Transcript

2.10.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for February tenth,
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twenty twenty five is a reminder Reading Why as a
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reading service intended for people who are blind or have
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other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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Your reader for today, I'm Howard Kleiman. By listenering request.
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On Mondays, we begin by reading Paul Prather's weekly column
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from the Lexington Narrow Leader. This week's article is entitled
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Departing Southland Leaders as love has been his motivation for ministry.
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In January, John Weiss, the senior pastor official title lead
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Follower at Central Kentucky's Southland Christian Church, announced till step
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down from his position in January of next year to
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become just a regular member of the church. At fifty one,
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he's led the megachurch for twenty five years, having been
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chosen chosen for the job when he was only twenty six.
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He has a huge responsibility. In a typical week, Southland
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draws a total of fourteen thousand worshippers to five campuses.
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It has one hundred and twenty people on the staff
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and six thousand, eight thousand volunteers. Weis's successor has already
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been named Scott Nickel. It's forty five and he's currently
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serving as the church's teaching pastor. I caught up with
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Wes at Southland's main Harrodsburg Road campus. The condensed version
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of our conversation follows. It's been edited for length and
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flow in clarity. First, I asked, why did you decide
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to leave the pastor a now at such a relatively
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early age. Weisee answered, I've seen preachers make one of
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two mistakes when it comes to their tenure at a church.
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They either leave too early they stay too long. I've
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tried to strike a balance with that find an age
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I fell. It was a good age where the church was,
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first of all, in a healthy spot and stable enough
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that it could handle a transition. Secondly, I needed someone
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to pass the baton to that had been here and
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build trust with the church. Scott's been on staff since
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twenty seventeen. He's not a stranger to the church. They
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know him and they trust him. Scott's born and raised
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in this church, so he loves his place. Next question,
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I asked, is what's next for you? Well, I've told
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our leaders I'll serve the people here until I die.
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I love the people of Southland. I'll do weddings and
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funerals and hospital visits and serve in any capacity that's needed.
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I just won't be on staff anymore. So I do
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have to get a job and put food on the table.
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But I also have a ministry idea related to feeding
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kids here in Kentucky and doing what I can do
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to help eradicate hunger. I'm going to have a job
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that hopefully a lot calls me to fund power of
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that ministry. I then asked, has Southland's attendants in recent
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years gone up or down? Many churches are suffering a
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sharp decline. We answered, it's interesting. Beginning in twenty twenty two,
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we've experienced our greatest growth in the history of the
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church in terms of giving and attendance record numbers. Now,
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in twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, that wasn't the case.
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We saw a dip, but then we all of a
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sudden just came roaring back. Pray. There's next question was
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what's enabled Southland to grow while others are going in
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the opposite direction. We said, we spend a lot of
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time and a lot of attention, invests a lot of
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energy and resources into our children's and student ministry. I
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think after the pandemic, when kids were isolated at home
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and people were looking for activities and places where their
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kids could come and participate, get out of the house
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a little bit, our doors were open. And that's one piece.
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I think. The other piece is that our culture is
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so divided right now and our church is so united.
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I don't know that I've ever seen our church as
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healthy as we are right now. It's palpable. People come
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in and they immediately sense it. I think they're looking
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for a breather from what they see or hear on
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social media and in the news. Our church provides that
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place of rest. Prather asked, how have you maintained that equilibrium?
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Surely have members from across a social and political divide.
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We said, we definitely have half and half, you know,
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length the country. I think our churches probably divided politically,
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but were united around our mission. We made our mission
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our bull's eye, and we try to keep everyone focused
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on how do we love the people of Kentucky the
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way that God's loved us. Keeping everybody focused on that
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mission has allowed us to set the things we disagree
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about on the shelf, because they're not as important as
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that mission. You know, it's so hard anymore to know
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who's telling the truth and culture. But we just try
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to stay true to God's word and let it speak,
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and that resonates with people because it doesn't make enemies
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out of people. I always tell our church people are
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never your enemy. We have one common enemy, that's Satan.
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Everybody you come in contact with is the object of
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God's intense love needs to be the object of our
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intense love too, Prayther said. Asked, it must be stressful
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to be the head of an enormous ministry such as Southland.
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You ever feel betterned out? We said no, I've been
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worn out, but not burned out in ministry. Anyone who
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serves in the full time capacity in a church is
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going to experience fatigue because you're dealing with people's problems,
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and no matter how well trained you are, there's always transference.
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During the COVID years especially, we saw a lot of depression,
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a lot of anxiety, a lot of suicide. I'd be
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lying to you if I said I didn't carry some
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of that burden. But I do a lot of things
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to mitigate against that. I exercise. I run every day,
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and that's a stress reliever. I hunt dear turkey, dove,
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a little bit of everything, bohunter. Primarily that's a stress reliever.
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Just to be in the woods by myself with my
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son and I have really good friends who like really
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good food, and we find a lot of little local
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restaurants in the area and we just enjoy each other's company,
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and that tends to settle me down and remind me
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of God's goodness. If you're not intentional about where you
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take stress, you'll take it straight to the people who
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deserve it the least, like your wife and your kids.
