Watch The Arab American News’ 20th anniversary video feature from 2004
November 20th, 20080 This short documentary, produced by Nael AbuNab, was shown at The Arab American News 20th anniversary banquet in 2004. The paper is now in it's 25th year of publication. The video features highlights from appearances by Publisher Osama Siblani's countless national and international television news programs over the years. PART...
A plea from Israel: Come, Obama, change my life
November 15th, 20080 Obama my dear, they tell me that you are going to change the world. Do me a favor, come and change my life personally. Come to Israel, grab its stupid leadership by the throat and take its foot off the neck of another people. Come and force us to do what is clear, and written, and fitting, and necessary, come and get us out of the...Judge Wygonik needs to issue a clear apology to the community
It has been four months since 19th District Court Judge Richard Wygonik came under fire for making disparaging comments about Arab Americans during a conversation with Dearborn Heights Councilman Tom Berry on July 10. There is no question about Berry's credibility. And the conversation was witnessed by another high-level...Letters to the Editor
Dear Mr. Siblani: I am proud that so many truly cared about a simple judicial election that the process provoked such passion in our community. It speaks volumes about Dearborn. But, we need to work together and celebrate our accomplishments, not our differences. And sometimes we have to agree to disagree Words cannot adequately...Rahm Emanuel is no reason for hope or celebration
Election night tens of millions of us wept for joy. We sang the songs that we had sung as young men and women when we were fighting segregation in the south and then in the north, some of us being beaten, others jailed, some even killed. For the first time in three decades we could sing "Imagine" and "The Times They are a'Changing"...
Election results: CHANGE
November 8th, 20080 The Arab American News endorsed President-elect Barack Obama and 23 state and local candidates in October. All of them were successfully elected. They included US and state congressional races, judicial races at the state, county and district level, county races, school board races and a university board of governors...
Berry’s stunt did Abbatt in
November 8th, 20080 Negative campaign tactic backfires, causes loss In the most hotly contested race in Dearborn, 19th District Court Judge Mark Somers this week prevented Candyce Abbatt from taking over his seat, in spite of, or maybe because of, negative and poor tactics on the part of the Abbatt campaign and poorly chosen associations with some Arab...Arab Student Union stands with AAPAC
To the editor: As proud members of the Arab American community and as former and current members and leaders of the Arab Student Union at UM-Dearborn, we are compelled to write in response to a piece of election mail sent out to Dearborn's Arab American households which we believe was distasteful and counterproductive. There were...Khalidi, the Arab scapegoat
There's no question. The candidates agree, the pundits agree and the American people agree: this has been a tough election season. Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama have a palpable contempt for one another, and neither has been especially good at hiding it thus far. But it's possible for a candidate to cross the line. When they do,...
VOTE
November 1st, 20080 The Arab American News, AAPAC and Arab American community organizations all over the country urge citizens to VOTE on Tuesday, Nov. 4, and to press family and friends to do the same. In Dearborn, residents can vote early at the city clerk's office on Saturday between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Check with your local clerk's office in other...Yes on Proposal 1: Compassion, common sense and good medicine
As nurses, we are on the front lines of providing care and comfort to patients suffering from terrible illnesses. Michigan's nurses strongly support Proposal 1, the medical marijuana initiative. And, frankly, we are appalled at the misinformation being spread by opponents. There is simply no doubt that medical marijuana can relieve...Poverty Summit will reduce poverty and maximize economic opportunities for all
One medical emergency, one car accident, one missed paycheck, or one layoff notice and a working class family can descend into poverty. Ismael Ahmed Because of this reality, I would like to personally invite you to join Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, Martin Luther King III and me at the Voices for Action Network 2008 Poverty...
They deserve your vote
October 25th, 20080 Even from the sidelines, where Arab Americans and American Muslims have been relegated by the current anti-Arab, anti-Muslim climate of fear perpetrated upon America, this has been an exciting election year. History is being made, as the first African American nominated for president by a major political party seems closer to...America: The castrated bull
Once a bull is castrated, it loses its value and its reason to stay alive. It doesn't turn into a cow that can produce milk or calves. It is suddenly worth more dead than alive, good for nothing but meat. The castrated bull creates problems for linguists, accountants and politicians. What do you call a bull that has lost its...U.S. journalists and war-crime guilt
October 16 is an anniversary that should hold considerable interest for American journalists who have written in support of "Operation Iraqi Freedom" – the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Sixty-two years ago, on Oct. 16, 1946, Julius Streicher was hanged. Streicher was one of a group of 10 Germans executed that day following the......
Candidates cut from the same cloth
October 17th, 20080 Senator and presidential candidate John McCain betrayed more than a passing ignorance of all things Middle Eastern when he reassured a woman at one of his rallies last week that his opponent, Senator Barack Obama, is not an Arab. McCain self-righteously believed he was defending his opponent, which, if he really knew what he was talking...Arabs are decent family men too
I like to think I'm a decent African-American family man just like Barak Obama. So what I saw on October 10 was as stunning to me as two blows to the stomach. The first blow took my breath away: a supporter of Republican presidential candidate John McCain at a McCain rally in Lakeville, Minnesota declared he was afraid to raise his...ADC combats immigration fraud
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has received a generous grant from the American Bar Association (ABA) Fund for Justice and Education through a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, to combat the increasing problem of notario fraud within the Arab American community. According to the ABA, "notarios" or...There’s only one answer to the money crisis
The democratic system is the best governing system in the world, because it gives you a choice. The only problem is that the choice is between two negatives. It is like telling you: "You are getting ready to get slapped. Which hand do you want to get slapped with? The left hand or the right?" And the mainstream media gets you so involved......
Islamophobia, the new anti-Semitism
Last year, when the notorious Daniel Pipes came to speak at the University of Michigan, there seemed to be a flurry of anti-Islamic activity occurring all over the place. The incidents below are just a random sampling of far right activities that have the perceived "Islamic threat" in common; its status as a political goldmine was...Sheriff says cyber bullying is a real concern
With school just getting back into session most parents will, at some level, worry a bit about their child's well being as it relates to his or her new classmates. No matter what school district your child is in, there always seems to be at least one troublemaker who causes them great anxiety through aggressive behavior.......
Religious freedom ultimate protector
October 11th, 20080 During a press conference held this week at the Interfaith Alliance in Washington, DC, prominent religious Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders condemned the recent distribution of an anti-Muslim DVD to more than 28 million households in key election swing states. Rabbi Jack Moline, Chair of the Interfaith Alliance, also called on both...Why America should listen to Ahmadinejad
Although our Founding Fathers would have comprehended and endorsed Ahmadinejad's speech to the United Nations, present-day Americans would find it strange should they happen to hear about it. Unlike their forbears, Americans today live a material life, not a spiritual one. Americans are far too likely to dismiss Ahmadinejad's words......