Author Archives: Arab America

BEIRUT: With suspenseful music playing in the background and excited tearful crowds cheering, the head of the Future Movement Saad Hariri entered the BIEL hall Saturday afternoon where thousands of attendees gathered to mark the 10th anniversary of the assassination of his father, late Premier Rafik Hariri.

Dressed in a black suit, smiling and waving, Hariri made his way through the crowds, surrounded by alert bodyguards.

It took the former prime minister, who made a surprise return to Beirut Friday midnight, a little bit more than 10 minutes to shake hands and sometimes hug and kiss a long line of Lebanese politicians, diplomats, religious figures, relatives and supporters.

Hardly believing that their leader is physically present with them to mark such an emotional event as the assassination of Rafik Hariri, unlike the previous three years where he was abroad, Future Movement supporters jostled to greet the young Hariri, with some bursting into tears.

“Abu Bahaa!,” chanted the crowds, in reference to the late premier, while others shouted: “We sacrifice our soul and blood for you Saad.”

The audience included some of Saad Hariri’s rivals, such as Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, MP Alain Aoun from Free Patriotic Movement Michel Aoun’s bloc and MP Abdel-Latif Zein who attended on behalf of Speaker Nabih Berri.

After the touching welcome, Hariri took a seat in the front line, with Prime Minister Tammam Salam to his right and former President Michel Sleiman to his left.

Taking part in the event were supporters of the Future Movement from various Lebanese regions.

Despite the rainy weather, Mohammad Hajj Hussein chose to travel from the Koura village of Diddeh to Beirut to take part in an event which meant a lot to him.

“I came today to mark the assassination of Prime Minister Hariri…this is an event which means to all the Lebanese,” Hajj Hussein told The Daily Star.

“We all know what the martyr did for Lebanon. He is a great martyr for this nation and we should continue to champion his cause until the Special Tribunal for Lebanon reveals the truth in his assassination and until we achieve all goals he had set.”

Hajj Hussein said he was very happy that Saad Hariri came to Lebanon to attend the ceremony, adding that the former prime minister would personally assess whether staying for a longer time in the country would pose threats to his personal security.

Hariri’s last visit to Lebanon was in August following the deadly clashes in Arsal. He has been living in self-imposed exile between France and Saudi Arabia since January 2011 over security concerns.

Sabah Lahham Soubra, from Beirut, wants “to see those who had the courage to kill such a person brought to justice before I die.”

She urged the STL to hasten trials and reveal the full truth into the crime.

“It is dragging on. We are irritated. When Rafik Hariri was killed, I hit the streets for one month, demanding the establishment of the international tribunal,” Soubra said. “Had there been real justice, we wouldn’t have been waiting for ten years to know who killed him… all of Lebanon died with Saad Hariri, they killed Lebanon.”

Soubra said she had conflicting feelings after hearing about Hariri’s return.

“As much as I am relieved that the son of Rafik Hariri is here, as much as I am concerned over his security because we cannot endure further blows.”

Greeted by similar rounds of applause, Hariri walked to the stage to deliver his address.

Comfortable, joking with the audience, and often drinking from a bottle of water, Hariri delivered a 40-minute-speech.

“Honestly, nothing compares to being here with you. It’s great to be in Beirut, which Rafik Hariri loved so deeply,” the former premier said.

The speech, interrupted several times by jubilant partisans, ranged from the legacy of Rafik Hariri to hot political topics such as dialogue with Hezbollah, the presidential deadlock and the rising threat of terrorism.

Describing how much he missed his late father, Hariri could not hide his emotions at the end of the address.

“Not a minute, an hour, a day passes, without me remembering, missing, and asking: Where is he? Why? And what to do?” Hariri asked, struggling to fight tears.

The ceremony also featured several musical performances including one by Lebanese soprano Tania Kassis, who sang a rendition of the Lebanese national anthem.

Arab and international figures, including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas paid tribute to Rafik Hariri’s achievements in recorded videos.

Three of the estimated 35,000 students who got scholarships from the Hariri Foundation also paid tribute to the assassinated prime minister in separate speeches.

