The Arab American News
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Bloody showdown looming if unity talks fail
RAMALLAH – Egyptian mediators have set July 7 as deadline for final Palestinian reconciliation talks in Cairo. The Egyptians say time is running out, and if there is no progress in July, they will no longer be prepared to arbitrate. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal makes a speech during a rally in Damascus June 25, 2009....Seeing through all the propaganda about Iran
WASHINGTON — Iran's political crisis continues to blaze. It's still impossible to say which leaders or factions will emerge victorious, but one thing is certain: the earthquake in the Islamic Republic is shaking the Mideast and deeply confusing everyone, including the U.S. government. Highlighting the complexity of this crisis, Meir...
Democratic principles selectively applied
June 27th, 20090 Knowing things with metaphysical certainty when most of the world is operating under carefully constructed myths is painful. Why? Knowing things that others do not fosters a sense of existential loneliness and makes polite conversation about many important things all but impossible. Supporters of Iranian protesters hold a...Election law reproduces elite, preserves their power
Lebanon's June 7 national election was a box office success. It had it all: shady politicians, foreign intrigue, bribes, beautiful women, meddling religious figures, sectarian agitation, recently exposed spy rings, fundamentalists collaborating with capitalists, the poor and oppressed voting for the rich and privileged. Druze...Opposition ponders uncertain future
TYRE (IPS) — A large highway cuts through the green hills connecting Lebanon's south to the Mediterranean Sea. Here, nestled amid banana trees and colorful bougainvillaea bushes, lies the city of Tyre, a bastion of the Shi'a community and a significant base of the Lebanese opposition. Now, following the parliamentary elections and the...Arabs need bargaining power
In their reaction to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech, Palestinians and Arabs have unanimously rejected his conditions for a two-state solution. In a major political speech, Netanyahu said Israel would accept the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state only if Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish...Time for immigration reform is now
Editor's Note: This editorial was produced in association with New America Media (www.newamericamedia.org), a national association of ethnic media, and was published by ethnic media across the country this week to bring attention to the urgency of immigration reform. The White House and members of Congress must move quickly on...Seeing through Israel’s delay tactics
The growing divide between the Obama administration and the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's expansion of its West Bank settlements has led to delay tactics by Israel. President Obama must see through them and press his criticism or risk losing credibility among Arabs. Children of Jewish...
Mother of hit-and-run victim dies in Lebanon
June 27th, 20090 Shadia Faraj, the mother of one of two cousins killed in a Detroit car crash on May 17, died of a heart attack on June 19 in Lebanon, according to family members. She was 41. Shadia Faraj Faraj, who lived in Dearborn, went to Lebanon in May to oversee the burial of her son and nephew, whose bodies were sent there to be...Summer festivals in full swing
An estimated 260,000 people attended the 14th Annual Arab International Festival on Warren Avenue in Dearborn last weekend to enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of Arab culture. An elderly vendor sells worry beads during the Dearborn Arab International Festival on June 19. PHOTOS: Natasha Dado/TAAN The number was down from an...Internationally-known activist to speak at Palestine event
DETROIT — Regina Birchem, former president of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), is expected to make an appearance at an event addressing Palestinian human rights July 1 at the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit, 111 E. Kirby Street in Detroit at 7 p.m. Regina Birchem Birchem...Iraq ambassador addresses local aid fundraiser
FARMINGTON HILLS — About 300 people gathered in the Farmington Hills Manor last week as Iraq's ambassador to the U.S. Samir Sumaida'ie keynoted a first annual fundraising gala for local charity For Victims of War and Poverty, founded by pharmacist Nidhal Garmo. Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. Samir Sumaida’ie PHOTO: Jessica...Huge crowd turns out for ACC job fair
The Arab American and Chaldean Council’s first job fair in Hamtramck ran from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Wednesday, but that didn’t stop swarms of applicants from lining up as early as 8 a.m. for the chance to speak with employers. About 400 job seekers attended the ACC's first-ever job fair in Hamtramck on Wednesday. PHOTO: Tariq...Company urges perseverance in foreclosure fight
DEARBORN — With the potential for as many as ten million American people facing home foreclosure in the next 3-5 years, it's no wonder that tons of organizations are popping up in an attempt to help. LoanMod.com co-founder and CEO Moose Scheib started his company in Dearborn in 2006 to help save homeowners from the ravages...
New hope for Carter in peacemaking?
June 19th, 20090 Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (C front row) poses for a photo with senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (2nd row) and Palestinian children in Gaza City June 16, 2009. Carter met the children, who lost relatives during the three-week offensive Israel launched in Gaza last December, during his one-day visit to Gaza.......
Convention celebrates new era of hope and change
June 19th, 20090 Arab Americans from across the country descended on Washington, DC last weekend for what has become an annual tradition in the nation’s capital. Former U.S President Bill Clinton with ADC President Mary Rose Oakar during ADC's national convention in Washington on June 13. PHOTO: ADC The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination...Arab festival this weekend
DEARBORN — The Lebanese American Heritage Club, the American Arab Chamber of Commerce, ACCESS and the city of Dearborn will host the 14th annual Dearborn Arab International Festival this weekend, June 19-21. The event is the largest Arab festival in the nation. The festival will occupy more then half a mile of Warren Avenue and...ACLU report blasts terror financing laws and investigations
WASHINGTON (IPS) — Muslim charities in the United States are subject to unfair treatment by the government under terrorism financing laws, according to a new report that says the effect has been a chill on charitable giving that violates Muslims' right to freely practice an important requirement of their religion. The...Iraqi cultural attaché builds bridges
For the last three decades or so, Iraq has suffered tremendously from wars, destruction, economic sanctions, foreign invasion, occupation and the horror of sectarian strife and ethnic clashes. Perhaps the most horrifying loss inflicted on Iraq besides civilian casualties is the loss of Iraqi scientists, professionals, experts and......
The people fight back in Detroit
June 19th, 20090 DETROIT — As voices of anger and frustration echoed through the air at Grand Circus Park in Detroit on Tuesday, many onlookers couldn't help but stop by to see what all the noise was about. Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, center, and Reverend Edwin Rowe, L, of Central United Methodist Church in Detroit. PHOTO: NIck...Lebanon’s intelligence war with Israel
BEIRUT— Israel's ability to wage another war against Hizbullah may have been compromised by an unprecedented wave of arrests of people in Lebanon alleged to have been spying for the Israelis. Experts say the arrests appear to add up to a major strategic blow to Israel. Mobile phone footage circulating in Beirut shows one of the......
Netanyahu offers a state and a half
Could Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu become the Richard Nixon of the Middle East, as Barack Obama invited him to do? Could he break with his hard-line past and reach out to the Palestinians the way Nixon did with the Chinese? Or will he pay lip service to peace even as he does everything he can to keep the Palestinians from...Anger, arrogance cause quandary in Iran
Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi (C waving) speaks to supporters at a rally in Tehran June 18, 2009. REUTERS Friday, June 12, 2009 was a dynamic day in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thirty years after its establishment under the leadership of Imam Khomeini, the Iranian democracy should......
