The Arab American News
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Will Obama change US foreign policy?
November 15th, 20080 Obama foreign policy may not require clean break WASHINGTON (IPS) — While much of the world and many of his U.S. supporters are expecting a sharp break with his predecessor's foreign policy after President-elect Barack Obama takes office Jan. 20, they may be surprised by the degree of continuity between the two...Yasser Arafat: Don’t forget Palestine
This past week marked the fourth anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat. We reprint here a tribute to the Palestinian leader. The late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after failed peace talks in 2000. For fifty years, Yasser Arafat — or Abu Ammar as he was more familiarly known — made the Palestinian cause his life's...
Fordson two games away from Ford Field
November 15th, 20080 With their victory over Detroit Cody last week, the Dearborn Fordson football team has done something that the program hasn’t done since 2003. They’ve made it to the third round of the playoffs. The Dearborn Fordson football team will have to play with as much intensity and focus as they did earlier in the year against...
A plea from Israel: Come, Obama, change my life
November 15th, 20080 Obama my dear, they tell me that you are going to change the world. Do me a favor, come and change my life personally. Come to Israel, grab its stupid leadership by the throat and take its foot off the neck of another people. Come and force us to do what is clear, and written, and fitting, and necessary, come and get us out of the...Closing for Jewish holidays ends at York U.
For 34 years, Toronto's York University shut down on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. The University of Windsor Law School also closed for these Jewish holidays. This practice has come to a halt in both institutions. At York, Professor David Noble, himself a Jew, defied the closure and held class on Rosh Hashana. He also filed a complaint...Judge Wygonik needs to issue a clear apology to the community
It has been four months since 19th District Court Judge Richard Wygonik came under fire for making disparaging comments about Arab Americans during a conversation with Dearborn Heights Councilman Tom Berry on July 10. There is no question about Berry's credibility. And the conversation was witnessed by another high-level...Letters to the Editor
Dear Mr. Siblani: I am proud that so many truly cared about a simple judicial election that the process provoked such passion in our community. It speaks volumes about Dearborn. But, we need to work together and celebrate our accomplishments, not our differences. And sometimes we have to agree to disagree Words cannot adequately...Have we been conned again?
If the change President-elect Obama has promised includes a halt to America's wars of aggression and an end to the rip-off of taxpayers by powerful financial interests, what explains Obama's choice of foreign and economic policy advisors? Indeed, Obama's selection of Rahm Israel Emanuel as White House chief of staff is a signal that...Rahm Emanuel is no reason for hope or celebration
Election night tens of millions of us wept for joy. We sang the songs that we had sung as young men and women when we were fighting segregation in the south and then in the north, some of us being beaten, others jailed, some even killed. For the first time in three decades we could sing "Imagine" and "The Times They are a'Changing"...You can stop the foreclosures
It was always happening to them, not us. Hurricanes, tornadoes, factory closings and foreclosures. We paid attention but didn't really care. People who had their sights on retirement have seen their life savings disappear right in front of their eyes, and people who worked for the Big Three, and felt secure, are now running in panic....
International peace activists spotlight Palestinian struggle
November 15th, 20080 DEARBORN — South African, Canadian and American advocates for Palestine addressed two crowds on Thursday at the University of Michigan, Dearborn, and at Byblos Banquet Hall, comparing South Africa's apartheid past to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and imploring people to be more active in pushing for a just...
Blight Busters empowering Detroit in tough times
November 15th, 20080 DETROIT — Blight Busters co-organized Angel's night here this past Halloween, mobilizing thousands of volunteers to patrol Detroit neighborhoods and helping to reduce the number of burnt homes from 327 last year to about 150. Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel, Jr. held a news conference in front of the spirit of Detroit statue during which he...
Pierce’s persistence pays off
November 15th, 20080 This past election season was unusually long and grueling for many. But for Judge Lynne Pierce, the journey to 3rd Circuit Court started back in 2001. Her 7-year effort to make her name a familiar one throughout Wayne County came to a successful end on Nov. 4, when she was elected to fill one of three open seats on the court, along...
Detroit Mayor, police chief speak at chamber event
November 15th, 20080 Meeting introduces new chamber director Fay Beydoun DEARBORN — Detroit Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr. addressed a group of Arab American businesspeople Wednesday during an American Arab Chamber of Commerce (AACC) reception at Byblos Banquet Hall, as the group introduced its new executive director, Fay Beydoun, ahead of its annual banquet...
City agrees to save woman’s home despite lawsuit
November 15th, 20080 DEARBORN — The city has helped a 61-year-old woman keep her home after she claimed she was injured and lost her job when she tripped on an elevated sidewalk slab in April. Dearborn resident Maria Gavrau and her attorney Rick Martin attempt to address City Council on Nov. 3. Martin was prevented from speaking about a pending......
Local Muslims help at end of woman’s life
November 15th, 20080 Tiffany Runyon (R) poses with her young son Gabriel. Runyon passed away due to liver failure. Her two kids are now living with their grandmother. Photo courtesy of Robert Evans Planning a funeral is not something people often talk about, but Connie Yassin and her daughter Tiffany Runyon had discussed it before. They had similar...
Muslim center holds singles nights
November 15th, 20080 Singles nights are events that many different religious institutions hold to give people a chance to meet someone special who shares their beliefs in a positive environment. But when Kathleen Mary Kalil looked around the Muslim community, she didn't see the same opportunities for people to meet each other. That's why she decided to...
Intermodal rail passenger facility proposed for Dearborn
November 15th, 20080 DEARBORN — The city is inviting the public to learn about a proposed intermodal passenger train station during an open house on Tuesday, November 18 at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, 15801 Michigan Avenue. The open house will be inside Studio A at The Center and is scheduled for 4:30-7:30 p.m., with a 45-minute...
Obama pressured to back off Iraq withdrawal
November 15th, 20080 WASHINGTON (IPS) — The promotion of Robert M. Gates as President-elect Barack Obama's secretary of defense appears to be the key element in a broad campaign by military officials and their supporters in the political elite and the news media to pressure Obama into dropping his plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq in as little as 16......
Corporate vows tested in West Bank
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) — A company that is a member of the U.N. Global Compact for corporate social responsibility has ties to production in an Israeli settlement on the West Bank considered illegal by the United Nations. A spokesperson for the company, Vileda, an international household products firm, said he was unaware of the...DEARBORN HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS Dearborn High School (7-4) Last week: Lost to Southfield, 20-17 in overtime Dearborn Fordson (11-0) Last week: Beat Detroit Cody, 16-6 This week: Third round of playoffs vs. Detroit Southeastern at home, 7 p.m. Friday...
Health conference draws 700 attendees
DEARBORN — The 5th National Conference on Health Issues in the Arab American Community drew in over 700 people from 15 Arab nations, 20 U.S. states, and 50 cities around the world. The conference discussed many common health concerns in the Arab American community such as the impact of tobacco use and cancer on the health of Arab...Museum program nets national award
WASHINGTON — SURA Arts Academy, an Arab American National Museum program that gives Dearborn youth the opportunity to learn and use photography to foster cultural understanding, is being nationally recognized as one of 15 U.S.-based youth arts and humanities programs to receive the prestigious 2008 Coming Up Taller Award.......
