October 14th, 20225By now, just about in everyone in Dearborn is aware of the book banning saga in the Dearborn Public Schools. A number of concerned citizens and parents have voiced their objections to the presence of certain books in school libraries, namely books that explore LGBTQ+ themes and lifestyles. Undoubtedly, parents should have a say in the...
October 7th, 20221By Lucas Resetar, special to The Arab American News and New Michigan Media
In the year 2000, 11-year-old Marwan Mikhael left Iraq with his father. After crossing into Jordan and enduring a difficult and dangerous journey, he ended up at a small refugee camp in Bulgaria.
“There was no food and little water,” Mikhael said. “I...
September 15th, 20220ANAHEIM, CA — After years of lobbying by advocates, Anaheim finally designated its Arab American enclave as "Little Arabia" on Tuesday.
In a statement, Anaheim's spokeswoman told CNN the city plans to follow up the designation with in-depth research.
"The Little Arabia designation recognizes an area of our city we've always...
September 11th, 20220As we quietly marked the 38th anniversary of our establishment on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, we can’t help but reflect on the challenges we’ve faced, the advancement we’ve achieved and the issues we’ve reported on and overcome together as a community.
Running a media publication has always been difficult, challenging and...
September 9th, 20220DEARBORN — Qahwah House, the famous Yemeni coffee shop located in Dearborn, has plans to expand to other states and has a mission to bring people together through its authentic coffee.
Qahwah House owner Ibrahim Alhasbani shared his goals for the coffee shop’s future and why he was inspired to bring this coffee business to...
September 3rd, 20220DEARBORN — A Dearborn-based author has penned her first children’s book inspired by a family member’s cafeteria experiences as one of few Arab Americans at their school.
The Great Labne Trade, by author Eman Saleh, is a captivating children’s book meant to be "enjoyed by families across generations."
Through beautiful...
September 2nd, 20220DEARBORN — An Arab American, Muslim woman from Northville has filed a discrimination complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights Thursday against her former employer, Costco.
Wafa Aziz, 44, says she appealed with management at the Costco locations in Livonia were she worked, to address an environment of discriminatory...
August 26th, 20220The federal office in charge of creating and overseeing the government’s population data collection practices is now providing guidance to agencies on how to collect data on the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) community using a separate ancestry question.
Those working for proper recognition of the MENA community as its own...
August 24th, 20220WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) announced the appointment of Abed Ayoub to serve as ADC national executive director.
The ADC is a long-running organization, involved in advocacy in broad-ranging incidents of discrimination against the Arab American and Muslim communities of the...
August 22nd, 20220DEARBORN — Karim Khassouan lived a short, quiet life and his spirit will carry on in the lives he saved through the organs he donated.
Khassouan was born with Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM), a condition in which blood vessels become tangled, according to his mother, Nameer Alkurdi. It is normally treatable but, in Karim’s...
August 20th, 20220The problems of racial and religious animus are unfortunately ongoing challenges for Michiganders with ancestry from the Middle East or who adhere to the Islamic faith. These challenges exist despite the density of Arab and Chaldean Americans and American Muslims who reside in Southeastern Michigan.
Although issues such as hate crimes...
August 18th, 20220DEARBORN — The Dearborn City Beautiful Commission recently named the 2022 Residential Standard of Excellence honorees. The city is recognizing homes in 17 districts citywide for their beautification efforts.
The Residential Standard of Excellence is an annual program that provides residents in each of the city’s designated 17...
August 5th, 20220BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP – With 100 percent of the votes counted in the race for the state representative in the newly-drawn District 54, which includes part of Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills, Auburn Hills and Orion Township, Shadia Martini of Bloomfield Township won the Democratic nomination, earning 3,785 votes.
Bloomfield...
August 3rd, 20221DETROIT — Residents in Dearborn, Southfield, Livonia, Detroit and more are now closer to being represented by a storied member of the so-called "Squad" in the U.S House.
