Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
Muslim prisoner Mohamedou Ould Slahi offers a poignant story of an innocent man who faces torture by American soldiers at Gitmo with an inspiring sense of humor. His book “Guantanamo Diary” is a must read for Americans, Muslims, Christians and Jews. By Ray Hanania Most Americans are familiar with the story of Anne Frank, the…
Read More “Muslim Prisoner Details Torture at American Gulag in New Book” »
The truth is that President Al-Sisi of Egypt can move his nation forward both as a strongman and as a hero of the Arab Spring by learning the lessons of past failures of Democracy in the Middle East and understanding that George Orwell’s book 1984 cast tyranny in the wrong way. By Ray Hanania In the…
Read More “Egypt and the need to overcome Radical Islam, a 1984 re-do” »
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 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” »
The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced its association with one of the Arab world’s most popular pop stars – Amr Diab, as a Brand Ambassador. As an Arab star with a strong international following, Amr Diab will now represent Western Union and its quick, convenient and reliable money transfer services, offered across…
Read More “Western Union Signs Amr Diab as Brand Ambassador” »
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…
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 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 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” »