April 5th, 20190
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Celebrating 30 years of strengthening the American-Lebanese relationship, the American Task Force for Lebanon (ATFL) will honor four exceptional American leaders of Lebanese heritage who have made significant contributions in their fields at its annual Gala Awards Night held April 10 at the Fairmont Hotel in...
March 29th, 20190ANN ARBOR – Tragedy struck the home of Lola Bzeih and Mohamed Jaafar last Friday, March 22. Their son, Ismail Mohamed Jaafar, a soldier in the U.S. Army according to Bzeih, was found by his mother with a cloth belt tied around his neck. He would have turned 18 this week.
Ismail's legal name is Blane Miller.
At a memorial for her...
March 25th, 20190SAN DIEGO, CA — For Huda Al-Marashi, an Iraqi American and Muslim author, wife and mother, the process of writing her memoir, “First Comes Marriage: My Not-So-Typical American Love Story”, took almost 10 years to finish.
The book, which follows her story about her relationship with her husband of 22 years, was released last...
March 15th, 20190DEARBORN — A March 4 meeting between Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Arab American community leaders at the La Pita restaurant ended with the senator failing to mollify participants regarding his vote on the anti-BDS bill.
At the meeting, Peters addressed his choice to vote "yes" on Bill S.1, which includes the controversial Combating...
March 15th, 20191As 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...
March 9th, 20190DEARBORN — The Arab American Women’s Business Council (AAWBC), a nonprofit organization that addresses the needs of Arab American women professionals and business owners, held a women’s bazaar at the Dearborn Inn on March 7.
The AAWBC, which was founded in 2007 in Dearborn, also helps cater to the needs of young Arab American...
February 25th, 20192YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP, Mich. - Thursday an Arab American man living in Ypsilanti Township found a racial slur painted on his garage.
The man said he woke up at about 5:30 a.m. and pulled out of the garage at his home on Blue Jay Drive and noticed "sand " spray-painted on the door.
He immediately painted over the words.
Washtenaw...
February 22nd, 20190DEARBORN HEIGHTS— Sara Raad, a Dearborn Heights native and daughter of Lebanese immigrants, said she writes poetry to heal from past trauma.
She reads her poetry at local events and posts it on her Instagram blog which has more than 11,000 followers.
“I used to just write little poems here and there,” she said, adding...
February 8th, 20190On 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...
January 26th, 20190HOUSTON – The successes of members of the Arab American community are expanding from the political and the scientific fields to sales and entrepreneurship, among many other areas. Patience and insight guided the vision of Ali Hodroj, a child of the border town of Hunin between Lebanon and Palestine, who was named the best salesman in...
January 15th, 20190LANSING — Fadwa A. Hammoud, a resident of Dearborn, has been appointed as the state's solicitor general by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. She is the first Arab American and Muslim solicitor general in U.S. history.
“I am proud of the seasoned veterans who have chosen to return to state government – and to those who have...
January 7th, 20190SAN DIEGO - In November, Ammar Campa-Najjar hoped to become the first Latino Arab-American member of Congress. Though he was facing off against Rep. Duncan Hunter – who with an ongoing finance scandal is embroiled in controversy – he faced an uphill battle. The 50th Congressional District in California – which encompasses parts of...
December 24th, 20181The late fall and winter months bring a whole new set of challenges with them, especially health concerns present during this time of the year.
One of the biggest reasons for increased levels of the flu and other sicknesses during the fall and winter months is the pronounced lack of sunlight, exposure to which helps the human body to...
December 14th, 20180FARMINGTON HILLS — CAIR-MI filed a discrimination complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights against Greyhound on behalf of a Muslim man who was kicked off of a bus for speaking on his phone in Arabic.
Earlier this year, Abrahaim Mohamed, an American Muslim, traveled from Michigan to Ohio by Greyhound bus.
A press...
