The Arab American News back issues from April 2008:
Divided Arabs deliver little at summit
Apr 05, 2008; ... Many Iraqis say the absence of many Arab leaders highlighted the deep divisions caused by the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq across the Middle East. DAMASCUS (IPS) - The Arab summit held in Damascus over this weekend has convinced many Iraqis that Arab leaders do not speak for ...
A third American war in the making?
Apr 05, 2008; ... The US. Congress, the US. media, the American people, and the United Nations, are looking the other way as Cheney prepares his attack on Iran. If only America had an independent media and an opposition party. If there were a shied of integrity in American political life, perhaps a third ...
Whispers for engagement with HAMAS
Apr 05, 2008; ... WASHINGTON (IPS) - Two years after HAMAS was isolated almost unanimously by the international community following its victqry in Palestinian parliamentary elections, the militant Islamist group has repeatedly proved that it can disrupt U.S. President George W. Bush's plans for a decisive ...
PLO representative discusses challenges to Palestinian statehood
Apr 05, 2008; ... Palestinian ambassador calls for non-violent resistance movement, discusses peace prospects TUCSON - The Palestinian ambassador to the United States said Palestinians should move toward a non-violent resistance movement in the Occupied Territories, even as latest reports reveal Israel ...
Canada tries to change immigration rules
Apr 05, 2008; ... Canada's minority Conservative government is trying to change the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The changes are in accord with the government's over-all style. When elected, the Conservatives pledged a more open government, but in fact everything is tightly controlled by Prime Minister ...
Turkish scholars aim to modernize hadith
Apr 05, 2008; ... Theologians are revisiting the collections of the Prophet Muhammad's sayings that Muslims use as a guideline for daily life. ANKARA - For centuries, the hadith - a collection of the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad - has guided Muslims in their daily lives and served as a basis ...
Battle of Lebanon's political players on billboards
Apr 05, 2008; ... BEIRUT - Hours after Hizbullah commander Imad Mughnieh was killed, huge billboards of his burly face stenciled like the iconic Che Guevara portrait or a photo of him in battle fatigues were printed and ready to display all over Lebanon. Pictures of this man on America's Most Wanted list ...
Iraq lawmakers seek help from Iran
Apr 05, 2008; ... BAGHDAD (IPS) - Despite the huge media campaign led by U.S. officials and a complicit corporatecontrolled media to convince the world of U.S. success in Iraq, emerging facts on the ground show massive failure. The date March 25 of this year will be remembered as the day of truth through ...
A responsible response to Geert Wilders
Apr 05, 2008; ... NEW YORK - As soon as I heard that right wing Dutch politician Geert Wilders' antiIslam film had been uploaded onto an internet site, I did what any self-respecting Muslim would do: I clicked on the link and prepared to be offended. Talk about anti-climax! What happened, Geert? Like a ...
Deterrence: Mother's milk of nuclear proliferation
Apr 05, 2008; ... French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced last week that he was cutting France's total nuclear capability to fewer than 300 warheads. This, he said, was a return to Charles de Gaulle's vision of minimal deterrence that would create "strength from weakness." His speech was not only, or even ...
We need to protect Michigan's waterways
Apr 05, 2008; ... Current legislation puts our water at risk Both the Michigan House and Senate are currently holding important legislative committee hearings around competing packages of water legislation. In short, the debate is centered on corporate versus public control of our water. There are House ...
Film designed to anger Muslims divides the West
Apr 05, 2008; ... The timing could not be more truthful. Just hours after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ended a peacekeeping mission to IsraelPalestine and declared her opposition to Israeli settlement expansion, Israel announced plans to build 1,400 new settler homes in the West Bank. Last ...
What Christians don't know about Israel
Apr 05, 2008; ... A merican Jews sympathetic to Israel dominate key positions in all areas of our government where decisions are made regarding the Middle East This being the case, is there any hope of ever changing US. policy? American Residents as well as most members of Congress support Israel - and they know ...
