09-26-09 Choice between bikini and berqa in Arab world is about absent freedoms
Choice between bikini and berqa is about absence of freedom in Arab World
By Ray Hanania – As I always do around this time of year, I pushed aside the Arab-Israeli conflict for a moment to contemplate the more serious conflict between secular Muslims and Christian Arabs and the growing religious extremism in the Middle East. There are 22 Arab countries, yet only two had the courage (or pride in their women) to field entrants in this year’s Miss Universe Pageant, which was held in the Bahamas, where string bikinis replace car bombs and women are truly free.The only two Arab countries that entered contestants, again, were Egypt and Lebanon. Read more »
HANANIA: Nadia Hilou, a lone Arab-Israeli Christian voice for families and children, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 9-23-08
Nadia Hilou, a lone Arab-Israeli Christian voice for families and children
By Ray Hanania – In the backdrop of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that dominates everyone’s attention and the news, another fight for the protection of children, families and Christian education is taking place in the Middle East. It is being waged by a Palestinian woman named Nadia Hilou who has bucked the systems in Israel and in the Palestinian community to do what some thought not possible. Read more »
ARCHIVED HANANIA: How Israel’s extremists midwifed the birth of Hamas, For Immediate Release, March 9, 2008
Sharon’s Terror Child: How the Likud Bloc Mid-wifed the Birth of Hamas
By RAY HANANIA – Hamas is considered one of Israel’s greatest threats, but the Islamic terrorist organization found its beginnings in the misguided Israeli effort to encourage the rise of a religious alternative that would undermine the popularity of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Yasir Arafat. The strategy resulted in the birth of Hamas which rose from these Islamic roots. Read more »
HANANIA: Israel hides immoral conduct behind Congressional hypocrisy, For Immediate Release, March 7, 2008
Israel hides immoral conduct behind Congressional hypocrisy
By Ray Hanania — This week, the U.S. Congress once again threw kerosene on Middle East violence and suffering, insuring the violence will continue, not end. Approved 404 to 1, House Resolution 951 is filled with dozens of paragraphs condemning Hamas and its rocket attacks against Israel, while defending Israel’s government response which has killed scores of innocent Palestinian men, women and children. The end result is that by playing one-sided politics, Congress is helping to destroy Israel and all hope moderate Palestinians have for their own secular, independent state. Read more »
HANANIA: Gesture of tolerance in Oklahoma turns to hate, For Immediate Release, 10-26-07
Religious gesture of understanding turns into usual debate on hate
By Ray Hanania – An ethnic advisory commission set up by the Governor of Oklahoma printed copies of the Quran, the Islamic “bible,” had them embossed with the State Seal and offered to distribute them to the 149 members of that state’s legislature. After all, earlier in the year, Oklahoma lawmakers also were given free copies of the Bible by a non-government and religious organization called “The Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.” The organizers paid for the Quran’s using private, not government money. So why is there a controversy? Read more »
HANANIA: Battle over Muslim schools really about pro-Israel activism, For Immediate Release, 10-19-07
Battle over Muslim schools really about pro-Israel activism
By Ray Hanania – A federal panel says that a Saudi Arabian school based in Northern Virginia should be closed because they don’t like some of the things they assert the school is teaching its students. Not surprisingly, the actions of the so-called U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (CIRF) are no different from other U.S. commissions controlled by the Bush Administration that have shown a clear pattern of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias. Read more »
CARTOON: A Veil on the Mind? For Immediate Release 10-03-07
Extremist Muslims in America are trying to force Americans to drop traditions that conflict with Islamic traditions provoking extremist Christian groups, while moderate Muslims and Christians remain silent on the sidelines. Visit http://www.hanania.com/cartoons/cartoons.htm for the War on Terrorism Cartoon archives.



SAFFIYA SHILLO is a peace activist, communications specialist and community editor for the National Arab American Times Newspaper. Ms. Shillo serves as a Board Member of the Palestinian American Women's Society. Her activism is extensive, having served as the former President of the Palestinian American Congress-Chicago Chapter, as a National Board member of the American Task Force on Palestine, and as Director of the Arab American Institute's Chicago office. Active in Jewish/Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, Ms. Shillo gives presentations to national organizations on strategies and methods to achieve peace through dialogue. Ms. Shillo also served as Director of Ethnic Affairs for the State of Illinois' Office of Lieutenant Governor, and worked as a domestic violence/sexual assault counselor serving Chicago's Arab community. She can be reached at smshillo@yahoo.com
ALADDIN ELAASAR is an award winning Arab American journalist and author of several books including 








