Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Contact
The Arab Daily News

The Arab Daily News

Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem

  • About
    • About
    • Our Writers
    • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
    • Book Store
    • Contact
    • Submit Book Reviews, Press Releases
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Corrections Policy
    • Profile on Ray Hanania
    • Submit Press Release
  • Features
    • Food
    • Book Review
    • Humor
    • Movies
    • Travel
  • Arab Stores Targeted
  • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Heritage America resources
    • Directory
      • Groups & Organizations
      • Mosques, Churches
      • Restaurants
      • 2008 & 2014 Arab Media Directories
    • National Arab Heritage Month
    • Video: Chicago Arab History
    • Video: Photo Array of Chicago Arabs
    • Overview of Arabs in America
    • Hanania standup comedy
    • Arabs on the Titanic
    • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Arab Radio Podcast intro
    • Radio Baladi Detroit
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Toggle search form
  • US Senator Bernie Sanders
    Sanders: Trump Welcomes War Criminal to White House American Arabs
  • Al-Haq
    War crimes probe urged against two Israeli snipers who intentionally killed civilian women, children Christian & Muslim
  • CAIR Executive Director and co-founder Nihad Awad
    CAIR Says Israel Turns Gaza into ‘Human Slaughterhouse’ as Killing of Civilians Continues Arab World
  • photo credit author Nehemia Gershuni-Aylho www.NGPhoto.biz and Wikipedia
    Emergency Court Motions to Stop Elbit Drone Parts Shipment via Frankfurt Airport  Activism
  • American Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh murdered by Israeli soldiers May 11, 2022
    Documentary names soldier it says killed Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022 American Arabs
  • Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ
    Jordan bans 12 news sites for ‘spreading media poison’ following corruption report Arab World
  • CAIR Logo. Council on American Islamic Relations
    CAIR Condemns MIT for banning Class President from Graduation Ceremony over Anti-Genocide speech Activism
  • ADC creates emergency fund to defend people who are being punished for expressing views on the American-sanction violence by Israel in the Gaza Strip. Photo courtesy of ADC
    ADC Condemns ADL, Rep. Torres’ Defamation of Dr. Lara Sheehi Activism
  • UN Special Committee on Israeli practices in occupied territories warns of a second Nakba  Arab World
  • Arab American community liaison Hassan Nijem, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Basta at the Arab American Heritage Month event hosted by Pappas’s office.
    Pappas honors Arab American business and community leaders for Heritage Month Activism
  • 04-28-25 Pappas Arab Heritage Month
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas recognizes Arab American Heritage Month by honoring business and community leaders American Arabs
  • Stuffed Grape Leaves. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    A recipe on how to make Stuffed Grape Leaves with lamb, ox tail and rice American Arabs
  • Andrew Boutros, interim US Attorney Northern District of Illinois. Photo courtesy of the US Attorney's Office
    Andrew S. Boutros Takes Oath of Office as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois American Arabs
  • Israeli massacres of Palestinian civilians March 18 2025
    Palestinians demand investigation of Israeli war crimes in Gaza Strip Arab World
  • Illinois Muslim Action Day April 9 2025
    Illinois Muslim Action Day Policies at April 9 Statehouse News Conference American Arabs
Marie Newman for Congress full page Ad in The Future News newspaper, the largest circulation Arab American newspaper in Chicagoland and Illinois.

Arab Americans winning more respect from elected officials

Posted on January 28, 2018September 25, 2018 By rayhanania No Comments on Arab Americans winning more respect from elected officials
SHARE ...
          
 
  

  • Tweet

Arab Americans winning more respect from elected officials

For many years, Arab Americans were frequently abused by politicians who targeted them in mudslinging tirades and public attacks. In 2000, Hillary Clinton returned money from an Arab Muslim organization because pro-Israel fanatics accused them of supporting terrorism. The charge was false but Clinton returned the money in an effort to strengthen her popularity among American Jewish voters. No one cared about American Arab voters. But that has changed, including in Chicagoland where anti-Arab racism is at its worst

By Ray Hanania

If a candidate announced he or she was returning money to a contributor because the donor supported Israel, the news media and the pro-Israel community would be up in arms, accusing that candidate of being “anti-Semitic.”

