By Sherri Muzher

 When the late Egyptian Pan-Arabist and President Gamal Abdel Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, it may surprise people to know that it was the Egyptian singer and Mizrahi Jew Leila Murad who was chosen as the Revolution’s official singer. Murad was chosen over the much loved Egyptian singer and darling of the Arab world, Umm Kalthoum.  Read the full story

Courtesy of Kanan Hamzeh

About 500 guests celebrated their cultural pride of heritage on October 18th at the annual House of Lebanon “Pride of Heritage” Banquet at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. In attendance were H.E. Ambassador of Lebanon to the United States Mr. Antoine Chedid, the Consul General of Lebanon H.E. Mr. Houssam Diab, and many other State and County officials and dignitaries. Read the full story

President Barack Obama, George Mitchell, Hilary Clinton, Joe Biden, Richard Holbrooke (Getty Images)

By Michael Gillespie,
Contributing Editor

President Barack Obama’s personal announcement of the appointment of former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell as his special envoy for the Middle East at a high-profile event at the State Department on January 22 during his first morning in office understandably raised the hopes of many that long overdue changes in U.S. Middle East foreign policy might actually be forthcoming.

Seven months on, Mitchell has met with leaders throughout the Middle East and continues his campaign of quiet, persistent diplomacy. In an August 18 report in the Wall Street Journal, Jay Solomon reported that Obama and Mitchell, in meetings with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in Washington, would use the meetings, as well as a meeting between Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned for later this month, to continue to push for steps that will lead to direct Israeli-Palestinian talks, backed by the key Arab nations, perhaps in the fall.

Even before Obama’s January announcement of Mitchell’s appointment there were signs that the powerful pro-Israel lobby had prepared for and was responding to the new president’s Read the full story