Arab American News, The

U.S. Launches Global Diaspora Initiative

"You have the potential to be the most powerful people-topeople asset we can bring to the world's table," Clinton told a standing room only crowd at the State Department's Loy Henderson Auditorium. "Because of your familiarity with cultural norms, your own motivations, your own special skills and leadership, you are, frankly, our Peace Corps, our USAID, our OPIC, our State Department rolled into one." Clinton was most passionate when it came to the intersection of diaspora communities and dip...

Palestinians Call Netanyahu Conditions 'War'

"The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps... As for security, every state has the right to selfdefense, and Israel must be able to defend itself - by itself - against any threat... The full and phased withdrawal of Israeli military forces should be coord...

Muslim Brotherhood to Form Political Party

"We didn't appoint [Rafiq Habib] simply because he's a Christian, but because of the intellectual weight he brings to the party," said alKitatni. The appointment, he added, "confirms that the Brotherhood has no objection to Christians assuming ranking positions within the party." In line with a newly enacted law that expressly prohibits political parties based on religion, Brotherhood officials are adamant that Freedom and Justice is not a religious party per se. Rather, they say, the party w...

Street Battles Raise Specter of Civil War in Yemen

In a statement issued on Thursday, Yemen's defense ministry said [Ali Abdullah Saleh] had ordered that al-Ahmar and nine brothers be brought to justice for "for armed rebellion". The coalition of opposition parties that has sided with protesters and was due to sign the deal brokered by GCC held an emergency meeting on Thursday over what it called Saleh's "insistence on dragging Yemen towards civil war". Armed tribesmen loyal to Yemen' tribal leader Sadiq al-Ahmar patrol outside his house in S...

Libyan Pm to Propose Immediate Ceasefire

"The future Libya will be radically different to the one that existed three months ago," an extract published in the broadsheet said. "That was always the plan. Only now we may need to accelerate the process. "Let us create a road-map to the future," he urged. "What has occurred in Libya is part of a wider series of events throughout the Arab world. We understand this. We are ready and we know what is required of us." "The future Libya will be radically different to the one that existed three...

Hizbullah Urges Syrians to Back Assad Regime

BEIRUT - Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday urged Syrians to back President Bashar al-Assad's 'regime of resistance" while calling for (he rejection of newly imposed sanctions against Damascus. Supporters of Lebanon's Hizbullah gesture and wave Hezbollah flags as they listen to a televised address by their leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during a rally marking Resistance and Liberation Day in Lebanese village of Nabi sheet, in Bekaa, May 25, 2011, commemorating the 11th anniv...

Arab Spring Solidarity Defies National Boundaries

"After our revolution we understood the meaning of freedom," he told IPS in a telephone interview from Cairo last weekend. "And when you see people in other countries right next to you fighting for the exact same purpose, you can't just sit back and watch." In April, Human Rights Watch reported indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Misrata by Gaddafi's forces. According to emergencies director Peter Bouckaert, "Libyan government forces have repeatedly fired mortars and Grad rockets into resi...

Egypt to Open Gaza Border Crossing Permanently

Egyptian authorities will now open the border from "9:00 am to 5:00 pm on a daily basis, except for Fridays and public holidays" starting on Saturday, MENA said. The move is likely to rattle Israel which said earlier this month it was "worried" by Egypt's plans to reopen the crossing. Egypt's Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi had announced that Cairo planned to open the crossing, ending what he called his country's "shameful" cooperation in keeping it closed.

Unfinished Adc Center for Civil and Human Rights Posted for Sale Due to Funding Obstacles

The center's location was first unveiled in 2007 at a gathering of about 150 people including numerous local community leaders as well as ADC Michigan's special guest Mr. Fahad Mohamad Kafoud, Deputy Chief of Mission of the State of Qatar. Qatar originally had donated $1 million toward the project. In March 2009, a delegation of local community leaders went to Qatar to meet with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The emir pledged to the delegation that Qatar would see to it that...

Aclu-Michigan Seeks Ice Records On Illegal Detention of U.S. Citizen

In February, Telma Valdez, who has lived in the United States for almost 22 years, and her son, Luis Valdez, a college student at Grand Rapids Community College who was bom in the U.S., drove to the home of relatives to allow their 6-year-old cousin to play with Luis's new puppy. As they pulled the car into the driveway, unidentified ICE agents ran toward them. An agent pointed a gun at Luis and ordered him to show ID. Both Luis and Telma produced their valid driver's license and ICE agents d...

U.S. Boat 'the Audacity of Hope' to Sail to Gaza in June

NEW YORK- The U.S. Boat to Gaza campaign announced earlier this month that it will send a U.S. flagged boat, "Tire Audacity of Hope," to Gaza in late June as part of the International Freedom Flotilla II. The passengers on the boat, which will sail from a port in the Mediterranean, are U.S. citizens from many different backgrounds, ages and communities across the United States.

Gov. Snyder Says Michigan's Anti-Immigration Bill Is Unnecessary and Divisive

We're glad to see that Governor [Rick Snyder] understands the economic cost an Arizona-style law would have here in Michigan. Immigrants are building businesses, paying taxes, and helping put our state back to work. We should have policies that welcome those investors and entrepreneurs, not treat them like criminals. We applaud Governor Snyder's stance on this important economic and civil rights issue.

California Mosque Fire Ruled Arson

SACRAMENTO, CA - The Sacramento Valley chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV) this week said an April 23 fire at a Stockton, Calif., mosque has been mied arson. CAIR-SV is asking that a possible bias motive for the fire be investigated. "We thank law enforcement authorities for their efforts in this case and ask that they investigate a possible bias motive for this act of arson," said CAIR-SV Executive Director Basini Elkana.

St. Mary's Church Announces Fourth Annual 'Sahara Fest'

LIVONIA, MI - The Basilica of St. Mary's Antiochian Orthodox Church announces their Fourth annual "Sahara Fest," featuring Arabic food, music and culture. The Sahara Fest will take place on June 2-5, 201 1 at St. Mary's Church grounds, 18100 Merriman Road (between Six and Seven Mile Roads), Livonia, Michigan, 48 152.

Activists Question Israel's 'Democracy' at Local Event

"[Benjamin Netanyahu] said that his "state" is the only democratic country in the region. . .and that he admires the Arab youth standing for freedom against tyranny. He just forgot to mention that the Egyptian tyrant was his ally, and the new democratic administrations in the Middle East and North Africa were also standing for freedom and dignity for the Palestinians," Dr. Daad Bakir Katato, board member of Michigan's U.S. Palestinian Community Network said. The laws range from citizenship to...

Journalism Institute for Media Diversity Celebrates 25 Years at Wsu

"The institute is a learning community that allows us to grow as journalists and individuals," she said. "It's more than just a scholarship or academic group, it's also a family that allows us to learn about each other's cultures. ..it's been really great and I've gotten so much more out of it than I originally expected to get." WSU alumnus, Arab American and pioneering former White House correspondent Helen Thomas wasn't present, however, as her "Spirit of Diversity" scholarship was pulled a...

Appeals Court Rules Against Dearborn in Arab Festival Case

Mayor Jack. O'Reilly, Jr. said the appeals court decision was focused on that narrow issue of the openness of the public sidewalks in a unique festival setting. "Since the festival chose to keep the sidewalks open for other business not related to the festival, the court mied that the sidewalks had to be available for the material distribution.