Yet at least a dozen times or more, candidates for public office have returned donations that have been made by Arab Americans, Christian and Muslim, because pro-Israel fanatics have falsely accused them of being “anti-semitic,” “anti-Israel,” “supports of terrorism” and “extremists.”

One of those was the decision by Hillary Clinton in her 2000 race for New York’s Senate seat. She was praised by racist anti-Arab politicians like then Mayor Ed Koch and U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer. Clinton even refused to meet with Arab and Muslim American leaders, until after she won.

J.B. Pritzker for Governor full page Ad in The Future News newspaper, the largest circulation Arab American newspaper in Chicagoland and Illinois.
J.B. Pritzker for Governor full page Ad in The Future News newspaper, the largest circulation Arab American newspaper in Chicagoland and Illinois.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was quick to undermine the involvement of Arab Americans in Chicago government following his first election in 2011, pulling the rug out from under the 4-year-old Arabesque Festival, launched by his predecessor Richard M. Daley, excluded Arabs from his City Hall meetings, and dissolved the Arab Advisory Council, submitting the complaints from extremists in the Jewish American community.

Democratic candidate J.B. Pritzker also refused donations from Arab and Muslims duirng his unsuccessful bid for congress in the 9th district in 1998. Pritzker even so far as to call a prominent Arab Muslim group, the American Muslim Council,”terrorists.”

But things have changed since those ugly days of anti-Arab racism.

Marie Newman for Congress full page Ad in The Future News newspaper, the largest circulation Arab American newspaper in Chicagoland and Illinois.
Marie Newman for Congress full page Ad in The Future News newspaper, the largest circulation Arab American newspaper in Chicagoland and Illinois.

Pritzker privately apologized to a coalition of Arab Americans recently for his remarks made during the heat of the 9th Congressional race in the predominantly Jewish American district. And in recent months, he and other American candidates running in the March 20, 2018 Democratic Primary have put their money where their mouths claim to be.

Pritzker spokesperson Jordan AbuDayyeh, who is Arab American, told Capitol Fax on Dec. 14, 2017, “JB apologizes for the language he used almost 20 years ago and has demonstrated throughout his life a commitment to civil rights and justice. When Donald Trump tried to ban Muslims from entering the United States, JB was at O’Hare protesting. JB has said if Trump tries to institute a Muslim ban he would encourage everyone to register as Muslim. JB also ran the Illinois Human Rights Commission and has made it clear that as governor, Illinois will be a welcoming state for all.”

Judge John Andrew O'Meara Ad in The Future News newspaper, the largest circulation Arab American newspaper in Chicagoland and Illinois.
Judge John Andrew O’Meara Ad in The Future News newspaper, the largest circulation Arab American newspaper in Chicagoland and Illinois.

Pritzker has been buying up full page Ads in Chicagoland’s popular English-Arabic language newspaper “The Future News.” But so have other candidates.

Pritzker’s Democratic challenger Chris Kennedy has not yet purchased advertising, but he has been endorsed by the Arab American Democratic Club after appearing numerous times at Arab American functions.

Kennedy has vowed to treat everyone equally regardless of race, religion or ethnicity. Kennedy’s spokesperson and chief political adviser is also an Arab, Hannah Jubeh. Polls in the Arab American community suggest the majority of Arab Americans are supporting Kennedy, who has made at least six public appearances at Arab community events in the past six months. Kennedy will be feted at a breakfast fundraiser hosted by the Arab American Democratic Club at Nikos Restaurant on Sunday Feb. 18, 2018.

“We feel that Kennedy has the best interests of Arab Americans and Muslims in mind,” said AADC President Samir Khalil. “Kennedy has been responsive, supporter and open to Arab Americans like we have never seen int he past at a statewide level.”

Front page of The Future News newspaper, the largest circulation Arab American newspaper in Chicagoland and Illinois.
Front page of The Future News newspaper, the largest circulation Arab American newspaper in Chicagoland and Illinois.

