Biden administration misses big chance to reduce prescription drug costs
March 12th, 20220 By Carl Schmid President Biden has repeatedly promised to make health care more affordable. And his administration has taken some important steps. But sadly, officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services just passed up an opportunity to save patients millions at the pharmacy. In December, the CMS released a draft of...
U.S. accused of hypocrisy for supporting sanctions against Russia, but not Israel
March 11th, 20220 By Chris McGreal The U.S. and some of its European allies are facing accusations of double standards for supporting sanctions and international war crimes investigations against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine while blocking them over Israeli military actions in the occupied Palestinian territories. But pro-Israel groups in the...
We can do more to fight poverty
March 2nd, 20220 American policymakers have a very full plate. They’ve got to grapple with health care, education, the environment, economic growth and more. The list goes on and on. Along with these priorities, I have argued for some time that the policy community needs to do more to address poverty. How much time and resources should we devote to...
Africa must not abandon Palestine by granting Israel observer status
February 20th, 20220 The current split in the African Union (AU) over Israel’s Observer membership status is emblematic of a larger conflict that could potentially split the African continent’s largest political institutions. Africa is currently facing one of its most crucial decisions regarding Palestine and Israel. The repercussions of this decision...
What Turkey’s rapprochement to Israel means for the Palestinian State
February 14th, 20220 By Mina Mohammadi This March, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan plans to meet with Israeli President Issac Herzog in Ankara for the first time in 13 years. While the meetings are set to discuss strategic gas imports to Israel, they also sit upon long standing moral tensions of Turkey’s support for the Palestinian...
Our immigrant nation is a big tent for everyone
February 9th, 20220 By Joseph Richard Preville On August 4, 1963, The New York Times Magazine published President Kennedy’s majestic essay, “A Nation of Immigrants.” Rejecting geographically narrow and restrictive immigration quotas based on national origin for the U.S., Kennedy urged reform and the adoption of a new immigration policy that would...
The Russians are coming: Are Beijing and Moscow at the cusp of a formal alliance?
February 6th, 20220 By Ramzy Baroud and Romana Rubeo It should matter little to the Chinese that American diplomats and a handful of their Western allies will not be attending the Beijing Winter Olympics in February. What truly matters is that the Russians are coming. The above is not an arbitrary statement. It is supported with facts. According to a...
Tips to prevent frozen pipes
February 4th, 20220 By Rabih Hamawi The pervasive deep freeze that has blanketed more than half of the U.S. is causing a lot of problems for property owners. As the water in pipes freezes, as much as 2,000 pounds of pressure is produced, seriously testing the tensile strength of water lines. With a burst pipe’s ability to release hundreds of gallons...
Preparing students for a career in tech
February 1st, 20220 By Michael Mitchell Software has become an essential part of our everyday lives. From smartphones to washing machines, computer applications are here to stay and we must prepare the next generation to be adept in tech. With the tech business booming, many students are looking to get a head start on their careers in the field....
Addressing the stigma surrounding mental health and illness in the Arab community
January 30th, 20221 — Sara Nasser is a licensed clinical/community mental health counselor and art therapist. It appears the only time we ever really hear about mental health issues in our community is when something unfortunate has happened. So, naturally, the subject becomes a topic of fear to some. Oftentimes, mental illness is hard to recognize or...
U.S. doesn’t care for China’s Muslims: Boycotting the Olympics is about global competition
January 28th, 20220 The diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games may go down in history as the official start of the cold war between the U.S., a handful of its allies and China. The American strategy, however, of using boycotts to pressure Beijing in the name of “human rights”, may prove costly in the future. On December...
MLK Day and the legacy of spying on activists
January 17th, 20220 MLK Day, since being signed into law as a national holiday by President Reagan, has come to symbolize a moment of national reflection on the state of race relations in America. Although Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the end of his life was a staunch champion against militarism and economic exploitation, seminal moments such as his...
