January 5th, 20180Here's our 2017 year-in-review of the most important news and developments as reported by The Arab American News locally, nationally and internationally.
Community and local
1. Former Dearborn City Clerk Kathy Buda was convicted on embezzlement charges, after clerk office employees reported suspicions she was stealing cash from fees...
December 22nd, 20171DEARBORN — This week, world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council voted to condemn President Trump for his decision to designate Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
On the grand stage, they reflected their respective countries' shared sentiments of solidarity with the Palestinian people and criticized Trump...
December 15th, 20170DEARBORN — For 940,500 citizens in Michigan, English is not their first language, according to a 2015 report from Data USA. This can lead to problems at Dearborn's 19th District Court, and many others, as they do not employ full-time translators.
The absence of a translator causes problems for residents who don't speak...
December 15th, 20170DETROIT — A Dearborn Heights man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to bribing public officials while trying to open a medical marijuana dispensary.
Ali Baydoun, 52, could spend up to 16 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a bribery conspiracy charge. His sentencing is scheduled for April.
Baydoun reached the plea deal four...
December 15th, 20178FARMINGTON HILLS — Even in the multicultural Queens, New York City, Noura Embabi greatly felt the ripple effects of anti-Muslim bigotry immediately after Sept. 11, as a 16-year-old high school student.
She grew up in an Egyptian Muslim American family, but incidents like a car attempting to run over her family while walking the...
December 8th, 20170WASHINGTON — A growing number of Americans hold favorable opinions of Arabs and Muslims, a new survey by the Arab American Institute (AAI) shows.
The survey released Tuesday found attitudes toward Arabs, Muslims, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans have risen to the highest levels in a decade.
Conducted two months after the White...
December 8th, 20170INKSTER — Zaman International's Hope for Humanity Center, a humanitarian organization for women and children in extreme poverty, added to its services December 4 with the addition of a culinary arts training program.
The program will offer cooking classes, beginning in January, to the women as well as the community. In addition to...
December 6th, 20170STERLING HEIGHTS — Two people were killed at the same Sterling Heights business just a few days apart.
The latest victim was found dead early Saturday morning inside Laith's Candy Land. Suvian Saba was found dead inside last Monday. Then on Saturday the second victim, Liath Anki, 20, was found shot to death.
Laith's Candy Land...
December 1st, 20170DEARBORN — The holiday season has arrived and with it students' elevated stress levels.
Even though they have much to look forward to in December, like a relaxing break, that doesn't divert their attention from all the work they have to do at the end of the semester to be able to enjoy it.
While college stress is endless, it...
December 1st, 20170DEARBORN — Preserving heritage as well as cultural and religious practices have been the undertaking of generations of Arab and Muslim Americans.
But as the heat intensifies due to the nation focusing its magnifying lens on the "Arab capital of America", a recent "religious" reenactment held in the city's streets has local Muslim...
November 23rd, 20170As Arab American and Muslim families gather around the dinner table this Thanksgiving holiday, they will show gratitude for their blessings, but will also be bound to express fear for each other’s safety.
Since President Trump’s candidacy and after his election, the country has been deeply inflamed with hate crimes, racism and...
November 23rd, 20170By Laida Sukari and Dalia Sukari
The Arab American News - interns
DEARBORN — According to statistics by "Static Brain", an average of 51,650,000 total turkeys are consumed in America on Thanksgiving Day each year.
This national holiday became official in 1863 after President Lincoln declared that, annually, the fourth Thursday...
November 23rd, 20170DEARBORN — Lebanese American student Nadine Jawad, 21, might be the first Arab American from Dearborn to receive one of the most prestigious fellowship awards in the world, the Rhodes scholarship.
Jawad, a senior at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, is one of 32 American Rhodes scholars chosen for...
November 17th, 20170DEARBORN — They might be thousands of miles away, but news of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri's resignation – and the prospect that Saudi Arabia has something to do with it – has Lebanese expatriates on edge.
Dozens of Lebanese Americans in Metro Detroit joined a protest at the Lebanese American Heritage Club in Dearborn...
November 13th, 20170WASHINGTON, D.C.—On November 13, Alex Azar was nominated to be the next United States Health and Human Services secretary.
