Skip to content
  • Subscribe
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Email
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment
  • Features
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
Suburban Chicagoland

Suburban Chicagoland

Original News, Features & Opinion on local and regional news you won't find anywhere else

  • About
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Our Writers
      • Ray Hanania
      • Bill Lipinski
      • Biography: Aaron Hanania
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Policy
    • Reach Out
  • Sections
    • Events
    • Opinion
    • News
    • Features
    • Seniors
    • Comic Strip
  • Library
    • “MIdnight Flight” Online Book
      • Midnight Flight Book Overview
      • Midnight Flight Introduction
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 1
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 2
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 3
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 4
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 5
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 6
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 7
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 8
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 9
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 10
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 11
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 12
      • Midnight Flight Chapter 13
    • Villages, Cities & Towns
    • Federal Office Holders
    • County Officials
    • Legislators
  • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
  • Comment
  • Podcast
    • Ray Hanania on Politics
    • Two Guys on Politics
    • Hanania on Tiktok
  • News Wire
  • Archive 2004-2013
  • Toggle search form
  • Father and two daughters Jeffery M Leving
    Father’s Fight to Protect his Abused and Badly Beaten Daughters Dads' Rights
  • Illinois Senator Michael Hastings addressing the Orland Township Democratic Organization Wednesday Oct. 12, 2022
    Hastings announces $75,000 grant for Olympia Fields Bicentennial Park renovations Illinois Legislature
  • Alleged Member of Chicago Street Gang Charged With Soliciting the Murder of Senior Law Enforcement Official Involved in “Operation Midway Blitz” Crime
  • IIEC Logo
    The Energy Omnibus Bill will increase rates over the rest of this decade as Illinois families and businesses toil under higher utility costs Business
  • Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Polish hero of the American Revolution. After arriving in America in 1776, Kosciuszko joined the Continental Army. As a skilled engineer, he made significant contributions to the war by designing fortifications for several strategic places such as Philadelphia, West Point, and Saratoga. Kosciuszko later returned to Poland to lead his native military in a 1794 uprising. In Detroit, Courtesy of WIkipedia
    Cook County Treasurer Pappas showcases Polish photographer’s first-ever American exhibit and honors Polish American Heritage Month in Chicago Cook County
  • On Saturday, October 4th, Cook County Commissioner Frank J. Aguilar hosted the Fifth Annual 16th District Dia de los Muertos Resource Fair at his district office. Partnering with Commissioner Aguilar were the Village of Lyons, Lyons School District 103, Teamsters Local 777, and Rincon Family Services.
    Commissioner Frank J. Aguilar Hosts Fifth Annual Dia de los Muertos Family Resource Fair  Cook County
  • Jesse Jackson Jr July 2025
    Jesse Jackson Jr. Launches Candidacy for Congress Civil Rights
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Papas
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas to Celebrate Diwali by Recognizing Indian Community Leaders Cook County
  • Andrew Boutros US Attorney Illinois
    Statement of US Attorney Andrew S. Boutros and Federal Law Enforcement Leadership in Chicago on Ongoing Criminal Immigration Enforcement Operations Chicago
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Papas
    The 5 Most Common Mistakes Homeowners Make with Property Taxes Cook County
  • Road construction cement truck. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Hastings: $123 million in IDOT projects will improve South Suburban roads through collaboration with local leaders construction
  • Source: Electric Power Monthly - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
    Ratepayers will lose in the rush to approve battery storage electricity legislation in Springfield Business
  • Joyful reunion photo courtesy of Jeffery M. Leving & Assc law firm
    Leving Team Prevented a Father’s Wrongful Separation from His Child Dads' Rights
  • CTF Illinois Orland Park, 18230 Orland Pkwy, Orland Park, IL 60467
    Hastings, Giannoulias announce opening of temporary driver services facility in Orland Park Baby Boomers
  • Emagine Theater Pink popcorn
    Popcorn with a purpose: Emagine Theatres brings back Pink Caramel Corn to support Pink Fund during Breast Cancer Awareness Month Business

One of the Arab Community’s most effective organizations

Posted on October 31, 2021November 6, 2021 By Ray Hanania 1 Comment on One of the Arab Community’s most effective organizations
SHARE THIS STORY
            
 
  

One of the Arab Community’s most effective organizations

Hassan Nijem of the American Arab Chamber of Commerce has saved 22 Hookah lounges from being closed, helped to force Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to stop her racist closures and discriminatory targeting of Arab store owners, and now has helped Arab American collect property tax refunds of nearly $500,000. That was just in the past year, more than other do-nothing Arab business associations have achieved in their 30-plus years of existence.

By Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania. Award winning columnist, radio host, standup comedian and podcaster
Ray Hanania. Award winning columnist, radio host, standup comedian and podcaster

Someone asked me the other day why I was writing so much about the American Arab Chamber of Commerce and its founder and president Hassan Nijem.

I told them the answer was very simple.

The Chamber and Nijem work. They are unlike most of the other organizations in the Arab American community. Most of the other organizations elect their president, name their board members, collect a lot of money, host a dinner and give themselves awards. Awards for what? I don’t know. They don’t do anything.

There are only two other Arab organizations beside the American Arab Chamber that really work hard in the Chicagoland area. That’s ADC, the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and AADC, the Arab American Democratic Club headed by Samir Khalil.

The rest of them, well, they love to eat, dance the Debka, play Arabic music and sing ala delouna … and of course, brag about how great they are. They also spend a lot of their time, money and efforts working against other people in their own community and preventing the community from rising.

 Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and American Arab Chamber of Commerce President Hassan Nijem celebrate another successful refund workshop at St. George Church on Oct. 31, 2021
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and American Arab Chamber of Commerce President Hassan Nijem celebrate another successful refund workshop at St. George Church on Oct. 31, 2021

The other so-called chamber has been around 30 years. What did it do? I was there when it was founded and worked closely with the principle involved, Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni. Bassiouni was a powerhouse of activism. He got things done. But once he moved on and handed the organization over to a controversial lackey, the group basically became a meme of itself. Till this day, besides raising money and planning “awards” ceremonies, what did they do?

It’s a sickness in the Arab American community. We have some activists who want to be elected to every possible political office. They want to be the presidents of all oft he organizations. They ant to give themselves awards. And, they want to be praised.

People who fail often try to compensate by creating situations in which they orchestrate their own praise. But in the end, they really do nothing for the community. Imagine a political candidate who raises more than $850,000 for an election campaign for congress and yet fails to get more than 6,351 of the 110,852 votes cast? Is that a hero, or a selfish activist who refuses to listen to the community?

Or, imagine the activist whose business were forced closed by the city but for two months who couldn’t figure out a way to protest against the racist targeting of their stores and the stores of hundreds of other Arab Americans. His store remained closed.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and American Arab Chamber of Commerce President Hasan Nijem organized a property tax review to return more than $39,000 to members of the Islamic Community Center of Illinois. Pappas said more than $79 million is owed in overpayments to Cook County taxpayers including to Arabs and Muslims.
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and American Arab Chamber of Commerce President Hasan Nijem organized a property tax review to return more than $39,000 to members of the Islamic Community Center of Illinois. Pappas said more than $79 million is owed in overpayments to Cook County taxpayers including to Arabs and Muslims.

That changed, of course, when Hassan Nijem and the American Arab Chamber of Commerce got involved and organized a press conference — a real press conference with real news media that included eight TV cameras, five newspapers and two radio stations on Sept. 13. The press conference embarrassed Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who tried to silence the Arab store owners beforehand by using her friendship with one of those do-nothing  “president’s for life” to quell the anger by hosting a meeting where the store owners were lectured, not listened too.

Nijem’s press conference shook City Hall. It shook up Mayor Lightfoot and resulted in several Chicago Aldermen like Ald. Ray Lopez to publicly stand up and condemn the mayor’s racist actions. It resulted in the Inspector General of the City of Chicago launching an investigation into the misconduct of the inspectors and the so-called “Task Force” members who would go to an Arab store and order the stores closed, and then find alleged code violations to justify the closings.

Many of the stores were closed more than tow months, and the “other” do-nothing Arab business organization, which was not so professional, did nothing about it at all. Except, of course, to organize a meeting afterwards and raise money for their budget.

