Watan Arab American Newspaper

Building an inclusive America The debate around Park 51 has polarized into two opposing camps that claim they can’t find common ground. On the one hand are people who say the sensitivity of 9/11 families means a Muslim group should not build a community center near Ground Zero

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Muslims Mourn On 9/11 Alongside Fellow Americans Out of the about 8 million, somewhere between 600,000 to 850,000 are Muslim.

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No Real Desire for Change Spells Little Hope for Success
The mood is gloomy as the Middle East peace talks begin because neither side appears prepared to make the concessions that meaningful negotiations require

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Obama Opens New Round of Mideast Peace Talks
The Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, begin direct talks in Washington today after Barack Obama launched his initiative to forge a Middle East peace agreement within a year, which he described as a "moment of opportunity that may not soon come again".

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The Community

Palestinian American community leader remembered for his generosity Abu Obeida Omran was internationally known for his work to create an independent Palestinian state, but the immigrant was equally interested in helping his neighbors in his adopted hometown of Houston.... Jeannie Kever \| Comments	Ramadan and high school sports in Dearborn As students in the United States prepare to return to school this fall, many student athletes across the country are also gearing up for fall sports. This includes the U.S. sport of tackle footba... Kane Farabaugh \| Comments
Muslim American rapper growing up in post-9/11 America When Cyrus McGoldrick takes the stage, he’s not himself. McGoldrick raps as The Raskol Khan, often with the Freddy Fuego Sextet, an evolving group of musicians based in ... Madeline Dubus \| Comments	New York Albanian Muslims welcome the holy month of Ramadan In mid-August, the start of the lunar month of Ramadan, I am invited at the Albanian American Islamic Center in Garfield, New Jersey, for dinner and “iftar”, when Muslim believers ... Armir Taraj \| Comments
Arab women find help adjusting to America Randa Ibrahim was serving coffee to the guests in her Palos Hills living room when her 17-year-old daughter distractedly breezed through the living room and out the back door without ... Jennifer Day, Special to the Tribune \| Comments	Muslim American back in US after weeks on no-fly list WASHINGTON — After two months of waiting to come back home a Virginia Muslim American man whose time in Yemen earned FBI scrutiny and left him stuck in the Middle East ... News-Watan \| Comments
The mosque is important to our community As Americans living in a peaceful, diverse community for over a decade, the Muslims of Sheepshead Bay need — just like people of other denominations in the area — to ... Ibrahim Anse* \| Comments	Najla Said Explores Her Identity Actress and playwright Najla Said says that while growing up in New York—despite being the daughter of Palestinian-American literary theorist Edward Said—she never really identified as Arab-American. "I didn’t seem to u... Big Think Editors \| Comments

Summer events celebrate Muslim American spirit Santa Barbara, CA As tea party panic and the revival of Jim/Jane Crow in Arizona attest, Americans remain engaged in a battle over the meaning of the nation and who ... By Su'ad Abdul Khabeer \| Comments	Sunnyvale: Man attacked for being Muslim, public safety officers say Sunnyvale public safety officers are trying to track down two young men who struck someone in the face on a busy street, apparently simply for being a Muslim man who was ... By Lisa Fernandez \| Comments
Southern California Religious Leaders Offer Condolences at Turkish Consulate Representatives from the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) and other faith-based groups visited the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles to offer condolences from ... CAIR \| Comments	More than 500 Arab American protesters gthered in Los Angeles Protesters gathered in Los Angeles California in front of the Israeli counsalte on Monday to denounce an Israeli raid of an aid flotilla that left at least nine de... Watan \| Comments
Who is behind NY'S Anti-Islam bus, Mosque campaigns? The anti-Islam New York bus ad campaign and the campaign to block construction of a mosque and Islamic community center in New York are both headed by an extremist Muslim-basher ... CAIR \| Comments	NYC government Okays Ground Zero mosque NEW YORK - A New York community board has resoundingly backed a controversial plan for an Islamic cultural center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero. The non-binding vote by ... Watan \| Comments
Miss USA Rima Fakih: My victory means anyone can make it in America Praising America as a land of opportunity, the new Miss USA, Rima Fakih of Dearborn, told the Free Press on Wednesday that her historic victory shows that anyone can make ... NIRAJ WARIKOO \| Comments	Confirmed: Miss USA Rima Fakih first Arab-American winner It is indeed true that Rima Fakih is the first open Arab-American to win Miss ... NIRAJ WARIKOO \| Comments

