Author Archives: Arab America

Nidaa Badwan’s project is called “100 Days of Solitude” in homage to Gabriel García Márquez’s novel, though her isolation has lasted much longer.

Source: www.nytimes.com

reported by :Wesam Yasin Gaza ،،،

Source: www.youtube.com

AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and affiliated organizations have long been bending politicians’ ears and filling their pockets, supporting the brutal occupation of Palestine and trying to push the US into war with Iran. Racism is the force that both helped to create and now helps to sustain and justify the brutal occupation of Palestine and the accompanying police state. Now is the time to connect the dots and challenge state-sponsored violence and racist police at home and abroad. Whether your motto is #FreePalestine or #BlackLivesMatter, we must unify our movements to call for an end to global militarism and the plague of racism. February 28th – March 3rd, when war criminal Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will be in DC to address AIPAC and a joint session of Congress, join activists from around the country to #ShutDownAIPAC!

Source: www.codepink.org

Produced by TrapStar IG: @TrapStarBeatz IG: @FHTMGDC

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The Richardson Auditorium at Princeton University was packed with more than 1,000 people for the school’s 100th annual alumni day

Source: www.nj.com

Source: banksy.co.uk

Helen Elizabeth Shaker was the last surviving member among a small group of Chicago-area couples who in the 1950s laid the groundwork for the creation of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Memphis, Tenn.-based pediatric hospital.

Mrs. Shaker and her husband, Joseph R. Shaker, were core members of Chicago’s tightly knit Lebanese community, and they and five other couples teamed up with comedian and entertainer Danny Thomas, whose dream had been to create such a hospital if he found success.

Mrs. Shaker and her husband remained lifelong friends with Thomas, who had lived in Chicago in the early 1940s before later moving to Los Angeles.

Together, Mrs. Shaker and her husband donated significant sums to St. Jude, said Richard Shadyac Jr., the CEO of American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, St. Jude’s fundraising arm.

“I think the Shaker family is one of those legacy families that has had an incredible impact on St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and on philanthropy in general,” Shadyac said. “They were some of the most generous people in lending not only their resources but also their time and talent.”

Mrs. Shaker, 90, died of natural causes on Thursday, Jan. 15, in her River Forest home, said her son, Joseph.

Born in Pennsylvania, Mrs. Shaker moved to Chicago as a child to live near her older brother, Anthony Abraham, who was 13 years her senior. After high school, she worked first for Marshall Field’s and then as a secretary for an advertising firm run by her brother.

Chicago area newsmakers and celebrities who passed away in 2015.
Mrs. Shaker met her husband through Chicago’s Lebanese community. Her husband also had worked at Abraham’s advertising agency before striking out on his own and forming a large recruitment ad agency in 1951. The couple married in 1948. He died in 2006.

The hospital’s beginnings were in Chicago. Thomas, a struggling entertainer based in Detroit during the 1930s, at one point appealed to St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes as he debated whether to continue to pursue a career in show business. He promised that if he were successful, he would erect a shrine to St. Jude.

Thomas’ career took off, and he later approached Chicago’s archbishop at the time, Samuel Stritch, about creating a shrine. Stritch, whom Thomas had known since his childhood in Toledo, Ohio, had different plans, informing Thomas that the world had too many shrines and that what was really needed was a children’s hospital.

Thomas, who was Lebanese, assembled a group of Chicago-area couples to discuss creating what would become that hospital. In 1957, Mrs. Shaker, her husband, five other couples and Thomas formed the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, a group that went on to raise large amounts of money for the hospital. The hospital opened in 1962.

“Helen and her husband were two of the kindest, gentlest, most generous and courageous pioneers,” Shadyac said. “They participated in one of the first meetings, if not the very first meeting that gave rise to the charity association, which ultimately led to the hospital being built.”

Stritch, a Tennessee native, recommended placing the hospital in Memphis.

“It took courage to do what they did. You’re talking about 1957, and this couple and generation decided that they were going to build a children’s research hospital and put it in Memphis, a segregated community, and from day one, it would treat kids regardless of their race, creed and religion,” Shadyac said.

Mrs. Shaker and her husband settled in River Forest, where she was a homemaker. Her husband and later her sons served on the board of St. Jude, and she and her husband were major financial supporters of the hospital as it grew.

“She was very proud and obviously very pleased and happy to see an acorn grow into an internationally acclaimed children’s pediatric hospital,” her son said.

Mrs. Shaker, who enjoyed cooking, prided herself on the Sunday evening dinners she would prepare entirely, for groups sometimes as large as 25 or 30 people, her son said.

“Everything was family with her,” her son said. “Nothing pleased her more than having her family around her.”

Mrs. Shaker also is survived by two other sons, Anthony and John; a daughter, Catherine Shaker Breit; 13 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren. Another daughter, Elizabeth, died in January.

Services were held.

Source: www.chicagotribune.com

It still happens once in a while. Assem Marei will introduce himself to someone at Minnesota State University, Mankato — a professor, a fellow student or a fan of the Mavericks basketball team he plays for — and brace for the quizzical look and the questions that often follow.

