Arab

19 Stories

Department of Education Is Investigating Harvard

Following claims of Islamophobia, anti-Arab sentiment

(Newser) - Following a civil rights complaint filed by Arab and Muslim students against Harvard, the Department of Education has launched an investigation into the university. The students say that because they are Palestinian, Muslim, or supporters of Palestinian rights, they've been subjected to "rampant harassment and racist attacks including...

Muslim Student 'in Shock' at Teacher's Reply to His Question
Muslim Student in NJ
Sues Over Teacher's Remark
UPDATED
Oct 25, 2022 6:53 PM CDT

Muslim Student in NJ Sues Over Teacher's Remark

He says he asked for more time to finish assignment and was told, 'We don't negotiate with terrorists'

(Newser) - Update: A Muslim student in New Jersey is suing a district and a teacher, saying he was "devastated and humiliated" last year at Ridgefield High School when he asked the teacher for more time to complete an assignment and was loudly told, "We don't negotiate with terrorists....

Calif. High School Drops Arab Mascot

But school's replacement is also an Arab

(Newser) - Mascot makeover: California's Coachella Valley High School has retired its football team's hook-nosed Arab mascot and his bellydancing genie sidekick after complaints about "Orientalist stereotyping" from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. But the school district plans to keep the team's "Arabs" nickname and has come up...

Time for This High School to Change Its Mascot?

Activists take on Coachella Valley High's 'Arab'

(Newser) - Meet the "Arab," Coachella Valley High's mascot: He wears a smirk, has a hooked nose, and, in some depictions, has just one tooth. And the controversy around him is heating up. In a letter to the school last week, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee slammed the "orientalist...

Only 10% of Arab World Likes Obama

US more unpopular there now than it was under Bush

(Newser) - You know President Obama’s plan to reach out and win hearts and minds in the Middle East? It’s not going well. In a stunning new Pew Poll spotted by Glenn Greenwald of Salon , only 10% of residents in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates...

Facebook Won't Allow Users Named 'Arab'

Ooops: Automated filter blocks common name

(Newser) - Facebook’s automated filters appear to be preventing anyone with the last name “Arab”—a fairly common Palestinian surname—from opening an account. A tipster told Gawker about the bug, and the site quickly verified it with a number of test accounts. The tipster added that her husband...

Marine Beats Terrorist... Er, Orthodox Priest

Reservist may be guilty of hate crime in Tampa, police say

(Newser) - A Marine reservist in Tampa chased down a terrorist and beat him with a tire iron—only the terrorist was actually a lost tourist and Greek Orthodox priest who spoke little English. Jasen D. Bruce went after Alexios Marakis after Marakis approached him asking for directions. Bruce chased him for...

Arab World Head-Over-Heels About Return of 'Hero' Shoe-Tosser

Zaidi hailed as Goliath-battling David

(Newser) - The Iraqi journalist who hurled both his shoes at George Bush during a speech in Baghdad last year will be released early from prison next week to a hero's welcome, a free house and offers of money, a wife, and a gold-saddled horse, reports the Guardian. Muntadar al-Zaidi "is...

Palestine Could Offer Bright Spot for Arab World

PM Fayyad's economy- first approach a good model: Friedman

(Newser) - Things are bad in the Arab world, but Thomas Friedman sees green shoots in an unlikely place: Palestine. “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to the wider Middle East what off-Broadway is to Broadway,” he writes in the New York Times. “It is where all good and bad ideas...

Obama's Mideast Success Jacks Expectations

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s trip to the Middle East has established even higher standards for his presidency, Politico reports. Obama is using his global celebrity to restart Israel-Palestine talks and improve relations between the West and the Muslim world, proving he’s “not a president who has ever shied away...

