Why both Harris and Trump have Michigan’s Arab and Muslim endorsements

Bishara Bahbah - Trump is the “only person” who can end violence in Middle East
0 seconds of 1 minute, 25 secondsVolume 90%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
Next Up
Ishmael Ahmed - Harris has shown greater empathy to Arab Americans
02:06
00:00
01:25
01:25
 
Short Url
Updated 03 November 2024
Follow

Why both Harris and Trump have Michigan’s Arab and Muslim endorsements

Why both Harris and Trump have Michigan’s Arab and Muslim endorsements
  • The swing state could very well determine the outcome of the fierce battle to capture the White House and Congress
  • Many blame Biden administration for failing to use US influence to secure ceasefire in Gaza, end the war in Lebanon

CHICAGO: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the two major political party candidates, have secured endorsements from prominent Arab and Muslim community leaders in Michigan, a key battleground state that could determine the outcome of the upcoming US presidential election.

A recent Arab News/YouGov poll has shown Trump and Harris in a tight race among Arab American voters, while third-party Green candidate Dr. Jill Stein has also drawn significant support, largely due to her stance on the Gaza conflict, in a bid to capture 5 percent of the vote, enough to qualify the Green Party as a major political party in future elections.

Arab and Muslim Americans endorsed Trump at a rally in Novi, Michigan, on Oct. 25, while Harris received the community’s support in Dearborn on Oct. 26.

Appearing on “The Ray Hanania Radio Show” on Thursday, representatives of both camps argued that their candidate was better equipped to end conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon, which the Arab News/YouGov poll identified as critical issues for Arab Americans in the Nov. 5 election.




Arab and Muslim Americans endorsed Trump at a rally in Novi, Michigan, on Oct. 25, while Harris received the community’s support in Dearborn on Oct. 26. (AFP)

“People have said, well, (former) President Trump talked about a Muslim ban. President Trump is no longer talking about a Muslim ban. President Trump moved the (US) Embassy to Jerusalem. It’s a plaque that was moved; it was not the 43,000 Palestinians who have been killed at the hands of Israel with arms provided by the US,” said Dr. Bishara Bahbah, a former Democrat who helped organize pro-Trump rallies in swing states like Michigan.

Criticizing the Biden administration’s policies, Bahbah argued that the current support for Israel would continue under Harris, suggesting that her presidency would lead to more civilian deaths and destruction in Gaza and Lebanon.

“That is unacceptable. The Biden administration’s policies will continue, and we will see Israel doing whatever the hell it wants to do against our people,” Bahbah added.

The Biden administration has faced mounting criticism from Arab Americans and the international community over its military and financial support for Israel, which critics argue has fueled escalating violence that has left close to 50,000 dead across Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon, along with widespread displacement and injury. Washington has also been accused of failing to effectively leverage its diplomatic influence to secure a much-needed ceasefire.

Reflecting this perceived policy gap, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that “good progress” had been made toward a ceasefire deal in Israel’s offensive against Lebanon. However, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati cautioned on Friday that Israel’s “renewed expansion” of attacks could derail any potential truce efforts, indicating resistance to a diplomatic resolution despite over a month of war.




Trump greeted his Arab and Muslim supporters at the rally, expressing confidence that they could “turn the election one way or the other.” (AFP)

Bahbah believes the Gaza and Lebanon conflicts reflect weak leadership on the part of President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris, who assumed the Democratic nomination in August.

“You (Arabs and Muslims) have a choice between a Harris administration that’s going to continue killing our people, or you have a choice to vote for Trump, who has told us, me personally as well, that he wants to stop the wars immediately,” Bahbah said adding that the former president is committed “to lay the groundwork for lasting peace agreements in the Middle East that are satisfactory to all parties in the region.”

Arab and Muslim mayors, including Amer Ghalib of Hamtramck and Bill Bazzi of Dearborn Heights, joined Trump’s endorsement in Novi, Michigan, on Saturday, highlighting Trump’s outreach to these communities and his potential impact in the swing state.

Trump greeted his Arab and Muslim supporters at the rally, expressing confidence that they could “turn the election one way or the other.” At the same event, Imam Belal Alzuhairi endorsed Trump as a “peacemaker,” echoing Bahbah’s view that Trump is better positioned than Harris to “bring peace to the Middle East.”

This sentiment aligns with Arab News/YouGov poll findings that indicate many Arab Americans see the former president as more capable of addressing the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Meanwhile, in Dearborn, Michigan, on Sunday, a dozen Arab and Muslim community leaders held a press conference to endorse Harris, including Ismael Ahmed, a co-founder and former director of the influential Michigan-based social services organization ACCESS.

