Ihsan Alkhatib

HelenThomas       President Clinton addressing the ADC Convention ADC: An Institution in Turmoil or a Community in Turmoil? Beydoun et al. Write about the community organization without writing about the community               Every community and every organization deals with challenges. This is part of the community and organizational growth process.   ADC is not an exception.               ADC is an organization that that the “revolutionary” members of the Arab American community simply hate. They hate ADC because they want/ed ADC to be more radical, more controversial, and yes, more divisive.   They failed.               As an organization that represents Arab Americans of all national, religious, political, and ideological backgrounds, ADC has tried to focus on what can unite all Arab Americans of all backgrounds: The civil rights of Arab Americans. Many wanted ADC to be more and when that did not happen they left. They left and

Osama Siblani, owner of the "Arab American" News Hajj 2013 and the Alleged Mina Incident with the American Dearborn Shiite Pilgrims Uncritical Coverage/ without Context in the “Arab American” News   is Sectarian Incitement The Importance of the Proper Frame on Communal Relations   It was reported that during Hajj 2013 there was a sectarian attack against a group of Lebanese Shiite pilgrims from Dearborn. The alleged attackers were Lebanese Sunnis. The incident was reported in a Dearborn community newspaper, Osama Siblani’s the “Arab American” News. This is an excerpt of the report from their website: Local pilgrims assaulted by sectarian extremists at Hajj   By Ali Harb ‘ Arab American pilgrims from the Metro Detroit area where attacked and assaulted, for what appears to be sectarian reasons, on Wednesday, Oct. 16, while performing the rituals of Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia. A known female community leader said that when the local group en

Hajj 2013 and the Alleged Mina Incident with the American Dearborn Shiite Pilgrims 1.4 million pilgrims, at least 140,000 Shiites Unverified report, Sourced by activists It is reported that during Hajj 2013 there was a sectarian attack against a group of Lebanese Shiite pilgrims from Dearborn, Michigan. The alleged attackers were Lebanese Sunnis. Before jumping to conclusions it is important to consider two factors. 1. Was the attack truly sectarian or was it related to the politics of Lebanon? 2. Let’s not forget that there were 1.4 million making Hajj 2013 and that at least 10% of them were Shiites- that makes more than 140,000 Shiite pilgrims that performed the Hajj peacefully.   It is possible an attack happened even though there is no third party independent report on the incident so far. However there is reason for concern about the story being told in the report that appeared in the Washington Times and was written by a Pakistani Shiite activist Raha

Rana Abbas Osama Siblani  Nabih Ayad Let’s talk about dishonesty and lack of transparency: Rana Abbas’s/The “Arab American” News Editorial An Unrelenting Paid Campaign? Osama Siblani and his paper The “Arab American” News “The News” are persistent in their campaign against Imad Hamad and the ADC. The unanimous decision of the ADC national board, a board of individuals of diverse national and religious/sectarian backgrounds,   decided that there is “inconclusive evidence” in the sexual harassment case against Imad Hamad. Despite that, they decided to relieve Imad of his duties as the regional director and keep him as an advisor to the ADC. I don't think this is fair to Imad but Imad has accepted it.   The decision was unanimous. This is not good enough for Osama Siblani and it seems he will keep using his paper to keep trying to further discredit Imad and the ADC and continue the media scene for ulterior motives. In an editorial in O

Osama Siblani   Rana Abbas         Osama Siblani your community’s “Charles Ayoub” The other day I got a phone call from Lebanon. It was from a friend of mine who moved to Lebanon a few years ago. He asked me about what is going on with Imad Hamad and ADC. I told him what I thought was happening. He responded by saying that Osama Siblani is using his newspaper, the Arab American News "the News", as a tool to attack those who don’t pay him just like it is understood in Lebanon that Charles Ayoub of the Lebanese daily Ad- Diyar uses his paper to attack those who either stop paying him or refuse to pay him. Maybe this is the case I said. That’s an interesting hypothesis. Reading the way Osama’s pet newspaper is covering the ADC story and seeing Osama's antics make you wonder. A Real Job for Rana and Grants for ACCESS? On Thursday 10/10/2013 the website of the News had a story by Samer Hijazi entitled “Community leaders unify

Interesting idea of Arab American unity-Osama style Osama Siblani   Let’s talk about AAPAC and Osama Siblani’s idea of the “Arab American” community. This is their mission as posted on their website:   AAPAC was formed by a group of Arab American professionals to organize and encourage the political activities of Arab Americans. AAPAC is non-partisan and independent from any other existing organization or interest group. Our primary concern is the Arab American Community as a whole regardless of the personal interests of any individual or group of individuals. http://www.aapac.org/ This is the current leadership of AAPAC: President: Mariam Saad Bazzi, Esq. Vice President - Internal: Ali Hammoud, Esq. Vice President - External: Zenna Elhasan, Esq. Treasurer: Osama Siblani Secretary: Mona Fadlallah, Esq. Ask yourself, are these individuals, with due respect to each of them, representative of the Arab American community and why not? How

Niraj Warikoo In a Free Press article, Niraj Warikoo follows up on the issue of the ADC investigation. It seems there was a mix up as to what the outside attorney was hired to do. One thing we know is that she was charged with the investigation. It seems she was not asked to give a conclusion. Fair enough. ADC is saying its board made the decision. Given the nature of the crusade and the vested interests in it by the Osama Dearborn gang, the crusaders would find a way to keep pushing the issue. Let's not forget that from day one Osama Siblani said thar ADC "dropped the ball on us" and that ADC has a "credibility" issue.  This is rich- coming from, of all people, Osama Siblani (more on Siblani in future entries). ADC could have hired Jesus Christ and Moses to do the investigation and this would not have been enough to satisfy the accusers and attackers who have their own agenda that is far removed from women's rights, due process and