Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Author:

American Muslims helped Biden win in 2020. Will they abandon him now?

American Muslims helped Biden win in 2020. Will they abandon him now?

In 2020, Joe Biden won the state of Michigan by a much closer margin over then-incumbent President Donald Trump than the polls and pundits had predicted: just more than 150,000 votes. Two partly overlapping sets of voters helped tip Biden over the line in Michigan and other vital swing states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin: Muslim Americans and Arab Americans. Now, four years later, as Biden and Trump head towards a rematch in November, the current Democratic Party incumbent faces the mounting prospects of a backlash from those very same voters, many of whom are seeking to bleed his re-election bid. Growing outrage over Washington’s support for Israel in its unprecedented bombardment of Gaza is many prompting Arab-American and Muslim voters to declare that they intend to stay away from the polls. As the US continues military funding for Tel Aviv, the number of Palestinians killed in the war on Gaza has risen to nearly 30,000 since October 7, many of them children. In Michigan, where early primaries begin this week, one-time Biden voters have promised to send his administration a strong message by sabotaging the elections, even as the president’s aides have scrambled to meet and mend broken ties with community leaders. Here’s what American Arab and Muslim communities want, why the two voting blocs are important for Biden, and the parts of the US where they are most influential: Residents of Detroit and the Arab Community of Dearborn march in support of Palestinians on October 14, 2023, in Dearborn, Michigan [Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images via AFP] What are Arab Americans demanding? Arab and Muslim communities say they’ve called on the Biden administration to speak up and halt the killings in Gaza with no results. Some are Palestinians with families and friends in the besieged strip. These communities have diverse demands, the main ones being that: The US support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and work to see Palestinian political prisoners, as well as Israeli captives, freed. Washington stops military funding to Israel. The US pushes for sufficient aid to Palestinians and resumes paused humanitarian funding to UNRWA, the UN aid agency under investigation amid accusations its staff members took part in Hamas’s October 7 attacks when 1,200 Israelis were killed. The US government do more to fight rising anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian hate. However, many say they’re not being heard and that Washington’s stance is particularly painful because of how they’ve supported Biden in the past. Communities in Dearborn, Detroit, and other major cities with significant Arab-American populations have successfully lobbied their local council leaders to pass unilateral resolutions for a ceasefire in Gaza. While the local laws do not weigh on US foreign policy, Mai El-Sadany, director of the DC-based Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) told Al Jazeera that local resolutions are symbolic and are pointers to the concerns and priorities of American citizens. “These spaces provide a platform for citizens to explain why this issue matters and how it affects them and their families,” El-Sadany said. “[Local councils] have the potential to be mobilising spaces to bring like-minded individuals together, to create a larger sense of urgency and pressure on policymakers who do have foreign policy influence to reconsider their approach.” What’s the ‘uncommitted’ option some voters want to go with? Some Arab-American voters are choosing to pull a no-show in state primaries, and – if Biden does not call for a ceasefire – at the November polls. Community leaders in Minnesota launched the #AbandonBiden campaign in October. Others say they plan to write “Free Palestine” on their unticked ballot papers. Still others, particularly in Michigan, are planning to turn out for the Democratic primaries — not to tick Biden’s name, but rather to choose the “uncommitted” option on ballots. The option signifies that voters support the party but are not attached to any of the listed candidates. An uncommitted vote will not count for Biden. At the same time, since Trump is not on the Democratic Party ballot, it will not count for him either. While there won’t be an uncommitted option in November in the general ballots, no-show votes and ballot papers not properly ticked from former Democratic Party supporters could reduce the vote count for Biden. Lexis Zeidan of Listen to Michigan, a group that has organised call-a-thons to get thousands of “uncommitted” Michigan voters on board, told Al Jazeera the effort was “to put President Biden on notice” after protests had failed to change the White House’s stance on Gaza. “You can’t weaponise this whole notion that because you’re not Republican, you’re the better party especially when you’re aiding a genocide and even more when you’re taking our taxes that could be reinvested in the communities that are suffering and you claim to care about,” said Zeidan, a Palestinian Christian who promises not to vote for Biden in November. The group is aiming for at least 10,000 people to vote uncommitted in the primaries, the same number of votes that helped Trump win Michigan in the 2016 elections, over Hillary Clinton. “For us, at the minimum, that’s the margin of votes that we can showcase that we are able to swing Michigan in any direction,” she said. Some 30 elected state leaders in Michigan have joined the movement, including Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in the US Congress. Dearborn city mayor Abdullah Hammoud in a New York Times opinion confirmed that he’d vote ‘uncommitted’ in the primaries, saying that in doing so, he was choosing “hope that Mr. Biden will listen”. Which states are Arab-American voting strongholds? There are approximately 3.5 million Arab Americans according to the Arab American Institute, making up around 1 percent of the US population. About 65 percent are Christians, approximately 30 percent are Muslim, and a small number practise Judaism. While these groups tend to vote based on varying interests, “there’s almost unanimous consensus on the need for a Gaza ceasefire,” said Youssef Chouhoud, a race and religion researcher with Virginia’s Christopher Newmark University (CNU). Dearborn,

