Spying on Arabs and Muslims in New York violates civil rights

Spying on Arabs and Muslims in New York violates civil rights
The policy has failed to protect Americans from the real terrorists
By Ray Hanania – When American officials fail to do their jobs, they always come up with something to hide that fact.

It was clear that the U.S. failed to understand the complexities of the extremists in the Middle East when terrorists attacked America on Sept. 11, 2001. Our country was taken by surprise.

Instead of focusing on doing professional criminal police work to understand and identify these killers, our failed leaders responded to the growing anger in America and turned to stereotyping and racism to drive their response, persecuting many innocent Arabs and Muslims.

Even a decade later, Americans still do not understand the complexities of the Middle East and our failed foreign policies there demonstrate it clearly. But worse is the continued reliance on stereotyping and racism to fuel our country’s anti-terrorism readiness.

We’re not ready to confront the terrorists and the extremists because Americans have chosen the route of hatred, stereotyping and bigotry rather than professional criminal investigation, intelligence based on facts and a strategy that taps the patriotism that exists among the majority of American Arabs and Muslims.

It’s far easier to hate and blame all Arabs and all Muslims rather than to conduct a proper investigation of a crime. It’s easier to claim to be “pre-emptive,” an Israeli term used to justify the unjustifiable, than to be “ready” to fight crime and protect Americans.

The most recent example of this failure in American security is in New York City where millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent to spy on all of the city’s Arabs and Muslims. Not only is it a violation of basic human and civil rights, the policy is a failure. Muslims are NOT the problem. Ineffective American policy is.

Now its Cook County ‘Board of Whatever’

Now its Cook County ‘Board of Whatever’

By Ray Hanania Feb. 24, 2012 SOUTHWEST NEWS-HERALD

They changed the name of the Board of Tax Appeals a long time ago because in the old days, the incumbents didn’t like the fact that many taxpayers only associated their property tax increases with that office.

So they changed it to the Board of Review, to get rid of that annoying word “Tax.”

It’s one of the most significant things the body has done, besides take money from attorneys who milk property owners to submit the complex appeals. 

This year, one candidate seems to want to change it all. He wants to make it easier for property owners to file their own appeals, rather than go through the lawyers who donate heavily to the three member “Board of Whatever?”

Sean Morrison has some great ideas. He says that he wants to put the appeal process online so that regular property tax owners like you and me can scan our documents, submit them online and instead of taking time off from our workday or paying the attorneys to do it all for us, we can conduct a hearing using Skype.

The power of film not given its due in the Middle East

The power of film not given its due in the Middle East

By RAY HANANIA 02/22/2012 JERUSALEM POST

Yalla Peace: I’ve always asked where is the Arab-made version of ‘Exodus’?

Many say the pen is mightier than the sword, but today film is mightier than the pen. Every year at this time, our attention turns to the power of film at the Academy Awards, many times in a competitive way between Palestinians and Israelis.

This year, only one Middle East film has been nominated for an Oscar. But my favorite film wasn’t.The Whistleblower is a Canadian film released at the end of 2010. It didn’t do very well and meandered through the movie industry in 2011 until it hit mainstream audiences last month on DVD and Blu Ray. And that’s a shame. Because of all the mediocre films that have won Academy Award nominations this year, none come even close to the moral power of this film.

NAAJA Mourns the death of Journalist Anthony Shadid

NAAJA Mourns the death of Journalist Anthony Shadid
By Ray Hanania
NAAJA National Coordinator – Anthony Shadid was unlike many others. He loved the American Arab community and he also loved professional journalism. He began his journalism career at the Associated Press and though he was born in Oklahoma, he quickly learned Arabic as an adult. His heritage as an American Lebanese and his love for Arab culture drove him to journalism and to great heights.

Shadid went on to the Washington Post where he won two Pulitzer Prizes for his writing and then was hired by the New York Times where he covered Iraq and later worked as the bureau chief in Beirut.

He died Thursday in the Middle East reportedly of an asthma attack.

NAAJA expresses its deep condolences to his family. Anthony Shadid was a strong supporter of NAAJA and said he was proud to have his name among so many other great journalists who continue to strive to bring the voice of American Arabs to the world.

American Arab journalists suffer greatly in America.

Yalla Peace: Hope for peace at a roadblock

Yalla Peace: Hope for peace at a roadblock
By RAY HANANIA02/14/2012 JERUSALEM POST

Israeli and Palestinian leaders
refuse to take the steps necessary to make peace.

It’s almost become normal for Palestinians and Israelis who support peace to find themselves at the same old roadblock, going nowhere fast. The only things moving are the extremists who continue to pave the way to the mutual destruction of both sides.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders refuse to take the steps necessary to make peace.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has imposed several pre-conditions for peace talks to resume, including the demand for a one-sided end to violence. Palestinians must prevent their extremists from committing acts of violence but Israel can continue to not only attack Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip with missiles but also to target Palestinians in the West Bank.