Dubai Woman Rattles Arab World With Sex Advice Book

Book of frank erotic advice rooted in religion shocks Arab world

(Newser) - A Dubai marriage counselor is making waves in the Arab world with a frank book on sexuality, the New York Times reports. Wedad Lootah, a former Islamic scholar, grounds her book of erotic advice in the teachings of the Koran. She discusses taboo subjects such as homosexuality and urges readers...

'Torture Sheik' Detained
 'Torture Sheik' Detained 
May 10, 2009 6:16 AM CDT

'Torture Sheik' Detained

(Newser) - An Abu Dhabi prince captured on videotape torturing a grain merchant has been detained by authorities, CNN reports. Sheik Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan is under house arrest pending an investigation, officials of the United Arab Emirates have told the US State Department. The videotape shows the prince beating, burning and...

Obama to Address Muslim World From Egypt

President to tackle US-Muslim relations on first Middle Eastern trip

(Newser) - President Obama will travel to Egypt next month to deliver a speech aimed at mending America's relationship with the Muslim world, McClatchy Newspapers reports. Egypt is a politically risky choice due to President Hosni Mubarak's heavy-handed autocratic rule, but a White House spokesman said the country "in many ways...

Middle East Fumes Over Obama's Gaza Silence
Middle East Fumes Over Obama's Gaza Silence
analysis
Jan 5, 2009 11:10 AM CST

Middle East Fumes Over Obama's Gaza Silence

Arabs and Muslims disappointed after 'promise of change'

(Newser) - Barack Obama's studied silence on the Gaza attacks—there’s only one president at a time, and so on—isn’t playing well in the Middle East, writes Simon Tisdall in the Guardian. “Foreign wars don't wait for Washington inaugurations,” Tisdall notes. Many Arabs and Muslims “cannot...

Arab Leaders Shower Condi With Jewelry; Bush, Meh

State chief got $316K in gifts last year, to about $100K for Bush

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice scored $316,000 worth of lavish jewelry from Arab royals last year, the AP reports. Jordan’s King Abdullah treated Rice to an emerald and diamond necklace, ring, bracelet, earrings, and other finery; King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia a ruby and diamond necklace and earrings, bracelet and ring....

Shoe-Throwing Journo Beaten, Brother Alleges

Iraqi military denies claim and says man is healthy

(Newser) - The journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush during a news conference 2 days ago has been beaten in custody, his brother told the BBC. The brother alleges that Muntadar al-Zaidi, 28, has a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding, but the Iraqi military says the journalist is...

Shoe-Throw Is Arab World's Heartiest Insult
Shoe-Throw Is Arab World's Heartiest Insult
ANALYSIS
Dec 15, 2008 1:05 PM CST

Shoe-Throw Is Arab World's Heartiest Insult

Journo's sole assault on Bush would likely have meant death under Saddam

(Newser) - Throwing a shoe at someone is hardly a positive gesture anywhere, but in Arab and Islamic countries, footwear is viewed as ritually unclean: Even mentioning your shoes while insulting someone carries vile significance, the BBC reports. Accidentally displaying an exposed sole is also considered insulting, so yesterday’s loafer-launching aimed...

Iraqi Hurls Shoes at Bush
 Iraqi Hurls Shoes at Bush 
Dec 14, 2008 2:40 PM CST

Iraqi Hurls Shoes at Bush

Shoe-throwing a signal of intense contempt in Arab world

(Newser) - President Bush never quite got the book thrown at him for invading Iraq, but the next closest thing happened today, CBS News reports. A correspondent for a Cairo-based Iraqi TV station hurled a pair of shoes at the outgoing president during a press conference in Baghdad, shouting, “This is...

Disney Takes Aim at Family-Friendly Mideast

Company seeks to tap into Arabic appetite for family-friendly films

(Newser) - Disney has decided it's a big world after all, the Financial Times reports. The company is making its first Arabic-language movie, aiming to tap into demand for family-friendly fare in the Middle East. The Last Storyteller will be produced somewhere in the Middle East and distributed in Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon,...

19 Stories