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I never wanted to sacrifice my family on the altar
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of ministry. Prayed asked, if you had to say what
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your best gift as a minister is, what would it be.
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Wi Weese answered, I genuinely love people, and I don't
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think you ever have too many friends. So I enjoy
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building friendships one on one. But I also bill enjoy
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building friendships through preaching. So if I'm talking to one
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person or ten thousand people, I want to leave them
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with the impression that I genuinely care about them because
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I do. Prayther asked what are you looking forward to
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most about stepping down? We said, I'll enjoy having more
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time to be with my family, and I'll enjoy being
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an older brother who cheers on the next generation of
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leaders in this community. I love seeing the next generation thrive,
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and I don't want to be a burden to them.
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I want to be a blessing. And now we turn
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to the reading of the Washington Post. There are six
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stories on the front page and they're headlined Democrats' ways
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stand on spending, Jordan wary of Trump's proposal, letters of
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longing and sorrow, fill Japan's missing post office plan, ryles
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newly won voters in Michigan Guantanamo plan could be a
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legal black hole. And Musk's ex staff warns of long
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hours and firings. So again, that first story from the
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front page of the Washington Post is headlined some Democrats
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vow to use leverage in government funding fight, and it's
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written by Merano Alfaro of the Post. Some Democrats warn
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they will not cooperate with Republicans and reaching a government
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funding deal because of their objections to President Donald Trump's
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and Elon Musk's unilateral actions to radically downsize the federal government.
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At least one Democrat did so clearly Sunday, as Republicans
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struggle to craft to compromise that will continue government spending
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after March fourteenth, Republicans have in the past few years
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struggled to meet funding deadlines because of strenuous opposition from
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our right lawmakers. Republicans have had it repeatedly turn to
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Democrats for help. Look, if we have to take steps
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to be able to hold them accountable, use the leverage
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that we have to force it. I can't support efforts
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that will continue this lawlessness that we're seeing when it
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comes to this administration's actions. Senator Andy Kim, a Democrat
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from New Jersey, said that yesterday on NBC Newses meet
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the press and for us to be able to support
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government funding in that way only for them to turn
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it around and dismantle the government, that's not something that
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should be allowed. This is on them, Kim continued, referring
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to Republicans. Kim is one of several Democratic senators who
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have fiercely protested the effective shutdown of the US Agency
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for International Development Development after Trump ordered to foreign aid
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freeze and musk US Doage Service showed up at the
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agency's headquarters. Kim and other Democrats have said thelateral gutting
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of USAID is unconstitutional because it was created by Congress
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and Warren the action will serve as a playbook for
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other actions that they contend are legal. I've worked through
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multiple government shutdowns. I would be the last person to
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want to get to that stage, Kim said. But we're
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at a point where we basically are on the cusp
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of a constitutional crisis, seeing this administration administration taking steps
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that are so clearly illegal, and until we see a
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change in that behavior, we shouldn't allow and condone that,
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nor should we assist in it. Senator Chris Murphy, a
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Democrat from Connecticut, one of the most vocal critics of
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the assault on USAID, told ABC Newses this week, people
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are angry President and his allies one quote. Everyone to
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stay quiet. This is a fundamental corruption and democracies don't
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last forever, Murphy said, and he continued, we see this
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as a crisis of epic proportions. We were watching the
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billionaires try to steal government from the people, and I
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think the broad cross section of the American public, as
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you've seen in the last week, it is going to
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rise up and say enough. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer,
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Democrat from New York, set up a new whistleblower complaint
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portal for federal workers, urging them to submit reports of
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allegedly unlawful activity in their respective agencies. The form is
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similar to one available on the website of Republican Senator
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Chuck Grassley. In a letter sent to Public Service and
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obtained by the Post, Senate Democrats said they're ready to
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support any whistleblower seeking this sh share information about quote wrongdoing,
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abuse of power, and threats to public safety. Democrats emphasize
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the role of the Whistleblower Protection Act and prohibiting retaliation
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against federal employees who disclose evidence of possible wrongdoing, and
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they vowed to investigate the Trump administration's actions through oversight requests, hearings,
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and inquiries. As Senate Republicans refused to fulfill their constitutional
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duty to provide a check on the executive branch, Senate
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Democrats remained steadfast in our commitment to uncovering truth. Democrats
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wrote that, and they added were prepared to issue demand letters,
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preserve public records, conduct public hearings, and pursue legal action
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when necessary. Over the past week, Trump and Mosque the
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World's Richest Man, and taken a sledgehammer to fifteen government agencies,
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including USAID and Department of the Treasury, and the Office
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of Personnel Management. While Republicans in the House and Senate
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have largely remained supportive of Trump's and Musk's action, Democrats,
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who as the minority in both chambers, have little legislative
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power to limit the White House, have struggled to form
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a cohesive defense, but one seems to be building around
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their singular point of legislative leverage right now, a deadline
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to fund the government coming up in a little over
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a month. While Republicans retain a slim congressional majority, House
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Speaker Mike Johnson has said has had rather considerable trouble
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corralling its members to spend government funds. Republicans generally need
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sixty votes in the Senate to pass funding the deals.
