Obama’s retreat to Neocon strategies
March 29th, 20130 With Syria and Iran, President Barack Obama faces getting mired in two wars that could set the entire Middle East aflame, and perhaps the rest of the Islamic world, too.Such an outcome would be in part due to Mr. Obama’s Middle Eastern policy, and the willingness of the current U.S. Congress to support Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin...Regional states, U.S. step up arms shipments to Syrian rebels
Mideast powers opposed to President Bashar Assad have dramatically stepped up weapons supplies to Syrian rebels in coordination with the U.S. in preparation for a push on the capital of Damascus, officials and Western military experts said Wednesday.Four sources, including an Arab official, a diplomat and a military expert, described a...Survey: U.S., UK citizens reject regime change or arms supply in Syria
Both U.S. and UK citizens are decisively against any military intervention in the Syrian conflict, and most do not want the government to provide military aid to rebels according to a new poll. Fifty-seven percent of British people and 45 percent of Americans are against supplying arms to the Syrian rebels, with just 16 percent in...
Obama’s one-sided embrace of Israel angers Palestinians
March 22nd, 20130 RAMALLAH- U.S. President Barack Obama insisted on Thursday a two-state solution was still viable, but disappointed his Palestinian hosts by failing to take a clear stance on freezing settlement activity.On the second day of a historic visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Obama traveled to the West Bank's political capital to...U.S. looks to overhaul massive immigration detention system
WASHINGTON - Rights groups and government officials here have been testifying in a string of hearings, before both bodies of the U.S. Congress, on how to overhaul the United States’ huge immigration detention system, the scope of which has expanded massively in recent years in ways that some suggest impinge on civil and human...The undying shame of the Iraq war
Ten years ago, in March of 2003, Iraqis braced themselves for the anticipated “Shock and Awe” attacks that the U.S. was planning to launch against them. The media buildup for the attack assured Iraqis that barbarous assaults were looming.I was living in Baghdad at the time, along with other Voices in the Wilderness activists...Obama meets Arab American leaders before trip to Middle East
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Monday met Arab American leaders who urged him to deliver a message of hope to the Palestinian people on his Middle East trip this month, even though he has made clear he will not use the visit to launch a new Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative.Obama hosted about 10 leaders at the White House...
Obama reveals secrets of upcoming Middle East visit
March 15th, 20130 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama also met with members of the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Arab American Institute, the Arab Federation of Ramallah and the American Task Force for Palestine among others. He said that he will not push the Israelis and Palestinians toward new negotiations or a new peace initiative,...
Report: U.S. war in Iraq cost over $2 trillion
March 15th, 20130 Rhode Island - The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, according to a study by the Costs of War Project by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University...UC San Diego student government passes divestment
San Diego — After a four year campaign, the University of California, San Diego's undergraduate student government has passed a resolution urging the university to cease its investments in companies that profit from the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.The bill was cosponsored by multiple student government members and...
NYPD: Crime prevention or racial profiling?
March 15th, 20130 In 2011, students in the Muslim Students' Association (MSA) at Hunter College put up a sign in their club room, reading: "Please Refrain from Political Convos in the MSA". The sole justification provided? An arrow pointing to a recent news article detailing the NYPD's vast, secret surveillance program that spied on American...Obama and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: It’s time to act
WASHINGTON, Mar 5 2013 (IPS) - As President Barack Obama travels to Israel and Palestine in the spring, Washington’s unconditional backing of Israel could soon begin to harm U.S. interests and security in Arab Muslim countries.Recent Pew and Gallup polls show animosity toward the U.S. in many Muslim countries has deepened since he took...ANERA to provide emergency relief to Syrian refugees in Lebanon
WASHINGTON — The American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) is pleased to announce a $250,000 grant from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to provide critical humanitarian assistance for Palestinian refugees fleeing the violence and destruction of their homes in Syria. ANERA and its Lebanese partner,...New report shows impact of NYPD’s spying program on American Muslims
NEW YORK — On Mar. 11 members of the American Muslim community will release findings from a ground-breaking new report, "Mapping Muslims: NYPD Spying and its Impact on American Muslims" at 1 Police Plaza, and deliver the report to New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Ray Kelly and Deputy Commissioner of...Security of Dearborn’s Arab community discussed in Senate debate on drones
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) indicated the U.S. government could possibly exceed its authority against citizens, among them, Arab Americans in Dearborn. The issue emerged while Paul was on the Senate floor speaking in a filibuster to protest against granting the U.S. government authority to launch domestic drone strikes.......
Supreme Court refuses to let Americans challenge FISA eavesdropping law
WASHINGTON - The United States Supreme Court will not let Americans challenge a provision in a foreign intelligence law that lets the federal government secretly eavesdrop on the intimate communications of millions of Americans.On Tuesday, the top justices in the U.S. said the country’s highest court will not hear a case in which...Palestinian director walks the red carpet
After being held up at the airport last week, Oscar nominated Palestinian Director Emad Burnat and his family make it to the 2013 Academy Awards and walk the red carpet. Burnat, whose "Five Broken Cameras" was up for best documentary at the 85th anniversary of the awards said it was abnormal that he was kept waiting at LAX Airport for...Department of Defense reinstates security clearance of Muslim woman
DALLAS — Representatives from the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), a national civil liberties defense organization, is applauding administrators at the Department of Defense for reinstating the long-held security clearance of Linda Mahmoud, a hearing-impaired civil servant of Palestinian descent who had her clearance pulled because...Singer Janet Jackson marries Qatari billionaire Wissam Al Mana
In a statement released to Entertainment Today last month, singer Janet Jackson, one of America’s biggest superstars confirmed that she and Qatari billionaire Wissam Al Mana were officially married. The statement read: "The rumors regarding an extravagant wedding are simply not true. Last year we were married in a quiet, private,......
Obama to threaten Iran with military strikein June, Israeli media reports
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama says the United States could launch an attack on Iran as early as this June, Israeli media reports.According to a report on Israel’s Channel 10 News that has since been picked up by the Times of Israel, Pres. Obama will use an upcoming meeting overseas to discuss a military strike on Iran. Pres....U.S. finally passes stronger protections for women against abuse
WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday ended more than a year of stonewalling a piece of legislation that for two decades has offered legal protections for women against sexual violence, harassment and abuse.The move will close gaps in related funding and safeguards that have opened since the legislation, known as the......
Challenges for Obama on his upcoming Mideast visit
The peace process is unlikely to be revived with a presidential visit. Facing hardened attitudes in Israel and Palestine President Obama may have to assume a pastoral role.In the fourth week of March, Obama will visit Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan. The U.S. Ambassador to Israel has announced the agenda for this event: discussions on...Drones over there, total surveillance over here
The big story buried in all the commentary about the U.S. government's drone policy is that the old algorithm of the liberal state no longer works. Focusing on drones is almost a distraction, if it weren't for the number of men, women and children they have killed in only a few years. What we should focus on is the deeper condition that......