New Senate bill would designate, punish organizations deemed to be affiliated with Muslim Brotherhood
February 10th, 20170 The Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act, now pending in Congress, is a new piece of legislation following in step with Trump’s travel ban. Introduced in January by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), the act is intended to “protect against the violent jihad carried out by the Muslim Brotherhood affiliates both in the United States and in...
Arab American lawmakers push back against discriminatory Michigan bills
February 10th, 20170 Julia Kassem The Arab American News LANSING— In response to the growing tide of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim legislation put forth by Donald Trump’s executive orders, Michigan legislators have pushed forth— as well as against— legislation pertaining to Trump’s immigration ban and assault on sanctuary cities. Arab...
Confronting the culture of conspiracy
February 10th, 20171 By Julia Kassem The Arab American News DEARBORN— While the United States faces a battle with fake news that reflects the misinformed vitriol definitive of the political climate, the Arab world has faced its share of ongoing problems of politicized and polemical misinformation. The irony is that such false information,...
ACCESS hosts emergency town hall to fight Trump’s Muslim ban
February 3rd, 20171 DEARBORN—On Wednesday, ACCESS’s Take on Hate campaign organized an emergency town hall in response to President Trump’s executive order on immigration. The event, originally scheduled for the Arab American National Museum, had to be moved to the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center to accommodate the unexpectedly large...
Pushing for sanctuary cities amidst institutional racism
February 2nd, 20170 By Julia Kassem The Arab American News Detroit is poised in a peculiar position. In 2014, it became a “welcoming city”, joining 40 other cities across the country, such as Boston, Los Angeles and Boise, in adopting the voluntary designation. 2014 was also the year Flint began to face the contamination of its water supply...
Does protesting work?
February 2nd, 20170 Does protest work? By Julia Kassem The Arab American News Street protests are all the rage these days. They're also displays of a lot of rage. Demonstrations, marches and the like never had a chance to become passe in systems of power unmitigated by oppression and wealth disparity. Protest entered the Western discourse...
LAHC declines CVE grant
January 29th, 20171 DEARBORN- After the Department of Homeland Security awarded Dearborn’s Leaders Advancing and Helping Communities a Countering Violence Extremism (CVE) grant, the group ended up declining it Thursday night, according to a press release. The community group sought funding for existing programs, focused on youth development,...
Arab American joins WXYZ-TV as anchor/reporter
January 29th, 20171 SOUTHFIELD – Born and raised in Detroit, Ameera David has returned to her hometown to work at WXYZ/WMYD as a 7 Action News anchor/reporter after hosting “Boom Bust,” RT America’s flagship financial news program, headquartered in Washington D.C. The show airs daily and is broadcast to 700 million homes in over 100...
Henry Ford Museum officially changes name
January 29th, 20170 DEARBORN - On Monday, the Dearborn tourist destination The Henry Ford announced that it will change the name of the Henry Ford Museum to Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. “Henry Ford Museum has always been about ideas and innovations that changed the world,” Moordian said. “We believe adding the word innovation to...
Warren city officials call on Fouts to investigate himself
January 29th, 20170 WARREN — On Tuesday, Warren City Council called for its battered mayor to inspect the recordings that appeared in the past month of him or someone else disparaging disabled people, older women and African Americans. The plan passed 4-3 and asks the mayor to use state and local agencies to help him find the source and verify the...
Women’s group to hold third annual networking event
January 29th, 20170 DEARBORN - On Thursday Feb. 2, the Arab American Women’s Business Council will teach community professionals the art of networking and give them the opportunity to catapult their businesses or careers at their annual Speed Networking Event. “This is the 3rd Annual AAWBC Speed Networking Event and we normally get between 30-50...
Race politics: Racializing Islam and seeing beyond stereotypes
January 29th, 20170 DEARBORN— In today’s political climate, many people overlook the difference between the “religious” and the “fanatical”, as the media often hastily interlaces those terms when it comes to Islam. Western media have regularly designated persons who allegedly follow Islam and have committed atrocious crimes as Muslims in...Metro Detroit’s DACA immigrants anxious about new administration
By: Julia Kassem DEARBORN— President Obama’s second term ushered in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act (DACA), legislation that protected immigrants from deportation by securing resident and immigration rights for children of undocumented immigrant parents. Since DACA was enacted, more than 600,000 young...