Ahmed cited the ongoing violence in Gaza and Lebanon as key to their support for Harris, noting her recent hints at diverging from the current administration’s approach and supporting a shift in US policy toward implementing a two-state solution.




Many prominent Arab American Democrats have refused to endorse the Democratic ticket this year, pressing Harris and Biden to adopt a more assertive stance toward Israel (AFP)

“The horror is true for all of us, all Americans. And we want it to end. We want to cease fire. We want equity for the Palestinians, a Palestinian state. And we want to live side by side with Jews and Israelis in particular,” said Ahmed who was joined by Arab American Institute President Jim Zogby and Deputy Wayne County Executive Assad I. Turfe on the show.

“They’ve suffered loss, too. And our heart goes out to them as well. We need peace,” he said, adding that “all of us, no matter who we are supporting for the elections, have been working hard to make that happen” and that the uncommitted movement has been a reaction to bring more attention and to force more movement on the issue.

Many prominent Arab American Democrats have refused to endorse the Democratic ticket this year, pressing Harris and Biden to adopt a more assertive stance toward Israel, including a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas conflict and an arms embargo.

The Uncommitted National Movement, a group of disenchanted Arab American Democrats, said it will not endorse Harris, citing disappointment with her response to community requests for a meeting with Palestinian families in Michigan. Reflecting the ambivalence many Arab Americans feel about their options, the Uncommitted National Movement also warned against a Trump presidency, which it claims would intensify military action in Gaza and increase suppression of anti-war efforts.

“Frankly speaking, Kamala Harris has been more sympathetic. We believe that’s real, but there’s been very little put on the table,” Ahmed said. “But when you match that to what Donald Trump is saying, he’s called for a Muslim ban, which he says he will reinstate the very first day he is in office. He’s called for internment camps. And none of us can have doubts that we’re one of the groups that will end up in those internment camps.”

Ahmed, an associate provost at the University of Michigan at Dearborn and former director for the Michigan Department of Human Services, warned that Trump’s stance on immigration and close alliance with Israel would pose significant risks to the community.

“(Trump) has called for the arrest and deportation by the military of 11 million immigrants. Some of them are our families. They’re mostly hardworking and contributing to the economy. In fact, our economy wouldn’t function without them. And on Palestine, Donald Trump opposes a Palestinian state, (he) has called for Netanyahu to continue his bloody approach to the war until victory, whatever that is. And I can go on.”

Until then, the Harris campaign had been unsuccessful in winning public endorsements from the Arab and Muslim leaders because of community criticism of her failure to stop Israel’s concurrent military operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

Michigan, a swing state that Trump won in 2016 and Biden narrowly captured in 2020, could once again play a decisive role in the election. Of more than 5.5 million votes cast in Michigan in 2020, Biden led by fewer than 155,000 votes. With more than 200,000 Arab Americans living in the state, their vote could be pivotal this November.

“The Ray Hanania Radio Show” airs every Thursday at 5 PM on Michigan’s WNZK AM 690 radio and rebroadcasts Mondays at 5 PM on the US Arab Radio network, sponsored by Arab News. For more information on the show or to listen to the podcast, visit ArabNews.com/rayradioshow.

 


Europeans open to buying US arms for Ukraine under Trump plan but need details 

Updated 3 sec ago
Follow

Europeans open to buying US arms for Ukraine under Trump plan but need details 

Europeans open to buying US arms for Ukraine under Trump plan but need details 
“Of course we can’t do it on our own, we need others to partner up,” Rasmussen told reporters
European ministers said they would now need to examine how new purchases of US weapons could be paid for

BRUSSELS: Several European countries said on Tuesday they were willing to buy US arms for Ukraine under a scheme announced by US President Donald Trump, although arrangements still needed to be worked out.

Trump said on Monday that Washington will supply Patriot air defense systems, missiles and other weaponry to Ukraine for its war against Russia’s invasion and that the arms would be paid for by other NATO countries.

But much remains undisclosed, including the amounts and precise types of weapons to be provided, how quickly they would be supplied and how they would be paid for.

US officials have suggested that European countries will be willing to give up some of their own stocks of weapons for Ukraine and then buy replacements from the United States. But some of the countries involved say they still don’t even know what is being asked of them.

Such a move would get weapons to Ukraine more quickly but would leave donor countries’ defenses more exposed until new systems are ready.

“We are ready to participate. Of course we can’t do it on our own, we need others to partner up – but we have a readiness,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday ahead of a meeting of European Union ministers.