With the results of Tuesday’s primary election trickling in slowly throughout the night, District 12 candidate Rashida Tlaib, the incumbent in the race, cemented...
August 3rd, 20220The result of the Democratic primary election for the newly-drawn State House District Three, held on Tuesday, Aug. 2, will be decisive for the upcoming general election. The district is generally left-leaning and the Democratic primary winner will no doubt take the legislative seat.
Alabas Farhat won on Tuesday in an election that...
August 2nd, 20220Arab American neighborhoods in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and Hamtramck have some important choice to make about representations in the federal, state and county governments today.
The primary election was off to a predictably slow start, with the city clerk in Hamtramck reporting only some 800 of the 1,300 or so absentee ballots sent...
July 31st, 20220As a rule, primary elections do not enjoy the same attention that voters give to general elections, but party qualifiers are — in some races — so decisive that the general elections seem to be a foregone conclusion, and this applies to the fullest extent to the primary elections on Tuesday, August 2.
It is a fact that the...
July 29th, 20220DEARBORN - U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) is running to represent the newly-drawn District Six after serving her current district, which includes Dearborn, for eight years.
Dingell, widow of the of the late long-serving U.S. Rep. John Dingell, has been closely associated with Dearborn and surrounding areas, which ties into her...
July 22nd, 20220HAMTRAMCK — Abraham Aiyash is running to retain his seat in the State House in the August 2 primary election, in a redrawn district that includes new neighborhoods in Detroit, as well as the area covering Hamtramck that he currently represents.
The energetic community advocate has long been closely associated with local progressive...
July 15th, 20220DEARBORN — The long-running Arab American Political Action Committee (AAPAC) has announced its endorsements for the state-wide August primary elections.
AAPAC is the oldest Arab American political organization, established in 1998 and formed by a group of Arab American professionals who set out to organize and encourage the...
July 8th, 20220A new report by a Muslim civil rights and political organization shows significant disapproval among Muslim voters of President Biden’s performance, but a projection that voters will prefer Democrats in the coming midterm election.
The report was released this week by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) — which calls...
June 20th, 20220By Ahlam Yassin
Tell me the first words that come to mind when you think of the Middle East. My usually talkative class was quiet. I, their visibly Muslim, Arab American teacher looked around the classroom during a dramatic pause and in the moment I realized how strange this may have seemed to them.
After a minute or so, a brave soul...
June 20th, 20220A local professor spent the last few years documenting the history of Arab Americans in Indianapolis. WFYI’s Taylor Bennett spoke with Edward Curtis, chair of Liberal Arts and professor of religious studies in the School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, about the project — Arab Indianapolis: A Hidden History — and why it was...
June 14th, 20220DETROIT — U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) is continuing her effort to include the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) category in federal population and health data, as well as the 10-year federal census.
Talib joined U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) in leading the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to send...
June 2nd, 20221CHICOPEE, MASS — A Muslim woman in Massachusetts has filed a legal complaint against a McDonald’s restaurant whose employees purposefully stuffed bacon into a fish sandwich she and her son bought.
"McDonald's made my children and me feel unwanted and worthless by intentionally stuffing a fish sandwich full of bacon for no other...
May 22nd, 20220DEARBORN – Hundreds of community members, supporters, judges and elected officials were at the investiture ceremony for Wayne County Third Circuit Court Judge Yvonna Abraham on Monday, May 16.
The ceremony for Abraham, the first Palestinian American judge in Michigan, took place at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center in...
May 5th, 20220DEARBORN — Democrat Jeff Pepper defeated Republican challenger Ginger Shearer for the District 15 State House partial term in Tuesday’s special election, amid low voter turnout and heavy absentee voting.
The low overall turnout was consistent with the special primary that preceded Tuesday’s general. Only 9.5 percent of...
April 30th, 20220ANN ARBOR — To cap off Arab American Heritage Month, The Arab American News is highlighting the important work the Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease (MCCFAD) at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan continues to do in the community.
The center, led by Arab American researchers...