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Talks between Democrats and Republicans to fund the government haven't
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made much progress in recent weeks. As that March fourteenth
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deadline looms, appropriators have yet to reach a deal on
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spending totals for defense and non military spending. Thursday, Johnson
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blamed Democrats for appropriator's failure to reach a top line number,
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telling reporters that they quote seem to be trying to
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set up some sort of government shutdown. And on Sunday,
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Johnson appeared to take a more cautious approach, telling Fox
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News that Republican appropriators have been working in earnest to
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get that top line number negotiated with their Democratic colleagues.
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There's been lots of posturing back and forth. Johnson said,
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I think we can get the job done. But last
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week House Minority Leader Hakim Jeffries, a Democrat from New York,
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said funding freezes implemented by Trump must be quote choked
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off if Republicans want bipartisan support for a government funding bill.
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There's a debate inside the Democratic Party about how far
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to go, which battles to pick. Some think they need
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to be more selective in their targets instead of railing
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against every action. All others argue that Democrats should be
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doing more. They have been unifying around targeting Musk as
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an unelected billionaire controlling the government. Senator to Corey Booker,
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a Democrat from New Jersey, caught between these two sides
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and comments about a possible shutdown on Sunday. When asked
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on CNN State of the Union whether he'd be willing
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to use the prospect of a shutdown is leveraged to
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force concessions from Trump and congressional Republicans, Booker first said
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Democrats aren't, quote, not looking to shut down the government,
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but he added that his party's strategy quote is to
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do whatever we can to stop Donald Trump from hurting Americans,
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making us less safe and less secure, and from raising
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our costs. We'll look at every single tool in our toolbox.
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We've done this last week to make sure that we
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stop him from hurting people. We're in a crisis right now,
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concluded Booker. Our next story from the front page of
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the Post is headline Jordan, home to millions of Palestinians,
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fears Trump's Gaza proposal, and it's written by Claire Parker.
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President Donald Trump's proposal to remove all Palestinians from Gazen
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send them to nearby countries as stoked widespread anger in
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this small Arab monarchy, longtime a US ally that is
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already home to millions of Palestinians refugees, and where experts
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say a new influx of displaced people would destabilize the country.
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Trump has said Egypt and Jordan should take in more Palestinians,
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describing the Gaza Strip as unlivable after sixteen months of war.
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He announced last week that the United States would take
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over the territory and turn it into quote the riviera
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of the Middle East. But Jordan, whose leader, King Abdallah
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the Second, will meet the President in Washington tomorrow, has
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long made its position clear the displacement of Palestinians to
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the Hashemite kingdom is a red line. The push by
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Trump has turbocharged a reckoning over Jordan's reliance on usaid
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and revived existential questions about the country's identity and political future.
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That comes at a time of simmering popular dissatisfaction with
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the king. Jordan is highly dependent on both US military
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and economic assistance, the latter of which is transferred directly
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to the state to prop up its budget, and Trump
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has suggested he could use the nearly one point five
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billion dollars in USA that Jordan receives annually has leveraged
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to force the country to comply with his gods of proposal.
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The US were to cut aid to Jordan permanently, it
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would have quote dire consequences for the economy and human security,
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said Dimatuken, a non resident scholar at the Middle East Institute. However,
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if the king were to compromise and except Trump's proposal,
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he risks energizing the growing opposition to his rule, and
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in recent days, opposition figures from across the political spectrum
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have suggested that Jordan turn instead to China, Russia, and
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wealthy Arab states for financial support and strategic alliances. Jordan
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signed a peace treaty with Israel in nineteen ninety four
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and has since become a pillar of efforts by the West, Israel,
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and Sunni Arab states to counter Iran's growing influence in
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the region. In April of last year, Jordan helped to
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shoot down a barrage of Iranian missiles aimed at Israel,
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in action for which the king drew considerable domestic tree criticism.
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Jordanians have taken to the streets throughout the war, calling
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on the government to abandon its diplomatic agreements with Israel
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and to do more to help Palestinians. In Gaza, where
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nearly two million people, or ninety percent of the population
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have been displaced. In Aman. On Friday, hundreds of men,
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women and children turned out on a cold, wet afternoon
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to protest Trump's proposal and voicers support for the monarchy's
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stance against it. We're here to support Jordan, to support Palestine,
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and to stand against a criminal Trump who should be
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held accountable, and against a criminal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
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who should also face justice, said Zayid, who's sixty and
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spoke on the condition that only his first name would
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be used out of fear of reprisal. He added, if
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the official and popular Jordanian stance is united, that Netanyahoo's
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and Trump's plans will not succeed. But there was also dissent.
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Islamist lawmaker Jano Frehat took the microphone at a protest
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downtown and issued a warning to foreign minister. I'm in Safati.
