In Our Opinion
In Our Opinion
Hussein Berry’s lies and destructive behavior could ruin the school district
September 14th, 20171 Last Monday’s meeting of the Dearborn Board of Education necessitated careful attention and study as the issue of overcrowding is still at the forefront and the future of our kids and two important institutions— Fordson and Dearborn High Schools— is at stake. After much evaluation and dialogue on the issue as well as other...
The genocide of Rohingya Muslims must mobilize and unite humanity
September 8th, 20170 The genocide of the Rohingya Muslims became a major global focus this week and yet no official outcry against their massacre or for immediate aid was made. Making headlines should raise awareness about the crisis— immediately outraging humanity as a call for action— not silencing and immobilizing it. According to an op-ed...
Trump steers the wheel to the country’s downfall
September 3rd, 20170 Since his presidential campaign last year, President Trump stirred controversy with his racist and hateful rhetoric towards minorities. Then, his election pulled the trigger on an abysmal spike in racism and hate crimes— making the country’s years of shameful discrimination and bigotry acceptable again. On Wednesday, Aug. 30, Fox...
Winning a battle against opioid abuse doesn’t mean the war is over
August 25th, 20170 The community’s collective awareness and complaints that prompted police to investigate and eventually raid a Dearborn Medical Clinic— which turned out to be a white coat dealer’s opioid prescription hub, as many suspected— should not be a reason to let our guard down, but rather to keep up our unified activism against our...
Clashes among Arab Americans get us nowhere
August 20th, 20170 On any Election Day, be it primary or general, it’s the norm for residents to differ in opinions on particular candidates and their qualifications. That’s why voters have the right to choose their representatives at the ballot box after much debate and discussion. However, that healthy democratic process should not turn into...
Our endorsements for Dearborn, Hamtramck and Detroit municipal elections
August 4th, 20170 One might think that Dearborn prospers businesswise— mainly as home to Ford Motor Company's world headquarters—yet it doesn't, due to the lack of change in the system and in the administration. Many businesses have moved out after Dearborn established restrictive ordinances. Business owners began setting up shops in nearby cities...
The Dearborn Heights 2017 primary elections: Our endorsements
July 28th, 20171 As Dearborn Heights' community and economic landscape transforms to reflect its neighboring city of Dearborn, so must the city's government transform to reflect its constituents. Over the years, many Arab Americans have steadily moved from Dearborn to Dearborn Heights, a bedroom community whose obstacle to tremendous ambitions has...
Hamtramck’s Muslim majority Council proves media wrong
July 21st, 20170 HAMTRAMCK — When the voters of Hamtramck elected four Muslims to the City Council in 2015, it made headlines nationally and internationally on media outlets like the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, CNN, Fox News and more as a seemingly oxymoronic move in an "American city"— as if those public officials' Islamic faith...
Intra-cultural conflicts among Dearborn’s Arab Americans are a concern
July 14th, 20170 It is a known fact that Dearborn has the highest concentration of Americans of Arab descent, some thriving more than others, in part due to their long history in this nation. For many reasons, internal segregation, which tends to stem from religious separation, politics and tribalism, has truly become a community concern. Last week,...
Excessive fireworks put Dearborn residents in a war zone
July 7th, 20170 The Fourth of July has passed, but the community's celebratory faults haven't, as "war zone" sounds persistently reappear over the years. Dearborn's patriotism shines bright on Independence Day. However, community members launch dangerous fireworks in between houses and throughout neighborhoods— disregarding the potential dangers,...
The call to shut down Al Jazeera must be condemned
July 7th, 20170 It has been more than a month since four Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia decided to cut off ties with their neighbor, Qatar. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE imposed severe diplomatic and economic sanctions on the tiny Gulf state that heavily depends on imports for its daily consumption of necessary goods. The...
Hussein Berry is to blame for the tension on the school board and in the community
July 1st, 20171 These past few weeks have been filled with political rants, social media gossips and legal threats. It has become hard to find the truth amid the sea of accusations. This is the new age of politics, it is the Trump era. Truth has no place in his White House and it seems that it has no place in Dearborn, either. At the Dearborn Board...