Kharkiv’s metro stations are housing schools

Kharkiv’s metro stations are housing schools

NewsFeed Children in Kharkiv are now being taught in underground schools inside metro stations, to stay safe from Russian airstrikes. The Ukrainian city has been one of Russia’s main bombing targets since the war began. Published On 27 Feb 202427 Feb 2024 Adblock test (Why?)

Biden admin faces bipartisan backlash for allowing beef imports from Paraguay: ‘Cutting corners’

Biden admin faces bipartisan backlash for allowing beef imports from Paraguay: ‘Cutting corners’

Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Mike Rounds, R-S.D., introduced a resolution that would reverse the Biden administration’s recent action allowing beef imports from Paraguay. Late last year, the Department of Agriculture (USDA), after diplomatic engagements, finalized a rule to lift a long-standing ban on beef imports from Paraguay, which had been in effect for years due to the South American nation’s history of cattle-borne disease. Tester, Rounds and a broad coalition of livestock and agricultural associations have loudly opposed the action over its potential impact on U.S. food supplies. “My message to the Biden Administration is simple: cutting corners to resume beef imports from a country with a recent history of foot and mouth disease is bad news for both Montana consumers and producers, and I won’t let it stand,” Tester said in a statement. “Montana ranchers produce the best beef in the world, and it’s clear that the USDA doesn’t have the data to show that Paraguay meets the same animal health standards.” “That’s why I’m teaming up with Senator Rounds to overturn this decision from the Biden Administration that is giving a raw deal to American ranchers and could have dangerous impacts on our food supply,” the Montana Democrat added. GOP REP INTRODUCES RESOLUTION CONDEMNING UN FOR CALLING ON AMERICANS TO STOP EATING MEAT The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service finalized regulations in November allowing Paraguayan beef imports and issued a series of conditions importers must meet to ensure livestock diseases are not present in shipped products. The agency then began implementation of the rules one month later, despite criticism from lawmakers and U.S. industry groups. Paraguay’s livestock industry has a history of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), which spreads quickly among livestock and could severely threaten the U.S. economy.  LOCAL RESIDENTS EXPLODE AT BIDEN OFFICIALS OVER PLAN TO RELEASE GRIZZLY BEARS NEAR THEIR COMMUNITIES “Paraguay, on the other hand, has historically struggled to contain outbreaks of foot and mouth disease,” Rounds said. “Consumers across America should be able to confidently feed their families beef that they know has met the rigorous standards required in the United States.” However, the South American country has for years lobbied the U.S. government to reverse the import ban, saying it would increase consumer choice for Americans. According to a readout of a September meeting between the Paraguayan government and the White House Office of the United States Trade Representative, the two sides discussed the process to authorize the import of raw beef products. Paraguayan officials expressed their desire to resume raw beef product trade “as soon as possible.” The USDA’s public comment period last year attracted letters from Paraguayan cattle industry associations and government agencies, including the Embassy of Paraguay to the United States, which stated that “Paraguayan beef will be a big success in the U.S. market.” BIDEN RIPPED FOR LATEST ‘LAND GRAB’ BLOCKING KEY ENERGY, AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT The comment period attracted widespread opposition from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), regional affiliates of the group, the United States Cattlemen’s Association and the American Farm Bureau Federation. Those groups also endorsed the resolution introduced by Tester and Rounds. “USDA’s decision to allow Paraguayan beef imports into the U.S. creates an unnecessary risk to the health and safety of the U.S. cattle herd. U.S. cattle producers are held to the highest food safety and animal health standards in the world and any trade partner must be able to demonstrate they can meet those same standards,” said Kent Bacus, NCBA’s executive director of government affairs. “Given Paraguay’s long history of foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks, it is simply too risky to allow Paraguayan imports without recent site visits to confirm Paraguay’s safety claims,” Baucus continued. “U.S. cattle producers are thankful for the leadership of Senators Jon Tester and Mike Rounds for applying the Congressional Review Act to hold USDA accountable and protect our nation’s cattle herd.” REPUBLICANS RAISE ALARM AS BIDEN ADMIN PREPARES PLAN TO PROTECT WOLVES NATIONWIDE U.S. Cattlemen’s Association President Justin Tupper noted in a statement that the last time U.S. government officials inspected a meat processing facility in Paraguay was in 2014. “That nearly ten-year gap since the last site visit does not inspire confidence in Paraguay’s animal health and food safety protocols,” Tupper said. “Further, in its regulatory impact analysis, USDA fully admits that there is a real possibility we could import beef from an animal infected by FMD. An outbreak of FMD in the United States would be devastating for both producers and consumers, causing lasting financial losses between $33 and $93 billion.” The Livestock Marketing Association, National Farmers Union, Montana Farmers Union, Montana Stockgrowers Association, Montana Farm Bureau Federation and R-CALF USA also endorsed the resolution from Tester and Rounds. The resolution, meanwhile, was introduced under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), a law dating back nearly three decades that allows Congress to revoke federal regulations with a simple majority vote. It represents one of the few times a Democrat has introduced a CRA resolution for a Biden administration rule. USDA and the Embassy of Paraguay to the United States did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

