Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
By Abdennour Toumi Ankara – Turkey — The recent attacks in Paris are but one act in a series of serious threats posed by “homegrown” radicalism from young immigrant Muslim dissenters. This menace has forced Western domestic intelligence to deal with a case that demands vigilant law enforcement on one hand and a general review of Muslim…
Read More “Edjteehad in the West: fighting Islamic extremism” »
By Sheikha Al Dosary Nothing makes me sicker to my stomach than reading false accusations of any nation that aren’t based on facts, especially when it’s done by a so-called “fair and balanced” media. For the past week, I have been investigating the coverage of President Obama’s visit to Saudi Arabia, which was dominated by…
Read More “Setting the record straight: Saudi women’s oppression” »
By Ray Hanania Ever since al-Jazeera (AlJazeera, Al Jazeera) launched as a mouthpiece for the Government of Qatar in 1996, Arab governments have been slowly assessing the power of an in-house and controlled news media. Although al-Jazeera (“The Island”) claims to be objective the Qatar-based government run news channel has drifted far away from professional…
Read More “Arab governments investing heavily in Satellite TV News” »
By Eileen Fleming John Boehner’s latest boner –meaning a clumsy or stupid mistake- was inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint Session of Congress two weeks before the Israeli elections in March. Boehner’s invite inserted Bibi into the middle of the dispute between the President and Republicans over Iran’s nuclear program which…
Read More “Boehner’s Boner Bibi’s Toast Vanunu’s Freedom Soon or Later” »
By Ray Hanania While the Middle East and issues related to Arab countries dominate the attention of Americans through news media and national security, most Americans are avoiding travel to Middle East countries. A recent study by Hotels.com shows that of the top 50 destinations where Americans are traveling, only one Arab Middle East destination, Dubai in…
Read More “Americans shun Middle East as travel destination” »
By Ray Hanania I used to watch beauty pageants purely for entertainment. But in recent years, they’ve become the focus of a cultural debate between the Arab world, and the rest. The Miss Universe Pageant was held Sunday in Doral, Florida in the United States. It featured 88 female contestants competing in categories involving their…
By Abdennour Toumi On Monday, according to local sources of Kurdish media, fighters of the YPG entered the city of Kobani, united with the forces of the Kurdish Alliance, and now together they control 90% of the town and its environs. The city of Kobani has been seen as a major testing-ground for the Kurdish…
Read More “Kurds celebrate Kobani victory with musicfest in Seruç, Turkey” »
By Ray Hanania Well, one Arab-Israeli war won’t be fought this year, but there will be much debate over the messages in the controversial film American Sniper, the story of an American soldier during the illegal war in Iraq. Unlike in several past broadcasts of the Academy Awards, no Oscars have been nominated this year…
By Ray Hanania UPDATE 2, Friday: Bridgeview Police released the following statement: Bridgeview Police today interviewed two individuals believed to be involved in an exchange of comments on Facebook that involved allegations of threats made against the Bridgeview Mosque. Both suspects were interviewed at the Bridgeview Police Headquarters. The names of the persons of interest…
Read More “Threats against Bridgeview Mosque investigated (Updated)” »
By Ray Hanania Saudi Arabia’s moderate leader and monarch, King Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz al-Saud, 90, who has ruled the powerful Arabian kingdom for nearly a decade since 2005 when he succeeded his brother King Fahd, died Friday. His Majesty King Abdullah was succeeded by his brother, Crown Prince Salman who was named the kingdom’s new…
Read More “Moderate Arab World mourns loss of Saudi King Abdullah” »
By Ali Younes With the passing of King Abdullah Bin Abdel Aziz, King of Saudi Arabia, in the early hours of Friday, Saudi Arabia has now a new King in Salman Bin Abdel Aziz, the half brother of late King Abdullah. King Salman was born in 1935 and is the 25th son of the Kingdom founder. At…
Read More “Who is King Salman Bin Adel Aziz, Saudi Arabia’s New King” »
By Ray Hanania Wars are fought with many armaments. Some of them blow up. Others cause things to blow up. And still more can undermine entire nations simply with a few words. In the Arab-Israeli war, the Arabs are losing. They have been losing for a long time, but they are losing even more, now….
Read More “The war is in English and the Arabs are losing” »
By Ali Younes A secret audio tape was released yesterday that showed a link between former president of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh discussing events and steps to be taken by the Shia rebels the “ Houthis” in order to complete their takeover of the republic of Yemen. The tape which was first uncovered by Al…
Read More “Secret Audio tape Reveals Coup Plot by ex-Yemen President and Shia rebels” »
By Ray Hanania When people talk about UFOs and the Middle East, much of the discussion focuses on Israel’s stealth abilities to massacre people using fast-flying jet fighters made in America or missiles that come out of nowhere and kill scores of people. But occasionally, a few UFOs — Unidentified Flying Objects — involve the extra-terrestrial…
By Ali Rizk In August 2013 Israeli defense minister Moshe Yaalon said the following to visiting US joint chief of staff Martin Dempsey: “We must also be prepared for a long conflict and instability in Syria. We cannot let the Tehran-Damascus-Beirut axis of evil to win this fight”. Over a year has passed since then,…
Read More “Watch for growing Israeli-Iranian & hezbollah tension in Syria” »
By Jafar M. Ramini The late John F. Kennedy, the only President of the United States of America since WW2 with any integrity, once said about justice, “We cannot negotiate with people who say what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is negotiable.” (The White House, July 25, 1961) Let’s try to equate this with…
Read More “The Death of Reason: American bias when it comes to Justice” »
By Ray Hanania Joliet Police said they are looking for a suspect who was involved in the shooting death of Mohammed Y. Eid, a 24 year old store clerk who was gunned down Tuesday afternoon in Joliet. Eid was widely praised by customers of the convenient store, Gardener Food Mart, 1000 Gardener Street in Joliet near Nowell…
By Ray Hanania President Barack Obama delivered his 6th State of the Union Address before a joint session of the U.S. Congress and vowed to use his power of veto to block any partisan effort to undermine the economic gains, social changes, healthcare advances and even foreign policy strategies. Obama specifically called on Americans to…