The Arab American News
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Afghanistan could torpedo Obama’s domestic agenda
April 18th, 20090 President Obama (R) meets with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai of last year. Last week, the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on Afghanistan and Pakistan. It was revealed that the Obama administration is planning on sending an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan with no clear benchmarks for progress...Can the United States put pressure on Israel?
Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and now Barack Obama have all publicly stated that the United States seeks a "two-state" solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In other words, the United States supports the creation of a viable Palestinian state in virtually all of the West Bank and Gaza. The new Israeli government led by...
The killing of Islamic secularism
April 18th, 20090 Debate about the relationship between religion and state has been stifled by history – and the influence of a colonizing West. Ninety years ago in Egypt a new political party was formed. The Secular Party, as it was initially known, campaigned under the slogan: "Religion belongs to God, the homeland belongs to everyone." The...“Animal Farm” finds a Palestinian stage
Palestinian actors perform in a theater production of George Orwell's 1945 satiric novel "Animal Farm," at the Freedom Theater in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin last month. RAMALLAH — "Intifada," scream the animals as they chase Jones from the farm. Strobe lights flash and loud music blares as the packed audience sits...After army crackdown in Bekaa, some may end support for Hizbullah
After supporting an Army crackdown against lawlessness in the Bekaa Valley, the Shi'a organization faces a backlash from angry clan members ahead of June elections. Relatives carry the coffin of one of three soldiers during a funeral in Al-Abdeh village in north Lebanon on April 14. Four Lebanese soldiers were killed when...
Do you have your organ donor sticker?
April 18th, 20090 There are approximately 3,000 of our family members, friends and neighbors in Michigan currently awaiting an organ transplant—and the miracle of a second chance at life. For some, the wait for a donor organ may take years. For others, the phone call announcing that one has been found may never come. The difference a lifesaving...National news briefs: Dennis Ross sidelined at State Dept. over foreign agent status with Israel
WASHINGTON — Former pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) director Dennis Ross, named by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as her special envoy for Iran, has been sidelined at the State Department by Clinton's special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke, according to informed sources at the...Obama’s trip a success
U.S. President Barack Obama participates in a town hall meeting with university students at the Tophane Cultural Center in Istanbul April 7, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Reed The Obamas' European Odyssey was a success — despite the predictable complaints of some U.S. critics. The president and first lady took the continent by storm,...Can Israel go it alone on Iran?
Would Israel really attack Iran without at least tacit approval from Washington? Could Israel do so without such approval? At the very least, Israel would need approval simply to get permission to fly over Iraq, whose airspace is controlled by the U.S. military, not the Iraqi government in Baghdad. As columnist Aluf Benn put it in the...
Group assails MSU’s Tutu invitation
April 18th, 20090 EAST LANSING — Michigan State University announced last week that retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu would give this year's commencement address. Two days later, the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy organization, filed a protest. South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu In a letter to Michigan State...
Local imam traces history of Arab immigrants from Tibnin
April 18th, 20090 DEARBORN — A new documentary on the local Arab American community is to be screened at the Islamic House of Wisdom, 2575 Ann Arbor Trail in Dearborn Heights on Saturday. Sheikh Baqir Berry of the Islamic Institute of Knowledge studied film in Lebanon before coming to the U.S. and starting the Michigan Institute of Islamic Studies....Israel investigated, but will it repent?
Any variation of the words "Palestine" and "massacre" are sure to yield millions of results on major search engines on the World Wide Web. These results are largely in reference to hundreds of different dates and events in which numerous Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army or settlers. But references to massacres of similar...
Local Arab, Jewish groups to talk peace
April 18th, 20090 DEARBORN — In a gesture during the Jewish Passover holiday, Brenda Naomi Rosenberg of the Pathways to Peace Foundation presented Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), on his birthday, with a Reuniting the Children of Abraham Peacemaker award Tuesday. Brenda Rosenberg of the...
Car thefts on Warren Ave., across town
April 18th, 20090 DEARBORN — In the wake of last week's murder-suicide involving two students at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn, crime in the city has been a hot topic. Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad While the shooting was tragic, Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad said that residents shouldn't be worried about the shooting being a...
CIOM says FBI spying on Michigan Muslims
April 18th, 20090 WARREN — The Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan (CIOM) has asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to launch an investigation into complaints that Michigan Muslims are being approached by the FBI to spy on activities of Muslim congregations. Through coercion of certain members of congregations, the FBI is reportedly......
“Tayyar” official visits Michigan, speaks to community
April 18th, 20090 May Akl, press secretary for Lebanese MP Michel Aoun speaks in Troy on Monday. PHOTO: Khalil AlHajal/TAAN Dr. May Akl, press secretary for Lebanese MP Michel Aoun, of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), spoke at the San Marino Club in Troy on Monday. Akl spoke on fighting corruption in Lebanon as one of the key points in the...Don’t be an April fool when it comes to your economic recovery payment
No one likes being the target of an April fool's prank. If you're receiving Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, don't let anyone fool you regarding your special one-time recovery payment of $250 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. To make sure no one does, we'll state this as...Ebeid named Guardian Chairman
AUBURN HILLS — President of Guardian Glass Group Russell Ebeid has been named chairman of the board of Guardian Industries, following the March 13 death of former Guardian CEO and owner Bill Davidson. Guardian Industries Chairman Russell Ebeid Ebeid is a son of Lebanese immigrants. Also elected to the five-member board were...World news briefs: Obama makes surprise visit to Baghdad
BAGHDAD — President Barack Obama flew into Iraq on a surprise visit to see U.S. troops Tuesday, meeting about 1,500 carefully selected U.S. service members at a base located at one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces. U.S. President Barack Obama greets troops at Camp Victory in Baghdad, April 7, 2009. REUTERS/Jim Young Although......
Feith charged with sanctioning torture
Doug Feith, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, is best known for cooking up bogus prewar Iraq intelligence linking Iraq and al-Qaeda and 9/11. Former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Doug Feith But in addition to his duties stove piping phony intelligence directly to former Vice President Dick Cheney, Feith was...ADC addresses immigration reform on the Hill
Each week, ADC receives numerous inquiries about how and when comprehensive immigration reform will be passed. The Obama administration has indicated that the president will publicly address the issue in May, with hopes of having reform a reality before 2010. ADC has been addressing the issue of reform with Congressional members and......
Obama visits Turkey, reaches out to Muslims
April 11th, 20090 ISTANBUL (IPS) — On his first visit to a Muslim country this week, U.S. President Barack Obama proposed "a new chapter" in U.S. engagement with the Islamic world. He drew much praise, while some remain skeptical. U.S. President Barack Obama participates in a town hall meeting with university students at the Tophane Cultural...U.N. investigation into Gaza war crimes launched
The U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) this week announced the formation of a U.N. fact-finding mission to investigate war crimes during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip earlier this year. The appointment of South African judge Richard Goldstone, the chief U.N. prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former......
