Arab Americans poised to win in November elections

Arab Americans are among the thousands of candidates across the US who are seeking election to local municipal and regional offices on Nov. 2. (@HalaAyala/@AnnissaForBos/@Sam_Rasoul)
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Updated 23 October 2021
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Arab Americans poised to win in November elections

  • Arab Americans increase political presence in Michigan, Virginia
  • Boston could elect the nation’s first-ever Tunisian American officeholder

CHICAGO: Arab Americans are among the thousands of candidates across the US who are seeking election to local municipal and regional offices on Nov. 2.

Key races include campaign battles for the mayoralty in Boston, Massachusetts and in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, Michigan. In Virginia, an Arab American woman is poised to become the state’s second most-powerful office holder.

Democrat Hala Ayala, who is part Lebanese, is leading in the Virginia race for lieutenant governor over Republican Winsome Sears.

The Virginia office is important because in addition to being next-in-line to become governor in the event of a vacancy, the post also serves as the president of the Virginia Senate who runs floor sessions, and casts a tie-breaking vote over controversial issues.

This will be the first time a woman will hold the state’s second-highest office.

Ayala, a member of the House of Delegates representing Prince William County, won the Democratic primary beating out fellow Virginian and House of Delegates member Sam Rasoul.

Rasoul, also a Democrat, is seeking to keep his legislative seat representing Southwest Virginia’s 11th District, which includes parts of Roanoke. First elected in 2014, Rasoul has raised an impressive $2.1 million in his campaign funds, with significant Arab American support. Rasoul’s Republican opponent Charlie Nave has raised only $40,000.

In Dearborn, a city with a large Arab American population, the election is expected to give the city its first Arab American mayor.

“We’ve long had people of Arab descent in local public office. What’s so important in 2021 is that these young Arab Americans are proudly wearing their ethnicity on their sleeves. And each of them has a record of public service,” said Jim Zogby, president of the Washington-based Arab American Institute.

“The two I’m following most closely are the mayoral races in Boston and Dearborn. I’m following Boston because it is a major American city and Anissa is an amazing candidate who is running on a platform of service and realistic solutions to that community’s most pressing problems.”

Being a minority woman is also an issue in the Boston race. There, Annissa Essaibi George, who has a Tunisian father and Polish mother, is in a run-off with Michelle Wu to become Boston’s first woman mayor.

Boston has elected all males to the powerful city executive office since 1630, but this year saw a candidate surge of women and ethnic diversity in the special election. Former mayor, Marty Walsh, resigned last March after being appointed to serve as US Secretary of Labor by President Joe Biden, creating the Boston vacancy.

George and Wu beat out five other candidates to win the run-off spots in the Nov. 2 General Election. Polls shows George running behind Wu.

If George manages to win the race, however, she will set a new record as the first Tunisian American to hold an elected public office in any district in America.

Zogby said that the mayoral contest in Dearborn is also special, although Arabs have gained seats as members of the City Council.

“Thirty-six years ago, when the Arab American Institute was just starting, the candidate for mayor ran on a platform of ‘what to do about the Arab Problem’,” Zogby recalled.

“Today, after years of work, the majority of that community’s city council are Arab Americans, as is the police chief, its state representative, several judges, and soon, God willing, its mayor, Abdullah Hammoud.”

Pollster and political consultant Dennis Denno called the Dearborn contests “a critical test of Arab American voting power.”

He added: “If our community can elect an Arab American mayor in Dearborn, it will show both political parties that our community is organized and can unite behind a smart, energetic candidate.

“And if our community is divided or doesn’t bother to vote, it will show that the Arab American community is not to be taken seriously.”

Although in nearby Detroit, the leading candidate is not Arab, Denno noted incumbent Mayor Mike Duggan has been very responsive to Arab American concerns.

“The Detroit mayoral election, which will almost inevitably lead to a landslide victory for incumbent Mayor Mike Duggan, and will be a success for the Arab American community,” Denno said.

