Author Archives: Arab America

When Wissam Akiki was ordained as a Maronite Catholic priest Thursday night in St. Louis, he was welcomed by hundreds of supporters, including his wife and daughter. For the first time in nearly a century, the Maronite Catholic Church in the United States ordained a married priest in a ceremony at St. Raymond’s Maronite Cathedral … Continued

It’s not the word you’re thinking of in English. Some in the Arab community are doing their best to strike the “A” word from everyday Arab language. Holding on to his Arabic roots, Hassan Hachem does his best to keep the language alive. There is one word Hassan’s mother forbids in the house. But the … Continued

Two-time Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner (Paradise Now), Director Hany Abu Assad brings us Omar — the first Palestinian feature film to be almost entirely financed by Palestinians and where all major cast and crew are Palestinian. OMAR depicts Palestinian life as never before seen in an Oscar nominated film! Hailed as a … Continued

The Arab American Civic Council in partnership with Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait’s “Hi Neighbor” initiative, a neighborhood a campaign, hosted a community summit titled ‘A Taste of Anaheim’ on Wednesday, Feb. 5th, to facilitate meaningful relationships and build bridges between various west Anaheim community groups and local Arab American community leaders. The event was held … Continued

Casting directors for the upcoming SyFy Channel movie “Age of Ice” is looking for Middle Eastern talent in Michigan for the feature film. Age of Ice: The Jones family is on vacation in Egypt when the entire Arabian plate is rocked by earthquakes, creating strange climatic changes, resulting in sub-freezing temperatures… Roles Available: [ZARAH] Age … Continued

The Washington Post is reporting that the US Postal Service’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee has included Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computer Inc. and developer of the iPod, iPad and iPhone, among a list of Americans whose profiles are likely to be printed on future issues of postage stamps next year. Jobs, who is … Continued

Two-time Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner (Paradise Now), Director Hany Abu Assad brings us Omar — the first Palestinian feature film to be almost entirely financed by Palestinians and where all major cast and crew are Palestinian. OMAR depicts Palestinian life as never before seen in an Oscar nominated film! Hailed as a … Continued

From the Arab New Wave to a true space-age tale lost in time, the 2014 Arab Film Festival offers fascinating new titles from one of the most currently prolific and creative filmmaking regions on the planet. And this year, for the first time ever, the festival takes place at two venues: its traditional home at … Continued

It’s a problem that affects 20 percent of teenage girls. And yet many don’t know that help is just a phone call away. Educating teens to understand and recognize the dangers of dating violence is a goal of the ACCESS Child and Adolescent Health Center (CAHC). February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, and ACCESS … Continued

For more than two thousand years, Christians have lived all over the Middle East and been an integral part of it. These Christian communities have contributed in so many ways to the vital stability of the region -and to what became mainly Muslim close to 1400 years ago- politically, financially and educationally. Middle Eastern Christians … Continued

This past week I traveled to New York City to speak at an event honoring the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Jesse Jackson for President campaign. It was an opportunity to reflect on the remarkable political transformations made possible by that historic movement. I remember the day, 30 years ago, when Jackson approached me and … Continued

<center><iframe width=”500″ height=”281″ src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/JOVqh96PeQs” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe></center> Zahra Lari is an 18-year-old figure skater from the United Arab Emirates who’s known to the folks back home as the “Ice Princess.” This year, she’s already making headlines at the Winter Olympics in Sochi for performing in hijab. In the above video, she explains how she came to … Continued