Miss USA scrutiny indicates weird obsession with Islam Why must a Muslim person’s faith come up the moment that person breaks through the mainstream in any conceivable way - regardless of relevance or context? And why does it in... Ahmed Rehab \| Comments	UN AMBASSADOR SAYS PALESTINIAN STATE IS A US NATIONAL INTEREST US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice delivered rousing remarks at the Arab American Institute's Kahlil Gibran Awards Gala in Washington, DC . Her address was both an emphatic ... News \| Comments
First Arab-American appointed to N.J. Superior Court He may be only 36, but when Hany Mawla recently donned the robes of a Superior Court judge, colleagues said he was well-prepared to ascend the ... Jennifer Golson* \| Comments	Honouring those who honour the spirit of humanity This week, the Arab American Institute (AAI) hosts its annual Khalil Gibran “Spirit of Humanity” Awards Dinner in Washington, DC. This year’s event also marks the 25th anniversary of the ... James Zogby \| Comments
Young Muslims in US Seek Homegrown Imams The Muslim population in the United States is growing, and so is its need for spiritual guidance. A new generation American Muslims is demanding more from local mosques than they ... Vidushi Sinha \| Comments	'A Country Called Amreeka,' by Alia Malek If you were an author who had just written a book about the history of Arabs in America, a book about how deeply woven into the fabric of this country Ar... Dave Eggers* \| Comments
Arab-American Census Activists Say 'Check It Right' Like many minority groups, Arab-Americans are conflicted over how to respond to the U.S. Census. Fear of profiling has made many Arabs reluctant to even fill out the form. And ... Carrie Kahn \| Comments	American Muslim finds obstacles in quest to become an imam If there were a prototype for an American-style imam, Adeel Zeb might be it. In Koran study groups, the 28-year-old volunteer chaplain at American University weaves in references to U.S. Rep. ... Michelle Boorstein- Washington Post Staff Writer \| Comments

Culture

More Emiratis are marrying foreigners to ‘save money’ Emiratis are increasingly choosing to marry foreigners, new statistics ... Amna al Haddad \| Comments	Spain closes mosque, arrests imam Spanish authorities closed a mosque in the island of Ibiza and arrested its imam after charging him with beating several Muslim students in the mosque school, local press ... News \| Comments
Miss USA in Qatar .... In first official visit to the Middle East to be part of ‘Made in USA’ exhibition DOHA: Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih (pictured) will make her first official visit to the Middle East at the second annual “Made in the USA – Qatar 2010” exhibition scheduled ... The Peninsula \| Comments	Poems of Palestine as oud player Abado sings in Jordan Oud concerts to help fund scholarships for Palestinian refugees across Middle East region.... By Fabiano Jácome - AMMAN \| Comments
World Cup jinxes Saudi school exams JEDDAH: With World Cup 2010 starting on Friday, just eight days before exams begin in Saudi high schools, officials from the Ministry of Education and teachers are worried the football ... DIANA AL-JASSEM \| Comments	UAE watchdog denies banning Sex and The City 2 ABU DHABI // A long-awaited movie sequel set in Abu Dhabi opens worldwide today – but not in Abu Dhabi. The local distributors of Sex and The City 2 never ... Anealla Safdar \| Comments

Muslim heritage melodies find musical ears in Al Ain ABU DHABI - Al Ain Centre for Music in the World of Islam, which was founded by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), is hosting renowned artists ... News \| Comments	Lebanon's 'Shankaboot' brings Arab drama online Driving through Beirut's maze of alleys can demand a certain death-defying flair. So it comes as no coincidence that the hero of the Arab world's first webdrama is a delivery ... Natacha Yazbeck \| Comments
Palestinian 'Musakhan' enters Guinness records Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad considered making the largest loaf of 'Musakhan' in the world as a great achievement and a great honor for the Palestinian people, who devoted this ... Watan \| Comments	Palestinian village launches 'cultural' resistance NILIN, West Bank - On Fridays they chant slogans and hurl stones at Israeli occupation soldiers, but on Saturdays the youth of this small Palestinian village head into a newly-restored ... News \| Comments
Abbas Al Nouri replaces Jamal Suleiman The famous Syrian actor Abbas Al Nouri will be playing the role of “Abu Al Hasan” in the second part of the Syrian drama series “Ahel Al Rayah”, which was ... News \| Comments	'My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist' ABU DHABI - In MY NAME IS KHAN, Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol Devgan inhabit the most challenging roles of their ... \| Comments