Nijem’s action for the city to back down. It embarrassed Lightfoot, exposing her as a racist hypocrite. She complains about racism and yet uses racism to pretend like she is doing something about street gang violence. Lightfoot has done nothing for the Arab American and Muslim community, and her “friends” in the Arab community — who organized a meeting with her staff to bully the store owners into silence — are quislings who betrayed the community. They’re not heroes.

A press conference organized by The American Arab Chamber of Commerce protests the discrimination against Arab business owners by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
A press conference organized by The American Arab Chamber of Commerce protests the discrimination against Arab business owners by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania

I met Nijem last year when 22 Hookah store owners feared they would be forced to shut down if an ordinance prohibiting the sale and use of flavored tobacco was passed by the City Council. Nijem reached out to the sponsors of the ordinance, which legitimately sought to protect young people and prevent them from being exposed to flavored tobacco.

Nijem explained that the Arab community supported the flavored tobacco ban on sales to people under the age of 21. But Nijem also explained to Ald. Silvana Tabares and others that the ordinances would also have an unintended consequence of forcing 22 Hookah stores to close. The Hookah lounges only serve people 21 years of age and older. Tabares and Ald. Matt O’Shea immediately amended their ordinance to achieve its goal of protecting the young people from the harms of flavored tobacco, while also protecting the business owners.

Had those hookah lounges closed, more than 250 Chicago residents would have lost their jobs. Chicago would have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales taxes. And 22 businesses would have closed down. Had the Chamber not acted, and the city continued to close Arab owner gas stations and grocery stores, more than 350 others would have lost their jobs, too.

All it took was just little effort, something that Nijem pursued but the other business groups and professional associations failed to do.

Columnist Ray Hanania poses with Alderwoman Silvana Tabares and Arab American Chamber of COmmerce of Chicago President Hassan Nijem. Sept. 7, 2021. Photo courtesy of Hassan Nijem
Columnist Ray Hanania poses with Alderwoman Silvana Tabares and Arab American Chamber of COmmerce of Chicago President Hassan Nijem. Sept. 7, 2021. Photo courtesy of Hassan Nijem

The others have no agenda. They have no goals. They talk a lot and they pat themselves on their backs. They attack others like Nijem in the hopes of bringing them down so that they can artificially elevate themselves.

Nijem and the American Arab Chamber of Commerce has done more in the past two years to protect and serve the Arab American community than the other Arab business and professional associations have done in 30 years.

Nijem’s achievements didn’t stop at saving the Arab gas station owners and grocery store owners from Mayor Lightfoot’s racist and discriminatory tactics that are under investigation by Chicago’s Inspector General, or save the 22 Hookah lounges from being closed in a divergently by a new law. He kept on going and this summer organized a campaign to help Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, one of the hardest working elected officials, not just in Cook County but in the Midwest, to save millions for property tax payers.

A study by Pappas determined that more than $100 million had been overpaid by property taxpayers she launched an effective public relations campaign o make the public aware of the problem and offer them a way to resolve it. Nijem saw the opportunity and reached out to Pappas to bring help to the Arab American community which is often ignored by our elected officials.

With Pappas, Nijem organized Property Tax Refund Workshops in the Arab American and Muslim Community. They did one at the Islamic Community Center of Illinois where they helped attendees there secure refunds of more than $36,000. They they organized another at the Orland Park Mosque which saved some $160,000 in property taxes. This weekend, Nijem helped organize another refund workshop at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church where parishioners saved more than $89,000.

Parishioners at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Cicero, Illinois Sunday Oct. 3, 2021 gather at a workshop hosted by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and American Arab Chamber of Commerce president Hassan Nijem and members of the board. More than $89,000 in refunds were identified
Parishioners at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Cicero, Illinois Sunday Oct. 3, 2021 gather at a workshop hosted by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and American Arab Chamber of Commerce president Hassan Nijem and members of the board. More than $89,000 in refunds were identified

That’s what I like about Nijem. He doesn’t just talk the talk. He walks the walk. He says Muslims and Christians are “brothers and sisters.” It’s not a slogan. It’s a fact of life for him. And he didn’t just appeal to Muslim Arabs. He appealed to Christian Arabs.

So far, the Pappas property tax refund campaign has refunded nearly $500,000 to Arab American and Muslim property owners in overpaid taxes and unclaimed tax credits.

