Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
Podcast Interview: Naomi Shihab Nye on books, writing and journalism By Ray Hanania This week on Talk of the Town Radio (Sept. 5, 2014) I interview author and writer Naomi Shihab Nye. The show is broadcast every Friday at 4 pm CST on WCEV 1450 AM and on YahalaVoice.com radio. Naomi discusses her writing and…
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APO Spirit at the Big Fat Kurdish Wedding! By Abdennour Toumi Derbassiya, Turkey — Here in Turkey Kurdistan is very dear to the hearts and minds of Kurds across the region, including Mesopotamia and other historical places, and I wonder if any people have occupied such a unique position before. Certainly Kurdistan is very dear in…
Update to Gaza Sisters Story By Lilas Taha My family and I took a quick trip to Palestine in August. I was fortunate enough to meet with a doctor in Jerusalem, who was given permission to go into Gaza during the ceasefire that held for 5 days before the fighting resumed ending with the permanent…
The Palestinian Nuclear Option: the Road to ICC Membership By Ali Younes As soon as the war on Gaza that started on July 8 and lasted for 51 days ended the pressure started mounting on Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to file an application with the International Criminal Court ( ICC) as a way to punish…
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BDS protests against Israeli Apartheid in Houston planned Saturday Sept. 6 Houstonians Are Invited to Join the Worldwide Movement to Save Palestine: Educational Gathering on Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) Against Israeli Apartheid This Saturday The community will gather to spread awareness about the worldwide Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, which calls for conscious…
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Kerry appoints Shaarik Zafar Special Rep to Muslim Communities By Ray Hanania U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Wednesday announced the appointment of Shaarik H. Zafar as the State Department’s new “Special Representative to Muslim Communities” in the United States and the international community. The appointment was made at a closed ceremony at the Dean Acheson…
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Mandy Patinkin for Israeli Prime Minister Stephen Colbert for SECURITY By Eileen Fleming On Tuesday Mandy Patinkin announced on The Colbert Report that he wants to run for Prime Minister of Israel after the fourth season of Homeland. In the series Mandy Patinkin plays CIA Middle-East Division Chief Saul Berenson and he prefaced his announcement…
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American Arab and Muslim groups denounce ISIS beheadings By Ray Hanania American Arab and Muslim organizations in the United States this week were among the voices denouncing the brutal murders of two journalists in the past two weeks including the horrendous decapitation James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Statements were released by many groups, but surprisingly, many…
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Finding the elusive Moral High Ground in Israel-Gaza War By Ray Hanania Creators Syndicate, August 28, 2014 Two-States, the plan to establish a Palestinian State on lands Israel occupied during the 1967 War, seems like an impossible task given the increasing animosity between Israelis and Jews, and Palestinians and Arabs. Yet, I have mixed feelings and…
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Christian Baptists raise funds for needy in Iraq and Gaza By Ray Hanania Eron Henry of the Baptist World Alliance discusses fundraising efforts to help Christians who are being targeted by religious extremists in Iraq and in Syria. Henry, during an interview with Talk of the Town radio Friday August 29, 2014, said that the…
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US Israel Nuclear Ambiguity Declassified and What Vanunu Said By Eileen Fleming After 45 years of top-secret status documenting America’s colluding role in Israel’s nuclear ambiguity; the worldwide ‘secret’ ended last week with declassified papers made public by the Interagency Security Classification Appeals Panel (ISCAP). In March, Obama decided to release the documents revealing American…
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Coca Cola’s Name campaign is not #ShariaCoke but #Shareacoke Take the survey below: Should Coca Cola add the name Mohammed to the list of Names? By Ray Hanania Calm down people. Coca Cola has a brand new marketing gimmick that has raised a few eyebrows, but it is not endorsing “Sharia Law” or taking sides in the emotion-driven…
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Farmers protest Turkish economic policies By Abdennour Toumi Mardin, Turkey — Last week, fire and barricades blocked the roads for three days as farmers protested their electricity and water being cut off to irrigate their corn fields. In the southern districts of Derik and Kiziltepe. Residents of these districts are angered by the lack of water and…
Sami Yusuf to perform in the Washington DC area Sami Yusuf, British Muslim superstar, performs worldwide to sellout crowds. His heavenly voice and his world music sound with a Middle Eastern flourish, has caused his fans to buy over 35 million albums and his FaceBook page to have 6 million followers. Many of his songs (in English,…
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In a videotaped message: Captured Lebanese soldiers plead with government to free them from ISIS Lebanese soldiers have only 3 days to live By Ali Younes In a taped video message posted on Youtube today Lebanese soldiers who were captured by the terror group the “Islamic State” fighters (also known as ISIS or ISIL) earlier…
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US Baptists raise funds to help oppressed Iraqi Christians The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) sent an initial sum of US$20,000 to assist with Christians displaced inside Iraq. Funds given by the BWA will be used to help provide food and other urgent relief supplies to approximately 500 Iraqi Christian families who fled Mosul and Karakosh…
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David Cameron’s failed policy on terrorism and extremism By Ray Hanania British Prime Minister David Cameron is the poster child of government officials who have no idea how to confront the growing threat of extremism and terrorism, but what do you expect from a politician who compromised his ethics to suck up to Rupert Murdock’s…
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Iran Torture Jon Stewart ROSEWATER Israel Torture Vanunu Youtube By Eileen Fleming Jon Stewart’s directorial debut “Rosewater” premiers at this weekend’s Telluride Film Festival ahead of its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September-a trailer can be viewed at YouTube HERE “Rosewater” is based on the best-selling memoir by Maziar Bahari, Then…
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