A century on, Arabs in US struggle to separate myth from truth, tell their family stories

I am a third-generation Arab-American, and I am on a journey to learn more about the journey of my “jiddo,” the Arabic word for grandfather. I am sorting through family stories, passed down, that have a way of changing in the retelling. Folk tales are compelling, but I am trying to anchor my story to…

Share Button
Read More

‘The Public Square’ Anti-Islamic speech by pastor Terry Jones … by singing the Beatles.

Since Op-Docs, our forum for short, opinionated documentaries, produced with creative latitude across many subjects, started in November 2011, 46 short films and videos have been published on nytimes.com. Today we begin a new Op-Docs feature: Scenes. It will be a platform for very short work — snippets of street life, brief observations and interviews, clips…

Share Button
Read More

Plan For Suburban Detroit Mosque Draws Resistance

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — On a prime piece of real estate in suburban Detroit stands a large, vacant elementary school with no vestiges of life — save for a tiny sign that identifies the building as the “future home” of the Islamic Cultural Association. But the proposal to establish a new mosque and community…

Share Button
Read More

Creator of new Muslim ‘Green Lantern’ super hero, brings some of his past to the comic page

DETROIT — When DC Comics decided to blow up its fabled universe and create a brave, diverse future, Geoff Johns drew from the past for a new character: his own background as an Arab-American. The company’s chief creative officer and writer of the relaunched “Green Lantern” series dreamed up Simon Baz, DC’s most prominent Arab-American…

Share Button
Read More

Detroit-area Muslims sue US, say agents repeatedly quiz them about their faith at border

DETROIT — Some Detroit-area Muslims have been held at gunpoint, handcuffed and repeatedly harassed about their religion when returning to the U.S. from Canada, according to a lawsuit that seeks to bar government agents from asking questions about religion. The Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said border agents and the FBI are…

Share Button
Read More