Abbas battling on many fronts
Omar did not expect his family to be so distraught and despondent when he came home Friday to his home in the town of Al-Khedr on the outskirts of Bethlehem. His father's health took a sharp blow after occupation forces seized large sections of family land to expand the Jewish settlement of Nogdeem, where Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor...Yemen strikes perpetuate America’s false sense of security
October 8th, 20110 Americans Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan were hardly household names before their assassination by a drone missile strike occasioned a news cycle of jubilation in Washington's endless war on terror. Yet far from winning greater security, such strikes serve only to terrify local populations across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA),...The flight of the plucked chicken
A wonderful speech. A beautiful speech.The language expressive and elegant. The arguments clear and convincing. The delivery flawless.A work of art. The art of hypocrisy. Almost every statement in the passage concerning the Israeli-Palestinian issue was a lie. A blatant lie: the speaker knew it was a lie, and so did the audience.It was...Palestine and the UN: History of a double standard
Nowhere have the U.N. ideals and mechanisms been more mired in power politics than in Palestine. The efforts to neutralize U.N. intervention have been championed mainly by the United States. This week's efforts by the Obama administration working on behalf of Israel took advocacy to a whole new level. Failure to...All victims of 9/11 should be remembered
"To govern is to choose, and the choices made in 2002 were fateful. The United States began that year shocked and wounded, but with tremendous strategic advantages. Its population was more closely united...World opinion was strongly sympathetic. Longtime allies were eager to help...The federal budget was nearly in balance...All that was...Remembering a 9/11 Yemeni American hero
This year closes the first decade since that horrific day, the 11th of September 2001, the day that changed the entire world and certainly changed history. Ten years later, we remember the innocent lives that were taken on that day, as well as the thousands and perhaps millions of innocents who passed away in other countries as a...Understanding Muslims’ feelings toward America
On the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, many Americans are wondering whether the risk of a terrorist attack against America has been reduced. The picture is mixed. With the death of Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda is weaker. With revolutions in several Arab countries, frustrations with unpopular autocratic governments — a recruiting...A Libyan American perspective of the war in Libya
I was born and raised in the United States of America, I had seldom thought about where my father and his family came from until the war broke out in Libya a few months ago. But now, it seems as if my days are centered on the conflict. I find myself watching YouTube videos, reading blogs and having discussions about the war to oust the...Holding our hands out for the children
Often we do things because we think they are the right thing to do. However, when thinking is replaced by knowing, that's when our perspectives on life can change forever. I thought I understood why I had been serving the renowned and respected Al-Mabarrat organization for almost 4 years—to help and serve orphans....Michigan’s immigrants key to its past and future
August 21st, 20110 In the last several months, we've put Michigan on a path toward economic recovery after a dismal 10 years, including an eight-year recession dubbed "the winter that never ends." Michigan Governor Rick SnyderBut spring did arrive. We balanced the state budget in late May, the quickest we've finalized a budget in 30 years. We...With debts soaring, global uprising begins
Watching the tragic events unfolding around the world, from starvation in Somalia to rioting in London, we Palestinians are not feeling vindicated but merely sad and angry. For a long time many of us said that the increasing chasm between the rich and the poor (the haves and the have nots) has grown to obscene levels. The...Congress: It’s still occupied territory
That twenty per cent of the House of Representatives will be spending its summer recess holiday on tours of Israel at the expense of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) does not seem to have made the mainstream news. The tours, one consisting of 26 Democratic congressmen headed by House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer of...Preserving the Wealth in your home: Medicaid planning
Many seniors in our community mistakenly believe that their home, which they have worked so hard to pay off, will be protected when they pass away, simply because they have placed it in a will. However, Michigan Medicaid laws allow the state to go back after your homestead when you die to reimburse the state for benefits that...How will Ramadan affect the Arab revolutions?
July 29th, 20110 The Islamic holy month of Ramadan coincides this year with a variety of ongoing uprisings in the Arab world. As a result, Ramadan is likely to be especially eventful and politically significant. The Islamic holiday is highly likely to increase opportunities for popular activism, especially by sectarian and Islamist factions....Obama’s handling of the Arab Spring and Israel leaves much to be desired
These are not the best of times for Americans, especially their leaders, including President Barack Obama, and Congress, considering the bad state of the economy (the federal debt) and foreign policy, particularly towards the Arab world.Many are pointing fingers at Obama, or as one headline pointed out, "The too-quiet president." An......
Boycott the state, not just the settlements
July 23rd, 20110 Recent legislation passed in the Israeli Knesset, which many people call the "Anti-BDS" bill, has raised a number of questions about a rising tide of "fascism" in Israel. This language is not only used by Palestinian critics, who have long borne the brunt of Israel's undemocratic policies. Now, many Israeli and American Jewish writers...Special Tribunal for Lebanon: Another frame-up?
Here we go again. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a United Nations-backed body investigating the killing of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005, has accused four people of his murder. They all belong to Hizbullah, the militant Lebanese Shiite movement that Israel and the United States define as terrorist. But they are probably...How the PA sold out Palestinian unity
If you happen to be a Palestinian government employee, chances are you will receive only half your usual salary this month. The other half will only be available when international donors find it in their hearts to make up for the huge shortage of funds currently facing the Palestinian Authority (PA). President Obama meets with President...STL hoping for civil strife in Lebanon
Last Saturday, Hizbullah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, spoke about the indictment of four party members in the assassination six years ago of Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister. I think merit and credibility should be given to Nasrallah's argument that the court is a sham and is highly politicized. Hizbullah has presented......
Yemen continues to inspire against great odds
The Yemeni people are unrelenting in their demands for democracy. Millions continue to stage rallies across their country in a display of will that is proving the most robust out of all the Arab revolutions. The Yemenis face great challenges, however, including the political vacillation of their country's opposition, and the U.S.'s...New peace flotilla to Gaza: A voyage of audacious hope
ATHENS, Greece — Later this week, I will be on board a ship named The Audacity of Hope, bound for Gaza along with 50 other Americans. Part of an international flotilla of about 10 vessels from a variety of countries, my fellow passengers and I will be unarmed. Our only cargo is thousands of letters to the people of Gaza from......
Threats to Arab spring are both domestic and international
In the Arab Spring there is a steady turbulence: dynastic regimes, patriarchal order, fanatic movements and self-serving foreign intervention. Over the last century, the entire nation-building process has been dysfunctional. Rulers legitimize people, not the reverse; religion trumps human rights; reactionary political movements...Economy alone fails to explain Turkey’s success
Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (L) shakes hands with his ruling AK Party parliamentarians during a swearing-in ceremony in the Turkish Parliament in Ankara June 28, 2011. Erdogan faced a turbulent start of his third term as the main opposition party and Kurds said they will boycott parliament's swearing-in on Tuesday to protest......