In Our Opinion
In Our Opinion
The right to boycott is as American as it gets
September 22nd, 20180 Palestine, Israel and the right to boycott (BDS) have made their way to the front and center of Michigan’s gubernatorial race. In the past few weeks, Democratic candidate Gretchen Whitmer has publicly expressed support for the right to boycott Israel, after which her Republican opponent, Bill Schuette, vehemently attacked her for it,...
At 34, we continue our mission and reaffirm our commitments
September 15th, 20181 On September 7, 1984, 34 years ago, The Arab American News was established with a mission to tell Arab Americans' and the Arab world's untold stories, but as it progressed and immersed in the field of journalism, it developed into something much more than that. In the last three decades The Arab American News has become a place to go...
Defunding UNRWA highlights Trump’s anti-Palestine agenda
September 7th, 20180 The Trump administration has cut all funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). Created after the 1948 war which displaced 700,000 Palestinians, UNRWA works in collaboration with local governments to provide direct relief and resources aiding economic reintegration. The agency provides food...
Another historic win and counting!
August 17th, 20180 This week, Arab and Muslim Americans scored another historic victory in Minnesota where Ilhan Omar won comfortably a Congressional primary election. Omar, America’s first Somali American legislator, won the Minnesota Democratic primary for Congress on Tuesday. The seat she competed for in the Fifth District is currently held by U.S....
A historic election for Arab and Muslim Americans
August 10th, 20180 Michigan voters set a new record of involvement this historic primary election thanks in large part to the candidacy of Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Progressive Movement led by Senator Bernie Sanders, and in a twisted way thanks to President Trump and his racist rants. Energy could be felt everywhere in this election. Rashida Tlaib’s...
Our endorsements for the August 7 primary elections
July 27th, 20180 This election is a defining event for America This election, for many reasons, is perhaps the most important one in America’s modern history. First, our democracy is in grave danger. During the last presidential election and since Donald Trump took office, there have been a systematic attack on our democracy at all levels. The...
Drifting backward, repeating America’s shameful history
June 29th, 20180 Tuesday, June 26, 2018 will be remembered as a shameful day in the history of the United States of America. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld President Trump's executive order banning citizens of Muslim-majority nations from entering the country. The decision fulfilled a campaign promise by then-candidate Donald Trump. No one can spin...
This time, Nikki Haley spits on the entire world
June 25th, 20180 The Trump administration withdrew from the U.N. Human Rights Council on Wednesday, condemning the “hypocrisy” of its 47 member states and its alleged "unrelenting bias" against Israel. Trump’s ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, traveled to Washington to make the announcement alongside Trump’s top diplomat and former chief...
While tragedy engulf homelands this Eid, there are things to celebrate here
June 19th, 20180 As the Arab and Muslim worlds were ending a month of blessed fasting, observing the most holy month in Islam and getting ready to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, there isn’t much to celebrate there— a region engulfed in bloodshed and complicated conflicts among brothers and neighbors. In Gaza, a real massacre engulfing the besieged Strip...
America spits on the graves of Palestinians dying for freedom
May 18th, 20180 The actions of the Trump administration concerning the Palestinian people have become more shameful by the day. In December, President Trump announced his intention to fulfill his ill-guided campaign promise to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, gifting Israel a de facto recognition of the Holy City as its capital. Not only did...
Will the decent Republicans stand up?
April 27th, 20180 State Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton), a Republican candidate for governor, is spreading his hateful rhetoric to hide his lack of leadership and the fact that his campaign is bankrupt in both ideas and dollars. Earlier this month the trailing Republican gubernatorial candidate, who is known for his racist and White Supremacist ideas,...
The push for war against Syria united politicians on both sides of the aisle
April 13th, 20180 The chemical attack video: We've seen this movie before Democrats and Republicans alike— on both sides of the aisle in the U.S. Congress, in the liberal and conservative mainstream media, in our intelligence services and in basically every think tank in Washington— have suddenly aligned on a single point of agreement; America must...
What are our true priorities?
April 6th, 20180 There are many times we need to ask ourselves, what are our true priorities? A couple of weeks ago, thanks to social media, and fake news, we were all made aware of a suspicious flyer that supposedly originated somewhere in the United Kingdom, but no one was able to determine who was behind it. The “Punish a Muslim Day”...
Now that the court has spoken, it’s time to move on
March 9th, 20180 Now is the right time for Hussein Berry and others to reconsider what they have done, to recognize the damage their actions have caused and to join the healing efforts that this community badly needs. On Monday, a Wayne County Circuit Court judge dismissed a lawsuit against the Dearborn School District, the Dearborn Board of Education...
America mourns, prays and does nothing to address gun violence
February 16th, 20180 The thunderous hail of bullets is always followed by the silence of a nation that cannot bring itself to do anything besides offer ineffective hopes and prayers. Once again, a place for education and advancement has become a scene of horror and fear in America. It is unacceptable that any American should have to endure the terror and......
The danger facing Lebanon is bigger than Bassil’s loose tongue
February 2nd, 20180 In the last decisive moments, Lebanon avoided the edge of a cliff and perhaps saved fragile peaceful coexistence among its people, which for the past few days has been hovering over that fine edge. A telephone call from President Michel Aoun to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was enough to defuse a potential civil war that would have...
Trump’s Jerusalem decision is reckless and dangerous
December 8th, 20170 President Trump's decision this week to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital was reckless, misguided and dangerous. He has legitimized the illegal occupation of East Jerusalem. Let us not forget that the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, along with the occupation and annexation of East Jerusalem, have been condemned by numerous...
Trump unfit to be our leader
December 2nd, 20170 This week, President Trump proved once again, in perhaps the strongest terms to date, that he is unfit to be our leader. The president re-tweeted three misleading anti-Muslim videos, causing a major firestorm in the media. The videos were first tweeted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of an anti-Islam British party named "Britain...
Hariri’s return marks a new era for him and Lebanon
November 23rd, 20170 Saudi Arabia added this week another political downfall to its long list of successive defeats in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Qatar and Palestine. The last blunder of the immature Saudi Crown Prince was holding the Prime Minister of Lebanon Saad al-Hariri hostage and forcing him to abruptly resign from a discreet place in his fumbling kingdom,......
Reasons to be thankful
November 23rd, 20170 As Arab American and Muslim families gather around the dinner table this Thanksgiving holiday, they will show gratitude for their blessings, but will also be bound to express fear for each other’s safety. Since President Trump’s candidacy and after his election, the country has been deeply inflamed with hate crimes, racism and...
Let’s talk about “Corruption”
November 13th, 20170 In recent weeks and as we drew closer to Election Day, the word “corruption” was and continues to be thrown around and leveled at organizations by members of the community. More specifically, a local candidate has repeatedly accused AAPAC of being corrupt. The dictionary defines corrupt as “guilty of dishonest practices, as......
After the election: Bullying, sectarianism must be addressed for us to move forward
November 10th, 20170 With all the effort our officials, campaigners, volunteers and local organizations have expanded every year to raise awareness on the importance of voting, it appeared that people were slightly more engaged as they voted in the general elections last Tuesday, November 7. Thankfully, Arab American voters came out and made a strong...
Our endorsements for the Nov. 7 general elections
November 3rd, 20171 The November 7 general election is only a few days away and our endorsements have only marginally changed since the primary. When we released our primary endorsements, we said we’d revisit the candidates during the general elections. We chose to rescind our endorsement for Dearborn City Council candidate Sean Green due to his......