Netanyahu’s preconditions go way beyond what is acceptable. I call them his “no preconditions” preconditions.

The Israelis insist that Palestinian accept Israeli confiscations of West Bank land around east Jerusalem, and accept the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, too. Netanyahu has outlined that Jerusalem will remain undivided, merging east and west Jerusalem without any consideration of Palestinian rights.

Netanyahu has also imposed another pre-condition.

Protect those who oppose Assad’s brutality

Protections needed to defend those who oppose Syria’s brutality
By Ray Hanania – The “Shabbiha” are a notorious Syrian militia who protect the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad.

They have been accused of murdering families linked to pro-Democracy protestors in Homs and other major Syrian cities over the past months since protests to overthrow the Assad dictatorship began last year.

As the United States engages the Syrian dictatorship and sets the stage for a violent transition as they did through NATO In Libyan, Americans need to be concerned about the Shabbiha’s ties to extremist Arab groups in this country.

Shabbiha means “ghosts” in Arabic but the presence of pro-Syrian activism in the United States is no secret and they don’t take place in shadows.

The cause of defending Assad has been taken up by several major American Arab newspapers and American Arab and Muslim organizations in cities across the country where American Arab populations are sizable. Many of the pro-Assad rallies are backed by pro-Hezbollah sympathizers.

Super Bowl isn’t so Super anymore

Super Bowl isn’t so Super anymore
By Ray Hanania – I’ve watched every Super Bowl since 1967. The very first one before they started to use Roman Numerals to set them apart.

But I have to say I am tired of the degradation of this great American institution.

Not that anyone cares, though.

Over the years, I have watched as the focus has steadily shifted from a great American football game to a celebration of Greed. Super Bowl Commercials costing $3 million each that include things like Viagra, Cialis, alcohol and worse. Celebrity entertainers who “accidentally” expose their breasts.

And this year, one entertainer who flips the audience the “bird” and sings lyrics urging murder, killing and death.

Yalla Peace: The Hallucination of Peace

Yalla Peace: Hallucination of peace
By RAY HANANIA – 02/01/2012 JERUSALEM POST

It’s easier to argue incessantly than it is
to overcome our emotions and make compromises for peace.

Two of my “friends” on Facebook started going at it, as Facebook people often do, over my recent column analyzing the failure of Palestinian activists to achieve any of their goals.

The debate quickly got off-topic and started careening over the cliff of Palestinian-Israeli futility at a very high speed. It became obvious that neither was really listening to the other. Both were repeating the same old arguments that have muddled Palestinian-Israeli peace efforts.

It reminded me what the real problem Palestinians and Israeli face is: We don’t really care much about peace. We just like to argue. Arguing is a waste of time, of course. I know that when I write my columns “arguing” a “fact,” most Israelis won’t listen to me. They don’t listen to me period, based on the talkbacks to my columns here.

It’s a waste of time because the purpose of arguing isn’t to convince someone to change their mind. It’s a selfish exercise in ego and pride. We say things to each other to make ourselves feel as if we have struck a blow against the other. It’s a kind of twisted form of punishment.

No amount of arguing will change the futility of the failed peace process. We can blame each other, but it won’t matter. What will matter is if we decided to simply accept the reality of our circumstances. Palestinians believe something and Israelis believe something else.

Russian veto threat turns tables on biased American policies

Russian veto threat turns tables on biased American policies
By Ray Hanania – The United States and its allies planned to introduce tough new sanctions against the Government of Syria in the United Nations Security Council, but the Government of Russia has said “Nyet!”

Russia says it will not support international intervention in Syria where pro-Democracy protesters have been battling with the brutal regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad.

With a Russian veto guaranteed, there is no chance that the UN Security Council will be able to adopt tough sanctions to pressure Assad.

That’s a shame on one hand. The people of Syria have been brutalized long enough by the Syrian dictator, although in truth every Arab country is governed by a dictator of various levels of brutality and oppression.

On the other hand, now maybe the United States knows what it’s like to have politics stand in the way of justice.

Since 1948, the United States has acted far worse than any other member of the UN Security Council in using its veto to protect its political ally. Why should Russia, based on the American practice, be any different?

Singing the wrong kind of presidential tunes

Singing the wrong kind of presidential tune
By Ray Hanania -- What is it about singing candidates?

Last Thursday, President Barack Obama was crooning the line from a popular Al Green soul song, “Let’s Stay Together,” at a fundraiser he had at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

This week, Mitt Romney sang “America the Beautiful” at a Florida Republican campaign rally giving it a Frank Sinatra-esque flare.

What’s going on? Are our presidents lining up for American Idol? Or, more likely, it’s just politics.

I have a feeling (Black Eyed Peas) that Obama was just being natural.