Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
The term Arab will be meaningless if we don’t stand behind it and choose “MENA” instead By Ray Hanania Last month, members of the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation, House Bill 3768, which would include the term MENA (Middle East and North Africa) in the “Uniform Racial Classification Act” which requires state agencies to…
Call me Arab, don’t call me MENA writer argues Columnist Ray Hanania argues that the term MENA to describe Arab Americans only dilutes the ability for Arabs to defend themselves against racism and that the term Arab should be used not only with the U.S. Census but in seeking equality in government contract awards. MENA…
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AHRC Holds Meet and Greet with MDOC In an effort to keep dialogue with government agencies, AHRC held a Meet, Greet & Open Conversation community forum earlier this past week with the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) leadership. The forum was organized and facilitated jointly by AHRC and the Islamic Center of Detroit (ICD). The…
Illinois Review skewers Mayor Lightfoot ally Ramzi Hassan By Ray Hanania Illinois Review, one of the conservative movement’s most respected online news sources, took Edward’s Realty President Ramzi Hassan to task for his support of Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau But in the process, Illinois Review also revealed that Hassan, who is Palestinian American, donated…
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Why allow religious extremists to re-define Islam in the West? By Ray Hanania Rashid-Al-Din Hamadani was a writer and a physician who rose to influence in the Mongolian Dynasties that ruled over Persia, serving as a Grand Visier to many of the Mongolian Khans. Born in Persia in 1247 of Jewish parents, Rashid-al-Din converted to…
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When Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot targeted Arab businesses in 2021 and 2022 Looking back at why Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s racism against Arab American business owners disqualifies her from running for re-election and why Arab American voters should support other candidates running for mayor like Dr. Willie Wilson, Paul Vallas, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Roderick Sawyer,…
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Gov. Pritzker Announces Six Appointments to Boards and Commissions — no Arabs included Building on a strong team of diverse experts in their fields, Governor JB Pritzker announced the following appointments in his administration. But Governor continues to exclude Arab Americans STATE BOARD OF HEALTH Karen Phelan will continue to serve on the State Board…
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“Ramy” cable series melds Arab world reality with every day American life By Ray Hanania As a Palestinian writer in America, my lifelong ambition is to write a TV series that portrays Arabs to Americans as being “no different” than other Americans. If I were to script that show someday, I would call it “Everybody…
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UN experts condemn Israel’s ‘sadistic’ punitive measures against French-Palestinian rights defender Salah Hammouri UN independent experts have called on Israel to immediately release Salah Hammouri, an arbitrarily detained French-Palestinian human rights defender and lawyer, who has just ended a 19 day hunger strike in objection to the systematic policy of administrative detention. “We are concerned…
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib panders to emotions but fails to achieve results Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib says she is a champion of human rights for Palestinians, but is she really effective or is she just pounding her chest and fueling the emotions of a community in America that is discriminated by racism, media bias and stereotyping? Tlaib…
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Pritzker makes more appointments, none are Arab American Gov. Pritzker Announces Ten Appointments to Boards and Commissions and Senior Executive Positions. Building on a strong team of diverse experts in their fields, Governor JB Pritzker announced the following appointments in his administration The following are appoints to the State’s Boards and Commissions made this week…
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Arabs and Muslim blast Mayor Lightfoot for racist store closings The American Arab Chamber of Commerce blasted Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot as “racist” for shutting down Arab and Muslims businesses when crimes are committed near them. Chamber officials said Lightfoot does not close stores owned by other racial groups when crimes occur near their businesses….
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Unresolved status of Palestinian rights makes UNRWA essential The United Nations Relief and Works Agency was set up to help refugees forced out of Palestine by the Israeli war in 1947 and again by the Israeli war in 1967. Until the war is resolved and Palestinian rights are recognized by Israel, the UNRWA has a…
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Chicago aldermen to host “forum” to explore Mayor Lightfoot’s racist crackdown on Arab stores Several Chicago Aldermen will convene a Special Forum on Monday May 9 at the Islamic Community Center of Illinois (ICCI) at 6435 W. Belmont Avenue to examine the forced closure of more than 150 Arab American owned stores last summer by…
Chicago aldermen to host forum on Arab businesses closed by Mayor Lightfoot Ald. Gilbert Villegas and other aldermen including Ald. Raymond Lopez, are hosting a public forum to allow Arab American business owners the chance to detail what happened to their businesses when they were forcibly closed last summer by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The hearing…
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Will Smith violence takes Oscar protests to dangerous level When Hollywood actor Will Smith walked on stage of the 94th Academy of Arts and Sciences Oscars Award on Sunday March 27, 2022, and punched comedian Chris Rock in the face with an open fist, he elevated and personalized what has been an occasional occurrence of…
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ADALAH accuses Israel of racial segregation against Palestinians in UN protest The High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel and Adalah to UN Commission of Inquiry: Israel practices racial segregation against Palestinian citizens of Israel. For the first time, an international Commission of Inquiry (COI) will also examine Israel’s human rights violations against Palestinian citizens…
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Arab Daily News launches Arab Community Network to fight racism Arab Americans need to come together and act as one unified voice to demand the rights we are being denied in America. We need to call out activists who exploit these differences or fuel the divisions in order to give themselves power. We need to…
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