LMayor Duggan has been open to our community, has hired Arab-Americans, and doesn’t play the tired, big-city game of dividing one ethnic group against another.”

In neighboring Dearborn Heights, the mayor there, Daniel Paletko, passed away from the COVID-19 virus creating a vacancy. On Nov. 2, voters there will cast votes for two positions, someone to fill Paletko’s remaining term in office which ends Dec. 31, and to serve a full term beginning in January.

Lebanese immigrant and former US Marine Bill Bazzi, a Dearborn Heights City Council member since 2018, was elected by his colleagues as interim Mayor following Paletko’s death. He is facing off with City Council Chairwoman Denise Malinowski-Maxwell and candidate Anthony Camilleri.

In addition to Bazzi, three of the seven Dearborn Heights City Council members are Lebanese Americans and Muslim. Dearborn Heights is 32 percent Arab American, according to the Detroit News citing 2019 census data.


Pakistan searches for missing German Olympic biathlon champion Dahlmeier after rockfall

Updated 1 sec ago
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Pakistan searches for missing German Olympic biathlon champion Dahlmeier after rockfall

PESHAWAR: Rescue teams on Wednesday continued to search for missing German biathlete and double Olympic champion Laura Dahlmeier, who was seriously injured in Pakistan after being struck by a rockfall while climbing, a provincial government spokesperson said.
The accident occurred on Monday when Dahlmeier was hit by a landslide in Hushe Valley in the northern mountain range in Gilgit-Baltistan province, while attempting to summit the 6,094-meter Laila Peak.
A helicopter conducted a search operation on Laila Peak on Tuesday evening but “found no signs of life,” spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said.
“She is missing. We are searching. No one knows where she is,” he said.
Two teams of expert climbers from Germany and the United States have been deployed, he said. Faraq added that a helicopter rescue operation was not possible due to adverse weather conditions. “Nothing is visible down there,” he said.
The accident occurred around noon on July 28, at an altitude of approximately 5,700 meters at Laila Peak, said the Alpine Club of Pakistan.
Dahlmeier, 31, was climbing with her mountaineering partner when a sudden rockfall hit her, resulting in significant injuries, it said in a statement.
The provincial government spokesperson identified the climbing partner as Marina Eva Krauss.
Krauss successfully descended to base camp and is reported to be in good health, he added.
Dahlmeier retired from biathlon in 2019, aged 25, a year after becoming the first female biathlete to achieve a sprint and pursuit double at the same Olympics.
Her management did not respond to an emailed request for comment from Reuters.
Pakistan’s northern mountainous regions have experienced heavy flooding and landslides, killing several local tourists during the current monsoon spell of rains.
Flooding and other rain-related accidents have killed 288 people in Pakistan since the monsoon season began in late June, says the country’s National Disaster Management Authority.

South Sudan offers to accept more US deportees, Politico reports

Updated 7 min 39 sec ago
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South Sudan offers to accept more US deportees, Politico reports

South Sudan has told the administration of President Donald Trump it is willing to consider accepting more migrants deported from the United States, Politico reported on Wednesday.
The African country has also urged Washington to lift sanctions imposed on one of its top officials, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter and diplomatic correspondence.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.


US repatriates a child from sprawling camp in northeastern Syria

Updated 59 min 22 sec ago
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US repatriates a child from sprawling camp in northeastern Syria

  • The State Department did not give any details about the repatriation, except to say in a statement that the child “has known nothing of life outside of the camps” and will be reunified with their family