If the nomination goes through, Azar will be the second Arab American to serve in this position.
Previously, Donna Shalala served eight years in the position during former president Bill Clinton’s...
November 10th, 20170HAMTRAMCK — Mayor Karen Majewski won reelection to a fourth term on Tuesday, Nov. 7. She received 1,960 votes, while Mohammed Hassan finished with 1,231.
The overall voter turnout in the city's Nov. 7 general elections was 22 percent.
In the City Council race, Fadel Al-Marsoumi became the second Arab American elected to that...
November 10th, 20170DEARBORN HEIGHTS — It looked to be a close race between Mayor Dan Paletko and City Councilwoman Lisa Hicks-Clayton in Tuesday's election, but once the absentee votes were counted, Paletko won by 1,143 votes.
Paletko won with 4,467 votes, which was 55.83 percent of the total votes for mayor, and Hicks-Clayton received a total of...
November 10th, 20170DEARBORN — A few months ago, a slew of new names on the Aug. 8 ballot signaled a community was gaining leverage in the local political sphere.
While Arab Americans dominated the polls on Nov. 7, their victories were not among the elected candidates, but in the weight of their vote.
Dearborn's primary elections saw a handful of...
November 3rd, 20170DEARBORN – The Arab American Political Action Committee’s (AAPAC) 20th anniversary gala was a celebration of political successes.
Six days before the Nov. 7 municipal elections, Arab Americans packed a large dinner hall at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center in Dearborn and reflected on two decades of achievements and looking forward...
October 27th, 20170
DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The main races in the November 7 election are between incumbent Mayor Dan Paletko and challenger Lisa Hicks-Clayton, and also for the four open City Council seats.
Paletko has been mayor since 2004. He came in first in the Aug. 8 primary election, with about 1,000 votes more than Hicks-Clayton.
In the City...
October 27th, 20170DEARBORN — There are only ten days left until the November 7 general election and residents are still considering their options, but not much has changed since the primary election.
The city council and clerk races are still overshadowed by the contentious mayoral race.
City Council President Susan Dabaja and Councilman Michael...
October 27th, 20170By Laida Sukari
The Arab American News-intern
DEARBORN— On Friday, October 20, The Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and The Breast Cancer Student Association (BCSA) hosted their second fundraising dinner called “Get Your Pink On” (GYPO) at Byblos Banquet Center.
The SWE organization at the University of Michigan-Dearborn...
October 27th, 20170DEARBORN — There is a lot on the line in the city — from major investments and revitalization projects, to alleviating high property taxes and diversifying the workforce. As they battle in a heated race, the two mayoral candidates say that on Nov. 7, Dearbornites will have a chance for the first time since 2001 to stick with already...
October 27th, 20170DEARBORN – In the Southend of Dearborn, across the street from the first mosque constructed in Michigan, a restaurant hangs a United States flag above a red, white and green flag. Although it may surprise some, the flag is not Lebanese, Jordanian or Palestinian.
It’s Italian.
“Our cultures aren’t very different,” Robert...
October 27th, 20170DEARBORN — This Monday, mayoral candidate and council President Pro-Tem Tom Tafelski was supposed to take part in a video interview with reporters from The AANews, as Mayor Jack O’Reilly had done, but due to a bout of laryngitis, he was unable to participate. Instead, he answered our questions via email.
Some people believe...
October 27th, 20171HAMTRMACK – A few divisive races and shake ups in the City Council are bound to emerge during elections in a town as diverse as Hamtramck.
After a contentious debate over who to appoint as the new city manager, disparaging remarks by a Council member and a state investigation over voter fraud by an incumbent Council candidate,...
October 20th, 20170DEARBORN — Miscarriage and infant loss are not easy subjects of discussion for anyone, and especially not for those experiencing bereavement firsthand.
October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and there are initiatives in the Metro Detroit area and online to bring the conversation of pregnancy and infant loss out in the...
October 20th, 20170DEARBORN – It was an unfavorable outcome for some new candidates in Dearborn and neighboring cities' primary elections, but some might have another shot at making it into office on Nov. 7.
After a passionate debate on Tuesday, Oct. 17, The Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) endorsed candidates in the general elections...
