Iowa legislator urges Arab-American state candidates to focus on local issues first

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Updated 13 August 2023
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Iowa legislator urges Arab-American state candidates to focus on local issues first

Iowa legislator urges Arab-American state candidates to focus on local issues first

CHICAGO: Iowa’s first elected Arab-American legislator, Sami Scheetz, said that he believes candidates who run for statewide offices should focus on local issues and leave Middle East issues to national office-holders.

In many instances, Arab and Muslims elected to local and state office have sought to address or impact foreign policy issues in the Middle East.

But Scheetz, whose mother is Syrian and Palestinian and whose father is white ethnic, is very proud of his Arab-American heritage and culture, which he said has had a long presence in Iowa, a Midwest, mostly farmland, state.

“Having that multicultural background I think was something that was extremely formative in shaping how I viewed the world and how I viewed politics, and through the lens that I view advocacy and organizing,” Scheetz told Arab News.

“I think having that different experience is extremely important to the work that I do at the Iowa House of Representatives. And being elected as the first Arab-American of the House of Representatives, or the legislature in general, here in Iowa, was extremely heartwarming for me. Because we in Cedar Rapids have over a 130-140-year history of a really prominent and really proud Arab-American community. We have the oldest mosque in North America, in Cedar Rapids. And in my legislative district we have an Arab-Christian church that has been around for generations. It is a part of the community here in Cedar Rapids that has been vocal, prominent and a group that I am very, very proud to be a product of.”

Scheetz, whose parents work helping immigrants, added: “Obviously growing up in an Arab household and having Arab relatives, there is no way you can get around not knowing what is going on in the Middle East and hearing a thousand different opinions on what is happening and on which country. It is something that is always in the back of my mind.”

The National Park Service identifies the Mother Mosque in Cedar Rapids, which dates from Feb. 15, 1934, as the first building to house Muslim services in America.

A Democrat, Scheetz was elected in November 2022 to represent the Iowa 78th House District, which has about 60,000 constituents and includes the city of Cedar Rapids. He said that his Arab heritage was not a major campaign issue in Iowa’s legislative race, although it was “extremely important” to him.

Scheetz said that voters he spoke with were first and foremost concerned about local issues in that state election and not on Middle East politics, which he said is something that states should not engage in and should leave to Federal office-holders.

“When I knock on doors and listen to people, even Arab-Americans included, the majority of what I heard about were things that we all talk about on a state level and national level campaign — it was our public education system, it was our health care system. It was at the time record inflation that people were facing and how that was impacting their family’s ability to buy basic things like groceries and gasoline or baby formula for younger parents. Those were the conversations that I was hearing over and over again and that is mostly what I focused on when I was running. It was focused mostly on Iowa in the Iowa legislature,” Scheetz said.

“That was the kind of message that I was discussing and listening to when I talked to voters. Middle East politics; I can argue not just the Middle East but foreign policy in general is not something that is on top of mind for a majority of American voters.”

He said Arab-Americans who do run for legislative seats or even local public offices should make issues that directly impact their constituents and their districts their priority and leave foreign policy to the nationally elected members of Congress and to the president.

“It just shouldn’t be the role of a state legislature to get involved in directly, really important US national security and foreign policy decisions. That is what we elect our Congress people for, our senators, and that is why we elect our president to lead and enact those foreign policy objectives. And there is a host of reasons why different communities including the Arab community should be organizing and activating around these issues,” Scheetz said.

Scheetz won without ever holding prior public office. He graduated from Georgetown University and worked on the re-election campaign of former president, Barack Obama. His experience also includes working to support US President Joe Biden, but he became familiar with many Middle East issues through his family life and while working in Dubai for the US State Department.

“It is an incredible part of my identity that I am extremely proud of. And I am very proud of, like I mentioned earlier, being the first Arab-American in our legislature from the community in Cedar Rapids, that has had such an old and proud Arab-American community,” Scheetz said.

“So, it is something that I think about all the time. It is something I am very proud of. But when it comes to the daily work of the state legislature, big foreign policy issues and issues like the census are not in our purview ... You wouldn’t want the state of Alabama, the state of Iowa and the state of Illinois all having different foreign policies on some of these (Middle East) questions that are extremely important to US National Security and Foreign policy.”

Scheetz criticized the failure of the US Census to identify Arab-Americans but said that they have been a strong presence in Iowa since the 19th century, with Christian and Muslim immigrants initially coming in large waves from Lebanon and Syria.

