Free Republic

Trump Gains Among Christians in the Middle East By Ray Hanania February 18, 2016 Donald Trump may have angered Muslims with his broad swipes at Islamic terrorism and violence, but he has garnered more positive sentiment from Christians in the Middle East. ...snip... Trump's comments have gained strong support among Arab Christians and Middle East Christians who feel as though mainstream Muslim activists have failed to fully confront extremists. Though Muslims reject the radicals' tactics of terrorism and violence, arguing that they twist the true face of Islam, their leadership fails in strategic communications. Trump is honest and compensates for...

Pro-Israel activists launch all-out war against Helen Thomas and American Arabs It is all out war between Jews and Arabs. Make no mistake about it. American Jewish organizations have launched a vicious campaign to silence Helen Thomas, the 91 year old, 80 pound champion of Palestinian and Arab rights who fearlessly has chosen to take on one of the most powerful organizations in America. Thomas has criticized and denounced Zionism, a political movement with headquarters in new York City. The purpose of the organization is to champion the interests of a foreign country, Israel.

It was during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war that I found myself forced to “take a stand” with my classmates. Of course, I was only 13 at the time, and thankfully the battle only lasted six days, so our friendships eventually returned to normal. But during that six-day war, my friends, Jewish and non-Jewish, demanded to know, “What’s your nationality?” I didn’t even know what the word “nationality” meant. “I’m an American,” I said perplexed by the question. “Aren’t we all?” They surrounded me, the only Arab in the school in a neighborhood on Chicago’s southeast side best known for its...

I had just walked off the comedy stage glad the audience spoke English when a young man who identified himself as a “devout Muslim” came up and asked me a question. “Why are you making fun of 72 virgins?” he asked, face flushed with ire. “I’m not making fun of 72 virgins,” I said. “Yes you are,” he insisted, calling it “haram,” the Arabic word for “a sin.” “No. I am making fun of the idea that you can kill your sister if some stranger says she slept with a strange man, but it’s OK to enjoy 72 virgins if...

Late night talk show legend Johnny Carson died early Monday morning, Jan. 24, but why should Arab and Muslim Americans care? He hosted the Tonight Show on NBC Network television for 30 years, before handing it off to Jay Leno in 1992. Carson had succeeded Jack Paar, another very popular host of the show in 1962. Carson reigned in an era of television civility. Although Hollywood had opened the floodgates on programming that demonized certain minorities like Indians, Mexicans, African Americans, Chinese and, of course, Arabs and Muslims, the Iowa native (my note, he was from Norfolk, Nebraska) never engaged...

Usually the by-line of this column lists Jackie Mason as co-author. However, the events of the last week that involve Jackie and journalistic integrity (which is as much an oxymoron as "easy work" or "military intelligence") suggest that Jackie should stand on the sidelines and allow me to address the firestorm. Virtually every major newspaper and TV news show related the saga of Jackie and Ray Hanania, a Palestinian comedian, who Jackie allegedly had bounced from appearing at Zanies, a Chicago comedy club. Watching the Today Show of August 29th, Ray Hanania, the comic, presented a simple story: He was...