Ihsan Alkhatib

Shaykh Ahmad Al Aseer Sign Pointing to Bilal bin Rabah mosque The Shaykh al Aseer is a smart man. He knew that the plan against him was to manufacture a conflict for his group with the Lebanese army. Nothing turns public opinion against a person or a group like a confrontation with the Lebanese army. This is what the Shaykh repeatedly said.   The media reports are that the Al Aseer initiated a fight with the Lebanese army and that his group killed two officers and a soldier. The Shaykh said in his last Friday sermon that the Mufti of Sidon had promised him to do his best to resolve the concerns of the Aseer over the Hizbollah apartments in Abra. The Al Aseer even gave him an extension of the time to resolve the matter peacefully. If that is the case, and it is, then why would the Shaykh Al Aseer group or his supporters shoot at, of all groups and people, the Lebanese army?  The fears of the Shaykh al Aseer are being translated into a reality. Th...

Imad Hamad Rana Abbas Rashida Tlaib Due Process Should Precede Judgement One does not exaggerate by saying that the sexual harassment allegations directed at the American-Arab anti-Discrimination Committee’s (ADC) regional director Imad Hamad constitute the most important event to shock the community since the 9/11 attacks. As a result of these allegations, a number of people from the Arab American community have come out, directly or indirectly, arguing for two things. First, to assert, without any legal basis for personal knowledge, that due to the credibility and the respectability of the accusers, these allegations are “true.” Second, to say that we basically need no investigation and that Mr. Hamad should be fired because these two respected and credible women making the allegations, Ms. Rana Abbas and Representative Rashida Tlaib, have made these allegations in a sensational way in the media and the media attention have put the community in a dim light. ...

In “Fear of ‘Zealots’ Exacerbates War’s Violence on Both Sides” in the Wall Street Journal of June 15-16, 2013 Rima Abushakra wrote:   'He said an entire family of his relatives was killed in the nearby town of Karm al-Zeytoon and “At your service Hussein” was written on the walls of their home, a reference to a Shiite figure killed at the hands of Sunnis.'   Let’s see how many Muslims write The Wall Street Journal and reporter Abushakra to correct her characterization of Imam Hussein and Ashoura.   I am guessing none will write.  

Rana Abbas, former ACRL executive director Amer Zahr, Rana Abbas's BFF Response to Amer Zahr’s Sexual Harassment Column The Imad Hamad saga has attracted a motley crew of individuals who joined in for two reasons: 1. To say, without any legal basis for personal knowledge, that the allegations are “true” for a variety of reasons.  2. To say that we basically need no investigation and that Imad should be fired because these two women have made these allegations. Allegation is the key word. Let’s look at the bright side of this sordid affair. Who knew that everyone in our community is a solid supporter of women’s rights? This is great! It really is. However, by God, people will prove it by piling on Imad Hamad before receiving all the facts. Let me make one thing clear. I am not stating these women were not harassed; nor am I stating they were. No one, other than Imad and the women, was in the room when the alleged harassment occurred.  No third party ...

Rashida Tlaib Abed Hammoud Rana Abbas In the Arab American News, Assistant US attorney Abed Hammoud wrote an opinion column on the Imad Hamad accusations. Didn’t his boss, US attorney Barbara McQuade, also receive the same Rashida Tlaib open letter as ADC did asking her to look into this matter? Why is Assistant US attorney Abed Hammoud   getting involved in this matter? Even if technically he wrote it in his personal capacity- it does not look right.  Didn’t his boss say that she is waiting to for ADC’s investigation to finish in order to see what she would do? Why is her subordinate AUSA Abed Hammoud going public on this matter when his boss said that she might look into it? Also- Hammoud writes: “The ADC has finally agreed to the gravity of the situation and decided to perform a thorough investigation, which is a good step in the right direction.” How does Hammoud know or not know what ADC did? Where did this “fina...

Imad Hamad Rana Abbas Rashida Tlaib The Story of the Twin Lies: "ADC did not take the matter seriously and ADC did not investigate"‏-Imad Hamad IV Abbas: From ADC to the Defense Contractor              You work for an organization for 8 years drawing a paycheck. You get promoted, you get raises.   You become second in command to # 1 in the office in Michigan. In the meantime you do a lot of good work for the organization, an organization that you believed in. Then you leave the organization for a better paying job, deputy director of corporate communications, at a defense contracting company, Global Linguist Solutions, helping the organization provide Arab linguists in Iraq. You keep ties with the organization. In fact your new employer, Global Linguist Solutions, probably upon your recommendation as their deputy director of corporate communications, SPONSORS a booth at your former employer ...

Niraj Warikoo The Detroit Free Press's Niraj Warikoo's Questionable Reporting‏- Imad Hamad III Yesterday I was interviewed by Niraj Warikoo of the Detroit Free Press. He asked me what I thought of the sexual harassment allegations. I told him that while the open letter that Rashida Tlaib issued did not raise a claim of sexual harassment, a point I made in my first blog entry on the matter, in her interview with him she raised enough facts to qualify as a sexual harassment claim. And I said that Imad should be given the benefit of the doubt. That there should be an investigation- some form of due process before summarily condemning him. Niraj Warikoo turned around and misquoted me. This is what he stated: ‘Another ADC Michigan board member, attorney Ihsan Alkhatib, said Monday he would not resign. He said that what Tlaib alleges Hamad did to her “is not sexual harassment.” “I’m not saying he’s a saint,” Alkhatib said of Hamad. But he deserves “due proces...