McCaul threatens to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress for ‘withholding’ key Afghanistan documents

McCaul threatens to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress for ‘withholding’ key Afghanistan documents

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is threatening to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress, accusing him of failing to hand over key documents related to the U.S.’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. At the heart of the issue are interview notes that were used to put together the State Department’s After-Action Review (AAR) of the Afghanistan withdrawal. “The Committee’s patience has been exhausted, and it requires these files to complete its investigation and make legislative recommendations for this Congress to consider,” McCaul wrote. “Should the Department fail to produce the… files outlined below by March 6, 2024, the Committee is prepared to hold you in contempt of Congress.” ‘UNACCEPTABLE’: TALIBAN DEMANDED TREATMENT ‘SIMILAR TO RECOGNITION’ TO ATTEND UN MEETING He also accused Blinken of choosing “politics over policy” with the State Department’s decision to “withhold” the documents. It’s notably harsh language for McCaul, whose relationship with Blinken is relatively more cordial than that of other House Republican committee chairs investigating the Biden administration. In his letter, he noted multiple instances in which McCaul accused the department of stonewalling, including after he first requested notes from interviews with State officials taken by then-Ambassador Dan Smith, who led the AAR in September 2023.  He also listed ways in which the committee sought to accommodate the department. For example, McCaul wrote that the committee offered to redact names and address security concerns after State officials told him providing the notes would have a “significant chilling effect on the Department’s ability to conduct thorough and impactful lessons learned efforts to improve our foreign policy-making.” THINK THE US EXIT FROM AFGHANISTAN WAS BAD? LOOK WHAT’S BREWING IN THE PACIFIC “On November 28, 2023, the Committee once more requested the interview notes, stating that the Department had failed to produce any high-priority items in its last eight productions,” the letter said. “For the next month, the Department stated the priority items requested, including the AAR team’s interview notes, ‘either belong to a third agency or implicate significant Executive Branch confidentiality interests.’” When committee staff stressed that the documents were critical to the House’s probe, State officials responded that the decision was above their “paygrade,” according to the letter. BIDEN’S BOTCHED AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL HAUNTS 2024 ELECTION AS BOOK CLAIMS ‘13 AMERICANS NEVER HAD TO DIE’ “The Department’s stated reasons for withholding the interview notes are not rooted in law and, in fact, contravene Congress’s constitutional and statutory oversight authority,” McCaul wrote. “It is appalling that over two years after the deadly and chaotic withdrawal, the Department continues to choose politics over policy.” The Afghanistan AAR placed blame on both the Trump and Biden administrations for the disastrous withdrawal in August 2021. It said, “there was insufficient senior-level consideration of worst-case scenarios and how quickly those might follow.” The report said President Biden’s decision to follow through with former President Donald Trump’s vow to withdraw troops from Afghanistan – and to set a Sept. 11 deadline for it – ultimately “compounded the difficulties the Department faced in mitigating the loss of the military’s key enablers.” It was also critical of the Biden administration’s decision to hand over control of Bagram Air Base to the Afghan government, a decision that also earned Biden bipartisan condemnation from national security hawks. Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department about McCaul’s letter but did not immediately hear back.

