Saudi Arabia announces Hajj with limited pilgrims from nationalities residing inside Kingdom
Saudi Arabia announces Hajj with limited pilgrims from nationalities residing inside Kingdom/node/1693871/world
Saudi Arabia announces Hajj with limited pilgrims from nationalities residing inside Kingdom
Saudi Arabian security officers stand in front of the Kaaba at an empty Grand Mosque, as a preventive measure against COVID-19 during the holy month of Ramadan, in the holy city of Makkah on May 5, 2020. (REUTERS/ Saudi Press Agency Handout )
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s ministry of Hajj announced on Monday that only a limited number of people, irrespective of nationality, who currently reside in the Kingdom would be allowed to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage this year.
Some 2.5 million pilgrims visit the holiest sites of Islam in Makkah and Madinah for the week-long Hajj each year. In March, Saudi Arabia asked Muslims to put Hajj plans on hold and suspended Umrah until further notice.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia lifted a three-month long curfew introduced in March to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, including 24-hour curfews in most towns and cities, with most people only allowed out for essential shopping or urgent medical reasons.
Saudi Arabia has so far reported more than 157,000 COVID-19 cases and 1,267 deaths.
“As COVID-19 cases continue to grow globally while the risks of coronavirus spread in crowded spaces and to countries still exist, Hajj 1441H is decided to take place this year with a limited number of pilgrims from all nationalities residing in Saudi Arabia only, who are willing to perform Hajj,” the state-run SPA news agency said in a statement, quoting the ministry of Hajj.
“This decision is taken to ensure Hajj is safely performed while committing to all preventive measures to protect Muslims and adhere strictly to the teachings of Islam in preserving our health and safety.”
In 2019, around 19 million pilgrims attended Umrah while Hajj drew 2.6 million. An economic reform plan by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aims to increase Umrah and Hajj capacity to 30 million pilgrims annually and generate 50 billion riyals ($13.32 billion) of revenues by 2030.
The SPA statement said Saudi Arabia was honored to serve millions of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims annually and said the decision to allow a limited Hajj this year “is in consideration of its constant care of maintaining the safety of pilgrims on its land until departing back to their home countries. We ask Allah the Almighty to protect all countries from this pandemic and keep all humans protected and safe."
Saudi Arabia is ‘sincere’ and an ‘acceptable’ venue for potential Ukraine peace talks, Putin says
Saudi Arabia, despite condemning Russia’s offensive at the UN, has taken a balanced stance, maintaining strong relations with both Russia and Ukraine
Putin stressed the focus of any talks should be based on previous negotiations, specifically the draft agreement initially reached in Istanbul in 2022
Updated 26 sec ago
Faisal J. Abbas
MOSCOW: Saudi Arabia is “sincere” in its efforts and would be an acceptable location for Russian-Ukrainian peace talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, but any negotiations would be dependent on Ukraine lifting its ban on dealing with Russia.
During a press conference following the launch of the BRICS Business Forum in the Russian capital, Putin said in response to an Arab News question that he was open to the idea of participating in a peace conference hosted by Saudi Arabia, but noted that while the Kingdom would be an acceptable venue, the substance of the discussions would matter more than the location.
“If such measures are organized in Saudi Arabia and the place, the venue, is acceptable, that would be acceptable to us,” he said, replying to a question from Arab News Editor-in-Chief Faisal J. Abbas.
Arab News Editor-in-Chief Faisal J. Abbas asks question as Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with heads of leading media outlets from the BRICS member countries in Moscow, Russia on October 18, 2024. (Screengrab)
However, Putin stressed that the focus of any talks should be based on previous negotiations, specifically the draft agreement initially reached in Istanbul in 2022, which he says Ukraine later backed away from.
“We are ready to continue a dialogue to attain peace, but building on a document that was prepared for detailed discussions for many months and was initialed by the Ukrainian side,” he said, adding that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that had halted negotiations.
Saudi Arabia, despite condemning the Russian offensive at the United Nations, has taken a balanced stance, maintaining strong relations with both Russia and Ukraine, and has expressed a willingness to help resolve the crisis. Putin acknowledged the Kingdom’s balanced approach and its ability to engage both sides in dialogue.
He clarified that Russia remained open to peace negotiations. “We would be ready to come back,” he said. “Like no other, Russia is interested to continue it as soon as possible by peaceful means.”
Putin also welcomed initiatives from other countries.
Praising Moscow’s ties Riyadh, Putin said: “We have good relations with both the King and friendly personal relations with the crown prince. I know, and I’m sure, that whatever Saudi Arabia does on this track, it does sincerely. No doubt here.”
He noted that Saudi Arabia had shown itself to be an invaluable intermediary, balancing its friendly relations with both Moscow.
The 16th annual BRICS summit will take place in Kazan, Russia, next week between the namesake five countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — as well as the first meeting for new members Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE.
Saudi Arabia, which was invited last year to join the bloc, will be represented by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
For nearly a year, the Saudi foreign minister has been engaged in intense diplomatic efforts aimed at global recognition of a Palestinian state and finding a way to end the conflict in the Middle East.
Putin told Arab News that the Israel-Palestine crisis would be on the agenda in discussions between the countries.
He reiterated the Kremlin’s support for the implementation of the two-state solution, adding that he was in contact with authorities in Israel and Palestine and had invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to take part in next week’s summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures for a group photograph with heads of leading media outlets from the BRICS member countries in Moscow, Russia on October 18, 2024. (Yandex)
“Our stance is well known,” Putin said. “The baseline of our position was that we need to put into practice the UN Security Council resolution on building two states — Israel and the State of Palestine. It is the root cause of all problems.”
He also said resolving the Palestinian issue could not be reduced to economic measures alone, underscoring the need to address the deep “historical” and “spiritual” dimensions of the conflict.
“In my opinion, in addition to just material concerns, there are aspects related to the spiritual domain, to history, to the aspirations of peoples living in certain territories,” he said. “I think it is a much deeper idea, and it is more complex too.”
In Putin’s view, the solution lies in ensuring the Palestinians have the right to return. He was clear that Russia’s stance, established during Soviet times, remains unchanged. “The main method to address the Palestinian issue is to create a full-fledged State of Palestine,” he said.
Putin also criticised the disbanding the Middle East Quartet, a group that included the UN, the EU, Russia, and the US which aimed to mediate between Israelis and Palestinians.
“Unfortunately, it was the wrong thing to do to disband the (Quartet). I mean, they (the US) are not to blame for everything, but the (Quartet) was working. They (the US) monopolized all the work. But eventually it failed, unfortunately.”
During the briefing, Putin also said that 30 other countries had expressed interest in cooperation with BRICS nations, and said that its “doors are open, we are not barring anyone.”
He echoed India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that BRICS was “not an anti-Western alliance, just a non-Western alliance.”
Harris raises rival’s age after report of exhaustion. ‘I’m not even tired,’ Trump reacts
Trump, now 78 years old, has skipped some appearances, but his campaign has not provided reasons
Trump says Harris is making an issue of his age because, ‘We’re killing her in the polls, because the American people don’t want her’
Updated 19 October 2024
Reuters
DETROIT/WATERFORD, Michigan: Democrat Kamala Harris raised questions about Republican Donald Trump’s physical stamina to serve effectively as president as the two rivals tore through the deadlocked battleground state of Michigan on Friday, with Trump lashing back about the energy he’s shown on the campaign trail.
Harris, who turns 60 on Sunday, pressed the case to raise doubts about the 78-year-old Trump. Age had been an issue when President Joe Biden, 81, was still in the race, but had faded after he dropped his election bid.
Harris said on Friday news reports that former President Trump was skipping interviews because he was tired and had passed on the chance of a second debate with her raised questions about his fitness for office.
“It should be a concern. If he can’t handle the rigors of the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job?” she told reporters before a rally in Grand Rapids. “That’s a legitimate question.”
Trump, now 78 years old, has skipped some appearances, but his campaign has not provided reasons.
‘American people don’t want her’
Trump, talking to reporters as he arrived in Detroit, rejected such talk. “I’ve gone 48 days now without a rest,” he said.
“I’m not even tired. I’m really exhilarated. You know why? We’re killing her in the polls, because the American people don’t want her.”
Polls in the election’s most competitive states are effectively tied with just 18 days remaining until the election .
In a Fox & Friends interview, Trump also griped about negative television ads on Fox about him and said he would ask Rupert Murdoch, the founder of News Corp. NWSA.O and who also launched Fox News, to ensure such ads are not broadcast until Election Day on Nov. 5.
“I’m going to say, ‘Rupert, please do it this way and then we’re going to have a victory, cause everyone wants that,’” Trump said.
Trump visited a campaign office in Hamtramck, where he heard praise from the Detroit suburb’s first Muslim mayor, Amer Ghalib. Trump was seeking support from Arab Americans in Michigan disenchanted with Democrats, Harris and Biden over US support for Israel in the Gaza conflict.
“We all ultimately want one thing. We want peace in the Middle East. We’re going to get peace in the Middle East. It’s going to happen very fast. It can happen with the right leadership in Washington,” Trump said, without elaborating.
In Oakland County, Harris welcomed members of the Arab American community to her rally and touted prospects for peace in the aftermath of the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar .
Mic issues
In the evening, Trump returned to Detroit, Michigan’s largest city, for a rally after saying on Oct. 10 that the rest of the US would turn into Detroit if Harris won.
There, Trump’s microphone stopped working and the former president roamed around the stage for some 20 minutes.
“I won’t pay the bill for this stupid company that rented us this crap,” Trump said after the audio started working again. “This is the worst mic I’ve ever had in my life.”
The dead-mic incident took place days after Trump stopped talking and swayed and bopped to his musical playlist at a Pennsylvania town hall event after two people in the audience fell ill.
Harris, after speaking in Grand Rapids, the heart of more conservative western Michigan, headed east to Lansing and then Oakland County, encompassing suburbs northwest of Detroit, on Friday night.
The Midwestern state has about 8.4 million voters and would bring the winner 15 Electoral College votes out of the 270 needed to win, which could be a decisive number. Harris and Trump are battling fiercely for the state’s Arab American, senior, union and working-class voters.
Public and internal campaign polls show razor-thin margins for either Harris or Trump in Michigan and other battleground states. That is worrying Democrats.
Trump won Michigan by 11,000 votes in 2016. In 2020, Biden beat Trump in the state by 155,000 votes.
Harris is shifting the strategy of her whirlwind campaign to win over more Republicans and men of all races. She’s also enlisting popular former first lady Michelle Obama, who will campaign for Harris in Michigan on Oct. 26.
“I understand why people are looking to shake things up,” former President Barack Obama said at an Arizona campaign event in support of Harris on Friday. “What I cannot understand is why anyone would think that Donald Trump will shake things up in a way that is good for you.”
Nationally, Harris’ edge has narrowed from a late September lead of 7 percentage points over Trump to just 3 points, Reuters/Ipsos polling shows, with high food and rent prices still worrying Americans and Trump amplifying fears related to migrants crossing the US-Mexico border with increasingly extreme rhetoric.
Harris and Trump seek Arab American votes in Michigan in effort to shore up battleground states
Michigan is one of three “blue wall” states that, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, will help decide the election on Nov. 5
Diverse voting blocs are key to winning virtually any swing state, but Michigan is unique with its significant Arab American population
Updated 19 October 2024
AP
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan: Kamala Harris insisted it was time to “end the suffering” in the Middle East while Donald Trump visited one of the nation’s only Muslim-majority cities on Friday as the dueling presidential contenders fought for a small but pivotal bloc of Arab American voters in swing-state Michigan.
In a rare reference to Israel’s fight against Hamas and Hezbollah, Harris said, “This year has been very difficult, given the scale of death and destruction in Gaza and given the civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon.” She said the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “can and must be a turning point.”
“Everyone must seize this opportunity to finally end the war in Gaza, bring the hostages home and end the suffering once and for all,” she said.
Trump, meanwhile, avoided any specifics about his plans for the Middle East, but he said he didn’t think the Arab American community would vote for Harris “because she doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
Later, he fought through technical glitches that silenced his microphone for almost 20 minutes at a rally in Detroit.
Michigan is one of three “blue wall” states that, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, will help decide the election on Nov. 5. Diverse voting blocs are key to winning virtually any swing state, but Michigan is unique with its significant Arab American population, which has been deeply frustrated by the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Trump, who instituted a travel ban targeting Muslim countries while in office and has vowed to expand the ban to include refugees from Gaza if elected again, is trying to capitalize on the community’s frustration with the Democratic administration, despite his well-documented history of hostile rhetoric and policies.
There were modest signs Friday that he may be making progress.
The Republican nominee visited a new campaign office in Hamtramck, one of the nation’s only Muslim-majority cities, and was joined there by Mayor Amer Ghalib, a Democrat who has endorsed Trump. Meanwhile, three city council members in the same town have endorsed Harris.
“His visit today is to show respect and appreciation to our community,” said Ghalib, who presented Trump with a framed certificate of appreciation.
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump attends a rally at Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan, on Oct. 18, 2024. (REUTERS)
Trump’s allies have held meetings for months with community leaders in the state, which Biden carried by less than 3 points in 2020. Asked about the Hamtramck mayor’s endorsement, Trump said: “I mean, frankly, it’s an honor. I’ve got a lot of endorsements, Arab Americans, from a lot of people.”
Trump has held 15 separate events in Michigan dating back to April, when Biden was still the presumed Democratic nominee. Including a scheduled Saturday event in Detroit, Harris will have visited Michigan 11 times since she became the nominee, according to AP tracking of the campaigns’ public events.
And while foreign policy rarely sways US elections, the war in the Middle East is a critical concern for many of Michigan’s Arab American voters.
Trump said Sinwar “was not a good person” when asked about the Hamas leader’s death. Sinwar, one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attack, was killed Wednesday by Israelis.
“That’s my reaction. That’s sometimes what happens,” Trump told reporters at the airport in Detroit.
Even as he reached out to disillusioned Arab American voters, Trump suggested he would end efforts to encourage Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to restrain military operations that have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Even though Biden “is trying to hold him back ... he probably should be doing the opposite, actually,” Trump said.
Harris highlighted her support from the Arab American community as well.
On Friday, 52 Lebanese Americans endorsed Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, saying in a letter that the voice of their community “will be heard” under the ticket’s leadership.
The letter reiterated calls for a ceasefire, and it cited a recent decision by the Department of Homeland Security to extend temporary legal status to Lebanese citizens in the US Such status is made available to people from certain countries marred by war, turmoil or natural disasters.
But Harris has also faced demonstrators protesting US support of Israel in the conflict. During a closed-door meeting Thursday with students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, she was confronted by a protester, according to a video posted by a pro-Palestinian student group on social media.
According to the video, as Harris was telling students she was invested in them, a protester interrupted her, asking, “And in genocide, right? Billions of dollars in genocide?”
A phalanx of Democratic governors — Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Wes Moore of Maryland, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Kathy Hochul of New York — campaigned with Harris earlier Friday.
Longtime Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat, emphasized that the army of top Democrats descending on the state was not a sign of panic, stating, “We have to run like we’re behind.”
“A lot of people have always said we’re a blue state. She knows we’re not. And she’s not taking us for granted,” Stabenow told the AP ahead of a rally for Harris in Oakland County.
Both Trump and Harris also made a push for union workers and Black voters as they worked every angle for support.
At an appearance at the United Auto Workers Local 652 hall in Lansing, Harris offered a direct message to union members: “I will always have your back.”
She warned that Trump would undermine collective bargaining and worker protections.
“We’ve got to get the word out to all the brothers and sisters in labor to remind them what this dude does,” she said before the campaign played a clip of Trump saying it’s not hard to build a car. “We could have our child doing it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Trump talked up his own support among labor unions and criticized the rise of electric cars during a rival event in Oakland County ahead of his evening rally in Detroit.
While visiting a campaign office, Trump said the head of the United Auto Workers — who has endorsed Harris — doesn’t have a clue.
“I’ve saved Michigan,” he said, telling the crowds he would bring back more manufacturing. “We’ll end up having those plants built over here instead of in other countries.”
Later, he called Teamsters President Sean O’Brien “a great guy.” O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention, and his union decided not to endorse Harris, which was viewed as a victory for Trump, given the union’s past support for Democrats.
“I think it’s been many decades before they endorsed a Republican. I think they’ll start very soon,” Trump said.
Trump’s Detroit event was his first there since insulting the city last week. While warning what will happen if Harris is elected, he said that “our whole country will end up being like Detroit.” The city spent years hemorrhaging residents and businesses, plunging into deep financial problems, before rebounding in recent years.
“We love Detroit,” Trump said Friday night as the crowd erupted. “We’re going to make Detroit great again.”
For Sikh activists, Canada’s claims of Indian government intimidation campaign validates what they have long been saying
PM Trudeau has said India’s targeting of Canadian Khalistan activists went beyond Nijjar’s killing, and has included a broad campaign of intimidation, violence and other threats
Updated 19 October 2024
AFP
TORONTO, Canada: Ottawa’s accusations this week detailing a deadly Indian campaign against its Canada-based critics may have further derailed bilateral relations — but to Sikh activists, the striking disclosures brought validation.
Canada has accused India of orchestrating the 2023 killing in Vancouver of 45-year-old naturalized Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent campaigner for “Khalistan,” the fringe separatist movement for an independent Sikh homeland in India’s Punjab state.
In public comments this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the national police said India’s targeting of Canadian Khalistan activists went beyond Nijjar’s killing, and has included a broad campaign of intimidation, violence and other threats.
India has dismissed the allegations.
“It was very validating,” Harinder Sohi told AFP at a thinly attended protest on Friday outside the Indian consulate in Toronto.
“This is something that we believed in for years and people weren’t listening to us,” the 42-year-old Khalistan activist said.
The dozens of protesters at Friday’s rally waved yellow flags with “Khalistan” written in bold blue letters and repeated a chant branding Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “a terrorist.”
They also erected a prison cell around an effigy of the Indian leader.
Sohi said it was meaningful that Canada has now publicly affirmed the “danger” India poses to people living across Canada.
It “is shocking that we as Canadian citizens have to live in fear of a foreign government,” he said.
Testifying Wednesday at an inquiry on foreign interference, Trudeau made clear his government was not looking to blow up relations with a major trading partner with whom Canada has deep ties.
But he said when faced with clear evidence the Indian government had directed acts of violence inside Canada and breached Canadian “sovereignty,” he and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police resolved to go public in the interest of public safety.
The Khalistan campaign dates back to India’s 1947 independence and within India today any support for the movement faces a swift crackdown.
Jatinder Singh Grewal, a director with the Sikhs for Justice advocacy group and a Khalistan supporter, argued that Modi’s government is intent on silencing support for the movement abroad because it fears discussion among the Sikh diaspora could fuel a movement at home.
“If you allow the Canadian Sikhs, or the American Sikhs or the British Sikhs to openly talk about this, you will eventually make the Punjabi Sikh say, ‘Why can’t I talk about this openly?’“
Grewal praised Trudeau’s public disclosures and Canada’s decision to expel Indian diplomats but said more was needed, endorsing the closure of Indian consulates in Toronto and Vancouver, arguing they have been used to coordinate violence against Sikhs.
There are roughly 770,000 Sikhs in Canada, about two percent of the population, the largest Sikh community outside of India.
Sikhs are heavily concentrated in suburban areas, notably around Toronto and Vancouver, and the community’s vote has been pivotal in past national elections.
Last year, days after Trudeau first accused Indian agents of killing Nijjar, one former government foreign policy adviser charged that domestic politics had influenced Trudeau’s decisions on Sikh affairs.
Writing in The Globe and Mail, the former adviser Omer Aziz said Trudeau’s Liberal party was worried about losing votes to the left-wing New Democrats, led by Jagmeet Singh, who is Sikh.
Trudeau’s poll numbers are plummeting and with an election due in the coming months, questions have again surfaced about Trudeau’s efforts to shore up Sikh votes.
Holding a Khalistan flag at Friday’s protest, Inderjeet Singh Gosal dismissed any such political motive.
“I don’t think it’s about that,” he told AFP. “I just think that Justin Trudeau is just following his principles. He believes in rights and he believes in keeping his Canadian citizens safe.”
Trump couldn’t pronounce ‘Assyrians.’ The community is happy to be in the spotlight
Updated 19 October 2024
AP
PHOENIX: It was Donald Trump’s mispronunciation that first caught attention.
“Also, we have many Asur-Asians in our room,” Trump said at a weekend rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona. “We have some incredible people in our room.”
Asur-Asians?
It turns out the former president was trying to shout out a small group of Assyrians supporting his campaign. They’d been given prominent seats right behind him, donning red “Assyrians for Trump” shirts as he spoke in a packed arena 90 minutes north of Phoenix.
Assyrians, a Christian indigenous group tracing their ancestry to ancient Mesopotamia in the modern Middle East, are a tiny minority community in the United States, but they happen to have significant communities in two of the seven swing states that will decide the Nov. 5 election, Michigan and Arizona. That could give them outsized influence in an election that polls show is essentially tied.
“Thank you, President Trump, for making a mistake in our name,” said Sam Darmo, a Phoenix real estate agent and a co-founder of Assyrians for Trump who was seated behind the president at the rally. “Because you know what? Assyrians became very famous. More Americans know who the Assyrians are today than they did back on Sunday.”
Assyrians hail from portions of what is now Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkiye. They are descendants of a powerful Middle Eastern empire and early followers of Christianity whose language is a form of Aramaic, the language scholars believe Jesus Christ spoke.
Assyrians react before Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona, on Oct. 13, 2024. (AP)
Many Assyrians, some identifying as Chaldean or Syriac, have fled centuries of persecution and genocide in their homeland, most recently at the hands of the Daesh group. Ancient relics have been destroyed or stolen and trafficked.
About 95,000 people living in the United States identify their ancestry as Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac, according to US Census Bureau data from 2022. By far the largest concentration is in Michigan, a battleground state home to 38,000 Assyrians. About 5,000 Assyrians live in Arizona. The other five battleground states have fewer than 500 Assyrians each. California and the Chicago area also have large Assyrian communities but are not politically competitive.
Throughout the global Assyrian diaspora, the community has pushed to build monuments to preserve the memory of the atrocities they have faced, including the 1915 deportation and massacre of Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks by the Ottoman Turks. They’ve also pushed to convince local and national governments to formally recognize the massacre as a genocide, a term widely accepted by historians. Such declarations are vehemently fought by Turkiye, which denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.
Trump pronounced Assyrian correctly in an interview released Thursday with podcaster Patrick Bet-David, who is Assyrian and Armenian.
“You know why they were there?” Trump said. “They were so nice. I met them, the Assyrians. They said, ‘Could you give us a shout out?’ I said, ‘Who are you?’ I didn’t know. They said, ‘We’re Assyrians.’ I said, ‘What’s that mean?’ But they were really nice people. But I said — I think I mispronounced it.”
Darmo confirmed Trump’s account, saying he asked Trump for the favor while four Assyrians posed with Trump before the rally. He said the former president instructed an aide to add a shoutout to the teleprompter and speculated that the aide may have misspelled Assyrians in the script.
“We want the Americans to know who we are, and how much we suffered, and how many massacres, genocides have been committed against our people in the Middle East,” Darmo said.
Trump sent his son, Eric Trump, to court Assyrians in Phoenix shortly before the 2020 election.
Ramond Takhsh, director of advocacy and outreach for the Assyrian American Association of Southern California, said the community, like all ethnic groups, is not monolithic, and the reaction to Trump’s mangled shout-out was not universal.
“We have a diverse spectrum of political viewpoints just like any other ethnic group,” Takhsh said. “Some Assyrians are happy with the recognition that came from former President Trump’s mispronunciation but some are not.”
Mona Oshana, an Iraqi-born Assyrian American who co-founded Assyrians for Trump during his first campaign, said the GOP is a good fit for a religious population that fled persecution by authoritarian governments.
“We are an America First community because we came to America based on the echo of freedom and the Constitution,” Oshana said. “We often say we were Americans before coming to America, because we believed in the liberties of America, we believed in the Constitution, we believed in the fight of America.”
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris ‘ campaign also has a grassroots organizing group, Chaldeans and Assyrians for Harris Walz, which is particularly active in Michigan.
Some in the Assyrian community were infuriated by Trump’s immigration policies, which significantly curtailed refugee resettlement in the United States. Some were affected by his travel ban restricting entry to the country from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Iraq and Syria.
A low point was the 2019 death in Baghdad of a 41-year-old Chaldean man who had lived in the US since he was an infant. Jimmy Al-Daoud, who had a history of diabetes and mental illness, was deported for committing multiple crimes in the US.
