Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
Three Arab Muslim students living in a region of growing anti-Arab and anti-Muslim anger were found slaughtered Tuesday night in Chapel Hill by a White man whose motives have not yet been determined by police. But the community is wondering whether or not this is another example of a racist hate crime by mainstream White America. By…
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On Sunday, February 8, 2015, the American Middle East Voter’s Alliance Political Action Committee met with Mayoral Candidate Jesus Chuy Garcia and the Asian American leadership in Chicago and announced its formal endorsement of Jesus Chuy Garcia for Mayor of Chicago. AMVOTE-PAC’s Chairman, Judge William J. Haddad (Ret.), stated on Sunday that: “Today, AMVOTE-PAC issued…
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The American Human Rights Council (AHRC-USA) calls upon all peace and justice activists to continue their support of Palestinian- American leader and activist Rasmea Odeh. Ms. Odeh is scheduled to appear at the US Eastern District Court in Detroit for a sentencing hearing on Thursday, March 12, 2015. Peace and justice activists across the country…
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By Ray Hanania Author and Muslim feminist rights voice Asra Nomani discusses the fight to confront growing extremism in the Muslim and the Arab World, and the more important battle to strengthen the voices of moderate. Nomani, the author of several books on her life as a Muslim woman, talks about the need to understand how…
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By Ray Hanania Longtime American Arab activists Warren and Amal David are touring the country to promote their newest online venture, ArabAmerica.com. At a luncheon they hosted in Saturday at Fattoush Restaurant in Chicago’s Southwest Suburbs, the heart of Chicagoland’s Arab American community, the David’s presented their community news and information website to a gathering of 40…
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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 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 Last year during the Academy Awards, Oscar hostess Ellen DeGeneres ordered Big Mama’s & Papa’s Pizzeria (BMPP) pizza delivered to the show and then walked through the audience with the delivery driver, sharing slices with stars such as Harrison Ford, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The humor drew big laughs at the Oscars…
Read More “Pizza franchise featured at 2014 Oscars makes Middle East debut” »
By Ray Hanania The Arab Community Center of Houston, one of the most active and energetic organizations in the American Arab community, announced the election of its new board members this week. “The ACC accomplished many things in 2014 and we anticipate that 2015 will be even better,” newly elected ACC President Kamal Khalil announced. “To start…
Read More “Houston Arab Community Center elects new leaders” »
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…
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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 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…
The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies has condemned the Government of Egypt for flogging a blogger who allegedly criticized Islam, and for banning travel to critics of government policies. Here are the two press releases from the CIHRS: A Serious Violation to the Constitution and a New Way to Harass Democracy Advocates The undersigned organizations…
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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…
By Mohammed Asad Palestine Strawberries from the Gaza Strip are ranked as being among the world’s best. Every year, the Palestine Strawberry industry employs hundreds of farmers to harvest the strawberry crops to pick, package and ship the popular fruit to locations around the world. Despite exporting restrictions imposed by Israel’s military occupation, which controls the flow of…
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By Maria C. Khoury, Ed. D. It was simply a most glorious celebration of the Epiphany on the Jordan River today according to the Old Julian calendar. There were hundreds of priests, nuns and thousands of people from all walks of life coming to the precious site where over 2,000 years ago “…the heavens were…
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