December 2nd, 20180DEARBORN – The Palestinian struggle carries countless stories of suffering and injustice. Such is the case with Mohammed Abu Hussein, a young Palestinian boy who lost his right leg in June during the Great March of Return along the Gaza border against the Israeli occupation.
Mohammed is currently in Dearborn, where he will receive a...
November 30th, 20180MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A settlement has been reached between a young Muslim man who filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Memphis, Mayor Jim Strickland in his official capacity and the Memphis Police Department Training Academy — but it's unknown what the terms of the settlement are.
Tareq Elkhayyat, an Arab American of Palestinian...
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...
November 12th, 20180DEARBORN — Starting as an organization co-founded by sisters Mariam and Marwa Ayyash, the Arab American Health Initiative (AAHI) highlights healthcare needs, including reducing health disparities and fighting stigma within the Arab American community.
The AAHI was first established in October 2016 and officially launched as a...
November 10th, 20180DETROIT — Rashida Tlaib will be one of two Arab American and Muslim women ever to be elected to Congress after winning the seat of former U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. and defeating Brenda Jones' last minute write-in campaign, on Tuesday.
The Palestinian American and vocal critic of President Trump was announced the winner of the 13th...
November 9th, 20181FLORIDA – Democratic candidate Donna Shalala won the seat vacated by retiring Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in Florida’s 27th Congressional District, with 51.7 percent of the votes, defeating her Republican opponent, Maria Elvira Salazar, who received 45 percent of the votes, to flip a House seat that has long been targeted by...
November 9th, 20180DEARBORN — On Tuesday, long-time real estate associate broker Sam Baydoun was elected to the 13th District Wayne County Commission seat vacated by outgoing Commission Chairman Gary Woronchak. Baydoun ran unopposed and received 30,920 votes.
Woronchak, who mounted an unsuccessful run for State Senate, will step down in...
November 9th, 20184DEARBORN — In a dramatic contrast, all five Arab American candidates failed in the Dearborn Board of Education race on Tuesday, while other Arab Americans scored victories in Dearborn Heights' Crestwood School District and the Northville School Board.
In Dearborn, the Arab American capital of the U.S., thousands of Arab voters went...
October 21st, 20182DEARBORN — Between 1995 and 2012, thousands of people visited the capital of Arab America for a taste of their homelands' cultures and a grand celebration.
The three-day Arab festival has been called the largest gathering of Arab Americans; it drew in three times Dearborn’s population of nearly 90,000. It was also a kind of...
October 16th, 20180Reflecting that his résumé leans "toward the terrorist side of things", Egyptian American actor Zeeko Zaki couldn’t be happier with his role as FBI special agent Omar Adom "OA" Zidan on Dick Wolf’s latest crime drama FBI. Seeing someone like himself — Arab American and Muslim — as "a protagonist in law enforcement is definitely...
September 22nd, 20180DEARBORN — Arab? Arabic? Immigrant? Native born? Is American Arabia a counterculture of America?
The Statue of Liberty stands tall and high in New York, symbolizing freedom and enlightenment and is aimed towards sealing friendship. One defining metaphor known in the United States is a "melting pot" of immigrants around the globe,...
September 15th, 20180DEARBORN – More than half of the candidates running for two seats on the Dearborn Board of Education are of Arab origin, with one of them – Aman (Amy) Fidama – being the first Yemeni American woman to run for office in Michigan.
Two six-year seats are up for grabs and voters will determine who’ll fill them on November...
September 1st, 20180By Taylor Adams
DALLAS, Texas — The second annual Arab Texas Festival returns to Mesquite on Sept. 2, offering food, performers and activities aimed at spotlighting Arabic culture. And it comes with a tempting array of food, including shawarma, falafel, meat and cheese pies and Arabic desserts.
The festival is the...
August 24th, 20180TROY — The Kresge Foundation has announced that Metro Detroit native Zenna Elhasan will join the organization on October 1 to serve as its first lead attorney. In her newly created role, Elhasan will advise the foundation’s Board of Trustees and staff on legal matters, support the development and enforcement of foundation policies...