“It’s more of a federal issue that the United States Congress needs to address because the census is federal. Now that we have more Arab-American representation in Congress, I think hopefully that is something that can get passed,” he said of the absence of an Arab category on the US Census.

But he stressed: “Most foreign policy is in the purview of Congress and the president.”

Scheetz made his comments during an appearance on The Ray Hanania Radio Show, broadcast on the US Arab Radio Network and sponsored by Arab News, the voice of a changing region. The audio podcast of the interview is available at ArabNews.com

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


Indonesia looks into potential aviation, railway cooperation with Saudi Arabia

Indonesia looks into potential aviation, railway cooperation with Saudi Arabia
Updated 06 December 2023
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Indonesia looks into potential aviation, railway cooperation with Saudi Arabia

Indonesia looks into potential aviation, railway cooperation with Saudi Arabia
  • Indonesia, Saudi transport ministers held talks in Riyadh on Sunday
  • Jakarta also eyeing Saudi investment on Indonesian railways

JAKARTA: Indonesia was hoping for closer cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the aviation sector and to develop its urban transportation, the southeast Asian country’s Ministry of Transportation has revealed.

Indonesian Minister of Transport Budi Karya Sumadi held a meeting with his Saudi counterpart Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser in Riyadh on Sunday, where they explored potential cooperation between the two nations.

In a statement issued by his ministry, Sumadi said: “This is a big momentum for our two countries to continue cooperation in transportation, which has been going really well.”

Sumadi was in the Saudi capital to attend the 15th International Civil Aviation Organization’s Air Services Negotiation event, partaking in a ministerial session alongside Al-Jasser and other transport officials.

His trip follows Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s state visit to the Kingdom in October, when officials discussed the formation of a negotiation team for the Indonesia-Saudi Arabia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

“There are plenty of other collaboration opportunities we can do, especially for Hajj flights and the development of urban transportation,” Sumadi added.

The Indonesian minister had highlighted recent urban transportation developments in Saudi cities during his meeting with Al-Jasser, projects happening at a time when Indonesian cities were also developing mass transport systems.

“There’s an opportunity for (Saudi Arabia) to invest in Indonesia’s railways, which has to be further discussed,” Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Adita Irawati told Arab News on Wednesday.

“Saudi Arabia’s experience in developing urban railways can also be a benchmark for Indonesia.”

Indonesia was looking into the possibility of establishing a joint venture for domestic flights with Saudi airlines, the ministry said, as the country also hoped to increase flights between the two nations to facilitate more Indonesian pilgrims.

“On aviation, the importance of cooperation is related to Umrah and Hajj flights as there is a large volume of Indonesian pilgrims,” Irawati added.

Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, sends the biggest Hajj contingent and hundreds of thousands of Umrah pilgrims to Saudi Arabia every year.


Former UK leader Boris Johnson apologizes to COVID-19 victims families

Former UK leader Boris Johnson apologizes to COVID-19 victims families
Updated 06 December 2023
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Former UK leader Boris Johnson apologizes to COVID-19 victims families

Former UK leader Boris Johnson apologizes to COVID-19 victims families
  • Former PM begins giving evidence at a public inquiry into his government’s handling of the health crisis