Cross-over music good, but lacks anger
Apr 05, 2008; ... One of the most unfortunate drawbacks of the 1979 Iranian Revolution was the suppression of creativity and artistic freedom in the name of Islamic purity, as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini cemented theocratic rule over an increasingly frustrated populace. In recent years, some of the rules ...
Ghosts from the land of milk and honey
Apr 05, 2008; ... NEW YORK (IPS) - Somewhere in Baghdad, a family sits down to dinner. Heaped plates of food line the long table. A man sits at the head, fork in hand. Beside him, a youngish woman' with immaculately shaped eyebrows turns to speak with a young girl. Forks and spoons face upwards on still empty ...
A useful guide to racist Hollywood
Apr 05, 2008; ... A useful guide to racist Hollywood As any Muslim will tell you, one of our biggest enemies is the image makers of Hollywood, who for years have advanced bad policies and encouraged stereotypes and discrimination against a community already caught in the vise of foreign policy ....
Guantanamo's child is America's and Canada's shame
Apr 05, 2008; ... Guantanamo's child is America's and Canada's shame Michelle Shephard. Guantanamo's Child. Mississauga, Ontario: John Wiley & Sons, Canada, 2008. $27.95. "For me, Omar's age has always been the greatest factor." Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen, was 15 at the time of his capture in ...
Driving Skills for Life emphasizes safety
Apr 05, 2008; ... DEARBORN - Students here participated in the Ford Motor Company Fund's "Driving Skills for Life" program this week, an ongoing initiative designed to reduce teen car crashes and fatalities. Students from Fordson, Edsel Ford, and Dearborn High School competed to create public service ...
Edsel Ford tackles diversity challenges
Apr 05, 2008; ... DEARBORN - Former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer paid a visit to Edsel Ford High School students March 26 during a student leadership conference that Principal Hassane Jaafar said was put together in part to address issues of diversity and division at the school. He said the event was the ...
5th Annual ACCESS environmental leadership celebration
Apr 05, 2008; ... DEARBORN - The Environmental Program at ACCESS has been a leader on environmental issues in Southeast Michigan since its inception, promoting community health protection, environmental advocacy for vulnerable communities, and youth leadership development. For over a decade, ACCESS has brought a ...
Israeli peace activist sees little hope
Apr 05, 2008; ... Despite the grim outlook, Gordon said those who believe in peace should not be entirely discouraged. DETROIT - Israeli peace activist Neve Gordon spoke at Wayne State University on March 26 about prospects for peace in the Middle East, offering a fairly pessimistic perspective on the ...
Grand success for Ollie's
Apr 05, 2008; ... DEARBORN - The popular new Dearborn Middle Eastern restaurant Ollie's held a grand opening celebration Tuesday. The restaurant, 16351 Ford Road at Mercury Drive, began serving food in late 2007, but hadn't yet held an official opening ceremony. Ollie's has already gained a loyal ...
Granholm signs booster seat legislation
Apr 05, 2008; ... LANSING - Governor Jennifer M. Granholm this week signed legislation that will require the use of approved booster seats for children who are between the ages of four and eight and less than 4 feet 9 inches tall. The bill takes effect July 1. "I am pleased today to sign into law a bill ...
Detroit gas station owner charged in rival's slaying is shot to death
Apr 05, 2008; ... DETROIT - According to The Detroit News, police are investigating the killing this week of a gas station owner who was charged last year with killing a rival gas station owner during a price war. "Hassan Masbouth, 52, was shot to death outside his home in the 1600 block of Infantry on ...
USCIS updates projected naturalization case processing and name check times
Apr 05, 2008; ... WASHINGTON - U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it will finish more than one million naturalization cases during fiscal year 2008 - far exceeding the number of cases completed last year. This update comes following a thorough analysis of the work completed ...
Community Foundation supports ACC refugee outreach
Apr 05, 2008; ... DETROIT - The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has awarded a grant of $150,000 over two years to the Arab American and Chaldean Council (ACC), a non profit organization, for support for refugee acculturation outreach services. ACC's Community and Family Strengthening and Integration ...
Ellison speaks out on need for unity
Apr 12, 2008; ... DETROIT - U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the country's first Muslim congressman, appeared in Detroit on April 6 at an anniversary event for a local civil rights group, where he spoke about uniting advocates of different causes to fight together in an unfavorable political ...