 

Source: www.dailystar.com.lb

n an era where conflict between cultures has become alarmingly frequent, the composer Mohammed Fairouz has crafted his music into a plea for understanding and the transformative power of poetry.

The prolific 29-year-old, whose work brings elements from the Islamic world to Western classical music, bases much of his new album, “Follow, Poet,” around verses by 20th-century literary giants W.H. Auden and Seamus Heaney.

The belief, Fairouz says, is that both music and poetry have a power to bring greater understanding, if only people take the time to listen and reflect.

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Arab & Arab American Feminisms: Gender, Violence, & Belonging (Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East) Offer Price $32.51 ISBN:0815632231 Authors Rabab Abdulhadi List Price : $45.00 Availablity Usually ships in 24 hours Publisher :…

Source: booksonthemove.com

    HOLLYWOOD, California- February 10, 2015 The Fez was the first Arabic Supperclub in Hollywood, which opened in 1959 on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. It launched the careers of many of legends of Arabic music and Belly Dance, became the center of the Arab-American community and the bridge for the … Continued

Yusor Abu-Salha, one of the three students killed in a Tuesday night shooting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, had just months earlier recorded an interview with StoryCorps, in which she described her profound love for America and the experience of growing up Muslim-American.

North Carolina Public Radio posted part of the conversation on Thursday, following the death of Abu-Salha, who was 21, and two other young students, all Muslim:

Source: www.vox.com

Wake Forest University’s president took a public stand Wednesday in support of the school’s imam, who has been targeted by an alumni campaign labeling him a radical jihadist and calling for a boycott of donations.

The ongoing debate over the role of Islam in U.S. life has in the past several weeks flared up in a 100-mile span of North Carolina, where the state’s four most prominent colleges have each been affected either by tragedy or controversy.

Last month nearby Duke University canceled plans to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer from its iconic chapel bell tower after a backlash; while supporters called the initiative inclusive, opponents pointed to recent terrorist attacks overseas, and questioned why the school would choose such a prominent Christian place of worship for the call.

And Muslims around the world rallied around three North Carolina students who were shot Tuesday night in Chapel Hill. Police said initial investigations suggested a long-running dispute between neighbors over parking. But many interpreted it as an anti-Islamic crime, saturating social media with messages such as #MuslimLivesMatter.

Imam Khalid Griggs was named Associate Chaplain for Muslim Life at Wake Forest  in 2010. At the time, the university president’s Nathan Hatch, a nationally known theologian said, “This position will promote an even broader dialogue among people of different faith traditions and encourage a greater awareness of differing beliefs, both of which are critical to enriching the quality of our campus community.”

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

A top UN official warned Thursday of another potential conflict in the Gaza Strip, urging Israel to lift its blockade and Palestinian political parties to end in-fighting to avoid further violence.

The United Nations also called for an additional $705 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, most of it for Gaza which saw its bloodiest and most destructive war last year.

“Right now, things are not going well, and we’re very concerned about the possibility of a further conflict,” James Rawley, UN humanitarian chief for the Palestinian territories, told AFP.

“But it’s not inevitable… as long as several things happen.

“To have a complete recovery of Gaza, even to go back to where we were in July (before the 50-day conflict) requires more than construction material going in. It requires a lifting of the blockade,” said Rawley.

“In parallel, we have to see a commitment from the militant groups in Gaza to stop firing rockets at civilians in Israel… and Palestinian reconciliation moving forward” to reassure donors that building materials were not falling into the hands of militants, he added.

Rawley called for a “reconstruction hudna (truce) for three to five years” to allow rehabilitation of the increasingly unstable coastal enclave.

Meanwhile the UN, at a news conference in Ramallah, said 75 percent of the additional aid it needs would be destined for Gaza, and the remainder for the West Bank.

The July-August war between Israel and Hamas killed almost 2,200 Palestinians and 73 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers, and left 100,000 Gazans homeless.

