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Thursday, August 29, 2013

AlJazeera Correspondent detained by Egyptian Military Coup authorities

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Al Jazeera correspondent Wayne Hay, cameraman Adil Bradlow, producers Russ Finn and Baher Mohammed are currently being detained by Egyptian authorities.

They have been held since Tuesday.  Wayne, Adil, Russ and Baher were in Cairo covering events.

The arrests follow the detainment of Abdullah al-Shami who was performing his duties as an Al Jazeera correspondent when he was arrested after the raid of Rabaa Adawiya on the fourteenth of August, along with Mohamed Badr, a cameraman for Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr who has been held for more than one month.

These arrests are part of what Reporters Without Borders has called "growing hostility" towards journalists in Egypt.

There has also been a campaign against Al Jazeera in particular, as the channel's offices were raided last month and security forces seized equipment which has yet to be returned.

Al Jazeera calls for the Egyptian authorities to release all our staff unconditionally along with their belongings and equipment.


For more information, please contact: pressoffice@aljazeera.net

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

2013 ARAB AMERICAN BOOK AWARD WINNERS TO BE HONORED IN DEARBORN THIS FALL

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Contact:
Kim Silarski

Matthew Jaber Stiffler




















2013 ARAB AMERICAN BOOK AWARD WINNERS TO BE HONORED IN DEARBORN THIS FALL

Dearborn, Mich. (July 10, 2013) – Engaging storytelling by established talents and emerging voices abounds among the titles selected to receive the 2013 Arab American Book Award, presented by the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

This national literary competition – the only one of its kind in the United States – is designed to draw attention to books and authors dealing with the Arab American experience. The program has attracted increasing numbers of submissions from authors and publishers across the nation in its brief, seven-year history.

Four winners emerged from the multitude of eligible books published in 2012 that were submitted for consideration; five honorable mentions were also selected. The winning titles were chosen by genre-specific review committees comprised of selected readers from across the country, including respected authors, university professors, artists, librarians and poets.


2013 ARAB AMERICAN BOOK AWARD WINNERS

Winner - Fiction
Lebanese Blonde by Joseph Geha (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2012)

Winner - Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East by Anthony Shadid (New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012)

Winner - Poetry
Atrium: Poems by Hala Alyan (New York, NY: Three Rooms Press, 2012)

Winner – Children/Young Adult
Hands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt’s Treasured Books by Susan L. Roth and Karen Leggett Abouraya (New York, NY: Dial, 2012)


2013 HONORABLE MENTIONS

Honorable Mention - Fiction
Flying Carpets by Hedy Habra (March Street Press, 2012; Reprinted: Northampton, MA: Interlink Books, 2013)

Honorable Mentions - Non-Fiction
The Girl Who Fell to Earth by Sophia Al-Maria (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2012)
AND
Even My Voice is Silence by Soha Al-Jurf (CreateSpace, 2012)

Honorable Mention - Poetry
Sea & Fog by Etel Adnan (Callicoon, NY: Nightboat Books, 2012)

Honorable Mention – Children/Young Adult
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2012)


Further information about the winning books and their authors appears below and at http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org/2013.book.award.winners.

This year, the Arab American Book Award ceremony will be held on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013 at the Arab American National Museum, 13624 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, Michigan. Further details on the invitation-only event will be released later this summer.



2013 ARAB AMERICAN BOOK AWARD WINNERS


Winner - Fiction

Lebanese Blonde by Joseph Geha (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2012)

Lebanese Blonde takes place in 1975-76 at the beginning of Lebanon's sectarian civil war. Set primarily in the Toledo, Ohio, "Little Syria" community, it is the story of two immigrant cousins: Aboodeh, a self-styled entrepreneur; and Samir, his young, reluctant accomplice. Together the two concoct a scheme to import Lebanese Blonde, a potent strain of hashish, into the United States, using the family's mortuary business as a cover. When Teyib, a newly arrived war refugee, stumbles onto their plans, his clumsy efforts to gain acceptance raise suspicion. Who is this mysterious "cousin," and what dangers does his presence pose? Aboodeh and Samir's problems grow still more serious when a shipment goes awry and their links to the war-ravaged homeland are severed. Soon it's not just Aboodeh and Samir's livelihoods and futures that are imperiled, but the stability of the entire family.

Joseph Geha is the author of Through and Through: Toledo Stories (Graywolf, 1990), a collection of short stories inspired by his experiences growing up in an émigré Arab American community. He is a Professor Emeritus of the creative writing program at Iowa State University.