Reality ignored in hearings on Iraq
Apr 12, 2008; ... Sure, Arizona Senator John McCain's campaign may still be selling him as some kind of "maverick" or "independent thinker" - and most of the media may still be buying that ridiculous line. But when it comes to the fundamental foreign policy issue of the 2008 race - whether to continue the ...
U.S. lawmakers invested in Iraq, Afghanistan wars
Apr 12, 2008; ... WASHINGTON (IPS) - U.S. lawmakers have a financial interest in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a review of their accounts has revealed. Members of Congress invested nearly 196 million dollars of their own money in companies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a day ...
Jordan acts as hub for U.S. renditions
Apr 12, 2008; ... NEW YORK (IPS) - Jordan, often described in the mainstream press as the most moderate country in the Arab Middle East, was the first to receive prisoners "as a true proxy jailer for the CIA" and has received more victims of "extraordinary rendition" than any other country in the world, according ...
U.S.-Arab Economic Forum promotes trade
Apr 12, 2008; ... WASHINGTON - The third annual U.S.-Arab Economic Forum, hosted by the American Middle East Economic Affairs Committee (AMEEAC) in cooperation with the League of Arab States, will be held here May 7-9, 2008. The Forum strives to enhance bilateral relations between the U.S. and Middle East. By ...
Hizbullah has new weapons to wage war
Apr 12, 2008; ... TEIR DIBBA - The Shi'a "martyrs" of this hill village are normally killed in the dangerous, stony landscape of southern Lebanon, in Israeli air raids or invasions or attacks from the sea. The Hizbullah duly honors them. But the body of the latest Shi'a fighter to be buried here - from the local ...
Arab world's minorities must be respected
Apr 12, 2008; ... NEW YORK - The gunmen used silencers on their weapons when they assassinated Assyrian Orthodox priest Youssef Adel outside his home in Baghdad last Saturday. But their message was loud and clear: Iraq's dwindling Christian minority is the target of a cruel bloodletting. It may seem ...
Iranian public sees reduced U.S. threat
Apr 12, 2008; ... WASHINGTON (IPS) - While still distrustful of U.S. intentions, the Iranian public' believes that the threat posed by Washington has diminished over the past year and favors increased exchanges between the two countries, including direct talks on stabilizing Iraq and other issues, according to a ...
Canadian pro-peace Jews organize
Apr 12, 2008; ... Journalist and author Naomi Klein gave the keynote address at a meeting in Toronto over the last weekend of March of more than 100 Jews from across Canada dedicated to promoting a just peace in Israel/Palestine. She told those assembled that Israel has two main industries, tourism and security ....
Nothing to laugh at here
Apr 12, 2008; ... Four comedians recently came together in Houston, Texas "to promote peace through comedy" under the banner of the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour. However, rather than promoting a just end to the conflict, their material exploits it in a disturbing manner. "We rely on the conflict; peace ...
Iraq still a quagmire say experts
Apr 12, 2008; ... WASHINGTON (IPS) Despite a reduction in violence over the past 15 months, "the U.S. risks getting bogged down in Iraq for a long time to come, with serious consequences for its interests in other parts of the world," according to a new assessment by the same group of experts who advised the ...
West needs to better assess Islam
Apr 12, 2008; ... BOSTON - The United States is a confused and frustrated country when it comes to dealing with the wide variety of voices and actions coming out of Muslim societies. Everywhere in the public sphere, discussions of foreign policy issues inevitably touch on how to deal with "Islamic extremism," ...
Iraqi Olympians dodge violence and politics on the path to Beijing
Apr 12, 2008; ... A sprinter and an archer - two of the four Iraqis who have qualified so far - struggle to train amid sectarian divides and a dearth of equipment. BAGHDAD - It's a glorious spring day and sprinter Dana Hussein Abdul-Razzaq is busy stretching and wanning up ahead of her morning training ...