It is not so much that Marei is from Egypt, a country historically lacking in basketball excellence, or that he is Muslim. Minnesota State’s student body of 15,000 includes about 900 international students, so Marei’s presence on campus is not unusual. Instead, the way Marei pronounces his given name — awesome — stops them in their tracks.

Source: www.nytimes.com

The United States slammed settlers’ arson attacks against a church in Jerusalem and a mosque in Bethlehem as ‘hate crimes’ and encouraged local authorities to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.

Last Week, Israeli settlers set fire to the Greek Orthodox Church monastery of Sion in Jerusalem as well as torched a mosque in Jab‘a village, in Bethlehem.

“We stand with all those, including the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land, in strongly condemning these crimes of hate,” stressed a statement by U.S. Consul General Michael Ratney.

Following a visit to the torched sites, Ratney said that both [sites] had been torched and vandalized in apparent ‘price tag’ attacks.

“Make no mistake, any attack against holy and religious sites is an attack on the very idea of Jerusalem and Bethlehem as sacred places shared among the three great Abrahamic faiths, he said.

“The United States strongly condemns these hate crimes and encourages local authorities to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice; and we stand with all those, including the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land, in strongly condemning these crimes of hate,” concluded the statement.

Source: english.wafa.ps

As a black American, I’m aware that Christianity proudly sports the blood of my ancestors and spits it back in our faces when we remind folks how it was introduced to black people in America — via slavery, fear and control. The world functions primarily off of fear and control — these two dynamics alone will make the most sensible, compassionate human beings do the most inhumane things.

In America we rush to mainstream media to see the violence produced by Islamic extremists, but we seldom discuss the actual history behind it. The television screen overflows with images of missile-toting men with black and white scarves over their faces. We see the images of young kids throwing rocks at tanks in Palestine. These children might possibly throw stones at these war vehicles as a defense mechanism for their lives, but in our media that story isn’t depicted. For the sake of sensationalism, the story is about the radical, machine-gun-carrying extremists who hate America with all of their hearts.

Source: blogs.riverfronttimes.com

United Nation’s agencies and international NGOs operating in Gaza, Thursday said they are alarmed by the limited progress in rebuilding the lives of those affected and tackling the root causes of the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

A total of 30 international aid agencies, said that the aid work must not fail in Gaza. “We must realize the vision of making Gaza a livable place and a cornerstone of peace and security for all in the region.”

Six months have passed since a ceasefire on 26 August 2014 ended over seven weeks of fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinians, however the Israeli-imposed blockade continues, the political process, along with the economy, are paralyzed, and living conditions have worsened.

The international community is not providing Gaza with adequate assistance. Little of the $5.4 billion pledged in Cairo has reached Gaza and the cash assistance to families who lost everything has been suspended and other crucial aid is unavailable due to lack of funds.

A return to hostilities is inevitable if progress is not made and the root causes of conflict are not addressed, said the agencies.

The statement added that the reconstruction and repairs to the tens of thousands of homes, hospitals, and schools damaged or destroyed in the fighting has been woefully slow. Sporadic rocket fire from Palestinians has resumed.

Overall, the lack of progress has deepened levels of desperation and frustration among the population, more than two thirds of whom are Palestine refugees.

Living conditions in Gaza were already dire before the latest round of fighting. Most residents were unable to meet their food requirements and over seven years of blockade had severely compromised access to basic services, including to health, water and sanitation.

But since July, the situation has deteriorated dramatically.

Approximately 100,000 Palestinians remain displaced this winter, living in dire conditions in schools and makeshift shelters not designed for long-term stay. Scheduled power cuts persist for up to 18 hours a day.

The continued non-payment of the salaries of public sector employees and the lack of progress in the national unity government further increases tensions. With severe restrictions on movement, most of the 1.8 million residents are trapped in the coastal enclave, with no hope for the future.

Bearing the brunt of this suffering are the most vulnerable, including the elderly, persons with disabilities, women and nearly one million children, who have experienced unimaginable suffering in three major conflicts in six short years. Children lack access to quality education, with over 400,000 of them in need of immediate psychosocial support.

Israel, as the occupying power, is the main duty bearer and must comply with its obligations under international law. In particular, it must fully lift the blockade, within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 1860 (2009).

The fragile ceasefire must be reinforced, and the parties must resume negotiations to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian issue. All parties must respect international law and those responsible for violations must be brought to justice.

Accountability and adherence to international humanitarian law and international human rights law are essential pre-requisites for any lasting peace.

Also imperative, Egypt needs to open the Rafah Crossing, most urgently for humanitarian cases, and donor pledges must be translated into disbursements.

Source: english.wafa.ps

As Gold Star Chili turns 50 this year, Roger David is starting his job as CEO of the Cincinnati chili company. He’s the first member of the Gold Star founding family to have the top job, which he’ll officially start May 1. David, who’s also 50, is a former branding professional and most recently CEO of Buffalo Wings & Rings. (He is also, by the way, Mayor John Cranley’s brother-in-law).

He is eager to get started on shaping the company’s next 50 years.

“I’m thinking about how we can redefine that chili experience, almost starting with a white sheet of paper,” he said. “I need to figure out how to preserve the past, keep an eye to the future and do it without screwing up and getting kicked out of the family.”

Source: www.cincinnati.com