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 »
CARTOON: What Hamas can and cannot control, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 26, 2008

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What Hamas can and cannot control
June 26, 2008
“War on Errorism” Cartoon
By Ray Hanania
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HANANIA: Prisoners of the past as the Palestine-Israel conflict hits 60 years, For Immediate Release, April 26, 2008
Prisoners of the past as the Palestine-Israel conflict hits 60 years
By Ray Hanania – Arabs and Jews share one trait: They master the art of selectively remembering the past, especially the tragedies. For Jews, it is the Holocaust. For Palestinians, it is “al-Nakba,” an Arab word for “the catastrophe.” But the biggest problem has always been the manner in which each side has championed their suffering while ignoring their own guilt. Jews mastered the art of public relations and communications, while Arabs mastered emotion, anger and hate. In more than 60 years, little has changed. Read more »
HANANIA: Facebook defines a policy of fairness in an unfair world, For Immediate Release, March 16, 2008
Facebook defines a policy of fairness in an unfair world
By Ray Hanania – In this age of Israeli domination of the news media, and most of the political debate in the American dominated world, it is refreshing to find an objective face in the crowd. That objective face is Facebook, the popular Internet social networking site that began as a place for college students to gather in Cyber Space, but that has fast transformed into one of the most popular of online gathering places for people of all ages, even surpassing the more political MySpace. No longer restricted to college students, Facebook is open to the entire world. As a result, the “entire world” now has a say in terms of how that “entire world” should be portrayed on the Internet. Read more »
HANANIA: Don’t let violence derail push for peace, For Immediate Release, March 15, 2008
Don’t let violence prevent push for peace
Ray Hanania – If there is one certainty in the Middle East, it is violence. When the Arabs and Israelis have been at war, and when they have been at the peace table, violence takes place. The goal of the violence is to prevent a peaceful compromise because the extremists believe that if they can prevent compromise, they have protected their extremist belief that they can have it all to themselves. Read more »
HANANIA: Don’t allow Hamas to recapture control of Palestine, For Immediate Release, 12-11-07
Don’t allow Hamas to regain any control in Palestine
By Ray Hanania – The acronym FATAH is based on the Arabic words “Harakat al-Tahrir (Al-Watani) al-Filasteen,” a movement dedicated to the (national) liberation of Palestine. Hamas is based on the Arabic words “Harakat Al-Muqawama Al-Islamia” which is a movement dedicated to zealous Islam, not the liberation of Palestine. Many people say the Oslo Peace Accords failed because the differences between Israelis and Palestinians were huge. But that is a lie. In truth, the real problem was Hamas. The failure of peace has always been caused by Hamas, a religious terrorist organization that as soon as it is done wiping out all the Jews in Palestine and Israel will quickly turn its wrath on Arab Christians. Read more »
HANANIA: Powerful new Demme film on Carter, For Immediate Release, 11-18-07
Demme Documentary on Carter offers insights into a great man
By Ray Hanania – Even before anyone realized that Jimmy Carter’s book “Palestine: Peace not Apartheid” would stir up controversy and a lively but sometimes vicious debate, filmmaker Jonathan Demme decided to follow the former president during his book tour. Demme has produced a powerful documentary, “Jimmy Carter: A Man from Plains,” now showing in limited distribution in major cities around the country. For me, it was one thing to read Carter’s book – most journalists and critics who trashed it and the author did not read it. But it is even more moving to witness Carter through Demme’s Hollywood lens as he travels from book stores, to media interviews to university speeches preaching peace, justice and principle. Read more »


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 








