Israel, Gaza reach ceasefire agreement after weekend of rocket attacks, airstrikes
May 6th, 20190 GAZA — An Egyptian-mediated ceasefire agreement was reached with Israel on Monday to end a weekend of violence in the Gaza Strip and Israel, a report from Reuters said. “The ceasefire understanding will begin Monday 04:30 (01:30 GMT)” a Palestinian official familiar with the agreement said to the news agency. The fighting was...
Gaza laments deadly start to Ramadan, amid funerals and destruction
May 6th, 20190 GAZA - After two sleepless days and nights of Israeli shelling and Palestinian rocket fire, Gazans on Monday faced a first day of Ramadan overshadowed by funerals and the grim task of pulling bodies from collapsed buildings. As dawn brought a ceasefire of uncertain duration, few Palestinians in the impoverished coastal enclave were...
France and the EU, recognizing yet supporting apartheid reality in Palestine
May 3rd, 20190 A recent statement made by the outgoing French ambassador to the U.S. regarding the nature of Israeli apartheid accentuates a larger ailment that has afflicted the European Union foreign policy. The EU is simply gutless when it comes to confronting Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. Ambassador Gerard Araud was, of course,...
Local self-proclaimed cleric Mohammad Hajj Hassan embroiled in scandal, condemned by High Islamic Council
May 3rd, 20190 DEARBORN — The Dearborn-based Shia cleric Mohammad Hajj Hassan, who is the so called leader of the Free Shia Movement, has been the center of controversy following the release of pictures on social media that show him naked and allegedly indulging in adulterous sexual activity. The pictures were circulated widely over Facebook,...
Dr. Mohamad Hakim of Beaumont Dearborn dies at 59, shocks community
May 3rd, 20190 DEARBORN - One of Dearborn's beloved surgeons, Dr. Mohamad Hakim, M.D., P.C., passed away on April 24 following a massive heart attack. Hakim, 59, was a physician/surgeon who was recently elected as the chief of staff at Beaumont Hospital of Dearborn. Hakim practiced medicine for 27 years after graduating from Wayne State...
Notre Dame of Gaza: Our mosques and churches are also burning
April 26th, 20190 As the 300-foot spire of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris tragically came tumbling down on live television, my thoughts ventured to Nuseirat Refugee Camp, my childhood home in the Gaza Strip. Then, also on television, I watched as a small bulldozer hopelessly clawed through the rubble of my neighborhood mosque. I grew up around that...
From Peddling to Prophecy: Arab American journalism history told in a photo exhibition
April 26th, 20190 DETROIT – On Friday, April 12, the Lebanese Consulate in Detroit hosted an exhibition featuring journalists' works entitled "From Peddling to Prophecy.” It was organized by U.N. journalist Samar Nader in collaboration with the two universities in Lebanon — The Holy Spirit and the Lady of Luiza. The exhibition was held at the...
Police arrest Florida man for threatening calls to Tlaib, others
April 24th, 20190 Washington — Police have arrested a Florida man and charged him with making threats by phone last week to freshman U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Detroit, and two other Democratic lawmakers in Congress. Police say John J. Kless of Tamarac, Florida, called Tlaib and left threatening and profane voicemail messages. Sen. Cory Booker...
Netanyahu: Israel to name new town on Golan after Trump
April 23rd, 20190 OCCUPIED GOLAN HEIGHTS - Israel said on Tuesday it would name a new community on the occupied Golan Heights after President Trump as an expression of gratitude for his recognition of its claim of sovereignty over the strategic plateau. Israel captured the Golan from Syria in a 1967 war and annexed it, against international law. The...
War versus peace: Israel has decided and so should we
April 19th, 20190 So, what have we learned from the Israeli legislative elections on April 9? A whole lot. To start with, don’t let such references as the “tight race” between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his main rival, Benny Gantz, fool you. Yes, Israelis are divided on some issues that are particular to...
Americans have the right to hear from the leader of BDS movement
April 19th, 20190 I awakened early Wednesday to listen to a voicemail message from Omar Barghouti, a leading member of the Palestinian movement to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) Israel. In the message, Omar told me that he was at Ben Gurion Airport and despite holding a valid U.S. visa and a boarding pass for his flight to Washington, D.C., the...