Sen Hawley warns consulting firms against working with China to ‘undermine America’

Sen Hawley warns consulting firms against working with China to ‘undermine America’

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is urging global consulting firm McKinsey & Company to hand over “comprehensive documentation” showcasing its past or present contracts with the Chinese government or its affiliates. “Your company alleges that its purpose is to ‘help create positive, enduring change in the world.’ You should know that helping totalitarian foreign powers undermine America does not meet that bar,” Hawley wrote in the letter. “This ugly record can—and must—inform whether the American government, or anyone else, can safely trust your company’s services in the future.” During a hearing earlier this month, McKinsey global partner Robert Sternfels testified in response to Hawley’s questioning that the company “never worked with the Chinese Communist Party or the central government in China, to the best of my knowledge.”  ENES KANTER FREEDOM SAYS NBA ‘RUN BY THE CHINESE DICTATORSHIP’ AFTER EXECUTIVE RECORDINGS SURFACE However, a Financial Times report last week found otherwise. The investigation found that the think tank Urban China Inititative, helmed by McKinsey, recommended strategies to the Chinese regime in 2015, urging closer collaboration between businesses and the military. “To be clear, this was not just any consulting work. It was the creation of a detailed roadmap for the Chinese government’s long-term scientific and technical development, including plans to blur the lines between civilian and military technological applications,” Hawley wrote. “Among other recommendations, the book also advocated undercutting non-Chinese companies through explicitly anticompetitive practices—such as subsidizing domestic internet companies’ bid to ‘eventually take control of the industry from foreign firms.’” McKinsey contributed to China’s 13th Five-Year Plan book — and also provided a forward to the book — which has sparked tensions with the U.S. due to policies like Made in China 2025, an initiative to position China as the global powerhouse in high-tech industries. “Indeed, this McKinsey-led product directly contributed to China’s Made in China 2025 industrial plan, which accelerated Chinese trade abuses and the deterioration of U.S.-China relations,” Hawley wrote. CHINESE MIGRANTS POURING ACROSS SOUTHERN BORDER SPARK NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS  Hawley reintroduced a bill, called the Time to Choose Act, which aims to address conflicts of interest in federal contracting and prohibits consulting firms like McKinsey & Company from simultaneously contracting with both the U.S. government and entities associated with the People’s Republic of China.  The legislation was first rolled out in 2022 after an NBC report unveiled that McKinsey was also engaged in contracts with Chinese state-owned entities which had been blacklisted by the federal government over national security threats. The bill failed to gain momentum at the time.  CHINESE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ON PACE TO BREAK RECORDS AT US SOUTHERN BORDER If passed, the bill would also enforce penalties on consulting firms found to be intentionally concealing or misrepresenting contracts with Chinese entities. In December, McKinsey agreed to pay $78 million to settle claims by U.S. health insurers and benefit plans that its work with drug companies helped fuel an epidemic of opioid addiction. The agreement was the final of a series of settlements McKinsey reached to resolve lawsuits over the U.S. opioid epidemic. The firm previously paid $641.5 million to resolve claims by state attorneys general and another $230 million to resolve claims by local governments. It has also settled cases brought by Native American tribes. Fox News Digital reached out to Sternfels for comment.  Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.