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We will support you when you are in line with us,
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but if you think to behave and speak differently, we
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will not support you anymore, he said. Freehat's party, the
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Islamic Action Front, wrote a wave of public discontent to
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a stunning electoral triumph in September, winning twenty two percent
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of seats in Jordan's parliament to become the largest block.
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You must believe in our people, Frehat added, addressing Jordadine
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officials more broadly, and he concluded, stop making America God.
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More than two million Palestinian refugees are officially registered with
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United Nations in Jordan, is about a fifth of the
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total population, but the actual proportion of Palestinians is estimated
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to be much higher, probably surpassing fifty percent. According to
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Julian Schweldler, a professor of political science at the City
21:13
University of New York's Hunter College, most of the refugees
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descend from the hundred of thousands of Palestinians that were
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forced from their homes during the war that led to
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Israel's creation Back in nineteen forty eight. Another wave of
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displaced Palestinians arrived from the West Bank and Gaza after
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the nineteen sixty seven war, which Israel seized control of
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the territories from Jordan and Egypt, respectively. Jordan gave citizenship
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to most Palestinian refugees who arrived in nineteen forty eight,
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as well as those who came later from the West Bank.
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Inner marriage and integration over the decades gave rise to
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a rise rather to a blended identity among people of
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Palestinian origin, who see themselves as part of Jordanian society
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but maintained strong ties to their Palestinian roots. But even
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as the kingdom folded Palestinians into its citizenry, their growing
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population and cultural cachet have long been viewed as a
22:18
threat to the Hashemite monarchy and its base of tribes
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indigenous to the east bank of the Jordan River. The
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memory of Black September was a civil conflict in nineteen
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seventy in which Abdalah's father, King Hussaining, crushed an effort
22:35
by Palestinian militants to overthrow the monarchy. Memory still looms large.
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If Palestinians were to constitute a majority, political influence would
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naturally grow, leading to demands for greater representation in parliament,
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the military, and the public sector, said Mohammed Bani Sloma,
22:57
a professor of political science Jordan's Yarmount University, That could
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quote destabilize the country's power structure. He said. Jordanian officials
23:09
have reiterated their support for a Palestinian state and said
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their opposition to Trump's proposal is based in part, I'm
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making Palestinians or making sure rather that Palestinians hold on
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to their territory. The Palestinian people refuse this idea, said
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Hassan Suliman, forty one, a salesman at a perfume store
23:33
in a Jabal Husein neighborhood, who comes from an indigenous
23:38
Jordanian family. Suleiman said, who are we to take them
23:42
out of their land? But an influx of refugees would
23:46
also strain Jordan's economy has struggled to rebound from the
23:51
fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and regional conflicts. According to analysts,
23:57
youth unemployment stood at forty sive six percent in twenty
24:01
twenty three, and Jordan is also the one of the
24:05
most also one of the most water scarce countries in
24:08
the world. I love Gazans and of course we would
24:11
open our homes to them if they were forced to
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flee to Jordan, said no Ron Tarik Farkar al Din
24:18
forty seven, who works at in Aman clothing store and
24:22
whose parents came from Jerusalem and Nablus, an important commercial
24:26
center in the West Bank. But after absorbing hundreds of
24:31
thousands of Syrian refugees over the past decade. She said,
24:35
we can't take anyone anymore if we want the economy
24:38
to be better. If history is any guide, Palestinians from
24:43
Gaza would almost certainly encounter a chili reception from the state.
24:49
In a valley north of Aman, picturesque olive groves give
24:52
way to the crowded alleys of Jiresh refugee camp. It's
24:57
the most impovered impoverished of Jordan's ten official refugee camps,
25:02
and as a testament to the discrimination Gozen refugees, if
25:07
faced started as a collection of tents for Palestinians who
25:12
fled Gaza after the nineteen sixty seven war to Rash,
25:16
has grown into densely populated neighborhoods of cinder block houses.
25:21
It's home to more than thirty five thousand refugees according
25:25
to the United Nations, the vast majority of whom have
25:29
not been allowed to acquire citizenship, limiting their ability to
25:33
own land and access health care, public education, and jobs.
25:39
Life in the camp is difficult. Residents and volunteers there
25:43
have said money's tight. Schools run by UNRWA, the UN
25:48
Relief and Works agency for Palestinian refugees, are overcrowded, many
25:54
children drop out is complicated and expensive for those refugees
26:00
use to obtain work Permans, and Jordanian officials have cracked
26:04
down on employers who hire people under the table. Emmon,
26:09
twenty six, graduated from university and trained to be a teacher,
26:13
but without a work perman, She's been unemployed for years,
26:17
she said, speaking on the condition that only her first
26:20
name be used to discuss a sensitive topic. Ahman grew
26:25
up on tales of Gaza and See the Oranges the Fish,
26:29
and said she has spent her entire life feeling that
26:32
her presence in Jordan is quote temporary. She lacks basic
26:37
rights here, she said, and her family of eight must
26:40
share three bedrooms, prohibiting from expanding their house beyond the
26:45
parcel of land originally allotted to them decades ago. Residents
26:50
in the camp have stayed in touch with relatives in Gaza.