No Visa waiver for Israel until Arab American rights are protected
January 12th, 20220 Last week the Jerusalem Post ran a story under the headline “Palestinian Americans to be allowed to land at Ben Gurion Airport.” Israeli officials are now saying that instead of only permitting Palestinian Americans to cross over the Allenby Bridge from Jordan, they will allow them to fly into Israel’s airport and proceed from...
Coming this 2022: Refugees, democracy and human rights
January 12th, 20220 Although 2021 is now behind us, there are many issues that will linger for a while, or much longer, and will certainly dominate much of the news in 2022 as well. These are but a few of the issues. NATO-Russian brinkmanship Exasperated with NATO expansion and growing ambitions in the Black Sea region, Moscow has decided to challenge...
New books by American Muslims: Muslims have stories to tell; are Americans ready to listen?
January 11th, 20220 — This article was contributed by Joseph Richard Preville to The Arab American News. It has been edited for style. Al Qaeda’s terrorist attack on America on September 11, 2001 was horrific, but what came next was far worse. The U.S. responded by unleashing a 20-year campaign of surveillance and harassment against its own Muslim......
A year on, the ideological insurrection against our democracy continues
January 8th, 20220 — This article by Abdul El-Sayed originally appeared in the newsletter The Incision. It has been edited for style. Subscribe to The Incision here: incision.substack.com When I told my parents that I was going to run for governor of Michigan, I could see through the windows of their eyes the emotions battling in their minds....
“Previously unknown massacres”: Why is Israel allowed to own Palestinian history?
December 26th, 20210 Haaretz’s investigative report – "Classified Docs Reveal Massacres of Palestinians in ’48 – and What Israeli Leaders Knew" – is a must-read. It should be particularly read by any person who considers himself a "Zionist" and also by people who, for whatever reason, support Israel, anywhere in the world. “In the village of...
Belgium is on the right track, but Europe has failed Palestine
December 4th, 20210 The Belgian government’s decision on Nov. 25 to label products made in illegal Israeli Jewish settlements is welcome, although it will ultimately prove ineffectual. Belgium has historically shown solidarity with Palestine if compared to other European countries, for example, Britain, Germany and France. From the cancellation of...
Hamtramck needs funding assistance to remove antiquated lead service lines
December 1st, 20210 By Kathy Angerer Hamtramck is a very unique community. The 2020 Census revealed that our population is among the fastest-growing in Michigan. We are the most diverse city in Michigan, with a wide range of cultures from all around the world represented among our people. 41.4 percent of our population was born outside the United States;......
We need a new way to measure COVID
November 25th, 20210 — This article by Abdul El-Sayed originally appeared in the newsletter The Incision. It has been edited for style. Subscribe to The Incision here: incision.substack.com Throughout the pandemic, Europe has been a harbinger of what’s coming next on this side of the pond. And across Europe, COVID cases are climbing. In the U.K.,...
We do exist: Why the Palestinian voice should take center stage
November 24th, 20210 At a recent New York event, the president of the Foreign Press Association, Ian Williams, declared, before an approving audience, that it is time “to reclaim the narrative on Palestine.” This phrase — “reclaiming the narrative” — is relatively new to the Palestinian discourse. Years ago, the concept, let alone its......
What’s really on trial in Kenosha and Glynn County?
November 19th, 20211 — This article by Abdul El-Sayed originally appeared in the newsletter The Incision. It has been edited for style. Subscribe to The Incision here: incision.substack.com Last week, Kyle Rittenhouse pulled a Brett Kavanaugh and ugly cried on the witness stand in a desperate plea for sympathy. His made-for-Twitter hysterics were...
A long journey to a “historic” election
November 5th, 20210 This week, headlines regarding Tuesday’s election across local, national and international media included some version of the word "historic." Not surprising when one takes into consideration that three Arab American candidates in some of the state’s densest cities enjoyed landslide victories for mayoral races: Amer Ghalib in......