Delivery of building materials to reconstruct damaged homes had increased significantly after a slow start, Rawley said, with “good cooperation” from Israel, which controls two of Gaza’s three crossings. Egypt controls the third.

He also stressed the importance of implementing a months-old unity deal between Fatah, which dominates the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, which has seen disputes over who controls Gaza’s internal checkpoints.

But Palestinian deputy prime minister Mohammed Mustafa dismissed reconciliation as the principle concern for stability in Gaza.

“I think reconciliation will help, but I don’t think it’s the problem today,” he told the Ramallah news conference.

“The real test” would be to ensure funding and bring in more construction material, he added.

Source: www.maannews.com

A massive Israeli police force raided the Palestinian neighborhood of Bayarat Shannir in Lydd, a city in present-day Israel, on Tuesday morning.

Armed to the teeth and accompanied by bulldozers, hundreds of police officers stormed the neighborhood and sealed all entrances. At 10am, the police demolished the home of Hana al-Naqib, a mother of four, saying that it was built without a permit.

Hana and her children, aged 7, 8, 14 and 15, were violently expelled from their newly-built home, as were the neighbors who came to support them.

Daoud, Hana’s eldest son, is used to being awakened by his mother every day at 7am for school. On Tuesday, however, it was police with rifles pointed at his face who pulled him out of his bedroom. Instead of going to school, Daoud and his siblings were thrown outside into the cold with their mother.

This comes less than two weeks after the partial demolition of another Palestinian family’s home in Lydd. Israeli bulldozers destroyed parts of Ahmad Dabbour’s home on 1 February, but the demolition was suspended after the family’s lawyer pointed out a legal flaw in the demolition order.

Some fifteen kilometers southeast of Tel Aviv, the historic Palestinian town of Lydd was the site of one of the worst episodes in the Nakba, Israel’s 1948 ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

In July of that year, some 50,000 Palestinians were driven out by Zionist militias and expelled to the West Bank. Many died from exhaustion and dehydration on the way.

Source: electronicintifada.net

Three young Muslim-Americans were killed yesterday evening in Chapel Hill, North Carolina by a gunman who had posted anti-religious messages on his Facebook. The victims’ names are: 19-year-old Razan Mohammed Abu-Salha; 21-year-old Yusor Mohammed Abu-Salha; and 23-year-old Deah Shaddy Barakat.

Barakat was a dental student at the University of North Carolina. Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha was Barakat’s wife, and was set to start dentistry school next academic year. Razan Mohammed Abu-Salha was the sister of Yusor. Barakat and Abu-Salha were married last December.

Chapel Hill Police have named 46-year-old Craig Hicks as a suspect. He has been charged with murder and is said to have killed them “execution style” with shots to the head. The police have released a statement saying its “preliminary investigation indicates that the crime was motivated by an ongoing neighbor dispute over parking.”

VICE News has more on Hicks:

The owner of [a Facebook page believed to belong to Hicks] frequently posted anti-religious messages. He is a member of groups including “Friends of Freedom From Religion Foundation,” and “Atheism on Youtube.” There are also multiple posts directly referring to Muslims, and a picture of a revolver on a weighing scales with the comment: “Yes, that is 1 pound 5.1 ounces for my loaded 38 revolver, its holster, and five extra rounds.”

VICE News could not independently verify that this page belonged to him.

The News & Observer based in Raleigh, North Carolina reports that the father of the Abu-Salha sisters believe the murder was a hate crime, and that Hicks had harassed Barakat and Abu-Salha in the past:

But the women’s father, Dr. Mohammad Abu-Salha, who has a psychiatry practice in Clayton, said regardless of the precise trigger Tuesday night, Hicks’ underlying animosity toward Barakat and Abu-Salha was based on their religion and culture. Abu-Salha said police told him Hicks shot the three inside their apartment.

“It was execution style, a bullet in every head,” Abu-Salha said Wednesday morning. “This was not a dispute over a parking space; this was a hate crime. This man had picked on my daughter and her husband a couple of times before, and he talked with them with his gun in his belt. And they were uncomfortable with him, but they did not know he would go this far.”