26:54
Many lost family members in the current war with Israel,
26:58
and heard from survivors about the devastation and dire conditions
27:03
in the enclave. Still, residents of Jurash Camp said that
27:07
even if Gazans wanted to leave, they would urge them
27:11
not to come to Jordan. People over here will tell
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them don't repeat the same mistake. I'm unsaid. But if
27:19
push comes to shove and Trump tries to force Jordan
27:23
to accept Palestinians from Gaza, Jordadian activists said they're willing
27:28
to fight Ahma's Kadar thirty three, a Jordadian Palestinian political
27:34
activists who grew up in Aman, said he believes that
27:37
Jordan should reinstate military conscription and supply arms to militant
27:42
groups in the Palestinian territories. The protection of Jordan is
27:47
not only about keeping Palestinians out of Jordan, It's about
27:51
keeping Palestinians in their land, he said. Our next story
27:56
from the front page of the Washington Post is headline
27:59
the Sorrow, Hope and Longing of Japan's Missing post Office,
28:04
and it's written by Michel ye Hi Lee, Julia mio Inuma,
28:09
Hiroki Kobayashi, and Yutuan Chen. There are two post offices
28:16
on the remote Japanese island of Awashima. It's about one
28:21
hundred and fifty or so residents live there. Only one
28:24
delivers mail to the living. The other hasn't been officially
28:29
operated in three decades. Instead, the Missing post Office is
28:34
a repository for sixty thousand plus pieces of mail, letters,
28:40
birthday cards, and New Year's greetings sent from all over
28:43
Japan to those with no forwarding address, lost friends and pets,
28:49
past and future sells, and most frequently, the dead. It's
28:54
the destination for expressions of sorrow, hope, and longing that
28:58
have nowhere else to go, messages that bring momentary relief, and,
29:03
in the case of the dead, serve as a connection
29:06
between our world and theirs, even if the piece of
29:09
paper can be held only in ours. The Missing post
29:14
Office is on the isle of Aowashima, one of thousands
29:18
in the Seedo Inland Sea, which sits between Japan's main
29:23
southern islands. Until the nineteen nineties, Awashima had a flourishing
29:30
port and most islanders were long distance sailors. Its post office,
29:35
with a telegram service, was once the only place for
29:38
families to connect with their loved ones at sea, But
29:42
in nineteen ninety one, when the post office closed and
29:45
services moved, the building was abandoned, like many others in
29:49
remote areas of Japan with declining populations. Then in twenty
29:55
thirteen Artisaya Kubado use the building for a month long
29:59
exis hibbit during the years Sittuchi Trinell Art Festival, which
30:04
allowed people to send letters to the post office or
30:08
write and read ones there. The project drew more than
30:12
thirty one thousand visitors and more than four hundred letters
30:15
over the month. The building was supposed to be demolished
30:19
when the festival ended. Bud Katushiasha Nakata, the retired postmaster
30:25
and owner of the building, wanted to keep the project going.
30:28
He negotiated with the artists to keep it alive and
30:31
renovated the space. Nakata and Awashima native became a postal
30:37
worker at age eighteen because his color blindness disqualified him
30:42
to become a sailor. He's worked at the post office
30:45
for forty five years, including seventeen years as a head postmaster.
30:50
Now an energetic ninety year old, Nakata still manages the
30:54
missing post office, which opens every Saturday. The letters are
30:59
delivered here by the Postal service, and Nakata reads each
31:03
letter and processes as official male. This is a place
31:08
where all kinds of emotions from people live, People's lives
31:11
arrive the saddest moments and the happiest ones. We're here
31:15
to receive and acknowledge these emotions, Nakata said. Visitors from
31:22
all over Japan trek here to write and read letters,
31:25
which are in cubbies for any visitor to access. For them,
31:30
the post office is a space to share in feelings
31:33
are both personal and universal. Many Japanese believe that the
31:38
dead never really go too far. There's no dominant religion
31:42
in Japan, but there are cultural and spiritual beliefs tied
31:46
to Buddhism and Shintoism. Ideas around death and the afterlife
31:50
mostly come from the Buddhist belief that the spirit stays
31:54
close by even after death. Many Japanese maintain some form
31:59
of canction to those who have died, including with altars
32:03
in their home where they light incense and serve food.
32:07
During Obon and annual holiday commemorating the dead, Families share meals,
32:13
entertain and spend time with their loved one spirits. Then
32:17
there are the growing number of places in Japan that
32:20
accept letters to those who are gone. This is becoming
32:24
a phenomenon as one of the most world's rapidly aging
32:28
countries increasingly has to cope with grief. According to experts,
32:34
the post office receives ten to twenty letters every day.
32:38
Most are anonymous with no return address. Most are written
32:42
to the deceased, but some write to their bullied younger
32:46
cells or their future, more accomplished cells. Others write to
32:51
items out of nostalgia or hope, preteen who has outgrown
32:55
a childhood toy, or an aspiring photographer writing to a
32:59
future camera. Over the years, Nikana has noticed many repeat writers,
33:05
but there are two in particular who have caught his attention,
33:08
and he set aside cubbies especially for them. One is
33:13
an elderly woman whose fiancee, kamikaze pilot, died in World
33:18
War Two. For years she sent letters addressed to him.