Winner - Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award

House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East by Anthony Shadid (New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012)

In spring 2011, Anthony Shadid was one of four New York Times reporters captured in Libya, cuffed and beaten, as that country was seized by revolution. When he was freed, he went home. Not to Boston or Beirut where he lives or to Oklahoma City, where his Lebanese American family had settled and where he was raised. Instead, he returned to his great-grandfather’s estate, a house that, over three years earlier, Shadid had begun to rebuild. House of Stone is the story of a battle-scarred home and a war correspondent s jostled spirit, and of how reconstructing the one came to fortify the other. In this poignant and resonant memoir, the author creates a mosaic of past and present, tracing the house’s renewal alongside his family s flight from Lebanon and resettlement in America. In the process, Shadid memorializes a lost world, documents the shifting Middle East, and provides profound insights into this volatile landscape.

Anthony Shadid (1968-2012), author of Night Draws Near (Picador, 2006) and House of Stone (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012), was an unparalleled chronicler of the human stories behind the news. He gained attention and awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, for his front-page reports in the Washington Post from Iraq. More recently, as Middle East correspondent for the New York Times, he covered the Arab Spring from Egypt to Libya (where he was held captive in March, 2011) to Syria. In 2010, he earned his second Pulitzer. Tragically, on February 16, 2012, he died while on assignment in Syria. Shadid was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2012 Arab American Book Award ceremony.


Winner - Poetry

Atrium: Poems by Hala Alyan (New York, NY: Three Rooms Press, 2012)

In Atrium, Hala Alyan traces lines of global issues in personal spaces, with fervently original imagery, and a fierce passion and intense intimacy that echo long after the initial reading. Alyan was recently tapped as a finalist in the Nazim Himet Poetry Competition, and has left her mark on other award-winning poets who are universal in their praise. Among them is fellow Arab American Book Award winner Naomi Shihab Nye, who said, “Don’t miss the dazzling Hala Alyan. Wow. When she says ‘the poetry like a spear,’ she isn’t kidding.”

Hala Alyan is a Palestinian American poet who has lived in various cities in the Middle East and the United States. Currently, she resides in Brooklyn, where she is pursuing a doctoral degree in the field of psychology. Her stunning originality in her poetic work has been heard in performances worldwide. Her poem Maktoub was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2012.


Winner – Children/Young Adult

Hands Around the Library: Protecting Egypt’s Treasured Books by Susan L. Roth and Karen Leggett Abouraya (New York, NY: Dial, 2012)

This is the inspiring true story of demonstrators standing up for the love of a library, from a New York Times bestselling illustrator. In January 2011, in a moment that captured the hearts of people all over the world, thousands of Egypt's students, library workers and demonstrators surrounded the great Library of Alexandria and joined hands, forming a human chain to protect the building. They chanted "We love you, Egypt!" as they stood together for the freedom the library represented. Illustrated with Susan L. Roth's stunning collages, this amazing true story demonstrates how the love of books and libraries can unite a country, even in the midst of turmoil.

Susan L. Roth was born on Leap Year in New York City. She grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, earned her bachelor’s (art) and master’s (printmaking, art history) degrees from Mills College in Oakland, California, and now makes her home back in New York City.  Roth has written or illustrated more than 40 books; her most recent titles - The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families and Dream Something Big: The Story of the Watts Towers – are both 2012 ALA Notable Children’s Books.

Karen Leggett Abouraya grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, surrounded by writing and books: her father was a journalist and her mother is a retired school librarian. She was a broadcast journalist for many years on ABC Radio WMAL in Washington, D.C., where she began reviewing and discussing children’s books. She has also reviewed children’s books and interviewed authors for the New York TimesBaltimore SunChildren’s LiteratureWashington Parent and others. Currently, Abouraya writes for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (National Wildlife Refuge System), Voice of America, International Educator magazine (NAFSA), and others. Karen graduated from Brown University (international relations) and met her Egyptian husband in Washington.



2013 HONORABLE MENTIONS


Honorable Mention - Fiction
Flying Carpets by Hedy Habra (March Street Press, 2012; Reprinted: Northampton, MA: Interlink Books, 2013)

Flying Carpets is a story collection in the grand tradition of Arab storytelling. In it, Habra masterfully waves her writing wand and takes us on a journey as we read about people and places far away and encounter temples and mountain villages, gliding boats and fragrant kitchens, flaming fish and rich tapestries. The stories recover lost, partially forgotten and imaginary spaces, progressing from the concrete to the universal. The first two sections move between Egypt and Lebanon with a touch of magic realism. In the second half of the collection, the characters become less rooted in time and space as the dreamlike elements intensify.