Abu-Salha said his daughter who lived next door to Hicks wore a Muslim head scarf and told her family a week ago that she had “a hateful neighbor.”

“Honest to God, she said, ‘He hates us for what we are and how we look,’” he said.

Source: mondoweiss.net

Dear Fellow Muslim-Americans,

I know many of you are afraid.

I am, too. It’s hard not to be, when it could’ve been us.

This letter is a token of faith to all of you – if you have been discriminated against for your beliefs before or after Feb. 10, and if you have been, or are, scared toleave your home today.

This is for anyone who feels like they’ve been bullied into silence.

I’m sure you’re probably asking yourselves: do your lives hold any value? Are we worth any headlines?

They do, and we are.

The three victims of the Chapel Hill shooting. From the left is Deah Barakat; Yusor Abu-Salha; and Razan Mohammed Abu-Salha. (Photo via Facebook)

We’ve heard each other’s voices resound as we continue to digest the tragic, horrifying Feb. 10 terrorist attack that took the lives of three Muslim-Americans in North Carolina: 23-year-old Deah Shaddy Barakat, his 21-year-old wife Yusor Abu-Salha and her sister, 19-year-old Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha. The victims were shot to death in the head by accused killer Craig Stephen Hicks, a 46-year-old man who was been charged with killing the three at a residential complex of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after turning himself in, according to multiple news organizations.

In less than 24 hours since the shooting, we had read countless statements of encouragement and support expressed by non-Muslims over social media, easing the pain if just a bit, and allowing us to feel that we are not always ostracized. I feel safe speaking for many in that we do feel marginalized and alone in times like this where we easily could’ve been in the place of the three victims who were killed.

Source: mondoweiss.net

With The Lanterns of the King of Galilee (AUC Press), Ibrahim Nasrallah takes his readers to the “independent kingdom” set up by Daher al-Umar al-Zaydani in eighteenth century Palestine.

Daher al-Umar, born around 1690 near Tiberias in the Galilee, was the son of a multazim or tax-gatherer for the Ottoman Empire. His family had contacts with both the region’s Bedouin community and with the Maan and Shihab emirs of southern Lebanon — a reminder of the unnatural and ahistoric nature of the borders which are now enforced on this part of the Middle East.

Drawing on these various allegiances and on the frustration of many Galileans at the high taxes and arbitrary rule of the Ottomans, Daher al-Umar founded what was effectively an independent kingdom in northern Palestine, acquiring titles which included governor of Safad, sheikh of Acre and Galilee, and emir of Nazareth.

Source: electronicintifada.net

Last week when I, along with 13 other Muslim Americans, met with President Obama at the White House, I explained my concern that given the recent rise in anti-Muslim bigotry, I feared that we could wake up one day to the news that someone had gone on a shooting spree targeting Muslim Americans.

Tragically, less than a week later, that very thing may have happened in North Carolina.

Yes, I know that we can’t be certain at this moment exactly why the gunman murdered three Muslim-American students—Deah Shaddy Barakat, 23; Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21; and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19—in cold blood. And true, the local police have noted that its “preliminary investigation indicates that the crime was motivated by an ongoing neighbor dispute over parking.”

But I doubt very much that anti-Muslim hate didn’t play some role in this attack. I say that based on a few factors. One is my conservation with two close friends of the victims and the comments made by the father of the two sisters killed. Second, we can’t ignore that on the day of the shooting we saw wall-to-wall media coverage about the death of the American aid worker and ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller. And finally, we have to factor in the overall rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric we have witnessed on both the right and the left recently.

First, let’s look at the undisputed facts of this crime. On Tuesday night, 46-year-old Craig Stephen Hicks surrendered himself to local authorities, saying that he had shot and killed the three young people. The crime took place in the apartment of the Yusor and Deah, who had married just six weeks ago. The three victims were all shot in the head. There had been a dispute between the couple and the killer, but the precise reasons for Hicks’s anger with the victims is still in question.

Source: www.thedailybeast.com