Arab, Muslims and Chaldeans in key swing states meet with Arab Americans for Trump
Arab American supporters of President Donald Trump are hosting meetings in Michigan and soon in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Virginia and several more key swing states during the next three months. Arab Americans for Trump is also arranging meetings with key community leaders with former President Donald Trump
By Ray Hanania
Leaders of the Arab Americans for Trump (AAT) have organized a national tour to bring an “accurate message” from former President Donald Trump to Arab, Muslim and Middle East communities in key swing states.
Dr. Bihsrah (Bishara) Bahbah, chairman of Arab Americans for Trump, said they are arranging meetings “to discuss issues and concerns” of Arab, Muslim and Middle East Americans in Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Virginia and “wherever we are needed” to clarify and strengthen an understanding of what former President Donald Trump intends to do if re-elected.
Dr. Bahbah said that in the past few days he traveled with Dr. Massad Boulos to several cities in Michigan. In one of those meetings, they were joined by Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, an American Catholic of Middle East heritage and Ambassador Richard Grenell, also Trump’s former acting Director if U.S. National Intelligence. Dr. Boulos’s son Michael is married to Trump’s daughter, Tiffany.
“The response has been encouraging,” Dr. Bahbah said.
“Many Arabs, Muslims, Chaldeans who we met are showing an interest in hearing what the former president has to say and how he is different from President Joe Biden.”
On Wednesday, Dr. Bahbah and Dr. Boulos attended a dinner event in Dearborn with “Vote-Getters” who are leaders organized by newspaper publisher Osama Siblani. On Thursday Dr. Yahya Basha hosted a breakfast meeting with 50 Community leaders.
Later on Thursday, Dr. Bahbah and Dr. Boulos attended a meeting with high powered members of the large and influential Yemeni community in the Greater Detroit region.
Afterwards, they paid respect to the family of Melvindale, Michigan Police Officer Mohamed Said who was killed last Sunday. In the evening, they drove to Hamtramck, Michigan where they addressed the Chaldean Federation.
“The Yemeni community has more than 17,000 voters and no one has paid attention to their needs. President Trump will listen to their concerns,” Dr. Boulos said.
“We will speak with the Chaldean Christian community, who are mostly Iraqi Christians and answer their questions and address the issues they have. We want to hear from every Arab, Muslim and Middle East group and we want to explain how President Trump will be the most responsive to their needs.”
Dr. Boulos said Trump also wants to address the needs of the community here in the United States, to give them a real voice in his administration, to strengthen their businesses and create an ongoing dialogue of respect and understanding.
“Arabs and Muslims are conservative. They believe values. They oppose abortion. They believe strongly in religious freedom and not restricting religious beliefs. They believe in the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. They respect the roles of men and women working together to strengthen their families,” Dr. Boulos said. “This is what they believe in.”
He added, “Trump believes that the family values of the Arab and Muslim community reflect many of the same family values of the Republican Party, which is their natural home,” Boulos said.
Dr. Boulos said that Michigan is on the top of their list but they will be traveling to meet with community leaders, Imams, priests and activists in cities in many other states which have strong Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern communities.
Dr. Boulos thanked several local Arab and Muslim leaders who helped organize the meetings to address community issues and clarify former President Trump’s policies and goals for his second term in office.
Among those who organized the forums was Osama Siblani, publisher of the influential Arab American News, Arab America’s only weekly professional news publication which is based in Dearborn.
“We are still talking about the issues and we requested a meeting with Trump at the near future to express to him directly our concerns and hear directly from him on the issues that concern us. So far we are still far from reaching a firm convincing position that we can take it to our community for supporting the Trump presidency,” Siblani said.
“But, we aren’t giving up and Boulos has been very constructive in cultivating this dialogue so far. Yes, we met last night with group of Arab and other ethnic leaders in my newspaper offices and had a frank and open discussion. But it is to be continued at this time. No conclusion has been reached.”
Dr. Boulos said that the previous week, they organized a meet-and-greet in Grand Rapids, Michigan where the former President.
“We arranged to have 10 leaders from the Arab, Muslim, Christian, and Chaldean community to meet the president, ask questions and express their concerns and needs,” Dr. Boulos said.
“The president is very comfortable with the Arab and Muslim community. He is very interested in their interests a and their culture and with them. He asked me to spend time with them, especially in Michigan but to also arrange meetings for him with the community in other states. He is very pleased with what we are doing.”
We are trying to arrange multiple things including bringing leaders together with the president
Dr. Bahbah said Arab Americans for Trump are organizing a rally in Dearborn and also a roundtable discussion and forum for the community.
“We want the community to hear from the president and his representatives directly, not through the mainstream news media which not only has been unfair in presenting his views but is even more unfair in reporting on the Arab and Muslim community, marginalizing them and casting them int he most negative life,” Dr. Bahbah said.
“President Trump hopes that the community can hear from him directly, understand what he hopes to do, and listen to their concerns so they can be addressed better and more fairly.”
Dr. Bahbah and Dr. Boulos said that Trump supports peace in the Middle East, wants to support Palestinian needs towards statehood and end the violence that has taken the lives of innocent civilians on both sides, Palestinian and Israel.
“Trump has told us that had he been president, October 7th would have never happened, and the Gaza war would not have happened. Countless lives would have been saved,” Dr. Bahbah insisted, noting Trump wants to end the conflict as quickly as possible and help the Palestinians and the Israelis strengthen their security.
“He wants to work on peace and he wants to do it right away. He doesn’t want to wait. He wants to begin working on pace the moment he gets elected. It is a priority. He is totally against the killing of civilians. He wants the carnage to end. He was referring primarily to the civilians on the Palestinian side who are dying. He is pained by that.”
Dr. Bahbah said he and Dr. Boulos helped facilitate communications between Trump and Palestine National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, noting Abbas had sent Trump a letter seeking to end the violence and initiate peace.
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(Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall reporter and political columnist. This column was originally published in the Southwest News Newspaper Group in the Des Plaines Valley News, Southwest News-Herald, The Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers. For more information on Ray Hanania visit www.Hanania.com or email him at [email protected].)
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