Hanan Turk in a comedy for the first time The Egyptian actress Hanan Turk will play a comedic role for the first time in the new television drama series “Al Qitah Al Amyah” (The Blind Cat). The new series ... \| Comments	UAE office workers waste 13 million days on tea and gossip New research shows that office workers in the UAE spend considerable time engaged in non-work-related activites while at their de... News \| Comments
Lebanese designers lace up for Paris couture catwalks BEIRUT - From the catwalks of Paris and New York to the red carpets of Cannes and the Oscars, Lebanese designers are taking the couture scene by storm, pitching the ... news \| Comments	Gaza rappers use hip hop to speak to West If hip hop is a genre of music associated with the struggle of a people, then there is no better place than the impoverished, blockaded and recently bombarded Gaza Strip ... watan \| Comments
Swiss man builds mock minaret to protest ban A Swiss man built a mock minaret on top of his warehouse to protest what he called a "scandalous" ban on the structure that is associated with mosques, press reports ... news \| Comments	Book on Muslim Women Receives Literary Prize A book that deals with the relationship between gender, Islam and modernity has received literary acclaim through a prestigious Italian award. Dr Ruba Salih is the author of ‘Muslim Women ... news \| Comments

Feature

Brooklyn College Book Controversy Reading about it online, you would think that the controversy over this year’s assigned reading for students new to Brooklyn College would have led to fevered student and faculty protests by now, making the c... Elisa Gootman	Mired in poverty: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon see little hope in new law Some employment rights have been granted to Palestinian refugees, but they will still be unable to work in many key professions, no matter what their qual... Richard Hall
Lack of National Muslim Leader Seen in NY Furor (Reuters) - Among the most visible supporters of a proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque near the World Trade Center site have been the city's Jewish mayor and a libertarian congressman from far...	Month of Ramadan around the world Working with an international, multi-faith team at Search for Common Ground (SFCG), a non-profit conflict transformation organisation, Ramadan impacts not only colleagues who adhere to a diet and lifestyle that ... Juliette Schmidt
Young Dutch Muslims start critical website AMSTERDAM - Critical voices within the Dutch Islamic community are too seldom heard. At least, that’s the view of the group of young Muslims behind the website nieuwemoskee.nl - 'new ... News	Verizon iPhone could hit market as soon as January A Verizon iPhone is indeed on the way – and it could hit the market as soon as January; that's the word today from the popular blog TechCrunch. If the ... Matthew Shaer

Opinion

Reflections on Quran Burning Muqtedar Khan On May 10th, 1933 the Nazis burned 25,000 books -- including those written by Jewish poet Heinrich Heine, who had predicted in 1820 that “where books are burned in the ...	Palestine 2010: Time for Plan B Mouin Rabbani How can Palestinians overcome the inertia of endless negotiations?...
Diana Buttu: Direct Talks Bound to Fail Diana Buttu As US officials arrived in Jerusalem last week to meet with Palestinian Authority and Israeli government officials, Nora Barrows-Friedman interviewed Ramallah-based lawyer and former PLO advisor Diana Buttu about this week's US-brokered direct tal...	US Dodges Obligation to Help Iraqi Women Trafficked into Sexual Slavery Sebastian Swett and Cameron Webster Two months ago, the State Department released its 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report (TiP Report), laying out a picture of human trafficking across the globe. In it, the United States reaffirmed its com...
Israeli Move to Teach Arabic in Schools Viewed With Suspicion If it were announced that a country such as Iran or Pakistan planned to make Arabic a compulsory subject at elementary schools, it would not provoke an intense public debate there....	US is no stranger to double-dealing Marwan Al Kabalan Following the revelation by WikiLeaks that there have been fresh allegations that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is secretly aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan, sections of the US media rushed to ...

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