Observers note that while Pritzker is a billionaire, Kennedy is a multi-millionaire. Kennedy’s advertising campaign is expected to start in February and will include ads in Arab American publications, a source said. The winner of the March 18 Democratic primary will face-off with Gov. Bruce Rauner who has embraced anti-Arab legislation in Springfield including backing a state version of the Lipinski bill censoring Illinois residents who criticize Israel.

Mansour Tadros, publisher of The Future News, said that in 16 years of publishing his twice monthly newspaper, he had never received a paid advertisement from a major American candidate for public office, until this year.

“We always opened our doors to candidates for public office so that they can bring their message to Arab American voters in Illinois and around Chicago,” Tadros said recently. “But it was like pulling teeth. They wouldn’t buy advertisements to promote their campaigns fearing they would be called ‘anti-Israel.’ But now, candidates are lining up to win support of Arab American voters.”

Tadros’ newspaper also includes campaign ads purchased by Marie Newman, who is challenging 7-term incumbent Congressman Daniel Lipinski in the Democratic primary. Lipinski came under fire from Arab Americans last year when he cosponsored a radically pro-Israel bill that censors Americans who condemn Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank territories. Settlements have been a primary obstacle to peace and are making the creation of the Two-State Solution of Israel and Palestine nearly impossible to achieve.

Newman has attended and supported Arab Americans at their political, community and cultural events.

Another ad has been purchased by Judge John Andrew O’Meara who was appointed to the bench by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2016 representing the 4th SubDistrict.

There are approximately 450,000 Arab Americans in the six county Chicagoland area. It is estimated that about half are registered to vote. The largest pocket of Arab voters resides ironically in Lipinski’s 3rd Congressional district and in the region around it between Burbank on the north and Orland Park on the south. The majority of Arab Americans, more than 65 percent are actually Christian, although the mainstream news media focuses almost exclusively on the needs and concerns of Muslim Americans, the majority of whom are non-Arab.

“It’s the issue of being ‘Arab’ that incited fear and fear mongering,” Tadros explained. “Most Muslims are not Arab. And most Arab Christians assimilate easily into American society and are not as organized as Muslim Arabs.”

Times are changing. It’s slow but Arab Americans are coming into their own. Arab Americans are patriotic, involved in elections, pursuing new careers in not only journalism but also in political consulting.

Arab Americans and Muslims who go to the polls on March 20, 2018 should check out The Future News newspaper, and other Arab American publications. If a candidate spends money on our community, we should give them our vote, even if we don’t agree with everything they may embrace.

Politics is not about 100 percent. It’s about consensus. If you find that you agree with 65 percent of what a candidate stands for, that should be enough to support them. And elections in America are about supporting the “best” candidate who reflects your views. Who supports your principles, morals and ethnics more?

(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist, author and former City Hall political reporter from 1976 through 1992. Email him at rghanania@gmail.com.)

newswire info
  • About
  • Latest Posts
rayhanania
rayhanania
Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.

Follow RayHanania at Twitter
rayhanania
Latest posts by rayhanania (see all)
  • Israelisnipers shooting and killing hospital workers in Gaza - December 11, 2023
  • CAIR Condemns Israeli Executions of Wounded, Unarmed Palestinian in West Bank   - December 11, 2023
  • Arab and Muslim American voters face a “simple choice” between Biden’s inhumanity and Trump’s edgy politics - December 9, 2023

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
          
 
  
 
          
 
 Tweet 
American Arabs, Bloggers, Commentary, Editors Picks, Israel, Journalism, mainstream, Middle East, Opinion, Palestine & Jordan, Politics, Ray Hanania, US Arab Politics Tags:3rd Congressional District, Arab Americans, Arabs of Chicagoland, Christopher Kennedy, Dan Lipinski, Democratic primary election, election, Gov. Bruce Rauner, Illinois Governor, J.B. Pritzker, March 20, Marie Newman, voters, voting