The power of the ink of the scholar
Apr 12, 2008; ... WASHINGTON (IPS) - In an age when suicide bombings and religious and ethnic riots comprise the bulk of the evening news, it seems as though compassion and compromise are more elusive than ever. Buddha said that there are three poisons in this world: greed, anger, and ignorance. These ...
Play explores Pakistani culture
Apr 12, 2008; ... In Khaled Hosseini's "The Kite Runner," Baba enthusiastically encourages his son Amir to fly kites and to defend the record he set as a child for cut-, ting down the most opponents' kites in Kabul. But in "Kite on the Wind: A Tale of Pakistan," a collaboration of the Pakistan National Council on ...
Report issued on Muslim-West relations
Apr 12, 2008; ... WASHINGTON - Interfaith leaders from the worlds of government, religion, academe and civil society gathered at a roundtable organized by the World Economic Forum and Georgetown University, on the occasion of the official U.S. launch of the first "Islam and the West: Annual Report on the State of ...
Standing in the shoes of the foe
Apr 12, 2008; ... My life in the West Bank during the summer of 2006 was a lot less dramatic than some might imagine. I wasn't kidnapped and I didn't see any gunbattles in the street. I went to university every day, ate delicious food, and traveled throughout various cities in the area. This is not to say that ...
Basra battles: What reporters omitted and fabricated
Apr 12, 2008; ... The latest battles in Basra, Iraq's largest city and a vital oil port, provide ample examples of misleading and manipulative practice in corporate journalism today. One commonly used tactic is to describe events using self-styled or "official" terminology, which deliberately confuses the reader ...
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to lead study mission to Middle East
Apr 12, 2008; ... ATLANTA - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will lead a study mission to Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan April 13-21, 2008, as part of the Carter Center's ongoing effort to support peace, democracy and human rights in the region. Jimmy Carter has been ...
Imam detained, may be deported
Apr 12, 2008; ... AUSTIN - Members of Austin's religious community are rallying around a Muslim cleric who is being detained in West Texas and may be deported to Pakistan. Imam Safdar Razi, who led a Northwest Austin mosque for six years before taking a job in Dearbom, Mich., in 2006, was arrested on ...
Dearborn schools tie for top spot in tennis tournament
Apr 12, 2008; ... Dearborn High, Dearborn Divine Child come out on top, Fordson, Edsel Ford trail DEARBORN - In a tennis event that used to include only Dearborn schools, it was fitting that two of them were able to tie for first place. Dearborn High and Dearborn Divine Child tied for the championship in ...
Film shows Arab Americans as they are
Apr 12, 2008; ... Film shows Arab Americans as they are A poignant film captures the beauty of the Arab culture through its moving storyline and engaging characters, while examining immigration issues that many are being faced with today. "The Visitor," an honest, touching film set in New York ...
Oakland University panel discusses Mideast
Apr 12, 2008; ... ROCHESTER - The Lebanese Club of Oakland University hosted a panel discussion in the university's Fireside Lounge Wednesday, covering a number of issues relating to the Middle East and the Muslim world. Debates were held on topics including women in the Arab world, the Israel-Palestine ...
Progressive Israeli journalist speaks at UM
Apr 12, 2008; ... ANN ARBOR - Many see the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as being about land, religion or just hatred. For veteran Israeli journalist Amira Hass it is about both Israeli domination and masculinity. The obsession with militarization, she argued in front of nearly 200 audience members here this week, ...
NewWal-Mart spurs opposition
Apr 12, 2008; ... DEARBORN - It's a concern that enters the minds of citizens every time a new Wal-Mart comes to town: What's going to happen to the small businesses in the area? With the recent opening of the Wal-Mart in Dearborn, one local group is hosting a meeting for concerned citizens, government ...
New Chairman of Associated Food & Petroleum Dealers
Apr 12, 2008; ... FARMINGTON HILLS - The Associated Food and Petroleum Dealers, Inc. (AFPD) recently elected Chris Zebari, of Canton, Michigan, as its Chairman of the Board of Directors. Zebari has worked in the industry for 30 years in a variety of roles, starting out in his family's Michigan grocery ...