33:23
The other is a grandmother who wrote to her deceased
33:26
grandson Utah twice a month for many years. Nakata doesn't
33:31
know why the letters suddenly stopped, but he said he
33:35
feels relief that she had maybe found finely closure. The
33:40
morning just can't continue to be the same way forever,
33:43
he said. On a Saturday last year, dozens of visitors
33:47
sat in silence as they sifted through sacks of mail.
33:52
Lena Yokisi, thirty, came with a friend she had been
33:56
wanting to visit and she saw it featured in a
33:59
popular TV series. After taking her time to read letters,
34:04
she sat down and wrote to her friend Seka, who
34:07
had died six months earlier in an accident. I wish
34:11
she could have been there with us. I wanted her
34:13
to let her know that her mom is doing well,
34:16
Yokasey said. Our next story from the front page of
34:21
The Washington Pope is headline Trump's Gaza proposal frustrates his
34:26
new Arab American supporters, and it's written by Natalie Allison.
34:32
The half dozen Lebanese American retirees sat socializing in the
34:37
same spot as they do every afternoon, the Mall Sofas
34:41
on the ground floor of fair Lane Town Center, and
34:44
dearborn Michigan Ali Hamoud, seventy seven, was still incensed about
34:50
what President Donald Trump had said days earlier about the
34:54
US taking control of the Gaza Strip, moving out its
34:58
remaining residents, and facilitating its redevelopment as the Riviera the
35:04
Middle East. Amoud was among the longtime Democrats who helped
35:08
Trump win this heavily Arab American city outside Detroit. Supporting
35:14
him for the first time in November over their dissatisfaction
35:18
with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's support for continued aid Israel.
35:24
Now some Arab American voters here who helped Trump him
35:28
back Michigan, wondering whether they were duped by his promises
35:33
to bring a swift end to the war that has
35:36
left Gaza decimated. Instead of helping them in their own country,
35:41
he wants to make it as a rivier and kick
35:43
all the Palestinians out. Hamoud, one of more than a
35:47
dozen people interviewed. Amud, said in disbelief before saying that
35:51
Trump's plan is quote never going to happen impossible. Amoud
35:55
added he doesn't regret voting for Trump last year, though
36:00
I still do like him in a way. Hammoud omitted
36:03
it's good to America, but as a Middle East policy,
36:06
it's lousy. Some here who spoke to The Washington Post
36:10
had given Trump a pass for the comments about Palestinians
36:14
and the conflict in Gaza, insisting they were merely a
36:18
tasteless negotiating ploy and that he'll be back. He'll back
36:23
away from them. Others believe Trump hoodwinked his new Arab
36:27
American supporters, luring them in with assurances of peace and
36:32
respect for Palestinians, only to do Israel's bidding. And broadly,
36:37
even those unhappy with his latest announcement still give Trump
36:41
credit for their being a ceasefire at all, believing that
36:45
his election expediated or expedited rather a process that would
36:50
have dragged out longer otherwise. Whether Trump can keep these
36:54
new supporters could have significant implications, not just on key
36:59
upcoming state wide races Republicans believe they can win in Michigan,
37:04
but on the fragile coalition the party assembled to gain
37:08
ground this past fall and declare sweeping governing mandates. Trump
37:13
came to office vowing that he'd be a bigger backer
37:16
of Israel than Biden ever was, but also urging Israeli
37:21
Prime Minister Benjamin at Yahoo to wrap up the conflict quickly.
37:26
Trump also told Hamas there would be quote all hell
37:30
to pay if they did not release the remaining hostages
37:34
before inauguration day. Trump's Middle East Envoy, Steve Whitcoff, worked
37:40
closely with the ongoing or with the outgoing rather Biden
37:43
team to help broker the ceasefire deal that quieted the
37:47
fighting on January nineteenth, a day before Trump retook office.
37:53
Israel's assault on Gaza launched after the October seventh, twenty
37:57
twenty three Hamas attack on his Israel that killed more
38:01
than twelve hundred people. That assault from Israel has claimed
38:06
at least forty seven thousand lives, according to the Gaza
38:09
Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants,
38:15
but says the majority of the dead are women and children.
38:19
Starting in September, Israel launch widespread attacks on what had
38:23
said were Hesbalah militant positions in Lebanon. Followed bow and
38:28
ground invasion. It agreed to a cease fire there in
38:32
late November, but Israeli forces remain in Lebanese territory. Seated
38:38
next to Hamoud on the mal Malsfa, Samhshi eighty five
38:43
moved a string of orange rosary beads through his fingers.
38:48
Lifelong democrat Hashim also voted for Trump for the first
38:52
time in November. But he doesn't feel so good about
38:55
it right now. I don't like him, Hashim said. He
38:58
talked nice before he went in. Everybody said he makes peace,
39:02
wants to make no more war, no more problems. He's
39:05
a liar in a nearby armchair. Sixteen year old KOs Hashem,
39:11
a lifelong union worker and Democrat, also withheld a vote
39:15
from Harris last year. He voted for the Green Parties.