Speaking alongside Trump at the White House on Monday, NATO chief Mark Rutte said that Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada want to be part of the new initiative.

Many of those countries have been among the biggest military aid donors to Ukraine, either overall or per capita.

Asked whether Denmark could give US arms from its own stocks as part of the scheme, Rasmussen said: “We don’t have these kind of systems – the Patriot systems – so if we should lean in, and we are absolutely ready to do so, it will be (with) money and we have to work out the details.”

European ministers said they would now need to examine how new purchases of US weapons could be paid for. In many cases, that seems likely to involve countries teaming up to buy US weapons systems.

“Now we need to see how together we can go in and finance, among other things, Patriots, which they plan to send to Ukraine,” Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told Swedish radio.

In Brussels, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said his country is looking into the plan “with a positive inclination”.

Asked about the scheme, Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik told Reuters that Oslo was “in close dialogue with Ukraine” on military aid and “air defense remains a high priority for Ukraine and for the Norwegian military support”.

“Norway has contributed to significant amounts of air defense for Ukraine, including co-financing the donation of a Patriot system and missiles,” he said.

The Finnish Defense Ministry said Helsinki “will continue to provide material support to Ukraine”.

“The details of the US initiative ... are not yet known and we are interested to hear more about them before we can take more concrete lines on this issue,” it said.

Air India crash: Pilot groups push back against human error narrative

Air India crash: Pilot groups push back against human error narrative
Updated 15 July 2025
Follow

Air India crash: Pilot groups push back against human error narrative

Air India crash: Pilot groups push back against human error narrative
  • Initial probe finds aircraft’s engine fuel switches were turned off, but does not specify by whom
  • Pilots reject report as ‘inconclusive,’ say it leads media and public to ‘jump to conclusions’

NEW DELHI: Associations of Indian pilots are rejecting claims that last month’s Air India plane crash that killed 260 people was due to human error, after a preliminary investigation sparked speculation implicating the flight crew.

The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in the western Indian state of Gujarat on June 12.

A report released over the weekend by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said that seconds after take-off, both of the plane’s fuel-control switches moved to the position stopping fuel from the engines.

It did not specify who turned off the switches, only citing the cockpit voice recording, in which “one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he cut off,” while “the other pilot responded that he did not do so.”

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association and the Airline Pilots’ Association of India have issued statements after the release of the initial findings — and the first media and online reactions to it — rejecting speculative narratives and presumptions over the guilt of the pilots.

Capt. Kishore Chinta, an ALPA member and accident investigator, told Arab News that both associations have “raised red flags on the selective release of information” by the AAIB, which has “left the scope of ambiguity for people to jump to conclusions” and for the media to spin narratives.

0 seconds of 1 minute, 8 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
Next Up
AN Audio Aupam Manur India
00:47
00:00
01:08
01:08
 

“We are left defending those pilots who are not there to defend themselves,” he said. “The Western media has been painting them as if they actually committed suicide-murder.”

The London-bound flight was carrying 242 people — 230 passengers, two pilots and 10 crew members. Only one person, sitting in an emergency exit seat, survived the crash. Another 18 people were killed on the ground as the aircraft fell on a B. J. Medical College and hostel for students and resident doctors of the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital.

Investigators at the crash site recovered both components of the black box — the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, days after the crash. The Ministry of Civil Aviation said at the time that the final report was expected within three months.

The early release of preliminary findings has shaken the Indian aviation community, for which it was unacceptable that experienced pilots who have flown thousands of hours would have turned off the fuel supply.

“Definitely a malfunction caused the disaster — poor maintenance or a hardware/software glitch,” said Sandeep Jain, an Indian aviator based in the US.

“Dead pilots are always the easiest target. They don’t bite back. No litigation, no shareholder value erosion.”

The Federation of Indian Pilots is planning to raise the consequences of the preliminary report with the government.

“We will be taking it up with the government no doubt. We will not let it go quietly. The report should not be open-ended,” Capt. C.S. Randhawa, the federation’s president, told Arab News.

“It is inconclusive. So many things are not answered properly. The report does not say that the pilots have moved the fuel control switches, that is why it is inconclusive, and it is leading to speculations.”


Ukraine’s prime minister Shmyhal resigns

Ukraine’s prime minister Shmyhal resigns
Updated 15 July 2025
Follow

Ukraine’s prime minister Shmyhal resigns

Ukraine’s prime minister Shmyhal resigns
  • Zelensky nominated First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko for the post

KYIV: Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday he had filed a resignation letter, as a part of a major governmental reshuffle expected this week.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday nominated First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko for the post.