Awada named president of ACCESS Board
Apr 12, 2008; ... DEARBORN - The Board of Directors of the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) accepted the resignation of recently elected Board President Fawwaz T. Ulaby during its April 5 meeting in Dearborn. The Board has named its vice president, Andrea Awada, as its new ...
Community honors environmentalists
Apr 12, 2008; ... DEARBORN - The Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) honored individuals who exhibited an exemplary commitment to the environment at its 5th annual Environmental Leadership Celebration here on Wednesday, April 9, 2008, at the Bint Jebail Cultural Center in Dearbom ....
Council approves plans for Ward site
Apr 12, 2008; ... DEARBORN - City Council voted 4-2 on Tuesday to approve a redevelopment plan for the old Montgomery Ward site at Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road, giving the go-ahead for a $70 million project to replace the historic building with a major medical complex. Retail/office space and a ...
Dearborn to show off at Big Open House
Apr 12, 2008; ... DEARBORN - The City of Dearborn, along with its marketing carnpaign, WelcomeHomeDearborn.com, will promote great features of the community to potential home buyers through activities at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center (The Center) on Sunday, April 27. Dearborn's ...
Sixth Annual Great Lakes PeaceJam conference scheduled
Apr 12, 2008; ... KALAMAZOO - Great Lakes PeaceJam this year will welcome 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi of Iran, to the 6th Annual Great Lakes PeaceJam Youth Conference on April 19 & 20, 2008 at Western Michigan University (WMU). Ebadi won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts for democracy and ...
Muslim reformer's 'heresy': The Islamic state is a dead end
Apr 12, 2008; ... Abdullahi Ahmed an-Naim has seen what can happen to an Islamic reformer: His mentor was executed in 1985 in Sudan; he himself had to flee the country. Still, the self-described "Muslim heretic" has no trouble traveling the Islamic world spreading his controversial message: There is no ...
Children's area of Henry Ford Centennial Library being remodeled
Apr 12, 2008; ... DEARBORN - The children's area of the Henry Ford Centennial Library (HFCL) will undergo extensive remodeling and updating in April. As a result, the children's area of the library and the mezzanine level of the library are scheduled to be closed from Friday, April 11 through Wednesday, April ...
LIFE provides medical books, surgical supplies to Iraq
Apr 12, 2008; ... SOUTHFIELD - As part of its ongoing efforts to alleviate human suffering, the American-based relief organization, Life for Relief and Development (LIFE), is preparing to distribute highly quality medical books along with medical supplies to 20 medical schools and teaching hospitals in ...
ACC research project chosen for summit
Apr 12, 2008; ... SOUTHFIELD - The Arab American and Chaldean Council's (ACC) Public Health Research and Education Department's abstract poster on "Prevalence of Hepatitis C Among Arab & Chaldean Americans in Southeast Michigan" has been chosen for the National Minority AIDs Council's (NMAC) 2008 HIV ...
Superintendent candidates narrowed to seven
Apr 12, 2008; ... DEARBORN - Thomas D. McLennan & Associates presented the Dearborn Board of Education with a list of seven candidates for superintendent at a special public meeting held on Monday, April 7, 2008. The group of seven includes: Dr. Felix H. Chow, Former Superintendent Hamtramck Public Schools ...
ACCESS, AAI hold political training seminar
Apr 12, 2008; ... DEARBORN - About 60 people who hope to mobilize their communities in the upcoming presidential election gathered at the University of Michigan-Dearborn on April 4 and 5 for voter engagement training organized by ACCESS and the Arab American Institute. The two-day training program laid ...
Michigan Peace Team sends four to West Bank
Apr 12, 2008; ... WEST BANK - A four member team of the Michigan Peace Team, ages ranging from 26 - 69, has arrived in the Occupied West Bank. The team will be working with Palestinians, Israelis and other internationals to promote non violent conflict resolution. MPT's violence reduction team is prepared ...
Carter snubbed by Israeli officials
Apr 19, 2008; ... But majority of Israelis agree the Jewish state should talk to HAMAS JERUSALEM (IPS) - Three decades after he brokered the firstever peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter has become persona non grata in the Jewish state. Both Prime ...