Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
Now that the Oscars are over, can we have a real discussion about the absence of fairness, the racism, stereotypes and bias that consumes the Hollywood movie industry? And to be honest, African Americans have a lot to complain about here in America over the past 400 years for sure, but they really are the last…
Read More “Oscars debate still bothers me, even though it’s done” »
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan served as the backdrop for three Oscar nominated films in this year’s Academy Awards. Jordan has a long history as a setting for movies including Lawrence of Arabia, The Hurt Locker, Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade and Zero Dark Thirty. This years entries include Martian, Theeb and A War. As…
The Combatting BDS Act of 2016 seeks to encourage and authorize state legislation to divest state funds from companies that boycott Israel. By Eileen Fleming The Combatting BDS Act of 2016 [S. 2531/H.R. 4514] was introduced on 10 February 2016. On Tuesday in Colorado human rights activists seized their First Amendment rights to enlighten their…
President Barack Obama promised more financial support to help ease the burden and the suffering of the refugees fleeing the violence by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the by Russian soldiers in a meeting Wednesday with King Abdullah II of Jordan. By Ray Hanania President Barack Obama promised more financial support to help ease the…
Senior Non-Arab Correspondent for The Arab Daily News seventh book is the bookend to her first; Inspired by a 1948 Palestinian Muslim refugee who responded to 911 by establishing The Olive Trees Foundation for Peace. Eileen Fleming explains: Before the events of 11 September 2001, I was an apolitical privileged American who had embarked upon…
University of Illinois at Chicago Student Government votes unanimously to divest from Israeli occupation The Undergraduate Student Government Assembly of the University of Illinois at Chicago voted unanimously on Monday (February 15th, 2016) to pass a resolution urging the university to divest from corporations profiting off of the Israeli occupation and other human rights violations….
Read More “University of Illinois at Chicago endorses BDS” »
OEWG stands for Open Ended Working Group By Eileen Fleming On Monday 22 February, world governments have the opportunity to participate in the Open Ended Working Group “taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations” in Geneva, Switzerland. Through resolution 67/56 the UN General Assembly decided in December 2012, to convene an OEWG to develop proposals for…
Donald Trump has been criticized for calling for bans on Muslim and Hispanic immigration, but Arab Christians and Middle East Christians like Chaldeans are connecting with Trump because of his “tough” policies against radicalism and religions extremism, on Arab Radio By Ray Hanania Donald Trump has been criticized for calling for bans on Muslim and Hispanic immigration,…
Read More “Despite rhetoric, Trump leads with Arab radio callers” »
Palestinian groups calls on Oscar nominees at this year’s Academy Awards to reject the “Israel propaganda trip” valued at over $50,000 that is included in this year’s “swag bags” Palestinian human rights activists are calling on Oscar nominees not to accept travel vouchers supplied by the Israeli government as part of the gift bag that…
Read More “Palestinians urge Oscars reject Israel trip swag” »
First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton IL funds vital medical equipment for two hospitals in Nazareth, state of Israel Abraham’s Children, a 20-year mission of the First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton, sponsored seven events in three states during October 2015, in order to fund the shipment of 40 foot containers of equipment to Nazareth Hospital and…
Read More “Wheaton church buys equipment for Nazareth hospitals” »
Israel writes, produces, distributes and advocates for more press releases than all of the Arab World combined. That should be shocking but most Arabs don’t even know what I’m talking about. By Ray Hanania For the average person, this doesn’t mean much. But in terms of the bottom line, it could make a significant difference in…
Will controversy follow recent sale of Palos Church to Muslims? The southwest suburbs have a history of community opposition to the building of a mosque or Muslim center, reflecting growing racism and discrimination against Muslims nationwide. Have things changed? By Ray Hanania Ray Hanania More than 15 years ago, tried to purchase the abandoned Reform Church…
Read More “Will controversy follow sale of Church to Muslims?” »
Johnny Manziel, the American Arab of Lebanese and Italian heritage, was on a fast track to fame as quarterback for the Cleveland Browns professional football team. But Manziel couldn’t seem to get his personal life in order, and a series of controversies including physical altercationsreportedly pushed the team to drop him this year By Ray Hanania Fewer than…
Through its work with the America Healing initiative, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation has supported approximately 1,000 national and community organizations representing Native American, African American, Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Arab American and white communities, which want to jettison the antiquated belief in the hierarchy of human value that limits the even distribution of opportunities…
Read More “Kellogg Foundation advocates for racial equality” »
Mindful Loving-Kindness reaps peace within and undergirds the curriculum in the social media “Peace Ambassador Training 2.0” course. By Eileen Fleming On 13 January 2016, over 180 global citizens from over twenty countries such as Pakistan, Turkey, Bosnia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Ireland, Germany, Australia and America united in a twelve week “Peace Ambassador Training 2.0” online…
Read More “Want Peace: Give Mindful Loving-Kindness a Chance” »
30 years ago, the world watched in horror as the Shuttle Challenger exploded on live television 73 seconds after lift-off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. Among the seven astronauts who died was the first American Arab astronaut, Christa McAuliffe By Ray Hanania I remember standing in the offices of one of my editors…
Read More “Christa McAuliffe, an American Arab in shuttle disaster” »
Jewish Voice for Peace takes on bias in the United Auto Workers (UAW) and other unions that have turned their backs on human rights By Karen Ackerman I was the Political Director of the AFL-CIO (the largest federation of unions in the U.S.) for 8 years. But long-before I worked for the AFL-CIO, one of my…
Recipe: Nenae ma’a Lemon (Lemon with Mint) drink This is a very popular and tasty Middle Eastern refreshment. It’s easy to make but requires fresh mint leaves. Mint (nenae in Arabic) is an easy to grow plant that produces a wonderful and essential flavor and ingredient in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Arab recipes. The plant grows…
Read More “Recipe: Nenae ma’a Lemon (Lemon with Mint) drink” »