39:19
Jill Stein in the fourth floor conference room of an
39:23
office complex in the Dearborn Feynmer thirty nine, said Trump's
39:29
GOS apposition just wasn't aligned with the promises of peace
39:33
and dignity that he made to her community back in
39:37
the fall. She too, had voted for him in November
39:40
for the first time after supporting Biden and Democrats in
39:44
the past, and as CEO of the Mina American Chamber
39:49
of Commerce that's a Dearborn based business group seeking to
39:53
promote collaboration between the Middle East and North African region
39:57
and the US, she helped organize meetings of both the
40:00
Harris and Trump campaigns with local Arab American business leaders.
40:06
It's like saying uproot the two point nine million people
40:09
in Kiev, Ukraine, just because there's destruction there, Niemer said,
40:14
or Hurricane Katrina victims. Imagine telling Americans that you can't
40:18
return to your community because the hurricane destroyed your home,
40:23
or decimated the infrastructure. Namer, though, is still hopeful that
40:28
Trump pulled back away from the suggestion, and she claimed
40:31
that if Harris had won, there wouldn't be any Palestinians
40:35
left to relocate. She questioned why Trump's administration would quote
40:40
undermine and dismiss the momentum that they built with Arab Americans.
40:45
If they continue down this path of alienating the part
40:48
of that base, I think it'll come back to haunt
40:52
them during the upcoming election cycle. Nahmer said. The conflict
40:57
in gazes and an academic issue for many Arab Americans
41:01
in the area. Namer's family in Lebanon, from which he
41:05
emigrated to the US at age ten, also suffered loss.
41:09
Her cousin's six year old child was killed during Israeli
41:13
attacks in southern Lebanon, and Namer said Palestinians and the
41:17
sovereignty of Lebanon became a red line in the election.
41:22
An early September, Namers group hosted two advisers from Harris's
41:26
team in the same conference room where she met with
41:29
a Post reporter this week. The campaign representatives started the
41:34
meeting by saying bluntly they couldn't commit to making any
41:38
changes to Harris's policy on Israel and Gaza, Namer said,
41:43
motions were high in that meeting. The previous evening, Liz Cheney,
41:47
whose father was a leading advocate for the US invasion
41:51
of Iraq, had endorsed Harris, and one of the business
41:55
leaders in attendance at the meeting had lost immediate family
41:59
members that morning. In Gaza. Another leader closed her notebook
42:04
got up to leave after initial remarks from Harris's team,
42:08
according to Nahmer, but was stay urged to stay. A
42:12
month and a half later, interest in a meeting with
42:15
Trump's team was so high that they had to move
42:17
it to a larger room. The Namers said. Some forty
42:21
local American Arab American leaders came to hear from Masad Bulas,
42:27
a Lebanese American businessman and the father in law of
42:30
Trump's youngest daughter, Tiffany. Soon after, and just days before
42:35
the election, Trump again promised to secure lasting peace during
42:40
a visit to a Lebanese owned restaurant in Dearborn. That
42:44
effort impressed Arab Americans in the area, Niemer said, and
42:48
Trump won Dearborn and Dearborn Heights after losing both of
42:53
them in twenty sixteen and twenty twenty and saw gaines
42:57
in the nearly heavily nearby heavily America Arab community of Hamtrak.
43:04
Where we may have had a disconnect, Namer said, is
43:07
what is his vision of peace compared to our community's
43:10
vision of peace. Our community's vision is that there is
43:14
no pathway to peace unless there is a sovereign Palestinian state.
