to four people familiar with the matter. The hacks, which took place in the last several months, hit U.S. officials either based in Uganda...
Omicron variant cases confirmed in U.S., health officials on alert
December 1st, 20210 - Briana Gasorski contributed to this report The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday that the first case of the newly emerging Omicron variant of COVID-19 was detected in the U.S. A second case was announced in Minnesota on Thursday, after which two more states, New York and Colorado, reported...
Apple files lawsuit against NSO Group, saying U.S. citizens were targets
November 25th, 20210 CALIFORNIA — Apple Inc. said on Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit against Israeli cyber firm NSO Group and its parent company OSY Technologies for alleged surveillance and targeting of U.S. Apple users with its Pegasus spyware. The iPhone maker said it is also seeking to ban NSO Group from using any Apple software, services or devices......
What’s really on trial in Kenosha and Glynn County?
November 19th, 20211 — 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 Last week, Kyle Rittenhouse pulled a Brett Kavanaugh and ugly cried on the witness stand in a desperate plea for sympathy. His made-for-Twitter hysterics were...
U.S. senators move to block $650 million arms sale to Saudi Arabia
November 18th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of U.S. senators are opposing the Biden administration's first major arms sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over Riyadh's involvement in the conflict in Yemen, three senators announced on Thursday. A joint resolution of disapproval to block a proposed $650 million in U.S. arms sales to the Kingdom of......
Senate Republicans stall confirmation of Muslim American SBA Nominee Dilawar Syed
November 18th, 20210 — Sunita Sohrabji is a contributing editor Ethnic Media Services (EMS). The following EMS article has been edited for style WASHINGTON, D.C. — For the fifth time the afternoon of Nov. 17, Senate Republicans stalled the confirmation of Dilawar Syed as deputy administrator for the Small Business Administration, all failing to show...
Bill Gates should know better: How the Israeli occupation ravages the environment in Palestine
November 15th, 20210 Those who are not familiar with how Israel, particularly the Israeli military occupation of Palestine, is actively and irreversibly damaging the environment might reach the erroneous conclusion that Tel Aviv is at the forefront of the global fight against climate change. The reality is the exact opposite. In his speech at the U.N....
Republican state senator-elect who expressed Islamophobia in tweets “committed to renouncing” hate speech during meeting with Muslims
November 12th, 20210 NEW JERSEY – The Republican who defeated New Jersey's State Senate president last week has "committed to renouncing" hate speech amid criticism of old tweets he posted expressing Islamophobia, a Muslim advocacy group in the state said Wednesday. State Sen.-elect Edward Durr met with Muslim community leaders in the state last...
A Florida man who threatened to kill U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar has been convicted
November 11th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. – A 73-year-old man in Venice, Florida, has been convicted of threatening three members of Congress, and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) said she was one of the targets. A federal jury found Frank Anthony Pezzuto guilty Wednesday of sending "three separate threatening communications to injure certain members of......
Dingell once again presses U.S. government for Lebanon TPS designation
November 4th, 20210 DEARBORN — As a followup to several requests to the Biden administration to provide temporary protective status (TPS) to Lebanese nationals in the U.S., U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of State this week. "Almost every single day, I hear from neighbors in my district who are desperate to...
U.S. blacklists Israeli hacking tool vendor NSO Group
November 3rd, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Commerce Department added Israel's NSO Group and Candiru to its trade blacklist on Wednesday, saying they sold spyware to foreign governments that used the equipment to target government officials, journalists and others. Positive Technologies of Russia and Computer Security Initiative Consultancy PTE......
Just how does Biden differ from Trump on Palestine?
October 31st, 20210 When Joe Biden was declared the winner in the U.S. elections last November, expectations in Ramallah were high. A Biden administration, compared to the brazenly pro-Israel Trump administration, would surely be much fairer to Palestinians, was the conventional wisdom at the time. Hence, unsurprisingly, Palestinian Authority President...
Despite opposition from U.S. and rights groups, Israel moves ahead with some 3,000 apartheid homes
October 29th, 20211 PALESTINE — Despite objections from the otherwise-aligned U.S. government, and condemnation from Palestine-rights groups, Israel moved forward on Wednesday with plans to build some 3,000 homes for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. The move does stand in defiance of the Biden administration's strongest criticism to date of......
