Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
American Arabs mourn passing of author Jack Shaheen A former consultant on Middle East Affairs for CBS Network News, Jack G. Shaheen was an accomplished professor of Mass Communications at Southern Illinois University who helped shatter stereotypes against Arabs, Muslims and other ethnic groups by exposing the biases of Hollywood and the American media. By…
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A tribute to my friend David J. Steiner Many people do not know someone like David Steiner, who spent much of his life as an activist for peace. A Jew, Steiner reached out to Palestinians and Arabs to build bonds that would help overcome the divide that angrily keeps the two peoples apart Published in the…
Skimming through the Obits and life The obituary section of the old more informed newspaper era was an obsession with my father back in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, the newspapers are anorexic but the Obit section is still growing strong. And, I understand why my father paid attention to it so much now that I…
Pioneering Middle East Magazine publisher dies One of the most influential journalists who contributed enormously to the understanding of the true facts and issues of the Middle East and the Palestine conflict, passed away this week. Ambassador Andrew Ivy Killgore, a veteran American diplomat moved by the injustices he witnessed to publish the Washington Report on…
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Boutros Boutros-Ghali, veteran Egyptian diplomat, dies Boutros Boutros-Ghali, veteran Egyptian diplomat and the first United Nations Secretary-General from Africa, passed away today at the age of 93. He is being praised for guiding the Organization through the tumultuous early 1990’s and for helping shape the UN’s response to post-Cold War realities, drafting a seminal report…
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The passing of Da al-Hocine poses a new challenge for the regime. Real opposition continues to be a major political imperative in shaping the country’s political pluralis. The last Algerian WL hero and leader, Ait Ahmed, who was for my generation a father and a teacher of how to stand to tyranny. His ideas and…
American Arab attorney Yuseff “Joseph” Dahr Jamail, the wealthiest personal injury lawyer in America, died this week, it was announced Wednesday. Jamail’s estate was valued at more than $1.5 billion by Forbes Magazine By Ray Hanania Yuseff “Joseph” Dahr Jamail, recognized the wealthiest lawyer in America, died on Wednesday December 23, 2015 at the age…
ADC National recognizes achievements of Sir Michael Berry Sir. Michael Berry, a lawyer, pioneer of the Arab American community and longtime Wayne County official in Michigan, died this past week. He was 95 years old. Of Lebanese heritage, Sir Berry was the first Muslim to practice law in Michigan. He dedicated his life to numerous…
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Omar Sharif was one of the first Arab actors to appear in the biased anti-Arab arena of Hollywood. His talent took him past the bigotry that has denied Arabs roles in major motion pictures, excluded pro-Arab themes and narratives from Hollywood movies, and marginalized Arabs to the sidelines of a biased movie industry. But his legacy…
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Nadia Hilou, a lone Arab-Israeli Christian voice for families and children, was vilified and attacked by extremists in the Arab community in the Middle East and in the United States because she dared to work for peace from inside the system. Hilou was the first Arab Christian woman to serve in the Knesset and as…
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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…
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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…
Joan Peters (Joan Peters Caro nee Friedman), 78, the author of the infamous and viciously anti-Palestinian book “From Time Immemorial,” died this week, according to an announcement from a relative posted on Facebook. Click to view Obituary. The premise of the Peters book is that the Christian and Muslims who were forced to flee Palestine in…
A Ft. Wayne, Indiana store owner of American Arab heritage, Moath Nasser, 21, was shot and killed in his convenience store on Monday December 29, 2014, was originally from Dearborn, Michigan. Ironically, a video posted online showed him in a physical altercation with two customers in his store, Big Al’s Grocery, at 620 McKinnie Avenue,…
Obituary: Azizah Magazine Publisher Tayyibah Taylor By Ray Hanania Tayyibah Taylor was a different kind of Muslim. She was a woman who shattered the stereotypes against women in the media and broke the restrictions oftentimes imposed on Muslim women. Although she was not Arab, she was an influential role model for Arabs and non-Arabs alike. I met Tayyibah…
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Obituary: US Astronaut who placed satellite for Arab League dies Former NASA astronaut Steven R. Nagel, who served as a mission specialist on his first space shuttle flight, pilot on his second and commanded his final two, died Aug. 21 after a long illness. He was 67 years old. After his last shuttle flight, Nagel became deputy director…
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Obituary: controversial Lebanese scholar Fouad Ajami dead By Ray Hanania Fouad Ajami, who was reviled by many Arabs but loved by the pro-Israel movement for his softened criticism of Israel and harsh assessments of the Arab World died on Sunday of prostate cancer at his home in Main, according to media reports Tuesday. He was 68…
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Obituary: Ayoub Yousef Talhami, 1928-2014 Ayoub Talhami, former Assistant Chief Engineer at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, and a prominent member of the American Palestinian community in Chicago, was born in Shefa ‘Amr, Palestine. He was a volunteer fighter with Palestinian militias during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. He graduated from the elite Arab College in…