Christianity growing in Syrian town once taken over by ISIS
April 19th, 20190 KOBANI, SYRIA — A community of Syrians who converted to Christianity is growing here, according a report from Reuters. Kobani, a town besieged by ISIS militants for months, has seen a wave of new converts to Christianity after many say the experience of war and the onslaught of a group claiming to fight for Islam pushed them toward...
U.S. official: Washington will not remove Sudan from terror list while military rules
April 18th, 20190 WASHINGTON - The United States will not remove Sudan from the state sponsor of terrorism list until the country’s leadership and policies change and the military no longer holds power, a U.S. official said on Tuesday. “We will be willing to look at removing Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism if there is...
Runaway Saudi sisters fear death, plead for world’s help
April 18th, 20190 TBILISI - Two Saudi sisters took to Twitter on Wednesday to plead for international protection and a safe haven, saying their lives would be at risk if they went back to Saudi Arabia. The women, in their 20s, said they had arrived in the former Soviet republic of Georgia and needed help from the international community to find a new...
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement co-founder denied entry by U.S. government
April 12th, 20190 Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli financial interests, has been denied entry to the United States after airline staff informed him he wouldn't be flying. Barghouti was at Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday when he was told by U.S.......
Trump congratulates Netanyahu: “U.S. with you and Israel all the way!”
April 12th, 20190 WASHINGTON, DC — President Trump phoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to congratulate him on his re-election, and Netanyahu said he thanked his ally for “tremendous support for Israel.” Netanyahu tweeted that Trump had called him from Air Force One. The president was on a flight to Texas. Netanyahu...
For Palestinians, it doesn’t matter who wins the Israeli elections
April 12th, 20190 Israeli elections have just concluded and the results indicate that Benjamin Netanyahu is set to win a fifth term as Israeli prime minister. The race between Netanyahu and his strongest challenger, Benjamin Gantz, who is a former chief of staff of the Israeli military forces, was very tight. But even if Gantz and his associated political...
The unfinished Gaza war: What Netanyahu hopes to gain from attacking Palestinian prisoners
April 12th, 20190 The current violence targeting Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails dates back to January 2. It was then that Israel’s public security minister, Gilad Erdan, declared that the “party is over.” “Every so often, infuriating pictures appear of cooking in the terrorist wings. This party is coming to an end,” Erdan was quoted in...
Standing up for Golan and Jerusalem: Dearborn rally held in defiance of Trump, Netanyahu
April 11th, 20190 DEARBORN — A rally was held inside the Dearborn Civic Center on Sunday, April 7 in defiance of President Trump and newly re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proclamation that the Golan Heights belongs to Israel, a move that has been denounced by many as being illegal under international law. Hosted by the local......
State Dept. warns Americans of kidnapping risk: Lebanon among other Arab states on the list
April 11th, 20190 WASHINGTON, DC - Due to the increased risk of American citizen abductions, the U.S. State Department has updated its travel advisories for 35 countries, with a new indicator to highlight the risk of kidnapping and hostage taking. Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen and Libya are the Arab states on the list. The...
Israeli elections: Netanyahu wins the 2019 election
April 9th, 20190 By Farah Harb The Arab American News TEL AVIV — Despite legal trouble and after a tight race, Benjamin Netanyahu will continue to be Israel's prime minister. He will now be able to form a governing coalition able to withstand a bribery indictment by Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit, according to the results of the April 9......
Jerusalem’s Bishop Attallah Hanna visits Metro Detroit next week
March 27th, 20190 LIVONIA — The Palestine Aid Society of America will be hosting Jerusalem's Bishop Atallah Hanna on Sunday, March 31 at St. Mary's Cultural Center in Livonia. Hanna will serve as a keynote speaker during the Day of the Land Commemoration. Born in the Galilean village of Al Rameh, Theodosius (Atallah) Hanna attended Thessalonica...
Ivy League university passes divestment referendum in favor of Palestinians
March 22nd, 20190 PROVIDENCE, RI —The student coalition at Brown University, a prestigious Ivy League school with an enrollment of nearly 7,000 students, has passed a landmark divestment referendum. The coalition, Brown Divest, garnered around 69 percent of the vote in favor of divestment, according to an article from the Brown Daily Herald. The......