DAMASCUS: The United States repatriated an American child separated from their family from a sprawling camp in northeastern Syrian that houses tens of thousands of people with alleged ties to the militant Daesh group, the State Department said Wednesday.
The department estimates that some 30,000 people from 70 countries remain in Al-Hol Camp, most of them wives and children of IS fighters as well as supporters of the extremist group. They include Iraqis as well as nationals of Western countries who traveled to join IS.
Human rights groups for years have cited poor living conditions and pervasive violence in the camp, which the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have administered for years. The SDF are Washington’s key ally in combating IS in Syria and its sleeper cells, and for years have run large swaths of northeastern Syria.
The State Department did not give any details about the repatriation, except to say in a statement that the child “has known nothing of life outside of the camps” and will be reunified with their family.
The US military for years has been pushing for countries to repatriate their citizens from Al-Hol and the smaller, separate Roj Camp. Iraq has taken back an increasing number in recent years, but many other countries have remained reluctant.
“The only durable solution to the humanitarian and security crisis in these displaced persons camps in northeast Syria is for countries of origin to repatriate, rehabilitate, reintegrate, and where appropriate, ensure accountability for their nationals,” the State Department statement read. “The same goes for former Daesh fighters held in detention centers in northeast Syria,” it said, using a different abbreviation for IS.
Despite difficult talks to formally merge with the country’s new rulers under interim President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, Damascus and the SDF in May reached an agreement to repatriate Syrians in the camp. Since the ouster of Bashar Assad in December, Washington has been pushing for the two sides to implement their deal and unify Syrian territory, which would ultimately put the camp under the control of the government.
The SDF did not immediately comment on the repatriation.


China to hold military drills with Russia in August

Updated 2 min 2 sec ago
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China to hold military drills with Russia in August

  • Alongside economic and political ties, Moscow and Beijing have deepened military cooperation in recent years as both countries seek to counterbalance what they see as a United States-led global order

BEIJING: China said Wednesday it would conduct joint military drills with Russia in August, including sea and air exercises near Vladivostok and joint naval patrols in the Pacific.
Alongside economic and political ties, Moscow and Beijing have deepened military cooperation in recent years as both countries seek to counterbalance what they see as a United States-led global order.
The drills, named “Joint Sea-2025,” were part of regular bilateral cooperation plans and “not directed against third parties,” Chinese defense ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang told a press conference Wednesday.
After the drills, they will also conduct naval patrols in “relevant waters of the Pacific,” Zhang said.
Last year’s “Joint Sea-2024” exercises were held along China’s southern coast.
The “Joint Sea-2025” drills are due to take place ahead of a planned visit to China by Russian President Vladimir Putin beginning late August.
Putin will attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as well as celebrations, including a military parade, to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
He will also hold talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Relations between the two countries have deepened since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
China has never denounced Russia’s more than three-year military war nor called for it to withdraw its troops, and many of Ukraine’s allies believe that Beijing has provided support to Moscow.
China insists it is a neutral party, regularly calling for an end to the fighting while also accusing Western countries of prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine.
Xi told Russia’s foreign minister earlier in July that their countries should “strengthen mutual support” during a meeting in Beijing.


France, 14 other nations urge recognition of Palestinian state

Updated 30 July 2025
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France, 14 other nations urge recognition of Palestinian state

  • 15 nations including Spain, Norway, and Finland affirmed their “unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution”

PARIS: France and 14 other Western nations called on countries worldwide to move to recognize a Palestinian state, France’s top diplomat said Wednesday.
The foreign ministers of 15 countries late Tuesday issued a joint statement following a conference in New York, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed at reviving a two-state solution between Israelis and the Palestinians.
“In New York, together with 14 other countries, France is issuing a collective appeal: we express our desire to recognize the State of Palestine and invite those who have not yet done so to join us,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot wrote on X.
President Emmanuel Macron announced last week he would formally recognize Palestinian statehood in September, provoking strong opposition from Israel and the United States.
France is hoping to build a momentum around the formal recognition of a Palestinian state.
On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the UK will formally recognize the State of Palestine in September unless Israel takes various “substantive steps,” including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Starmer’s move, paired with Paris, would make the two European allies the first G7 nations to do so.
In the statement, 15 nations including Spain, Norway, and Finland affirmed their “unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution.”
Nine of the signatories which have not yet recognized the Palestinian state expressed “the willingness or the positive consideration of their countries” to do so, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
Seventeen countries plus the European Union and Arab League during the conference joined calls for Hamas to disarm and end its rule of Gaza, in a bid to end the devastating war in the Palestinian territory.