Embracing inclusivity: Accommodating Ramadan in our community’s theatrical performances and events
April 12th, 20230 By Rashid Baydoun In Metro Detroit, particularly in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, our cities are home to a large Muslim community who actively participate in and support the local arts. However, the scheduling of events and performances during the holy month of Ramadan has posed challenges for our Muslim community members who wish to...
Lying about lying: Why we must revisit the definition of “fake news”
April 4th, 20230 The phrase “fake news” continues to be deployed routinely in U.S. politics. In a polarized political atmosphere, both Republicans and Democrats distrust media organizations affiliated with opposing parties. This means that most of what is uttered or written by CNN is “fake news” for Republicans, and much of what appears in...
Xi’s “chilling” remarks: A multipolar world offers challenges and opportunities to the Middle East and Africa
March 29th, 20230 The final exchange, caught on camera between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian host and counterpart, Vladimir Putin, sums up the current geopolitical conflict, still in its nascent stages, between the United States and its Western allies on the one hand, and Russia, China and their allies, on the other. Xi was...
Mass protests and false hope: Israel’s supreme court is no friend of the Palestinian people
March 16th, 20230 As hundreds of thousands, throughout Israel, joined anti-government protests, questions began to arise regarding how this movement would affect, or possibly merge, into the wider struggle against the Israeli military occupation and apartheid in Palestine. Pro-Palestine media outlets shared, with obvious excitement, news about...
Victory is defeat: Palestinian children’s art exposes Israel’s cultural genocide
March 10th, 20230 The following text tells the whole story of what pro-Palestinian communities around the world are fighting for, and what pro-Israelis are fighting against: “We are delighted to report that Chelsea and Westminster Hospital has removed a display of artwork designed by children from Gaza.” That was the summary of a news report...
True champions of humanity in Türkiye and Syria: We thank you
February 22nd, 20230 On February 7, a funeral was held in the northern Syrian town of Jinderis. It was one of numerous such funerals to be held on that day across Syria and Türkiye, following a devastating earthquake that killed and injured thousands. Each one of these funerals represented two seemingly opposite notions: Collective grief and collective...
Opinion: Syria held hostage by the U.S. and its allies
February 17th, 20230 By Nimri Aziz Perhaps the most agonizing experience for a family, for any bystander, even for humanitarian professionals, is a double tragedy —a death or calamity where they are refused access, where they are forced to helplessly witness suffering, unable to offer succor. This is surely what faces millions of able-bodied Syrians...
Two cheers for Matt Gaetz’s Ukraine war resolution
February 16th, 20230 By Thomas L. Knapp On February 9, U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and 10 Republican co-sponsors introduced a resolution "expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States must end its military and financial aid to Ukraine, and urges all combatants to reach a peace agreement." When Matt Gaetz is...
The passing of prominent Lebanese American Dr. Daher Boutros Rahi
February 10th, 20230 By Chris Rahi Kassab With his adoring family by his side, Dr. Daher Boutros Rahi of Grosse Pointe Shores died January 31 at the age of 92. Dad was born in a village in Lebanon called Hemlaya. He lived there with his parents, Boutros and Chafika, and his sister, Emily. To say that the family was poor is an understatement. They...
Syria stands alone in healing its wounds from devastating earthquake
February 10th, 20230 The dawn of February 6, 2023 will be recorded as a typical tragedy that befell the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean, or to be precise, part of their peoples. The fear and panic, despite their magnitude, can’t be compared to the horror and devastation of being buried under the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings. It is an...
Palestine is my cause: Arabs reaffirm support for Palestinians, rejection of the occupation
February 2nd, 20230 By Ramzy Baroud The latest Arab Opinion Index 2022 is yet more proof that Arab societies are diverse in every possible way, from their assessment of their economic situation and living conditions to their take on immigration, state institutions and democracy. With one single exception: Palestine. Seventy-six percent of all...
