The Arab American News
Author's Posts
House of Commons passes security legislation
Facing a February 23 deadline set by the Supreme Court of Canada, the House of Commons passed a new law on February 4 authorizing security certificates for non-citizens deemed to be a potential danger to the country. The Court unanimously struck down the old one as a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it failed...U.S. Methodist Church renews drive for divestment from Israel
Tensions are re-emerging between Jewish organizations and some mainline Protestant churches in the wake of a renewed drive for churches to divest from companies doing business with Israel. The United Methodist Church opened discussions last Friday on a resolution calling for divestment from Caterpillar, the tractor manufacturer,...Lebanon: The show must go on
BEIRUT (IPS) A bomb tears through the bustling Chevrolet area on the outskirts of Beirut. Bad news travels fast: Captain Wissam Eid from the Internal Security Forces has been killed in the blast. This is a typical day for Lebanese citizens. The year 2007 has already been grim for most Lebanese businesses. Crisis after crisis has...Classic Arabic music in Ann Arbor
The golden age of Egyptian music has returned on "The Music of the Three Musketeers," (al-Fursan at-Talatha) by the Arabesque Music Ensemble. The three endearingly-labeled composers Zakariyya Ahmad, Muhammad al-Qasabji, and Riyad al-Sunbati wrote a large majority of pieces performed by the Arab world's most famous singer, Umm Kulthum...Legal issues surrounding citizenship
Be very careful if you leave the country for more than six months Because most of the issues I address in this article relate to holders of "Green Cards," I would like to address the term "Green Card." The card is now officially known as a "Permanent Resident Card." In fact, it's no longer even green in...Where’s the American Jewish condemnation?
For years now, I have heard demands that we Americans of Palestinian descent condemn various military actions taken by Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. And we do so, because innocents should never pay for the sins of their military forces and government. But I'd like to know if the American Jewish community will ever...
Lebanon edges closer to civil war
February 7th, 20080 BEIRUT There will be blood. That was the message this week in the neglected southern suburbs of Beirut. At least eight persons were killed and more than twenty injured when shots were fired at crowds of demonstrators protesting the power outages that have been plaguing their areas. Details of the incident that took place near the Mar...George Habash leaves legacy of resistance, violence
George Habash, known with affection as al-Hakim, the doctor, came to the end of his life without reaching his dream of Palestinian liberation. He was born in Lyd, Palestine in 1925 and saw al-Nakba first-hand as volunteer medical staff, then as a displaced Palestinian. After dedicating his life to the Palestinian cause, he was...Fallout from the Gaza earthquake
The mass break-out of some 700,000 Palestinians from Israel's open-air prison at Gaza has profoundly changed the political landscape of the Middle East. In magnitude, it can be compared to the impact on Europe of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Nothing will be the same again. There can be no return to the past. All the main actors in the...MLK Day observed with scholarships
DEARBORN After giving away $14,000 in scholarship money January 25 at Byblos Banquet Hall in Dearborn to students from throughout the region at their group's ninth annual Martin Luther King Day celebration, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) officials said to just wait until next year's event. First place ADC Martin...ACLU hosts conference on civil rights
DEARBORN The Metro Detroit Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Michigan held its "Reclaiming Our Rights" conference on Saturday, January 26, at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn. Detroit Branch NAACP Deputy Director Donnell White (l, at table), Dawud Walid, of the Council on American-Islamic Relations...People’s power in Gaza: They simply did it
In a radio interview prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, David Barsamian asked Noam Chomsky what ordinary Americans could do to stop the war. Chomsky answered, "In some parts of the world people never ask, 'what can we do? They simply do it." For someone who was born and raised in a refugee camp in Gaza, Chomsky's seemingly oblique...The sad, unfortunate State of the Union
The State of the Union address is officially a big deal. And it is always accorded an appropriate measure of attention by the television networks, members of Congress and the American people. But some State of the Union addresses are more equal than others. When George Bush addressed Congress in 2005, he did so as the most powerful man...Playing politics with the race card
An interesting article appeared recently in the liberal-lefty news website, Alternet, on the dirty tricks of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, designed by her to undermine her main rival, Barack Obama on racial and gender grounds during the Nevada primary. In it, Steven Rosenfeld wrote about how the Nevada State Education...Secretary of State wants to ease travel document requirements
LANSING Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land has urged swift approval of legislation that eases the identification burden on residents traveling to Canada, and also allows those who are in the U.S. legally but temporarily to apply for a driver's license or ID card. "Protecting our borders is critical in this post-911 world," Land told......
Fed cuts rates twice in one week
WASHINGTON (AP) The Federal Reserve delivered powerful new relief to people and businesses squeezed by the ailing economy Wednesday, cutting interest rates ever deeper in an effort to avert or at least soften the blow of a recession. The bold, half-point reduction approved by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and all but one of his...Creating a great Arab city
Dubai can serve as a model for growth elsewhere DUBAI I always find it exhilarating to visit Dubai, one of the most dynamic and visually spectacular examples of rapid urban growth in the world. Especially coming from Beirut, where I live, the contrasts are sharp and immediately felt: security vs. chronic political...Mike Gravel is right choice for Arabs, Muslims
As the Michigan Co-Director of the Mike Gravel for President campaign, I am writing to take issue with William Fisher's article, "American Muslim voters left out in the cold," and his statement, "Among candidates, the single exception appears to be Democrat Dennis Kucinich, an Ohio congressman and former mayor of Cleveland. He has...
Obama nixes Palestinian right of return
February 5th, 20080 Rudy Giuliani, the Republican former mayor of New York, and John Edwards, the Democratic former North Carolina senator, both dropped out of the U.S. presidential race this week. Giuliani, who finished third in Florida's Republican primary, endorsed John McCain, Arizona's senator, in his battle for the nomination. "John McCain......
Security Council loses credibility over Iran, Israel
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) The 15-member U.N. Security Council (UNSC) is set to lose its credibility once again as it prepares to impose a third set of sanctions on Iran while failing to pass any strictures on Israel for its continued heavy-handed repression of Palestinians in Gaza. "Many ask whether the UNSC still...
The breaking of the Rafah wall
February 5th, 20080 It looked like the fall of the Berlin wall. And not only did it look like it. For a moment, the Rafah crossing was the Brandenburg Gate. It is impossible not to feel exhilaration when masses of oppressed and hungry people break down the wall that is shutting them in, their eyes radiant, embracing everybody they meet to feel so even......
How Qatar helped Katrina victims
"We Are All Witnesses," a new book produced by the Qatar Katrina Fund, serves as a first hand account of the rebuilding of the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. In the wake of the hurricane, which hit the north-central Gulf coast in August of 2005, the State of Qatar was among the first countries to commit financial support to the...Hastings, Dingell urge Bush to address Iraqi refugee crisis
Washington Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) and Special Representative on Mediterranean Affairs for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, and Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of......