Hunger strike renews urgency: Demand boycott of Israel now
Khader Adnan’s life was just saved. He paid a terrible price for his freedom. He paid with a health-shattering two months on hunger strike. Shackled, starving, and surrounded by Israeli soldiers, he defeated them all. The Palestinian people are often shackled, often starving, and always surrounded by Israeli soldiers.Yet they just...
Israel will not strike Iran in the near future
February 22nd, 20120 Israel will not strike Iran without securing Washington’s approval. The Obama administration expects the sanctions on the Islamic Republic to work. As the U.S. economy starts to improve and the troops return home the last thing Americans want is a new war.The mood in Israel is different from that of the U.S. Iran’s suspect...BDS: Power of the people at work
The issue is not about hummus, chocolate bars or Dead Sea vacations. It is about civil society taking full responsibility for its own action (or lack of). The issue is not exactly about Israeli products either, but rather about how even a seemingly innocent decision like buying Israeli dates may enable the continued subjugation of the...Landmark home loan settlement presents new opportunities for struggling homeowners
DETROIT — For those who will never be able to repay their existing home loan, today’s loan modification programs are nothing short of a golden opportunity. While the concept of modifying a loan is legally legitimate in its purpose, the inability of homeowners to seek the correct assistance has left millions “underwater.” Prior to...Israel vying for war: Attacking Iran will not repeat history
On April 10, 2002, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons, “Saddam Hussein's regime is…developing weapons of mass destruction, and we cannot leave him doing so unchecked.” A year later, Blair, enthusiastically joined a U.S.-led coalition that launched an illegal war against Iraq. Their hunt for...White House gets it wrong on Palestine…again
A report in Ha’aretz last week confirmed that former diplomat Dennis Ross has continued to serve the Obama Administration, despite his resignation last November. This news is troubling for a number of reasons. Ross has been involved in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations for well over a decade, advising the past three...
Syria is used to the slings and arrows of friends and enemies
February 2nd, 20120 Bashar al-Assad is clinging to power despite the slow growth of a civil war. But if the regime should survive, what sort of country will it rule?The violence grows worse. The Arab League throws up its hands in despair. Madame Clinton may huff and puff at the United Nations. But the Syrian regime and the stalwarts of the old Baath party...Egypt one year on: Stark message for Arab revolutionaries
Egypt's military council, backed by Islamist and secular political parties, has upstaged the 25 January celebrations of the anniversary of the protests that ousted President Hosni Mubarak even before the party gets underway. The military pre-empted plans by the revolutionary youth and militant soccer fan groups whose mass protests...
Who wants war with Iran?
January 26th, 20120 On Sept. 21, 1976, as his car rounded Sheridan Circle on Embassy Row, former Chilean ambassador Orlando Letelier was assassinated by a car bomb. Ronni Moffitt, a 25-year-old American woman who worked with Letelier at the leftist Institute for Policy Studies, died with him. What we do know is that "Bibi" Netanyahu is desperate to have the...
“We the people,” not “We the corporation.”
January 26th, 20120 The editor of The Hill, a newspaper exclusively covering Congress, said that Congress was not going to do very much in 2012, except for "the big bill" which is extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment compensation, which expire in late February. That two month extension will likely reignite the fight between Democrats and...The phony war over which U.S. party loves Israel most
"No Aid to Israel?" wonders a recent Facebook ad sponsored by U.S. President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. "Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich say they would start foreign aid to Israel at zero. Reject their extreme plan now!" the ad implores, directing people to sign a petition to that effect on my.barackobama.com ("Stand...Aljazeera coverage: The revolution will be televised, and also manipulated
In the final days of the Libyan conflict, as NATO conducted a nonstop bombing campaign, an Aljazeera Arabic television correspondent's actions raised more than eyebrows. They also raised serious questions regarding the journalistic responsibility of Arab media — or in fact any media — during times of conflict. AlJazeeraUsing a...
Foreign intervention would compromise Syrian opposition uprising
January 11th, 20120 The current presence of the Arab League in Syria is of little value. This regional body has minimum credibility and capacity to manage conflict. As the League proves it is unable to handle Syria, aggressive alternatives of external intervention are getting louder. The truth is that only Syrians can and should reform Syria. Through...Arab League Syria suspension illegal under organization’s charter
Is the Arab League legally justified in suspending Syrian membership within the league in order to resolve this issue? —absolutely not. A clear violation of the Arab League Charter occurred when someone concocted the idea to “suspend” Syria from the League, which resulted, in essence in the quasi-expulsion of the Arab state....ICA built on the unifying principles of Islam
To our respected community, peace be upon you: The Islamic Center of America brings you greetings and salutations while the entirety of mankind celebrates the birth of the Prophet Esa and the New Year of 2012. During this time of celebration by followers of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, it is appropriate to promote a new......
We bid farewell to our busiest news year
December 26th, 20110 Arab Americans and American Muslims have witnessed an extraordinary year in 2011. As we close out the year, we wonder if the Arab Spring begun in January will blossom, wither or simply stagnate. Will our civil rights at home continue to evaporate now that the tenth anniversary of 9/11 has passed? Will the Occupy movement succeed...
Who’s inventing, Newt?
December 25th, 20110 In the wake of Newt Gingrich's ridiculous comments about Palestinians being an "invented" people I'd like to make a recommendation: Newt, before making historically inaccurate statements, please go read up on Middle East history. Palestinians strongly began to assert their Palestinian identity as far back as the 1930s....Israel’s Frankenstein is turning on its creator
There is a famous scene in Mary Shelley's classic where Victor Frankenstein realizes that he created a monster and that this monster might be the end of him. Such is the scene that comes to mind when thinking about the news emerging from the occupied West Bank in recent days. Israeli settlers, living in illegal colonies in Palestinian...Embellishing the Iraq War: Moral victory, selective body counts
Someone ought to let mainstream news producers know that the nearly 4,500 U.S. soldiers killed in the Iraq war were not the only victims. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have also been killed as a result of the unwarranted U.S. invasion, and many more have been wounded and/or forever maimed.Chances are, all of these Iraq war victims......
It is time for Palestine at the University of Michigan
Over the past couple of years, there has been increased curiosity and speculation about SAFE (Students Allied for Freedom & Equality) and what it stands for. Simply put, SAFE is a diverse group of student activists at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, organized to promote justice, human rights, liberation, and...Would an attack on Iran enable the Jordan-is-Palestine scheme?
Israel’s tolerance for Palestine is diminishing. As a solution to rising Palestinian demography, some of Israel’s extra-conservative leaders think of war leading to the expulsion of Palestinians into neighboring Jordan.Eleven million people live in Israel and its occupied, annexed or controlled territories. The population......
Congressional tyranny, White House surrender
Paraphrasing Shakespeare, something is rotten in the state of Capitol Hill. A majority of Congress is just about to put the finishing touches on an amendment to the military budget authorization legislation that will finish off some critical American rights under our Constitution.Here is how two retired 4 star marine generals, Charles C....
TLC defangs Islam, hate groups can’t stand it
December 16th, 20110 In an inexplicable, indefensible marketing decision revealed last week, home improvement uber retailer Lowe's pulled advertising from TLC's new reality show "All-American Muslim." The show captures the (very normal) daily lives of five Muslim families in Dearborn.Lowe's initial decision to advertise on the show should be commended. In......