LONDON: Boris Johnson on Wednesday apologized for “the pain and the loss and the suffering” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as he began giving evidence at a public inquiry into his government’s handling of the health crisis.
The former prime minister, who has faced a barrage of criticism from former aides for alleged indecisiveness and a lack of scientific understanding during the pandemic, is facing two days in the witness box.
Johnson, who was forced from office last year over lockdown-breaching parties held in Downing Street during the pandemic, accepted that “mistakes” had “unquestionably” been made.
“I understand the feeling of the victims and their families and I’m deeply sorry for the pain and the loss and the suffering to those victims and their families,” Johnson said.
Johnson, 59, was briefly interrupted as a protester was ordered from the inquiry room after refusing to sit down during the apology.
“Inevitably we got some things wrong,” Johnson continued, before adding “we did our level best” and that he took personal responsibility for decisions made.
The former premier had arrived around three hours early for the proceedings, with some suggesting he was eager to avoid relatives of the COVID-19 bereaved who gathered outside later in the morning.
Nearly 130,000 people died with COVID-19 in the UK by mid-July 2021, one of the worst official per capita tolls among Western nations.
Johnson will insist the decisions he took ultimately saved hundreds of thousands of lives, the Times newspaper reported, citing a lengthy written statement set to be published later Wednesday.
The Times said he would argue he had a “basic confidence that things would turn out alright” on the “fallacious logic” that previous health threats had not proven as catastrophic as feared.
But he is expected to say that overall, the government succeeded in its main goal of preventing the state-run health service from being overwhelmed by making the “right decisions at the right times.”
He will also say that while the country’s death toll was high, it defied most of the gloomiest predictions and “ended the pandemic well down the global league table of excess mortality.”
According to The Times, Johnson, who quit in part because of revelations about lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street, has reviewed 6,000 pages of evidence and spent hours in talks with lawyers.
He can expect to be questioned on whether he thought the government was initially complacent about the pandemic, despite evidence suggesting a more proactive approach was needed.
He will also need to justify his timing of the first UK lockdown on March 23, 2020, which some senior ministers, officials and scientific advisers now believe was too late.
Johnson, who was treated in hospital intensive care for COVID-19 early on in the pandemic, is expected to say that shutting down the country went against all his personal and political instincts.
But he had no choice because “ancient and hallowed freedoms were in conflict with the health of the community.”
Johnson’s understanding of specialist advice is likely to come under scrutiny after his former chief scientific officer, Patrick Vallance, said the former premier was frequently “bamboozled” by data.
Comments about lockdowns and the death toll, including a claim that Johnson suggested the elderly might be allowed to die because they had “had a good innings,” could also be raised.
Johnson has denied claims he said he would rather “let the bodies pile high” than impose another lockdown.
Johnson’s former top aide Dominic Cummings and communications chief Lee Cain both criticized their ex-boss when they gave evidence at the inquiry.
Cummings said a “low point” was when Johnson circulated a video to his scientific advisers of “a guy blowing a special hairdryer up his nose ‘to kill Covid’.”
Cain said COVID-19 was the “wrong crisis” for Johnson’s skill set, adding that he became “exhausted” by his alleged indecision and oscillation in dealing with the crisis.
“He’s somebody who would often delay making decisions, would often seek counsel from multiple sources and change his mind on issues,” Cain said.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was Johnson’s finance minister during the pandemic, is due to be questioned at the inquiry in the coming weeks.


Death toll in Philippine ‘killer curve’ bus accident rises

Death toll in Philippine ‘killer curve’ bus accident rises
Updated 06 December 2023
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Death toll in Philippine ‘killer curve’ bus accident rises

Death toll in Philippine ‘killer curve’ bus accident rises
  • Bus carrying dozens of people when its brakes failed in the central province of Antique on Tuesday afternoon
  • The Philippines is notorious for its lax regulation on public transportation and poorly maintained roads

MANILA: A passenger severely injured when a bus plunged into a ravine in the central Philippines has died, taking the death toll from the accident to 17, authorities said on Wednesday.
The bus was carrying dozens of people when its brakes failed in the central province of Antique on Tuesday afternoon, the local governor, Rhodora Cadiao, told a press conference.
Seven people were in critical condition while four were stable and recovering, she said.
Local media had reported earlier than 28 died in the crash.
Cadiao said the bus was traveling to Culasi in Antique from the neighboring province of Iloilo when its brakes malfunctioned on a winding road and it plunged 30 meters (98.5 feet) into the ravine.
“We call that area the killer curve. It was already the second bus that fell off there,” Cadiao told DZRH radio station.
Rescue operations at the site have stopped after all visible bodies were retrieved, the Antique government said on Facebook.
“The engineering design of this road is very faulty,” Cadiao said. “I want to condemn that road already.”
The Philippines is notorious for its lax regulation on public transportation and poorly maintained roads.


US Navy patrol plane flies over sensitive Taiwan Strait

US Navy patrol plane flies over sensitive Taiwan Strait
Updated 06 December 2023
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US Navy patrol plane flies over sensitive Taiwan Strait

US Navy patrol plane flies over sensitive Taiwan Strait
  • China claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, and says it has jurisdiction over the strait

BEIJING: A US Navy patrol aircraft flew through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, the US military said, describing the mission as a demonstration of the country’s commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
China claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, and says it has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.
The US Navy’s 7th Fleet said the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance plane, which is also used for anti-submarine missions, flew over the strait in international airspace.
“The aircraft’s transit of the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States military flies, sails and operates anywhere international law allows,” it said in a statement.
There was no immediate comment from China.
The last time the US Navy announced a Poseidon had flown through the strait, in October, China said it had sent fighter jets to monitor and warn the aircraft.
Taiwan is gearing up for presidential and parliamentary elections on Jan. 13, which China has cast as a choice between war and peace.
China has stepped up its military activity around Taiwan in the past four years, including staging two rounds of major war games over the last year and a half.


