Author Archives: Arab America

It’s May 15. Israeli Independence Day. Nakba Day. Israelis “celebrate” this day. We Palestinians “commemorate” it. “Celebrate” and “commemorate” mean entirely different things. As Americans, we “celebrate” July 4. We “commemorate” September 11. Without getting into too much detail (which, I’ll tell you, is painfully difficult for a Palestinian), May 15, 1948 marked the creation … Continued

Although “Incendies’’ is based on a 2005 play, the movie could hardly be more timely. The drama, which opens Friday in Washington, turns on internecine conflict in a Middle Eastern country, evoking contemporary events in the Arabic-speaking world. The film’s French Canadian director, Denis Villeneuve, acknowledges its relevance but seems uneasy. “This film has no … Continued

One of the most difficult things to grasp in the modern history of Palestine and the Palestinians is the meaning of the Nakba. Is the Nakba to be seen as a discrete event that took place and ended in 1948, or is it something else? What are the political stakes in reifying the Nakba as … Continued

The Arab International Festival could be the first realized casualty of the city’s fiscal crisis, unless organizers quickly find a way to raise $60,000. The sum roughly equals what the city has spent in previous years on the annual Warren Avenue street fair, largely through providing public safety and public works services. But with the … Continued

Thousands of job seekers turned out Wednesday in the Detroit enclave of Hamtramck for the third annual Back to Work Job Fair. The event was sponsored by the Arab American and Chaldean Council (ACC) and Hamtramck Jobs Education and Training (JET) Program, in partnership with governmental agencies. Hundreds were already waiting in line long before … Continued

On Friday, May 6th, the bank accounts of Hatem and Naima Abudayyeh of Chicago were frozen. The bank manager at the TCF (Twin Cities Federal) branch could not explain what had happened but stated that the Bank Security Act prevented him from releasing any assets. In a strange turn of events, the bank admitted today … Continued

The Congress of Arab American Organizations (CAAO) announces its endorsement of an historic event: The 63rd anniversary of the 1948 creation of the State of Israel and the expulsion of the Palestinian people from their own land will be observed on Saturday, May 14, 2011 by the Palestine Cultural Office of Michigan and the Michigan … Continued

When I Return, an initiative by young members of the US Palestinian Community Network (www.uspcn.org), invites you to participate in highlighting the collective aspirations for the freedom and liberation of Palestine. When I Return is an online participatory campaign featuring simple notes by Palestinians, Arabs and allies describing what they hope to do when Palestine … Continued

The American Muslim leader best-known for his efforts to build an Islamic center two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York said Monday that the death of Osama bin Laden may signal the waning of terrorism. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said bin Laden’s death, coupled with the wave … Continued

Arab-Americans have, understandably, been avid followers of news about the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. Many first generation Arab-Americans fled to the US to escape political repression in their home countries. Now, they see the Arab world changing dramatically. Two dictators have been toppled. Others seem to be teetering. The so-called Arab … Continued

On Friday, May 6, the U.S. government froze the bank accounts of Hatem Abudayyeh and his wife, Naima. This unwarranted attack on a leading member of the Palestinian community in Chicago is the latest escalation of the repression of anti-war and Palestinian community organizers by the FBI, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, and U.S. Attorney General … Continued

The U.S. government has launched an investigation into allegations that federal agents at several U.S.-Canada border crossings in Michigan repeatedly harassed, jailed and body searched Muslims because of their background or appearance. In a letter sent this week to a local Muslim group, Margo Schlanger, the head of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the … Continued