The Arab American News
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Video: Barcelona fans go wild for Palestinian rights during basketball game
February 14th, 20090 In a frenzied show of support for human rights in besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Barcelona basketball fans waved banners and shouted pro-Palestinian slogans during a Euroleague Top 16 game on Feb. 5, some of them storming the court before being dragged off by security. The game between FC Barcelona and Maccabi Electra...
UM-D students vote to study unethical investments
February 14th, 20090 The University of Michigan-Dearborn's student government body voted on Tuesday to form an ad hoc committee to study possible unethical investments within the university's endowment fund. University of Michigan-Dearborn philosophy professor David Skrbina addresses student government members during a meeting on Feb. 3. Skrbina...
Hampshire College to divest from companies supporting Israeli occupation
February 14th, 20090 Students for Justice in Palestine at Hampshire College launched a campaign to convince the college's board of trustees to withdraw the college's investments in six companies that support the Israeli occupation through their business activities. The board moved to pull its investments in over 200 companies, including the six listed in the...Will Obama break the law for Israel’s sake?
U.S. President Barack Obama answers a question from Hearst columnist Helen Thomas (L) during his first news conference as president in the East Room of the White House in Washington, February 9, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Reed Since entering office, President Barack Obama has promised sweeping changes in three aspects of governance:...
The PLO: Why an alternative and why the panic?
February 14th, 20090 Left: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in June 2008. Right:Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal speaks in Tehran in May 2008. REUTERS When Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal declared before a cheering crowd in Doha, Qatar, on Jan. 28, the need for a new leadership, his words generated panic amongst leaders of the West Bank-based...Arabs, stay in the street
Commentary I will sum up the transition in U.S. foreign policy as follows: in the Bush era, since September 2001, U.S. foreign policy entailed the orchestration of crisis that played on the twin themes of the "war against terror" and "those who aren't with us are against us." The Barack Obama era opened with the two central chords,...One thing Iraqis hold onto
Among things that have not changed in Iraq is one that I hope never changes. After a four-year-long absence, each of my meetings here with former friends and fresh acquaintances seems to suggest that adversity has taken its toll on everything except Iraqi hospitality and Iraqi generosity. I am awestruck to find the warmth of the Iraqi...Egypt hinders investigations into Gaza war
Egypt has refused entry into the Gaza Strip to members of an international committee in charge of investigating Israeli war crimes. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) set up the committee. Four French and Norwegian lawyers comprise the committee. The ICC had earlier started preliminary analysis into alleged...Thousands flee Afghanistan for Iran
It is early morning in the Maimana city bus station, and crowds of young men are waiting to board buses that will take them far away. Yuldash Mohammad, 27, stows his bags under the seat of a bus leaving for Balkh province, but his ultimate destination is Iran. "I am a farmer," he told IWPR. "I sold my bull and my farming equipment,...Kerry to meet Assad in Syria
U.S. Senator John Kerry U.S. Sen. John Kerry will meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad next week in Damascus. Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will be part of a congressional delegation visiting both Israel and Syria, according to media reports. Kerry's spokesman said the Assad meeting would be...Please, no more charades
James AbourezkAbe Foxman, head of the "Anti-Defamation League," claims that George Mitchell is too fair to be a broker between Israel and the Palestinians. I guess that Foxman, in denouncing the choice of Mitchell for Middle East negotiator, shows that he is accustomed to such impartial mediators as Dennis Ross, who, when he...Israeli elections reveal a shift to the right
Israelis voted with an obsession: the occupation. The results were mixed, but the overall picture is a shift to the right: use of force, not reason. Right wing parties which oppose withdrawal from the West Bank and East Jerusalem won the majority of parliamentary seats. Israel's Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu listens to...Muslim investors profit by adhering to faith
As credit markets have imploded, triggering a global economic crisis, Islamically correct investors have seen a change of fortune: The conservative principles this small group of devout Muslims clung to during the economic heyday has insulated them from the worst of the past year's suffering. Their renunciation of the interest-based...Digital delay gives unprepared communities more time to get ready, obtain coupons
WASHINGTON – Calling the delay in the conversion to digital TV broadcasting "a call to action" for communities across the country, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund (LCCREF) and New America Media (NAM) have stepped up their joint campaign to assist minority and low-income households with preparing for the...Obama urged to review position on landmines and cluster bombs
A U.S. Air Force bomber unleashes cluster munitions WASHINGTON — This week, leaders from 67 national organizations, including the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, representing a wide cross-section of American values and constituencies, issued a strong call for President Barack Obama to reconsider U.S.......
Muslim and Arab American leaders meet with New York mayor
NEW YORK — The Muslim Public Affairs Council - New York City (MPAC-NYC), together with other community groups, met with Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Wednesday to express their concerns about the mayor's "uncritical" support of Israel's recent attacks on Gaza. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg "In the interest of representing all...U.S. academics boycott Israel
An increasing number of American university professors have joined a U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel. Earlier in January, a group of American university professors launched a national campaign calling for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel, as the regime began its deadly military campaign in the...
Learn about two more Detroit mayoral candidates
February 14th, 20090 Detroit interim Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. Fresh off of his State of the City address last Tuesday, Detroit interim Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. will now turn his attention to the primary election, which takes place on February 24. Only the top two vote-getters in the election will move on to the May 5 final election for the position...
Community responds to Starbucks boycott
February 14th, 20090 DEARBORN — The debate over whether or not to boycott the Starbucks coffee company continues to be a hot topic among activists and Arab Americans in metro Detroit. A picketing of the west Dearborn Starbucks, 22155 Michigan Avenue, is expected to take place on Saturday, Feb. 21 from 4-8 p.m. Organizer Susan Hajhassan, 26, talked......
Dearborn news briefs
February 14th, 20090 DEARBORN — The Dearborn Firefighters Burn Drive is hosting a fundraiser for the care of an ailing six-year-old Dearborn girl, Meghan Salter, on Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Avenue. Dearborn Mayor Jack O'Reilly, Jr. (right, front), City Council President Tom Tafelski...
New sushi bar in Dearborn
February 13th, 20090 DEARBORN — For years, Dearborn lacked a focused place for sushi lovers to get their fix. But now that the Kabuki sushi bar and restaurant is in town, the drive time for a taste of their favorite rolls and other sushi delicacies has been cut a significant amount. "Our owner, K.J. Lee, used to talk to people from Dearborn all the......
The horror of Gaza witnessed
February 7th, 20090 A Palestinian girl carries her sister in front of a destroyed house in Jabalya, in the northern Gaza Strip, February 4, 2009. Thousands of Palestinians are living in tented camps after Israel's three-week assault on the Gaza Strip, hoping for a swift end to Israel's blockade so they can rebuild their homes. Reuters Over the...
Fordson seniors head to college football
February 7th, 20090 DEARBORN — Wednesday was National Signing Day across the country as high school seniors signed letters-of-intent to the schools of their choice, and the Dearborn Fordson Tractors were well represented with three players receiving college scholarships. Fordson head football coach Fouad Zaban (back) watches his players (from......
