Obama ends term on disappointing note over Mideast
CAIRO — Three years after he promised a rapt Cairo audience a shift in his country's unpopular Middle East policy, U.S. President Barack Obama goes to the polls leaving disappointment in a region swept by the Arab Spring.Obama's critics say he has not honored his pledges, such as settling the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, or improving...Is the detritus of the Iraq war harming the babies of Fallujah?
November 5th, 20120 Anecdotal tales of inexplicable sickness and deformities have abounded in Iraq for years. In their broad brushstrokes, they seem plausible. The first Gulf War had littered much of Iraq with depleted uranium from the armor-piercing bullets the U.S. used to destroy Saddam Hussein's retreating columns in1991. (The Monitor's Scott Peterson...Blame game sets off amid obvious divorce between Washington, Syrian SNC
The head of the main opposition Syrian National Council on Thursday blamed the international community's failure to react to the country's conflict for fueling Islamic extremist sentiment.The comments came a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the opposition should "strongly resist the efforts by the extremists to...Consider what’s at stake: Re-elect Barack Obama
November 3rd, 20120 Like most other Americans, the top five issues of importance to Arab American voters are jobs and the economy, education, health care policy, Medicare and Social Security, and civil rights. In almost every area, Arab Americans agree more with President Barack Obama's ideas and policies than with those of Governor Mitt...Eye on elections: Muslim voters disappointed with Obama, wary of GOP
November 3rd, 20120 SAN FRANCISCO — There are an estimated 8 million Muslim Americans living in the United States, with close to 100,000 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Four years ago, an overwhelming majority of them — close to 90 percent — voted for President Obama.But Javed Ali, founder and publisher of Illume Media based the East Bay city of...Dearborn School Board candidates discuss state school rankings, promise improvements
October 29th, 20120 DEARBORN - As Dearborn Board of Education members Aimee Blackburn and Mary Lane run for re-election they’re being struck with questions about the state of Michigan ranking some schools in the district as Focus Schools.Both Fordson and Edsel Ford High School among other schools received the title after some students performed below...Connie Kelley hopes to implement stronger family laws in Supreme Court
October 29th, 20120 LANSING — Michigan Supreme Court candidate Connie Kelley hopes that she can represent hard working middle class families if elected to serve in the highest level of court in the state of Michigan. After serving 27 years as a lawyer, Kelley followed that by holding a position in the Wayne County Circuit Court, where she currently serves...Obama lead shrinking in Michigan despite improved debate performances
The tightening of the Presidential race nationally has once again seeped into Michigan, and polling statistics show a huge opportunity for the Mitt Romney campaign in the latest Foster McCollum White Baydoun (FMW)B poll for Fox 2 News Detroit of Michigan's most likely voters. President Barack Obama and Romney, the Republican...Damascus agrees to four-day Eid ceasefire
Damascus announced it has agreed to a four-day ceasefire across Syria for the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, the ‘Feast of Sacrifice.’ The truce will begin on Friday. A member of the Free Syrian Army fires at a sniper as he runs for cover during clashes with pro-government forces in Harem town, Idlib Governorate, October, 25, 2012. ...Israel an apartheid state? A majority of Jews say yes
A majority of Israeli Jews admit they are living in an apartheid state, a recent survey claimed. Many also believed that Palestinians should be denied the right to vote, and suggested that Jewish citizens should be given preferential treatment.Some 500 Jewish adults took part in the survey, answering questions put together by a group of...Israel‘s formula for a starvation diet
Nazareth — Six and a half years go, shortly after Hamas won the Palestinian national elections and took charge of Gaza, a senior Israeli official described Israel’s planned response. “The idea,” he said, “is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.” A Palestinian woman sells vegetables on a...Bombing leaves Lebanon shaken
BEIRUT (IPS) — The assassination of Lebanon’s top security official on Friday not only ravaged a quiet Beirut neighbourhood but also shattered the precarious sense of security many Lebanese have been desperately clinging to in recent months.Wissam al-Hassan, chief of Lebanon’s internal security services, was killed by a massive car...U.S. Muslims could be critical voting bloc
October 29th, 20120 WASHINGTON (IPS) — With Barack Obama and Mitt Romney virtually tied with Election Day less than two weeks away, Muslim voters could play an unexpected critical role in deciding the outcome Nov. 6.A poll of 500 registered Muslim voters released here Wednesday found that more than two-thirds (68 percent) currently plan to vote for...U.S.: Greater Middle East dominates the last debate
October 29th, 20120 WASHINGTON (IPS) — U.S. strategy in the Greater Middle East, which has dominated foreign policy-making since the 9/11 attacks more than 11 years ago, similarly dominated the third and last debate between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney Monday night.The biggest surprise of the debate, which was supposed to be devoted...Soueidan lays out plans for revamping school district
DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Hamid Soueidan's appointment onto the Crestwood School Board in August gave Arab American parents a new voice to rely on, after months of public outcry demanding that the district show some form of representation for Arab American students. But Soueidan's relationship with Crestwood is nothing new, in fact, it traces......
Hussein says hope in students’ futures sparked interest for position
DEARBORN HEIGHTS — Zaineb Hussein started volunteering her time as a counselor and tutor to students at an after school program here long before she decided to launch a campaign to compete as a candidate for the Crestwood School Board. Hussein says she donates her time because she believes and cares about the futures of students....Dearborn City Hall accepting absentee ballots; Salamey campaign urges participation
October 19th, 20120 Two women show their absentee ballots at City Hall this week. PHOTO: Samer Hijazi DEARBORN — With the General Elections less than three weeks away, both local campaigns as well as the city of Dearborn have been spreading the word about the option for absentee ballot voting, which can be picked up at the city clerk's office at...Obama wins testy second debate
October 19th, 20120 UTICA, N.Y. - Let me begin by stating what has become obvious: these two guys do not like each other at all. The second obvious point is that this is a very clear choice between two very different men and governing philosophies. With that said, both men came out to cause some bleeding and both were quite good. But this round goes to the...U.S. troops on Jordanian–Syrian border as crisis goes global
AMMAN — A team of U.S. military planners is in Jordan to help the Amman government grapple with Syrian refugees, bolster its military capabilities and prepare for any trouble with Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Wednesday. A Syrian passenger plane which was forced to land sits at......
Salamey gears up for Election Day with grassroots initiative
DEARBORN — With less than four weeks to go until the general elections on November 6, 19th District Court Judge candidate Sam Salamey is shifting his campaign into high gear, capitalizing on the strong momentum built from his primary victory in August, which has since landed him an endorsement from AAPAC, who earlier this week...U.S.: Romney assails Obama’s “passivity” in foreign policy, Middle East
WASHINGTON — In what was billed as a major foreign policy address, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney Monday assailed Barack Obama for "passivity" in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy, arguing that it was "time to change course" in the Middle East, in particular.Dispensing with some of the neo-conservative rhetoric he has......
AAPAC issues endorsements, positions on crucial statewide proposals
October 12th, 20120 DEARBORN — The Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) announced its endorsements for the Nov. 6 General Election this week after its members convened at The Arab American News office here Monday evening for nearly three hours debating and voting on which candidates and statewide ballot proposals to support. AAPAC has...Drone flight over Israel: Nasrallah’s latest surprise
October 12th, 20120 Hizbullah leader says group has more surprises in store, won’t hesitate to use them in any future war with IsraelBEIRUT - Uncovering a new military and strategic surprise, Hizbullah’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has claimed that Hizbullah’s resistance movement was behind a drone infiltration of Israel. Nasrallah......