Detroit man executed outside son’s school
January 26th, 20170 DETROIT- Police are investigating the execution of a father in front of his son's school in southwest Detroit on Wednesday morning. Police said, after he dropped his son off and the boy entered Mark Twain Elementary School, the father was shot in the head by a suspect who was sitting in the backseat of a victim’s car. The suspect...
3-year-old killed by collapsed table at Dearborn Heights head start identified
January 26th, 20170 DEARBORN HEIGHTS- On Monday, family identified the 3-year-old girl, who died Friday morning when a cafeteria table fell from the gymnasium wall and struck her at a Dearborn Heights head start, as Lilliana Jade Kerr. The Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, which runs the Head Start program at the school, expressed condolences......
Gene Hunt takes oath of office as Dearborn District Court judge
January 25th, 20170 DEARBORN, Michigan - Gene Hunt, the newest judge on the 19th District Court, received salutes and a resonant ovation in the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center on Mon., Jan. 23, as he took the oath of office. Hunt, a long-time attorney, was embroiled in a fierce 10-month campaign for the seat. “This is the largest audience...
Federal Middle Eastern officers inspire youth to pursue law enforcement careers
January 21st, 20170 DETROIT – As Arab and Muslim Americans prepare to reciprocate Donald Trump’s harsh scrutiny following the fruition of promised policies, a group of federal law enforcement officers are working to bridge the gap between themselves and a community critical of government. The Middle Eastern Law Enforcement Officers Association...
Lebanese-born game designer makes Forbes 30 under 30 list
January 19th, 20170 Beirut native Khaled Abdel-Rahman REDWOOD CITY— Beirut native Khaled Abdel-Rahman, who came to the U.S. on a student visa to earn his master’s degree in computer science from the University of Southern California, has made the 2017 Forbes 30 under 30 games list. Only 25-years-old, Abdel-Rahman has worked on the concept and design...
Community stands in solidarity with public education
January 19th, 20170 DEARBORN — Many of Donald Trump's cabinet nominees have been met with a wave of sharp criticism; and that holds especially true for Michigan's own Betsy Devos, Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education. DeVos was the Republican National Committeewoman for Michigan from 1992 to 1997 and served as chairwoman of the Michigan......
Actress Kathy Najimy to lead hijab march during Trump’s inauguration
January 19th, 20170 WASHINGTON - Lebanese-American actress Kathy Najimy is prepared to wear a hijab to stand in solidarity with Muslim women on Trump’s inauguration day. Najimy, best known for starring in "Sister Act" and Disney’s "Hocus Pocus," recommended women attending an anti-inauguration march in Washington on Friday wear a scarf around their...
Western Union apologizes for discriminating against Dearborn resident
January 18th, 20170 DEARBORN - Following a complaint against the Western Union by the Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL) that alleged it was discriminating against Arab and Muslim customers, the money-transfer giant has issued an apology on at least one case. Complainant Haidar Abdallah, a Dearborn resident, and a U.S. citizen, claimed that he had......
Former Dearborn residents share why they moved away
December 2nd, 20160 DEARBORN — Arab Americans living outside the eighth largest city in Michigan perceive it in both a somewhat positive and negative light. Many former Dearborn residents moved to nearby cities like Dearborn Heights, Northville, Bloomfield Hills, Livonia or townships like Canton. Others decided to move out of the state. When...
Why the former Dearborn city clerk is under investigation for embezzlement
December 2nd, 20160 DEARBORN — Exclusive details about a murky embezzlement case centered around now-retired Dearborn City Clerk Kathleen Buda have emerged, revealing the reasons State Police raided City Hall last December.On Dec. 16, 2015, Michigan State Police investigators obtained a warrant and seized several boxes of documents and other......