Hedy Habra is the author of a poetry collection, Tea in Heliopolis and a book of literary criticism, Mundos alternos y artísticos en Vargas Llosa.  She has an MA and an MFA in English and an MA and PhD in Spanish literature, all from Western Michigan University, where she currently teaches. She is the recipient of WMU’s All-University Research and Creative Scholar Award. Habra has published more than 160 poems and short stories in journals and anthologies.


Honorable Mention - Non-Fiction
The Girl Who Fell to Earth by Sophia Al-Maria (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2012)

Award-winning filmmaker and writer Sophia Al-Maria’s The Girl Who Fell to Earth is a funny and wry coming-of-age memoir about growing up in between American and Gulf Arab cultures. With poignancy and humor, Al-Maria shares the struggles of being raised by an American mother and Bedouin father while shuttling between homes in the Pacific Northwest and the Middle East. Part family saga and part personal quest, The Girl Who Fell to Earth traces Al-Maria’s journey to make a place for herself in two different worlds.

Sophia Al-Maria was born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1983. After graduating from the American University in Cairo with a degree in Comparative Literature, she earned an MA from Goldsmith’s University, London where she began researching Gulf Futurism. Currently she is based between Cairo, Doha and Tunis where she is preparing for her feature film Beretta. Her work has appeared in Harper’s MagazineTriple Canopy and Dazed & Confused. She is a contributing editor at Bidoun Magazine. This is her first book.


Honorable Mention - Non-Fiction
Even My Voice is Silence by Soha Al-Jurf (CreateSpace, 2012)

When Soha Al-Jurf goes in search of her father's Palestinian village, she believes she is embarking on a journey that will help her reconcile the conflicted parts of her identity as a Palestinian American Muslim woman. Instead, what she had anticipated would be the end of her long journey proves only to be the beginning of an elusive search for her true self, mired in the painful realization of what it means to be a refugee. Through exquisite storytelling and deep personal inquiry, Al-Jurf offers readers a rare and intimate perspective on one woman’s struggle to reconcile her life in the U.S. with the one her parents left behind, instilling in her a longing for a homeland with which her own connection is uncertain.

Soha Al-Jurf is a Palestinian American Muslim writer who was born in the West Bank city of Nablus and raised in Iowa City, Iowa. She works as a speech-language pathologist in San Francisco. Her writing focuses on issues of identity and "finding one's own, authentic voice" by exploring themes of politics, spirituality, and personal story. Her writing has appeared in Turning Wheel, Critical Muslim, ElevenEleven, and al Majdal magazines, as well as online on CounterPunch and Transform.


Honorable Mention - Poetry
Sea & Fog by Etel Adnan (Callicoon, NY: Nightboat Books, 2012)

These interrelated meditations explore the nature of the individual spirit and the individual spiritedness of the natural world. As skilled a philosopher as she is a poet, in Sea & Fog, Adnan weaves multiple sonic, theoretical, and syntactic pleasure at once.

Etel Adnan is the author of numerous books of poetry and prose, including the groundbreaking novel Sitt-Marie Rose. She is a recipient of a 2010 PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles National Literary Award. She lives between Sausalito, California; Paris; and Beirut.


Honorable Mention – Children/Young Adult
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2012)

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever. In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a riveting dystopian world, a thrilling superhero story and an unforgettable heroine.

Tahereh Mafi is a girl. She was born in a small city somewhere in Connecticut and currently resides in Orange County, California, where she drinks too much caffeine and finds the weather to be just a little too perfect for her taste. When unable to find a book, she can be found reading candy wrappers, coupons and old receipts. Shatter Me is her first novel.


******************

The Arab American National Museum documents, preserves and presents Arab American history, culture and contributions. It is a project of ACCESS, a Dearborn, Michigan-based nonprofit human services and cultural organization. Learn more at www.arabamericanmuseum.org and www.accesscommunity.org.

The Arab American National Museum is a proud Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Read about the Affiliations program at http://affiliations.si.edu.

The Museum is located at 13624 Michigan Avenue, Dearborn, MI, 48126. Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Closed Monday, Tuesday; Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Admission is $8 for adults; $4 for students, seniors and children 6-12; ages 5 and under and Museum Members, free. Call 313.582.2266 for further information.