Joe Biden tells campaign donors: I am running for reelection to prevent Donald Trump’s return

Joe Biden tells campaign donors: I am running for reelection to prevent Donald Trump’s return
Updated 06 December 2023
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Joe Biden tells campaign donors: I am running for reelection to prevent Donald Trump’s return

Joe Biden tells campaign donors: I am running for reelection to prevent Donald Trump’s return
  • President using a trio of fundraisers to caution against what might happen should his predecessor again claim control of the White House

BOSTON: President Joe Biden told campaign donors Tuesday that he wasn’t sure he’d be running for reelection if Donald Trump wasn’t also in the race, warning that democracy is “more at risk in 2024” and that the former president and his allies are out to “destroy” democratic institutions.
The president was using a trio of fundraisers to caution against what might happen should his predecessor again claim control of the White House, noting that Trump has described himself as his supporters’ “retribution” and has vowed to root out “vermin” in the country.
“We’ve got to get it done, not because of me. ... If Trump wasn’t running I’m not sure I’d be running. We cannot let him win,” Biden said, hitting the last words slowly for emphasis.
Biden’s forceful rhetoric came as Trump, the current GOP front-runner, who tried to overturn the 2020 election he lost and is facing criminal charges connected to those efforts, attempted over the weekend to turn the tables by calling Biden the “destroyer of American democracy.”
Trump on Tuesday was asked by Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity to promise he “would never abuse power as retribution against anybody.”
“Except for day one,” Trump responded. “I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill.”
“After that I’m not a dictator,” Trump added.
Biden’s campaign quickly seized on the comments with an email that read, “Donald Trump: Day One Dictator.” Later, Biden was asked by reporters whether he would be running if Trump wasn’t and gave a slightly different comment, saying, “I expect so, but look, he is running and I have to run.”
He was asked if he would drop out if Trump did and said, “No, not now.”
Biden, who said he is not alone in sounding the alarm over Trump, noted that Trump is the “only losing candidate” in US history to not accept the results. Biden also said that on Jan. 6, 2021, as Trump supporters violently stormed the US Capitol in a failed attempt to stop the certification of the election results, Trump sat in his dining room just off the Oval Office, “watching them threaten his own vice president.”
Biden also highlighted recent warnings about Trump from former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, calling her a “powerful voice.”
“American democracy, I give you my word as a Biden, is at stake,” the president said at the first of three campaign fundraisers in the Boston area. Drawing some laughter from donors, Biden also mused: “He didn’t even show up at my inauguration. I can’t say I was disappointed, but he didn’t even show up.”
The warnings by Biden are increasingly part of his pitch to donors: that democracy is at stake if Trump were to win again and he must be defeated. The president is pushing to raise money for his reelection effort before the end of the year, appearing at seven events through Monday — with more to come. The events in Boston on Tuesday benefit his campaign and the broader Democratic Party.
They included an evening event in the city’s theater district featuring a concert by singer-songwriter James Taylor, who helped kick off a White House event in 2022 celebrating the Inflation Reduction Act, a climate and health care bill that Biden signed into law.
Onstage, Biden joked to the packed theater audience that he wouldn’t be long because he knew he was “the only thing standing” between the audience and the performance by Taylor.
“We’re always going to defend protect and fight for democracy,” he said. “That’s why I’m running.”
November was the campaign’s strongest grassroots fundraising month since Biden formally announced last April that he was seeking a second term, according to a campaign official who insisted on anonymity to discuss campaign finances before details are made public. The numbers will be released in January.
In October, Biden and the Democratic National Committee reported raising more than $71 million for his reelection in the three months ending Sept. 30, a sign that donors remained behind him going into the 2024 presidential race.
Biden had only political events on his public schedule for Tuesday, which is rare. Presidents who are running for reelection typically include an official event, like a policy speech, on the schedule to help defray costs for their campaign.
Biden will also attend a fundraiser Wednesday near the White House and another one Monday in Philadelphia. He’ll headline fundraisers in Washington, D.C., and in Maryland later in December.
On Friday, Biden will head to Los Angeles for a big-dollar event that will be his first since strikes by writers and actors effectively ground his fundraising to a halt in the heart of the entertainment industry, which has long served as a major source of campaign money for Democrats.