Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
While the World is pausing to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the massacre of more than one million Armenians by the former Ottoman Empire, many major Muslim American organizations and Arab World leaders have been either silent or have argued that the Armenian genocide is little more than a part of World War I. Armenians, who are Christian,…
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Israelis insist that Israel is the only Democracy in the Middle East. But what kind of Democracy is a country that discriminates against people based on race and religion and continually reinforces that discrimination? More importantly, what kind of people live in an apartheid-like country and pretends that they do not discriminate? By Ray Hanania For years, I always avoided…
President Obama has begun a debate on the issue of terrorism and Islam asking Americans to recognize that just because the terrorists claim they represent Islam doesn’t make it so. Why give the terrorists what they want? Defeat terrorism by being educated and understanding the facts, as complex as they may be. We are a smart…
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By Ray Hanania Civil rights activists from around the country are targeting a convention being held by RE/MAX Realty in Las Vegas beginning March 2 to protest their ongoing support of illegal Jewish-only settlements in occupied Palestine that discriminate against Christians and Muslims. The annual convention will bring RE/MAX representatives from around the world to…
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Rabbis for Human Rights protests Israel’s collective punishment By Ray Hanania Rabbis for Human Rights, the only rabbinical based human rights organization in Israel, issued a statement this week calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the practice of punishing families and relatives of individuals accused of violent crimes by destroying their homes….
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By Ray Hanania The absence of our story as Arab-Americans may explain why so many Americans hate Arabs and Muslims, especially in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo Massacre. Most Americans lump Arabs and Muslims into one category of spite because, to be honest, most Americans are uneducated and ignorant about the facts. I blame…
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By Mohammed Asad Orthodox Christians from around the world celebrated Christmas today, Jan. 7, 2015. The Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on the basis of the old Julian Calendar and often comes within a week or two of the traditional Christmas on Dec. 25 of each year. Orthodox Christians are mainly from Middle East and Mediterranean countries…
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By Ray Hanania As a Christian, no city in the world means more to me than the “Little Town of Bethlehem.” I write about it often, mainly to remind American Christians — many of whom have forgotten the roots of their faith and therefore the spirit of their Christianity — that Bethlehem is a real…
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By Ray Hanania Every Christmas, I always hear the same conflicting arguments. On the one hand, people tell me, “Stop saying ‘Happy Holidays.’ It’s ‘Merry Christmas’. If you don’t like it, move.” The point being that they presumably are proud of being Christian. And, since Christmas is a Christian holiday, they want people to acknowledge…
By Eileen Fleming Banksy, the graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter depicts 21st century Bethlehem reality onto holiday greeting cards and informational cards with this message: Towering walls and militarized fences now encircle Bethlehem, turning the 4,000-year-old city into a virtual prison for its Palestinian Christian and Muslim citizens. Bethlehem has…
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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Christian Arab presence in Bethlehem in Crisis By Ray Hanania The issue of Christians in the Holy Land continues to be a topic that is twisted and distorted for political purposes with Muslims and Jews both arguing they do more for the increasingly deteriorating presence in traditionally Christian areas like Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour in the Israeli…
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Jacky Chamoun on the Lebanon topless pictures controversy By Ray Hanania Are we not surprised that there are some very tightly wound people who live in the Arab World? This week, word got out that there were some pictures of Jacky Chamoun, Lebanon’s contender in the Sochi 2014 Olympic’s Downhill Skiing competition, topless that are…
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