The conspiracy theory and the Dearborn Board of Education appointment process
June 23rd, 20171 Much has been said and written about the Dearborn Board of Education candidates and the process to appoint a successor to now Judge Mariam Bazzi. Most of the rants on social media centered around a couple of themes: Adel Mozip should get Bazzi's former seat because he received 11,000 votes during the last election, which he lost anyway;...
Too much at stake for Dearborn Board of Education to remain divided
June 16th, 20170 The inability of the Dearborn Board of Education to reach an agreement and appoint a new trustee to fill the seat vacated by former trustee and now Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Mariam Bazzi disappointed many in the city. Three Board members, Fadwa Hammoud, Mary Lane and Michael Meade, selected local businesswoman Celia Nasser....
Ahmad Jibril doesn’t belong to Dearborn
June 10th, 20170 Local and national articles are alarming readers with tales of an insidious "Dearborn cleric" who is apparently "popular" and "inspirational" to ISIS members. The headlines, however, have it all wrong. He is neither a cleric nor has he ever really been visible in Dearborn. Furthermore, his obscurity can hardly award him with any......
Not only Muslims: Last week, allies became casualties, too
June 2nd, 20170 Rick Best, 53, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, and Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, took a brave stand against bigotry and assault last Friday when they stepped in to defend two teenage girls from the verbal assault and abuse of a bigot whose best defense was that they "looked Muslim." Both 16-year-old Destinee Magnum and her...
Trump in Saudi Arabia: King of hypocrisy
May 26th, 20172 Trump's affinity for all things "yuge" and slathered in gold was manifest in his choice of visits. Instead of taking the opportunity to make a diplomatic stride through his first foreign visit since taking office, Trump rather reinforced the commitment to power and money shared between the two warmongering governments through a...
Nakba was 69 years ago, but Arab complacency keeps it going
May 19th, 20170 May 15 marked the 69th year of systematic expulsion and pillaging of Palestinian communities, in addition to the centennial of the Balfour declaration that began the travesty. In May of 1948 alone, after the Israeli militiamen of the Haganah, Irgun and Palmach liquidated entire villages via massacres, forcing the spared from their...
Firing Comey will haunt Trump’s presidency
May 12th, 20171 In another display of power overreach, Trump played Nixon when he fired FBI director James Comey. Or perhaps he thought he was still on the Apprentice, with "You're fired" as his only misguided attempt at wielding power. Here, in firing Comey, the ends do not justify the means; the Americans are paying attention to the cause of......
Trump’s 100 days: A reign of error
May 5th, 20170 President Trump's first 100 days were characterized by attempts to reject every act of President Obama's in his eight years in office. In other words, this is also known as "Whitelash"; a rejection of everything passed by the first Black president by a reactionary reputed bigot. In fact, the entirety of Trump's 100 days in office...
Stand up for justice, support the Palestinian prisoners
April 29th, 20170 Since mid-April, more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners have been conducting a hunger strike led by Palestinian leader and notable prisoner Marwan Barghouti. After Barghouti's well-publicized April 16 New York Times op-ed calling for humane conditions, regular family visits and due process, this hunger strike has reinvigorated the debate......
The only campaign promises Trump keeps are those that harm immigrants
April 21st, 20170 Donald Trump, having run an inflammatory campaign salvaged only by promises of non-interventionism, reneged upon multiple campaign promises by bombing two nations, unprovoked, in a span of one week. Despite his repugnant rhetorical exterior, Trump struck a chord with the average American as far back as 2013 with tweets advising the...
United apology isn’t enough; corporate arrogance requires scrutiny
April 16th, 20170 Immigrants and people of color, it seems, can't catch a break on holiday. There are the issues with flying while Arab. There are the proven problems with driving while Black. Apparently there's also boarding while Asian. One of the most brutal metaphors for crass capitalism played out Monday as fellow passengers on United Airlines......