###


KIM SILARSKI
Communications
313.624.0206 office

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Thursday, April 04, 2013

Al Jazeera Media Network Condemns the threats on its staff in Syria

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Al Jazeera Media Network Condemns the threats on its staff in Syria

Doha – April 4, 2013

Al Jazeera Media Network denounces the threats made recently by some Syrian regime supporters against presenters and correspondents of Al Jazeera Channel and other Arab channels.

Threats levied against Al Jazeera staff on social media and other outlets in recent weeks were made to put pressure on the network to change its professional editorial line with regards to the conflict in Syria and other regions of conflicts.

"Al Jazeera prides itself on honest and objective reporting, people who feel Al Jazeera does not reflect their point of view have no basis for any argument when they use threats of intimidation and violence through social media portals like Facebook and Twitter," said Ibrahim Helal, Director of News for Al Jazeera Arabic.

"The fact that our staff have been targeted with messages of hate has no place in any plural society," said Helal.

In the wake of recent incitement against its staff members, Al Jazeera Media Network emphasises that it has already initiated a legal case against those who made these threats. Furthermore, it will not save any efforts seeking all legitimate actions, regardless of the status of sources of threat, in order to protect its journalists, and correspondents, and employees.

Al Jazeera Media Network has stressed out that it stands behind all its employees in such confrontation to their personal and ethical wellbeing to these kinds of threats.

[Ends]

The Al Jazeera Media Network compromises of Al Jazeera Arabic, Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera Balkans, Al Jazeera Sport, Al Jazeera Mubasher, Al Jazeera Documentary, the Al Jazeera Media Training and Development Center and the Al Jazeera Center for Studies.


شبكة الجزيرة تستنكر تهديدات يتعرض لها صحافيوها في سوريا

الدوحة: 4 أبريل 2013

تعبر شبكة الجزيرة الإعلامية عن استهجانها ورفضها للتهديدات التي صدرت مؤخراً من أشخاص مؤيدين للنظام السوري ضد مذيعين ومراسلين في قناة الجزيرة وفي قنوات أخرى عربية.
وإذ تعلم الجزيرة أن الهدف من هذه التهديدات هو التأثير على معالجتها المهنية للأحداث في سوريا وغيرها من مناطق النزاع، فإنها تؤكد تمسكها بخطها التحريري المهني القائم على نقل الأحداث بموضوعية ودقة وإفساح المجال للرأي والرأي الآخر.

وقال إبراهيم هلال مدير الأخبار في قناة الجزيرة: "إن الجزيرة ملتزمة بمنهج موضوعي ومنصف في نقل الأخبار، ومن يعتبر أن ما نقدمه لا يعكس وجهة نظره لا يملك الحق في إطلاق التهديدات عبر شبكات التواصل الاجتماعي أو أي وسيلة أخرى"
ويضيف هلال: "إن تعرض بعض موظفينا لرسائل التهديد والكراهية أمر يثير الاشمئزاز ولا مكان له في أي مجتمع يؤمن بالتعددية"

وتؤكد شبكة الجزيرة أنها بدأت في إجراءات الملاحقة القضائية لمن أطلقوا هذه التهديدات، ولن تتوانى عن حماية صحفييها بشتى السبل المشروعة من أي مصدر تهديد أياً كان.
وتعرب الجزيرة عن أسفها لأن تصل الاختلافات في الرأي إلى حد إطلاق تهديدات بقتل الصحافيين الذين يقومون بواجبهم المهني من أجل إيصال الحقيقة لملايين المشاهدين العرب.
وتؤكد شبكة الجزيرة كذلك على دعمها لموظفيها المخلصين ووقوفها إلى جانبهم في مواجهة مثل هذه التهديدات.





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Wednesday, April 03, 2013

American Arab journalists in Metro-Detroit gather to discuss formation of a journalism union

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American Arab journalists in Metro-Detroit gather to discuss formation of a journalism union


Video: Arab Journalists meeting in Metro-Detroit hosted at the home of Michigan Accident Attorney Joumana Kayrouz, co-hosted by the National American Arab Journalists Association, Good Morning Michigan Radio and sponsored in part by Ziyad Brothers Importing.   

American Arab Journalists Organize in Metro-Detroit, call for Fairness in Coverage and Media Access

Arab Journalists Plan Future Conferences

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan – American Arab journalists gathered this past weekend in a suburb of Detroit to organize a professional union and to plan conferences to advocate for community coverage in the mainstream media.

