New police chief named for Detroit
September 19th, 20080 DETROIT — Incoming Detroit Mayor Kenneth Cockrel announced James Barren, a psychologist and counter-terrorism expert who has spent time training Iraqi police, as the city's new chief of police. Barren, who spent 31 years on the force before his retirement four years ago, replaces former Chief Ella Bully-Cummings, who retired...To hell and back
It was one of the worst killing sprees of the twentieth century. The actual number is still in dispute, but as many as 3,000 unarmed men, women and children of the Sabra/Shatila refugee camps in west Beirut were systematically slaughtered by Lebanese Christian militiamen with Israeli help for the crime of being Palestinian. The...Israeli, Canadian water experts collaborate
Last month Israeli Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon and Efi Stenzler, head of the Jewish National Fund, returned from a visit to Manitoba with an agreement to share expertise. Manitoba experts will teach Israel about water conservation and Israeli experts will instruct Manitobans about water purification. Water is a major...
Noted anti-Zionist to make appearance in Dearborn
September 19th, 20080 Dearborn — Norman Finklestein, the resilient former Depaul University professor who resigned after an all out attack from the right-wing propagandist attorney Alan Dershowitz, will address the Metro Detroit community in an event open to the public and the media on Friday, Sept. 26. The speaking engagement was scheduled by local...
Obama campaign meets with Arab Americans
September 12th, 20080 Arab Americans listen to a group of high-level Barack Obama presidential campaign figures in a meeting at a Southfield banquet hall Tuesday. SOUTHFIELD – High-level Barack Obama campaign figures met with a group of Arab Americans on Tuesday to discuss foreign and domestic policy issues in an effort to shore up support from a...
Flint police chief revokes gag rule in response to ACLU lawsuit
September 12th, 20080 DETROIT — Flint Police Chief David Dicks will rescind his controversial gag rule on police officer speech to the press in response to a free speech lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan on behalf of three police union leaders. "We hope that Chief Dicks' announcement signals a change of heart and...
Group vows to continue vigils for peace
September 12th, 20080 Growing up in what he described as a "conservative Jewish home," Henry Herskovitz was oblivious to the happenings in Palestine. But a conversation with a stranger in 1985 on the holiday of Yom Kippur wound up as a life-changer for the current social activist. "I remember him telling me that Israel had the fourth-largest...
Arab Americans attend state convention
September 12th, 20080 It's become a yearly trip for local Arab American Democrats, but with one of the most important elections in recent memory looming, this year's Michigan Democratic Convention seemed a little more important. The September 6 event in Lansing was deemed successful by Taleb Salhab, who is a member of the executive committee of the...
New water meters put an end to estimated bills
September 12th, 20080 DETROIT—Estimated water bills for Detroit residents are becoming a thing of the past, a concept that east side resident Nicola Singal finds reassuring. Singal recently had new, high tech water meter equipment installed in her home as part of the Detroit Water Automated Meter Reading (AMR) program, an initiative of the Detroit...
Gregg Brighton named Dearborn deputy police chief
September 12th, 20080 DEARBORN — Dearborn Mayor John B. O'Reilly, Jr., has selected Commander Gregg A. Brighton as deputy chief of the police department. In his new post, Brighton will oversee police department operations while the selection process continues to fill the post of Chief of Police, left vacant by Chief Michael Celeski's sudden passing on...The Afghan tragedy
John W. Warnock. Creating a Failed State. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Fernwood Publishing, 2008. If you want just one book that gives you the story of the Afghan tragedy, this is it. Warnock, a retired professor of economics and sociology, covers all the essentials—a capsule history of the country up to the present,...Catering to Israel
James Petras. The Power of Israel in the United States. Atlanta: Clarity Press, 2006. This book is something of a mixed bag. There are many interesting, provocative observations and analyses, but there are also some occasions where Petras fails to make the case. Let's start with some of the more generally...
W. Deen Mohammed, 74, dies
September 12th, 20080 Imam W. Deen Mohammed, a son of the Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, who renounced the black nationalism of his father's movement to lead a more traditional and racially tolerant form of Islam for black Muslims, died on Tuesday in Chicago. He was 74. The death was confirmed on the blog of Dawud Walid, executive director of...
Nader pleads for change in two party system
September 12th, 20080 Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader during a Detroit campaign rally at First Unitarian-Universalist Church. PHOTO: Khalil AlHajal Presidential politics is a theater of the absurd, according to independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who said he recently had to participate in a debate with Triumph the Insult Comic...
Ramadan Mubarak
September 6th, 20080 Muslims around the world began observing the holy month of Ramadan this past week. Many will fast from dawn to dusk for the entire month, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Muslims believe the Qur'an was first revealed to the Prophet Mohammed during this month. The streets of east Dearborn, as in many places around the......
ADC to recognize judicial excellence
September 6th, 20080 DEARBORN — The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) Michigan will recognize excellence in the judicial community during its 7th annual Judges Night reception, on September 23, 2008, at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center in Dearborn. This annual event is organized and hosted by ADC Michigan's Advisory Board, chaired...
Officials recognize Ramadan, offer warm wishes to American Muslims
September 6th, 20080 Marking the beginning of Ramadan, a number of elected officials at various levels circulated statements recognizing the Islamic holy month. "The holy month of Ramadan is a special time of prayer, fasting and service," read a statement from President George W. Bush. "I thank the men and women of the Muslim community for their...
Ghamloush brothers corner the market
September 6th, 20080 DEARBORN — Many people dream of getting a chance to travel across Europe. But it took a nightmare for Joe Ghamloush to get that chance. Ghamloush, owner of three businesses on the corner of Warren and Chase roads in East Dearborn including Arabica Bistro and Coiffure D'Elegance Salon, was forced to leave his home and salon...
Community gets involved
September 6th, 20080 Amirah Kaid, 26, a supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, holds up a bobblehead doll in the likeness of the Illinois senator during a watch party at a Dearborn restaurant for his speech at the Democratic National Convention on August 28. Obama campaign leaders in Michigan are scheduled to meet with Arab Americans......
Auto leases suspended for most vehicles
September 6th, 20080 DEARBORN — After a pricing competition that has hurt dealerships' bottom lines, GM and Chrysler have suspended leasing programs for many cars across the country. Local sales consultants say that the problem has become as big in Michigan as it has anywhere else, if not worse, because of the prevalence of leases leading to big...
Nader to rally in Detroit
September 6th, 20080 Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader After two weeks of intense media focus on the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, independent candidate Ralph Nader intends to have his voice heard as he tours the Midwest gathering support for his anti-war, anti-corporate message. Nader, who is Arab American, is......
Mayor attracts audience
September 6th, 20080 Reporters and curious citizens camped out in front of the Manoogian Mansion waiting for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to leave for his final address to the city in the hours following his resignation Thursday. Some citizens were supporters while others, like Joseph Salmassi (right), 21, and Mohamed Kaddoura, 18, both Arab Americans...
Bully-Cummings retires as Detroit Police Chief
September 6th, 20080 DETROIT — Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings, who was appointed by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, announced her retirement Thursday through a news release minutes after Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two felonies and agreed to resign. Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee and Assistant Chief Robert Dunlap will handle the affairs of the......