NY AG taunts Trump about interest he owes on civil fraud judgment

NY AG taunts Trump about interest he owes on civil fraud judgment

New York Attorney General Letitia James appeared to taunt former President Trump about the interest he may own in a civil fraud judgment.  Trump’s legal team on Monday appealed a Feb. 16 ruling from New York Judge Arthur Engoron’s finding him liable for more than $350 million in damages in the civil fraud case brought against him by James. Engoron ordered Trump to pay just over $354 million, with post-judgment interest accruing at nearly $112,000 per day.  “In a massive victory, we won our case against Donald Trump for engaging in years of incredible financial fraud to enrich himself. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, and his former executives must pay over $450 million in disgorgement and interest,” James wrote on X, celebrating on the same day of the judgment.  On Feb. 23, James, who has denied having a “personal vendetta” against Trump despite remarks suggesting otherwise, posted flatly, “$464,576,230.62.”  “+$114,553.04,” she added in another post the next day, referring to the potential added interest Trump may be on the hook for.  TRUMP APPEALS RULING IN MASSIVE NY CIVIL FRAUD CASE Again, on Feb. 25, James posted, “+$114,553.04 = $464,805,336.70.”  James’ case also targeted Trump’s family and the Trump Organization. Engoron ruled that Trump and co-defendants – his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump and two former Trump Organization executives – were liable for “persistent and repeated fraud,” “falsifying business records,” “issuing false financial statements,” “conspiracy to falsify false financial statements,” “insurance fraud,” and “conspiracy to commit insurance fraud.” The former president’s lawyers filed notices of appeal Monday, asking the state’s mid-level appeals court to overturn Engoron’s Feb. 16 verdict in James’ lawsuit and reverse staggering penalties that threaten to wipe out Trump’s cash reserves. Trump’s lawyers wrote in court papers that they are asking the appeals court to decide whether Engoron “committed errors of law and/or fact” and whether he abused his discretion or “acted in excess” of his jurisdiction. A notice of appeal starts the appeals process in New York. Trump’s lawyers will have an opportunity to expand on their grievances in subsequent court filings. TRUMP VISITS MANHATTAN COURT TO BLAST NYAG CASE, PRAISES APPELLATE RULING IN HIS FAVOR Trump was not required to pay his penalty or post a bond in order to appeal, and appealing will not automatically halt enforcement of the judgment. The Republican presidential frontrunner has until March 25 to secure a stay, a legal mechanism pausing collection while he appeals. Trump would receive an automatic stay if he puts up money, assets or an appeal bond covering what he owes. Trump’s lawyers could also ask the appeals court to grant a stay without obtaining a bond or with a bond for a lower amount. There was no indication on the court docket Monday that Trump had already posted an appeal bond or asked for a stay, according to The Associated Press.  “We trust that the Appellate Division will overturn this egregious fine and take the necessary steps to restore the public faith in New York’s legal system,” Trump lawyer Alina Habba said.  Trump maintains that he is worth several billion dollars and testified last year that he had about $400 million in cash, in addition to properties and other investments.  James, a Democrat, told ABC News that if Trump is unable to pay, she will seek to seize some of his assets. Trump said Engoron’s decision, the costliest consequence of his recent legal battles, was “election interference” and “weaponization against a political opponent.” Trump said he was being punished for “having built a perfect company, great cash, great buildings, great everything.” Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and The Associated Press contributed to this report.