The summit was hosted by Michigan Accident Attorney Joumana Kayrouz at her Bloomfield Hills home, and supported by Ziyad Brothers Importing, both major advertisers who recognize the need for a vibrant ethnic Arab community media.

Nearly every major Arab media in Metro-Detroit participated and also attending were several prominent American Arabs employed by mainstream media such as WJRS and Styleline Magazine and Arab journalism college students.

Click here to read more

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

American Arab Journalists Organize in Metro-Detroit, call for Fairness in Coverage and Media Access

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American Arab Journalists Organize in Metro-Detroit, call for Fairness in Coverage and Media Access

Arab Journalists Plan Future Conferences

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan – American Arab journalists gathered this past weekend in a suburb of Detroit to organize a professional union and to plan conferences to advocate for community coverage in the mainstream media.

The summit was hosted by Michigan Accident Attorney Joumana Kayrouz at her Bloomfield Hills home, and supported by Ziyad Brothers Importing, both major advertisers who recognize the need for a vibrant ethnic Arab community media.

Nearly every major Arab media in Metro-Detroit participated and also attending were several prominent American Arabs employed by mainstream media such as WJRS and Styleline Magazine and Arab journalism college students.

“This was a very important effort to bring American Arab journalists together to strengthen the voices of our community,” said Bassam Mourad, the Editor-in-Chief of the Michigan Arab Times Newspaper.

Kayrouz said she was honored to be able to host the event at her home.

“As a business person I know how important it is to have a strong, vibrant news media not just for mainstream audiences in America but also to serve and inform our many ethnic communities, especially the Arab community in Metro-Detroit,” said Kayrouz whose Michigan Accident Law Firm is one of the most adept at using media and marketing strategies to make her business successful.

Laila Alhusini, the host of the daily “Good Morning Michigan” radio show on WNZK AM 690 and a local coordinator for the National American Arab Journalists Association, said that the gathering brought together all of the region’s most professional journalists, publications and media.

“We need to organize to make our voices stronger and to also serve as role models for younger Arabs who might pursue journalism or media or even marketing and communications as professional career choices,” Alhusini said.

Fay Beydoun of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce, a frequent supporter of the Arab Journalists group NAAJA and organizer of the successful annual Arab American Festival held in Dearborn, served as a facilitator during the summit.

Also joining the session were Yemeni American News reporter Adel Mozip, Hoda Salameh of Styleline Magazine, Linda Mansour of WJR Radio, Walid Jadan Publisher and and Rami Sadeq host of MEA TV and Radio, Amir Denha Editor of the Chaldean Detroit Times, Khalil Hachem of Biz Magazine, Haitahm Aldifaee video production, Abdulnasser Mugali publisher of Arab American Today, Rafic Kairouz of the Moranite Foundation, Kawthar Othman and Nabil Mashni of the Chicago al-Hadath Newspaper, Journalism instructor Tahani Dari who was accompanied by five journalism students from Central Academy, Detroit photographer Nafeh Abunab of Elite Photography, and Mohammed Shawky reporter for the Forum and Link Journal.

Also attending were Al Harp publisher of Salam Romaia, Zaim Al Tay or Arab Woman, Nayef Chedid publisher of the Michigan Arab News, Hasan Hamed of Alsumaria TV channel, Sahir Al-Malih of Sawt al Ghad publication, Kassim Madi a journalist, Aqil alkaabi a writer, Hunayda Asbahi of the Sawasia Charity Foundation, and video producer Haitahm Aldifaee.

For more information visit

www.JoumanaKayrouz.com
www.Ziyad.com
www.NAAJA-US.com

end

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Condolences on the passing of Marianna Kay Siblani

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The members and the board of the National American Arab Journalists Association (NAAJA) wish to express their sincere condolences to Osama Siblani, the Arab American News Newspaper, and family on the tragic passing this week of Marianna Kay Siblani.

Kay Siblani was a respected member of the American Arab journalism community and an editor at the important Arab American News newspaper based in Detroit.

Kay Siblani was a professional and her efforts helped to make the Arab American News Newspaper one of the best weekly American Arab newspapers in the country. Her role as an editor also challenge the stereotype against women in journalism, breaking the glass ceiling.

It is with great sorrow that the members of NAAJA express our condolences on this tragic loss of an icon of American Arab journalism.

Sincerely,

Ray Hanania
National Coordinator
PO Box 2127
Orland Park, IL., 60462