That is the first time in the history of the Chicagoland Arab American community that anyone ever GAVE MONEY to the Arab community instead of hosting a do-nothing fundraiser exploiting some tragedy to raise money for themselves!

Nijem says he is not bothered by the personal attacks from other so-called “leaders” in the Arab American community. He doesn’t care about that. What he cares about, though, is working to help Arab Americans and Muslims to secure all of their rights as law-abiding American citizens and taxpayers. He gives a lot of credit to the support he gets from the Chamber’s board which includes: Aminah Adnan, Alder Tareq Al Biter, Hana Abudayyeh, Radi Abuhashish, Abed Ayash, Mazen Dola, Ibrahim Fattah, Mahar Khattab, Samer Khatib, Saad Malley, Lena Matariyeh, Amna Mustafa, Amir Nijem. Mustapha is the former and first ever member of the Chicago Board of Education.

It’s about time that someone in the Arab community made the Arab community their number one priority, instead of always using the community for their own selfish, fundraising self-aggrandizing goals.

Hassan Nijem is a breath of fresh air to a community that has been abused by everyone, including selfish do-nothing leaders.

Stop empowering the do-nothing losers. Hassan Nijem and the American Arab Chamber of Commerce not only deserve our support. He deserves our community gratitude. Hassan Nijem and the American Arab Chamber of Commerce deserves our support, too.

For more information on Maria Pappas’s tax refund program, visit www.cookcountytreasurer.com.

For information on the American Arab Chamber of Commerce, the only Arab Chamber in Chicagoland that actually works to help Arab businesses and has a track record of achievements to prove it, visit www.AACCUSA.org.

Click here to read more reports on the American Arab Chamber of Commerce campaign with Treasurer Maria Pappas to secure overpaid property taxes for Arab Americans.

Click here to read more on the refund campaign in the American Arab community.

Click here to read about how the American Arab Chamber fights for the rights of Arab businesses.

(Ray Hanania is an award winning former Chicago City Hall reporter and political columnist. His mainstream political columns are published in the Southwest News Newspaper Group in the Des Plaines Valley News, Southwest News-Herald, The Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers. His Middle East columns are published in the Arab News. For more information on Ray Hanania visit www.Hanania.com or email him at [email protected].)

 

SUBSCRIBE BELOW

Subscribe to Ray's columns

 

Subscribe to Ray Hanania’s Columns

* indicates required field.

 

Select Email Format

 

Two Guys on Politics podcast with Former Congressman Bill Lipinski and former Chicago City Hall reporter Ray Hanania www.TwoGuysonPolitics.com

newswire info
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania
Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.  

His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at [email protected].

Follow RayHanania at Twitter
Ray Hanania
Latest posts by Ray Hanania (see all)
  • Father’s Fight to Protect his Abused and Badly Beaten Daughters - October 9, 2025
  • Hastings announces $75,000 grant for Olympia Fields Bicentennial Park renovations - October 8, 2025
  • Alleged Member of Chicago Street Gang Charged With Soliciting the Murder of Senior Law Enforcement Official Involved in “Operation Midway Blitz” - October 8, 2025
NPV: 37
  • Tweet

SHARE THIS STORY
            
 
  
 
 
 
           
Blogger, Business, Chicago, Commentary, Cook County, coronavirus, Opinion, Orland Park, Politics, Racism, rayhanania, Suburban Chicagoland Tags:action, American Arab Chamber of Commerce, Chicago racism, closing gas stations, closing grocery stores, Cook County Assessor Maria Pappas, fighting for our rights, Hassan Nijem, Hookah lounges, Matt O'Shea, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, property tax refund program, Silvana Tabares, working for Muslim Americans, working for the Arab American community

Post navigation

Previous Post: Orland Township flu shots for public and continues to offer COVID vaccines to Seniors
Next Post: Potluralski’s Hat Trick treats Chicago Wolves to 5th straight win