Post navigation

Previous Post: 65 Israeli Laws that target and discriminate against non-Jews in Israel
Next Post: Arab Museum hosts Women Writers Feb. 9

Related Posts

  • Yemen and Arab Uprising: Fissures and Repercussions Arab World
  • Israeli road signs in Arabic, Hebrew and English. Israel has begun a process of removing Arabic from many of its road signs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
    UN criticizes Israel’s “Nation State Law” as “discriminatory” Christian & Muslim
  • Luana Davila, a classics major and Arabic minor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a member of the UIC Honors College.
    UIC student goes to Morocco on State Department scholarship American Arabs
  • The Balfour Declaration and Brother Harold American Arabs
  • Bernie Sanders offers reasoned approach to Middle East peace American Arabs
  • Rashida Tlaib and family
    American Dream Vs. French Wishes Abdennour Toumi

More Related Articles

Terrorist Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Assad, who have used chemical weapons and violence to destroy any Syrian civilian who challenges his atrocities. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Unpredictable Trump is just what the Arab World needs Arab News
Muslim women wearing a Hijab. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia CAIR App allows users to report bias American Arabs
Notes of a dirty not-too-old man Bloggers
PLO Washington Rep denounces Israeli settlement expansion Israel
New American TV show fuels more anti-Arab stereotypes American Arabs
Palestinian Refugees from 1948 and 1967 have never received justice in Israel or in the American court system. Photo courtesy of the United Nations Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib panders to emotions but fails to achieve results American Arabs

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Ray Hanania's 4 times a week columns at https://RayHanania.com at Substack

Enter Your Email to Subscribe to Ray Hanania’s Columns

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • Photo courtesy of Journalist Abdennour Toumi
    France: Political Compromise vs Political Instability
    August 28, 2024
  • Zakia Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia
    Arabs eat Middle East food like they are making love
    June 27, 2024
  • Zwar lamb kabob and kufta with white and yellow rice
    Zwar ranked the Best Middle East restaurant in Chicagoland suburbs
    June 8, 2024
  • Pictured: Rahm Emanuel, Afghan activist Salman Aftab who was co-chair of the Iftar dinner, and several non-Arab Muslim leaders. Also pictured is Ald. Joe Moore. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania for Arab News
    Comprehensive look at the failings of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
    January 18, 2024
  • NEWSWIRE
  • CAIR Logo. Council on American Islamic Relations
    CAIR Condemns MIT for banning Class President from Graduation Ceremony over Anti-Genocide speech
    June 1, 2025
  • Arab American community liaison Hassan Nijem, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Basta at the Arab American Heritage Month event hosted by Pappas’s office.
    Pappas honors Arab American business and community leaders for Heritage Month
    April 29, 2025
  • 04-28-25 Pappas Arab Heritage Month
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas recognizes Arab American Heritage Month by honoring business and community leaders
    April 27, 2025
  • Mike Ghouse
    Celebration of 500th Interfaith Marriage Ceremony
    February 14, 2025

Creative Commons License
All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

  • NEWS
  • US Senator Bernie Sanders
    Sanders: Trump Welcomes War Criminal to White House
    July 9, 2025
  • Al-Haq
    War crimes probe urged against two Israeli snipers who intentionally killed civilian women, children
    July 2, 2025
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Faisal Abbas Book Anecdotes
    Book Review: Arab author shares his anecdotes living in the United Kingdom
    October 22, 2024
  • Columnist Ray Hanania at the ADC Convention in Dearborn with the author Susan Abulhawa
    Book Review: Mornings in Jenin bySusan Abulhawa
    September 14, 2024
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • Television set and remote. Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
    MBC GROUP unveils MBCNOW, its brand-new groundbreaking entertainment service aggregator
    February 24, 2025
  • ArabCon 2024 Gala Program features Dr. Cornel West, Macklemore, and more
    September 6, 2024
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at
Twitter
Facebook
TitkTok
BlueSky
RayHanania Columns

Click here to get information on The Ray Hanania Radio Show and its podcasts

Copyright © 2025 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme