Muslims and Arabs challenge stereotypes in the US through disaster-relief work

Ray Hanania Show - Abdulrauf Khan 1
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Updated 15 September 2023
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Muslims and Arabs challenge stereotypes in the US through disaster-relief work

  • They have been part of responses to emergencies such as the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and severe flooding in Illinois this year 
  • Aid workers say efforts to help all Americans in need, regardless of race, religion or origin, offer a counterbalance to the plague of anti-Muslim, anti-Arab racism 

CHICAGO: Major disasters strike communities across the US each year, including floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires. But while the aid organizations that respond to them are often praised for their vital work, what is less-often highlighted is fact that many Muslims and Arabs are among the dedicated teams that help to provide relief to victims, in partnership with government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and aid organizations such the Red Cross. 

The Islamic Center of North America Relief is one of the largest Muslims and Arab relief organizations in the US. It was founded in 1968 and has been working since then to provide food, clothing, shelter and medical care to the victims of disasters, officials from the organization told Arab News. 

It is now works in partnership with FEMA to support relief efforts, and was part of the responses to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in 2001, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and most recently the floods in Illinois in July this year that damaged more than 35,000 homes. 

The majority of the people who benefit from the aid provided by the ICNA Relief are not Muslim or Arab, and officials from the organization said this is helping to counter the persistent, inaccurate and negative stereotypes that continue to fuel anti-Muslim and anti-Arab racism. 

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“For us, these stereotypes actually motivate us — at least, me,” Mohammed Dahsheh, ICNA Relief’s assistant director of disaster relief services, told Arab News. “They really motivate me because I know I am on a mission to show my faith, because everything in my faith is positive. 

“Really, it doesn’t ask me to hurt anybody. This is our mission: To help as many people, no matter where they are from or what their color is, whatever their nationality, race or religion. It doesn’t matter. We are all humans and we all need help sometimes and we all deserve that help, whoever we may be or wherever we may be from. 

“It doesn’t matter where they are from. They are human, they deserve to have dignity, even if they are going through challenging times. We all go through challenges in our life, we all go through difficulties, it doesn’t matter who we are or where we are from.” 

Describing the achievements of the Muslim and Arab Americans who have worked for the organization over the years, Abdulrauf Khan, ICNA Relief’s chief commercial officer, said they have helped more than 5.2 million Americans of 70 national origins in 42 states through their work, which includes 26 shelters for women, 58 food pantries, eight medical centers, 27 refugee resource centers, and four mobile medical clinics deployed in crisis zones. 

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“Our goal is whomever comes to our door, we serve them” he said. “It’s not about ethnicity, race or where you are from, what language you speak or how you get here, legal or not legal. We just serve them because, first of all, being a Muslim, it is our responsibility to help our fellow Americans, our fellow neighbors. We do it because it is our responsibility. 

“That’s why we are so very careful of what we do and how we do it, because people are looking at us as a representation of Islam, a person who has to represent Islam in a very positive way. So we are very careful, very mindful of people around us, how we do it, the way we do it, to present it in a way that people accept it.” 

Khan agreed with his colleague that such efforts have a direct effect in helping to debunk negative stereotypes, given his own observations of Muslims and Arabs helping Americans in need. 

“Our services are not just for Muslims only,” he said. “Whoever comes, we welcome them. We don’t force them to become Muslims. We don’t even tell them about Islam. We just do what we do, and if they like what we do and they like where we are doing it and how we are doing it … they like to be part of us.” 

What American see when they encounter the organization’s workers is very different from what they might have heard about Muslims and Arabs, he added, and this helps to challenge the stereotypes that fuel discrimination. 

As schools across the country reopen after the summer break, another example of the work of ICNA Relief is the distribution of more than 1 million backpacks filled with school supplies  for American children. 

And after several years of lobbying by the organization, the US Department of Agriculture, which oversees the approval and distribution of foodstuffs during emergencies recently gave the green light the inclusion of Halal foods in relief packages. 

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“When it comes to community engagement and being within the community, all of our services within ICNA Relief are domestic services,” Dahsheh said. 

“So everything that we provide, any service we provide, is here in the United States of America, 42 states across the nation with these food pantries, with the different services and the programs we have. 

“We try to reach those vulnerable communities that really need the support, that are having challenging times. ICNA Relief, its mission is really just to alleviate human suffering with compassionate services that we provide around the country.” 

Both Khan and Dahsheh are immigrants. Khan came from Pakistan, while Dahsheh was born in Lebanon to Palestinian refugee parents who came to America when he was an infant. Both said they consider America their home but are very proud of their heritage, their culture and their family traditions. 

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“Now we are here,” said Khan. “Now, our responsibility is to take care of people, those who are not able to take care of themselves. We are at this point now, have been serving millions and millions of people every year. 

“We want to make an impact on people who are not able to at least take care of themselves. We give them a helping hand and help them to become self-sufficient as early as possible.” 

Khan and Dahsheh said ICNA Relief is a donation-driven organization and only 7 percent of the money it receives is used to fund administrative costs, with the remaining 93 percent directly funding relief efforts. 

“We are at the table,” Khan said. “It took us 30 or 40 years, but we are here.” 

Khan and Dahsheh were speaking during an appearance on The Ray Hanania Radio Show, which was broadcast on Sept. 13, 2023, on the US Arab Radio network on WNZK AM 690 radio in Detroit and WDMV AM 700 Radio in Washington D.C. 

You can listen to the radio show’s podcast by visiting ArabNews.com/rayradioshow.


‘Return to your country’ Kabul tells Afghans rebuffed by Washington

Updated 07 June 2025
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‘Return to your country’ Kabul tells Afghans rebuffed by Washington

  • US President Trump this week announced travel ban targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan
  • Afghan PM assures nationals of protection even if they worked with US-led forces against Taliban

KABUL: The Taliban government on Saturday urged Afghans hoping to emigrate to the United States to instead return to Afghanistan, after Washington tightened entry conditions.

US President Donald Trump this week announced a travel ban targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan, which his proclamation said lacked “competent” central authorities for processing passports and vetting.

Commenting on the ban on Saturday, Prime Minister Hassan Akhund urged Afghans to return to their country, saying they would be protected even if they worked with US-led forces in the two-decade fight against the Taliban insurgency.

“For those who are worried that America has closed its doors to Afghans... I want to tell them, ‘Return to your country, even if you have served the Americans for 20 or 30 years for their ends, and ruined the Islamic system’,” he said in a speech marking the Eid Al-Adha holiday, broadcast by state media.

“You will not face abuse or trouble,” he said, making reassurances that the Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had “granted amnesty for all.”

After surging to power in 2021, Taliban authorities announced a general amnesty for Afghans who worked with the Western-backed forces and government. However, the United Nations has recorded reports of extrajudicial killings, detentions and abuses.

In the past four years, the Taliban government has imposed a strict view of Islamic law and restrictions on women which the UN says amount to “gender apartheid.”

Afghans fled in droves to neighboring countries during decades of conflict, but the chaotic withdrawal of US-led troops saw a new wave clamoring to escape Taliban government curbs and fears of reprisal for working with Washington.

The United States has not had a working embassy in Afghanistan since 2021 and Afghans must apply for visas in third countries, principally Pakistan which has recently ramped up campaigns to expel Afghans.

Since Trump returned to the White House in January, Afghans have gradually seen their chances of migrating to the United States or staying there shrink.

Trump administration orders have disrupted refugee pathways and revoked legal protections temporarily shielding Afghans from deportation starting in July.


France’s president will visit Greenland in a show of EU unity, Danish leader says

Updated 07 June 2025
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France’s president will visit Greenland in a show of EU unity, Danish leader says

  • Frederiksen and the French leader said they will meet in the semiautonomous Danish territory on June 15
  • Frederiksen acknowledged the “difficult foreign policy situation in recent months”

COPENHAGEN: French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Greenland next weekend, the Danish prime minister’s office said Saturday — a visit by a high-profile European Union leader in the wake of US expressions of interest in taking over the mineral-rich Arctic island.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the French leader said they will meet in the semiautonomous Danish territory on June 15, hosted by Greenland’s new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

The visit by Macron, whose nuclear-armed country has one of the EU’s strongest militaries, comes as US President Donald Trump hasn’t ruled out using force to carry out his desire for the resource-rich and strategically located island to become part of the United States.

While the issue of US interest in Greenland has drifted from the headlines in recent weeks, Nielsen said in late April that such comments by US leaders have been disrespectful and that Greenland will never be “a piece of property” that anyone can buy.

In the statement Saturday, Frederiksen acknowledged the “difficult foreign policy situation in recent months” but praised “great international support” for Greenland and Denmark.

“President Macron’s upcoming visit to Greenland is yet another concrete testament to European unity,” she said, alluding to the membership of France and Denmark in the 27-member-country EU.

The three leaders were expected to discuss security in the North Atlantic and the Arctic, as well as issues of economic development, climate change and energy during the visit, her office said.


Wagner Group leaving Mali after heavy losses but Russia’s Africa Corps to remain

Updated 07 June 2025
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Wagner Group leaving Mali after heavy losses but Russia’s Africa Corps to remain

“Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home,” the group announced
Mali, along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups

DAKAR: The Russia-backed Wagner Group said Friday it is leaving Mali after more than three and a half years of fighting Islamic extremists and insurgents in the country.

Despite Wagner’s announcement, Russia will continue to have a mercenary presence in the West African country. The Africa Corps, Russia’s state-controlled paramilitary force, said on its Telegram channel Friday that Wagner’s departure would not introduce any changes and the Russian contingent will remain in Mali.

“Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home,” the group announced via its channel on the messaging app Telegram. It said it had brought all regional capitals under control of the Malian army, pushed out armed militants and killed their commanders.

Mali, along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group.

As Western influence in the region has waned, Russia has sought to step into the vacuum, sweeping in with offers of assistance. Moscow initially expanded its military cooperation with African nations by using the Wagner Group of mercenaries. But since the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash in 2023, after mounting a brief armed rebellion in Russia that challenged the rule of President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has been developing the Africa Corps as a rival force to Wagner.

Africa Corps is under direct command of the Russian defense ministry.

According to US officials, there are around 2,000 mercenaries in Mali. It is unclear how many are with Wagner and how many are part of the Africa Corps.

Beverly Ochieng, a security analyst specializing in the Sahel for Control Risks consultancy, said the Russian defense ministry had been negotiating with Mali to take on more Africa Corps fighters and for Wagner mercenaries to join Russia’s state-controlled paramilitary force.

“Since the death of Prigozhin, Russia has had this whole plan to then make the Wagner Group fall under the command of the Ministry of Defense. One of the steps they made was to revamp or introduce the Africa Corps, which is the way in which the Russian paramilitaries would retain a presence in areas where the Wagner group has been operating,” Ochieng said.

Wagner has been present in Mali since late 2021 following a military coup, replacing French troops and international peacekeepers to help fight the militants. But the Malian army and Russian mercenaries struggled to curb violence in the country and have both been accused of targeting civilians.

Last month, United Nations experts urged Malian authorities to investigate reports of alleged summary executions and forced disappearances by Wagner mercenaries and the army.

In December, Human Rights Watch accused Malian armed forces and the Wagner Group of deliberately killing at least 32 civilians over an 8-month span.

The announcement of Wagner’s withdrawal comes as the Malian army and the Russian mercenaries suffered heavy losses during attacks by the Al-Qaeda linked group JNIM in recent weeks.

Last week, JNIM fighters killed dozens of soldiers in an attack on a military base in central Mali.

Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based Policy Center for the New South, said the major losses might have caused the possible end of Wagner’s mission.

“The lack of an official and mutual announcement from both the Malian authorities and Wagner indicate possible internal dispute which led to this sudden decision. Simultaneously, this could point to a new framework for Russian presence in the country,” he said.

Replacing Wagner with Africa Corps troops would likely shift Russia’s focus in Mali from fighting alongside the Malian army to training, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

“Africa Corps has a lighter footprint and focuses more on training, providing equipment and doing protection services. They fight less than the ‘Rambo-type’ Wagner mercenaries,” Laessing said.

‘Return to your country’ Kabul tells Afghans rebuffed by Washington

Updated 07 June 2025
Follow

‘Return to your country’ Kabul tells Afghans rebuffed by Washington

  • Akhund urged Afghans to return to their country, saying they would be protected even if they worked with US-led forces
  • “You will not face abuse or trouble”

KABUL: The Taliban government on Saturday urged Afghans hoping to emigrate to the United States to instead return to Afghanistan, after Washington tightened entry conditions.

US President Donald Trump this week announced a travel ban targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan, which his proclamation said lacked “competent” central authorities for processing passports and vetting.

Commenting on the ban on Saturday, Prime Minister Hassan Akhund urged Afghans to return to their country, saying they would be protected even if they worked with US-led forces in the two-decade fight against the Taliban insurgency.

“For those who are worried that America has closed its doors to Afghans... I want to tell them, ‘Return to your country, even if you have served the Americans for 20 or 30 years for their ends, and ruined the Islamic system’,” he said in a speech marking the Eid Al-Adha holiday, broadcast by state media.

“You will not face abuse or trouble,” he said, making reassurances that the Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had “granted amnesty for all.”

After surging to power in 2021, Taliban authorities announced a general amnesty for Afghans who worked with the Western-backed forces and government. However, the United Nations has recorded reports of extrajudicial killings, detentions and abuses.

In the past four years, the Taliban government has imposed a strict view of Islamic law and restrictions on women which the UN says amount to “gender apartheid.”

Afghans fled in droves to neighboring countries during decades of conflict, but the chaotic withdrawal of US-led troops saw a new wave clamouring to escape Taliban government curbs and fears of reprisal for working with Washington.

The United States has not had a working embassy in Afghanistan since 2021 and Afghans must apply for visas in third countries, principally Pakistan which has recently ramped up campaigns to expel Afghans.

Since Trump returned to the White House in January, Afghans have gradually seen their chances of migrating to the United States or staying there shrink.

Trump administration orders have disrupted refugee pathways and revoked legal protections temporarily shielding Afghans from deportation starting in July.


Ukrainian attack damaged 10 percent of Russia’s strategic bombers, Germany says

Updated 07 June 2025
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Ukrainian attack damaged 10 percent of Russia’s strategic bombers, Germany says

  • “More than a dozen aircraft were damaged, TU-95 and TU-22 strategic bombers as well as A-50 surveillance planes,” Freuding said
  • US estimates that Ukraine’s audacious drone attack hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes

BERLIN: A Ukrainian drone attack last weekend likely damaged around 10 percent of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet and hit some of the aircraft as they were being prepared for strikes on Ukraine, a senior German military official said.

“According to our assessment, more than a dozen aircraft were damaged, TU-95 and TU-22 strategic bombers as well as A-50 surveillance planes,” German Major General Christian Freuding said in a YouTube podcast reviewed by Reuters ahead of its publication later on Saturday.

The affected A-50s, which function similarly to NATO’s AWACS planes by providing aerial situational awareness, were likely non-operational when they were hit, said the general who coordinates Berlin’s military aid to Kyiv and is in close touch with the Ukrainian defense ministry.

“We believe that they can no longer be used for spare parts. This is a loss, as only a handful of these aircraft exist,” he said. “As for the long-range bomber fleet, 10 percent of it has been damaged in the attack according to our assessment.”

The United States estimates that Ukraine’s audacious drone attack hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes, destroying around 10 of them, two US officials told Reuters, and experts say Moscow will take years to replace the affected planes.

Despite the losses, Freuding does not see any immediate reduction of Russian strikes against Ukraine, noting that Moscow still retains 90 percent of its strategic bombers which can launch ballistic and cruise missiles in addition to dropping bombs.

“But there is, of course, an indirect effect as the remaining planes will need to fly more sorties, meaning they will be worn out faster, and, most importantly, there is a huge psychological impact.”

Freuding said Russia had felt safe in its vast territory, which also explained why there was little protection for the aircraft.

“After this successful operation, this no longer holds true. Russia will need to ramp up the security measures.”

According to Freuding, Ukraine attacked two air fields around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Moscow, as well as the Olenya air field in the Murmansk region and the Belaya air field, with drones trained with the help of artificial intelligence.

A fifth attack on the Ukrainka air field near the Chinese border failed, he said.

The bombers that were hit were part of Russia’s so-called nuclear triad which enables nuclear weapons deployment by air, sea and ground, he added.