Related Posts

  • Jeffery M. Leving fights for your rights
    Chicago parents and other community leaders must work together to make sure this summer isn’t deadly for our children Blogger
  • Mayor Emanuel launches mentoring initiative to help high risk youth Chicago
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas with elected officials and Arab community leaders at the Arab American Heritage celebration at Oozi Restaurant April 10, 2019. Photo courtesy of Anthony Caciopo
    Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas opens satellite office at St. Sabina Church Chicago
  • Orland Fire Protection District Fire Chief Mike Schofield discusses new CAD-to-CAD comms system that will save lives at press conference. Jan. 31, 2024
    New state funded EMS Comms system will reduce response time and save lives Fire
  • Bowen High school, 2710 E 89th St., Chicago. Website banner 2017
    Midnight Flight: Chapter 9 — Midnight Flight Baby Boomers
  • Orland Trustee Carole Ruzich hosts self-defense program for women Crime

More Related Articles

Book cover for Roger Stone's new book "Stone's Rules" available through Amazon.com Roger Stone releases new book, “Stone’s Rules” Books & Films
Seniors in Nursing homes. Photo by Georg Arthur Pflueger on Unsplash Officials should take COVID impact on Seniors more seriously Baby Boomers
Whatsa matta, Yu? Commentary
U-Haul Truck Shell Lockport to Better Serve Customers with U-Haul Business
Remaining Calm in an Angry World: How Some Cope Chicago
Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke and his wife. Support his family on his GoFundMe Page at https://www.gofundme.com/mdb4be Van Dyke deserves leniency not race persecution Blogger

Comment (1) on “One of the Arab Community’s most effective organizations”

  1. Pingback: The Driver's Side" – News From The Motorist's Perspective | theexpiredmeter.com

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Login with your Social ID
  • OPINION
  • 06-04-25 Two Guys on Politics Background Zoom LOGO with images
    Video Podcast: Trump Kimmel Kirk Great American Divide Illegal Aliens polling and Illegal Aliens and ICE
    September 20, 2025
  • Illinois House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch speaking at a West Side affordable housing dedication
    Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, one of the best candidates to become Illinois Governor
    September 7, 2025
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Papas
    What You’re Missing on Your Property Tax Bill
    September 5, 2025
  • 05-23-25 Jeffery M. Leving
    Children of divorce caught in the middle during the holidays
    August 27, 2025
  • Cook County Treasurer Maria Papas
    We Can Help You Understand Your Property Taxes—In Nearly Any Language
    August 8, 2025
Subscribe to Ray Hanania's column graphic

Enter Your Email to Subscribe to Ray Hanania’s Columns

  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png

Mohammed Faheem The Lightning Strike Radio

  • NEWS
  • Father and two daughters Jeffery M Leving
    Father’s Fight to Protect his Abused and Badly Beaten Daughters
    October 9, 2025
  • Illinois Senator Michael Hastings addressing the Orland Township Democratic Organization Wednesday Oct. 12, 2022
    Hastings announces $75,000 grant for Olympia Fields Bicentennial Park renovations
    October 8, 2025
  • Alleged Member of Chicago Street Gang Charged With Soliciting the Murder of Senior Law Enforcement Official Involved in “Operation Midway Blitz”
    October 8, 2025
  • IIEC Logo
    The Energy Omnibus Bill will increase rates over the rest of this decade as Illinois families and businesses toil under higher utility costs
    October 8, 2025
  • Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Polish hero of the American Revolution. After arriving in America in 1776, Kosciuszko joined the Continental Army. As a skilled engineer, he made significant contributions to the war by designing fortifications for several strategic places such as Philadelphia, West Point, and Saratoga. Kosciuszko later returned to Poland to lead his native military in a 1794 uprising. In Detroit, Courtesy of WIkipedia
    Cook County Treasurer Pappas showcases Polish photographer’s first-ever American exhibit and honors Polish American Heritage Month in Chicago
    October 8, 2025
John Kass Columns

Order the book PoweR PR; Ethnic Activists Guide to Strategic Communications

YOUTUBE VIDEOS

CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO RAY HANANIA'S YOUTUBE VIDEOS


Click here to view the video on YouTube or use the widget below.

Follow Ray Hanania at
Twitter
Facebook
TitkTok
BlueSky
RayHanania Columns

Creative Commons License
All works on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

Categories

Copyright © 2022 Suburban Chicagoland & Urban Strategies Group

Powered by PressBook Premium theme