More school counselors could turn the tide on the youth mental health crisis
January 30th, 20230 By Cameka Hazel More than 130 children's organizations recently called on President Biden to declare a national emergency in response to America's youth mental health crisis. That news came just days after an expert panel recommended that all children ages 8to 18 receive routine screenings for anxiety. These developments drew new...
U.S. House dysfunction is cause for alarm
January 22nd, 20230 Like many Americans, I watched with dismay this month as the House of Representatives struggled through 15 votes over four days to select a new speaker. The sense of dysfunction was remarkable. Anyone watching might well have wondered about our ability to govern ourselves. For a week, there was no speaker to call the House to order....
World Cup 2022 – a promise fulfilled?
January 15th, 20230 By Duggan Flanakin The pyrotechnics have finally settled in Doha on what was a truly sensational and hard fought 2022 World Cup, the stadiums no longer emanating the joyous cheers from audiences who for weeks remained at the edges of their seats, taking in upset after upset — and in the place of pyrotechnics, today Qatar revels in...Israel was never a democracy: So why is the West lamenting end of “liberal” Israel?
Even before the new Israeli government was officially sworn in on December 29, angry reactions began emerging, not only among Palestinians and other Middle Eastern governments, but also among Israel’s historic allies in the West. As early as November 2, top U.S, officials conveyed to Axios that the Biden administration is “unlikely......
Lions’ Den is not a fleeting phenomenon: On Palestine’s looming armed revolt
December 24th, 20220 Just when Israel, and even some Palestinians, began talking about the Lions’ Den phenomenon in the past tense, a large number of fighters belonging to the newly-formed Palestinian group marched in the city of Nablus. Unlike the group’s first appearance on September 2, the number of fighters who took part in the rally in the Old...
The Nakba Day triumph: How the U.N. Is correcting a historical wrong
December 18th, 20220 The next Nakba Day will be officially commemorated by the United Nations General Assembly on May 15, 2023. The decision by the world’s largest democratic institution is significant, if not a game changer. For nearly 75 years, the Palestinian Nakba, the "Catastrophe" wrought by the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by Zionist militias in...
Addressing health disparities in Michigan with an uncommon approach to care
December 10th, 20220 By Robert MacArthur, MD Healthcare disparities are preventable differences in healthcare status, access and quality experienced by many consumers due to a variety of factors, including race, ethnicity, income, gender, neighborhood, language and education. For example, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human...
Hosting its first ever World Cup — MENA countries show up, in the stands, on the pitch
December 10th, 20220 By Marc Serber, football analyst The first-ever FIFA World Cup held in the MENA (Middle East/North African) region has brought a real opportunity to showcase football pedigree on the field and introduce the world to its fan culture in the stands and outside of Qatar’s eight stadiums. While the host nation bowed out in......
On “hate” and love at the World Cup: Palestine is more than an Arab cause
December 10th, 20220 We were mistaken to think that Palestine represents the central issue for all Arabs. Such language suggests that Palestine is an external subject, to be compared to other collective struggles that consume most Arabs, everywhere. The ongoing celebration of Palestine and the Palestinian flag at the Qatar World Cup 2022 by millions of...
Why the decision of the FBI to investigate Abu Akleh’s murder is unprecedented
November 26th, 20220 The recent decision by the United States Department of Justice to open an investigation into the killing, last May, of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is not a game-changer, but important and worthy of reflection, nonetheless. Based on the long trajectory of U.S. military and political support of Israel, and......
“Nothing works”: Europe must stop blaming others for its own crises
November 12th, 20220 The European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell is not particularly perceived by the EU’s political elite or mainstream media as a right-wing ideologue or warmonger. But seen through a different, non-Western prism, it is hard not to mistake him for one. Borrell’s recent comments that “Europe is a garden” and that...
Michigan voters hand Democrats historic victory, deal a blow to the MAGA movement
November 11th, 20220 The midterm elections shocked most observers and political experts throughout the nation. While Republicans gained a few seats in the Congress, and may perhaps still win the majority there, nothing like the widely predicted "Red Wave" came to fruition. The Senate is still up for grabs, and Democrats scored a number of major victories......