Philippines to strengthen migrant workers’ protection in labor deal with Oman

Philippines to strengthen migrant workers’ protection in labor deal with Oman
Updated 15 July 2025
Follow

Philippines to strengthen migrant workers’ protection in labor deal with Oman

Philippines to strengthen migrant workers’ protection in labor deal with Oman
  • Philippines, Oman plan to sign new MoU on labor cooperation in January
  • Muscat also wants to boost ties beyond labor, explore business opportunities

MANILA: The Philippines is strengthening labor cooperation with Oman to protect the rights and welfare of Filipino workers, its Department of Migrant Workers said following a meeting with the Omani labor minister in Manila.

The majority of over 2 million overseas Filipinos live and work in Gulf countries. 

While most are based in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, some 50,000 are in Oman, contributing over $340 million in annual remittance inflows to the Philippines. 

Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Al-Busaidi and Labor Minister Mahad bin Said Ba’awin were in the Philippines earlier this week to discuss ways to further relations.  

In a meeting with Philippine Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac on Monday, they held talks over a new agreement on labor cooperation. 

“A key highlight of the meeting was the pending Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Labor Cooperation, set to be signed by January 2026,” the department said in a statement. 

“The MOU establishes safeguards for Filipino workers through ethical recruitment standards, fair employment terms, joint dispute resolution mechanisms, and regular monitoring through a bilateral Joint Committee.” 

According to the DMW, Oman is “actively seeking Filipino domestic workers technicians, port staff, and other skilled professionals,” which could mean new employment pathways for Filipino migrant workers who are qualified. 

The Philippines is also seeking to incorporate technology to streamline recruitment and deployment of overseas Filipino workers to Oman. 

“By forging digital partnerships with host countries like Oman, we can make recruitment faster, more transparent, and more worker-friendly. Tech solutions can ensure every step is secure, accountable, and focused on protecting OFWs,” Cacdac said.

While labor relations have been a key aspect of Philippine-Omani ties, the Gulf state is now seeking to also explore business and investment opportunities with Manila. 

“For many decades, Oman has been a popular destination for overseas Filipino workers, who have found not just employment but a second home in our country,” Al-Busaidi said at the inaugural Oman-Cebu Investment Forum over the weekend. 

“Beyond the labor relations that have long defined our relations, we now open our arms to the business communities and investors of both our nations.”

A “new chapter” of Philippine-Oman relations is possible thanks to the connections created by Filipino migrant workers, he added, while urging Philippine and Omani businesses to collaborate. 

“Together, we can craft a future where the thousands of people to people connections created by the overseas Filipino workers can serve as a foundation for a flourishing economic partnership, and a new era of mutual investment,” Al-Busaidi said. 

“I invite you all to seize this opportunity and make it a beautiful and rewarding new chapter in the story of Oman and the Philippines.”


UK says thousands of Afghans brought to Britain under secret resettlement program

UK says thousands of Afghans brought to Britain under secret resettlement program
Updated 15 July 2025
Follow

UK says thousands of Afghans brought to Britain under secret resettlement program

UK says thousands of Afghans brought to Britain under secret resettlement program
  • The government now plans to close the secret route
  • About 36,000 more Afghans have been relocated to the UK under other resettlement routes

LONDON: Thousands of Afghans including many who worked with British forces have been secretly resettled in the UK after a leak of data on their identities raised fears that they could be targeted by the Taliban, the British government revealed Tuesday.

The government now plans to close the secret route.

Defense Secretary John Healey said a dataset containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to come to Britain after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was released in error in 2022, and extracts were later published online.

That prompted the then-Conservative government to set up a secret program to resettle the Afghans. The government obtained a court order known as a superinjunction that barred anyone from revealing its existence.

The injunction was lifted on Tuesday in conjunction with a decision by Britain’s current Labour Party government to make the program public. It said an independent review had found little evidence that the leaked data would expose Afghans to greater risk of retribution from the Taliban.

“I have felt deeply concerned about the lack of transparency to Parliament and the public,” Healey told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

About 4,500 people – 900 applicants and approximately 3,600 family members — have been brought to Britain under the secret program, and about 6,900 people are expected to be relocated by the time it closes, at a total cost of 850 million pounds ($1.1 billion).

About 36,000 more Afghans have been relocated to the UK under other resettlement routes.

British troops were sent to Afghanistan as part of a deployment against Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. At the peak of the operation there were almost 10,000 British troops in the country, mostly in Helmand province in the south. Britain ended combat operations in 2014.