Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem
By Ali Younes Jordanian intelligence agents detained the 23 year old son of well known anti-ISIS Salafist, Sheikh Abu Qatada at his home on Tuesday after a book review study at the Sheikh’s house. Abu Qatada told the Arab Daily News that his son Qatada was detained by men who only identified themselves as Jordanian…
Read More “Jordanian agents arrest well-known anti-ISIS salafist Sheikh’s son” »
First Lady Michelle Obama is traveling to Qatar and Jordan and penned this first blog post about the State Visit from November 1 through November 7, 2015. Mrs. Obama will post daily on her trip. This is her first post By First Lady Michelle Obama (Nov. 2, 2015, Qatar, UAE) — This post is part…
Jordan nominates “Theeb” for 88th Academy Awards Award–winning Jordanian feature narrative “Theeb”, by director Naji Abu Nowar, is Jordan’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 88th Academy Awards, the Royal Film Commission (RFC) announced recently. The selection was made by a committee of Jordanian artists and craftspeople involved in the…
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Not surprisingly, Israel has surfaced as one of the only countries int he world not to help the millions of refugees that are fleeing from the terrorism of the Islamic State and Syrian Dictator Bashar al-Assad. And, Israel is building a wall to block them from entering their occupied nation, but not along the Syrian…
Read More “Israel, one of the only countries refusing to help Syrian refugees” »
While Americans are among the most traveled people on the planet, one place they are avoiding is the Middle East and Arab countries. At one time, the Middle East was a favored destination to Americans but these days with the rising Islamic extremism, the violence and continued conflicts, tourism to the Arab World from the…
Read More “Americans are not traveling to the Middle East” »
By Ali Younes In another sign of the increased cooperation and strategic military alliance between Israel and Jordan, news reports said that Israel will supply Jordan with two types of drones to help Jordan fight the Islamic State in Iraq, ISIS OR ISIL. The London based Jane’s Defense magazine which reported the news earlier this…
Read More “Israel is Helping Jordanian Special Forces Fighting ISIS on the Ground in Iraq” »
By Ali Younes In a rare display of the strategic alliance between Israel and Jordan, several Royal Jordanian F-16s were escorted and supplied with fuel mid air by Israeli air force fuel tankers on their way to military exercise in the United States last week. American military website Foxtrotalpha reported last week that Israeli air…
By Ali Younes The announcement last week that the Taliban leader Mullah Omar is dead should mark an important junction not only for Afghanistan and the Taliban, but also for the Jihadist movement worldwide. As a leader of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, Mullah Omar was known as a reclusive leader who provided shelter for…
Read More “Mullah Omar ,Opposed the September, 11 Attacks, betrayed by Bin Laden” »
By Ali Younes Jordanian military and government sources told the Arab Daily News late last week that US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter visit to Jordan included a secret meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef and a delegation of the pro-Iranian Yemeni Houthi group currently fighting in Yemen. Carter’s trip to the region…
The Ecumenical Institute for the Middle East will launch a new program to bring Christians from the throughout the Arab World together to strengthen their faith in hopes of reinforcing the vanishing Christian presence in the Middle East and Holy land. Participants will come from Levant countries including Palestine, Jordan, Syrian, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and…
Read More “Middle East Christians get training to reinforce faith” »
By Ali Younes Announcing that he is running for president of the United States, the 3 term republican Senator from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham, addressed the gathered supporters in his home town of Central, South Carolina that he wants to be “the next American Commander in Chief”. Graham stressed in his speech before the cheering…
Jordan River Valley and Great Lakes Region Linked through Sister Waters Agreement coordinated through the Sister Cities Program and Midwest and Middle East municipal mayors Mayors and city officials from across the Great Lakes and the Jordan River Valley signed a pioneering agreement this month linking their communities through a “Sister Waters” partnership. In October…
Read More “Sister Cities links Palestinians, Israelis & Jordanians over water” »
Armed attack Inside the Jordanian Department of Intelligence, baffles Jordanians By Ali Younes King Abdullah II of JordanIn an unprecedented violent attack inside Jordan’s most secretive and feared government security agency, The General Intelligence Directorate (GID), also known as the “Mukhabarat” in Arabic, an intelligence officer attacked and stabbed a high ranking senior officer during an…
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Jordanian Ambassador Visits the Victims’ Families of Chapel Hill Shooting in North Carolina Washington, D.C. (February 13, 2015) – Her Excellency Dr. Alia Bouran, Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United States travelled to North Carolina today to meet with the families of Deah Barakat, Yusor and Razan Abu-Salha, the three students…
Read More “Press Release: Jordanian officials visit Chapel Hill” »
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 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 Ray Hanania At no time has it been clearer that Israel does not want genuine peace with the Arab World. What Israel wants is for Palestine to disappear and eventually, for the Arab World to go away, too. Israel’s government has repeatedly rejected peace based on Two-States — Palestine and Israel. In Israel’s current…
Read More “Time for Arab moderates to step up to the peace plate” »