43:20
Local Arab American leaders who met with Trump's team during
43:23
the campaign are still working their points of contact as
43:27
much as they can, hoping that Trump administration takes their
43:31
warnings seriously. The Muslim mayors of Dearborn Heights and hamtrem
43:37
who endorsed Trump and campaign for him this election, didn't
43:41
respond to request for comment, nor did the mayor of Dearborn,
43:45
who declined issue an endorsement in the election and had
43:49
been critical of Biden's policy on the war. Albert Abas,
43:54
who hosted Trump in Dearborn in November at his Lebanese
43:58
family's restaurant, said Trump's recent comments were concerning, but he
44:03
believes Trump still has an opportunity to change course and
44:07
keep his support from Arab Americans in Michigan. He won
44:12
on a plurality, not on a majority. In the future
44:15
of elections, whether it's midterm or presidential, will be heavily
44:19
weighted upon thecoming steps that he takes in regards to
44:24
foreign policy. In Gaza and in Lebanon, Abos said he
44:28
was stunned to see Trump gladly receive a golden Pager
44:32
trophy from Netanyahu this week, a reference to pager explosions
44:37
after Israel targeted Hasbllah officials in Lebanon, but which also
44:43
maimed and killed innocent civilians. Abbas said that Trump should
44:47
have rejected it and that quote accepting such a plaque
44:51
as deeply sensitive the human life his community had previously
44:56
believed Trump was the only one who would stand up
44:59
to Israel and the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. Right now,
45:04
the current statements don't align with Adabas said, however, there's
45:09
plenty of time to correct it. Samar Ibrahim, a forty
45:14
two year old engineer, set out the election altogether this
45:17
past year. Previously a Barack Obama supporter, he was intrigued
45:22
enough by Trump in twenty sixteen to vote for him,
45:26
a decision that raised eyebrows from some of his Arab
45:29
American friends at the time. But Ibrahim said voting this
45:34
time felt like it was stupid, adding that both options
45:38
were really bad. He thought Trump, having emerged from four
45:42
years out of power, sounded like he was going to
45:45
go too far this time. Scrolling on facebog this past
45:50
what week and seeing posts about Trump's latest cloust comments,
45:54
Ibrahim felt vindicated for not supporting him again. He doesn't
45:59
mind though many of his fellow members of the local
46:03
Muslim community had re evaluated their longtime loyalty the Democratic
46:09
Party and allegiance that had largely been based on feeling
46:13
like Democrats were more open and accepting of minority cultures
46:18
and religions. If you really want to look close, I
46:21
should be much much closer to the Republicans, Ibrahim said,
46:25
and between SIPs of tea at a Yemeny coffee shop,
46:29
I don't want women in my boy's locker room, he
46:32
went on, referencing the bad over transgender athletes. I have
46:37
two boys, and I'm very worried about it. Now. Democrats
46:42
here will have their work cut out for them and
46:44
winning back the voters they lost. Sam Baydon, a Democrat
46:49
and Wayne County commissioner who supported Harris, said that despite quote,
46:54
many people in the community feeling abandoned by the Democratic
46:58
Party last year. He was sure Harris would not have
47:02
advocated for ethnically cleansing the Palestinians. Even Joe Biden, as
47:08
much as he was a staunch supporter of this war
47:11
that was waged against the Palestinians, did not advocate for
47:15
a removal of two million Palestinians from their lamb bedone, said.
47:21
Khalide Turrani, a Palestinian American and founder of the Abandoned
47:26
Biden and later Harris campaigns and the Uncommitted Movement, said
47:31
he believes Trump's gas remarks were merely a smoke screen
47:35
and a distraction from his controversial actions. Domestically, none of
47:41
the things that Trump said he wants to do, he'll
47:43
be able to do. Torani said, we're trying to figure
47:46
out what his plan is, but we know exactly what Bear,
47:50
Biden and Harris did, so do we have any regrets. No.
47:56
Our next story from Today's Washington Post is headline why
48:00
lawyers worry migrants sent to Guantanamo are an illegal are
48:04
in an legal black hole, and it's written by Sylvia
48:08
Foster Frau. Their names haven't been released in Their exact
48:13
crimes are unknown, but the more than three dozen immigrants
48:17
being held at Guantanamo Bay Naval base in Cuba have
48:21
entered what lawyers are calling a legal black hole. Nearly
48:26
a week ago, the Trump administration flew the first migrants
48:29
from Fort Bliss, Texas, to Guantanamo Bay. The officials said
48:35
the detainees were quote dangerous criminals, the worst of the worst,
48:39
and alleged members of a violent Venezuelan gang, and are
48:43
holding them in a prison on the US naval base
48:47
that was created for suspected terrorists after the September eleventh,
48:51
two thousand and one attacks, But administration officials have released
48:56
almost no other information. The unusual and hasty movement of
49:01
detainees to military prison with a history of accusations of
49:06
human rights violations, comes as President Donald Trump attempts to
49:11
fulfill a campaign promise to aggressively increase the number of
49:16
immigration arrests and deportations. US Immigration and Customs of Enforcement
49:23
detention facilities and the US have quickly filled, officials say,
49:28
and Trump has ordered the construction of detention space for
49:32
as many as thirty thousand migrants at Guantanamo and in
49:37
Guantanamo Most of these migrants are expected to live in
49:42
tents pitched on different parts of the base, but the
49:46
early arrivals are more than three dozen quote high threat
49:50
criminal illegal aliens who are in ice custody and are
49:54
being housed in a vacant military facility. The Defense Department
49:58
spokesman said that on on Saturday, any new arrivals of
50:03
illegal aliens will be temporarily housed in designated migration holding
50:08
areas at Naval Station Guantanamo and will be treated safely
50:13
and humanely in accordance with international humanitarian standards, the spokesperson
50:19
said in a statement, adding this will be a temporary
50:23
solution until the illegal immigrants are returned to their country
50:27
of origin. For the migrants who have arrived at Guantanamo,
50:32
for lawyers who are familiar with the military prison or said,
50:37
the Trump administration is breaking the law by denying them
50:41
access to legal counsel, something the suspected terrorists detained in
50:45
Guantanamo have obtained. Even if the migrants are confirmed as
50:51
members of the Venezuelan based trend di Arague gang, as
50:56
the Trump administration contends, the lawyers say the migrants don't
51:00
qualify to be held in the high security area of
51:04
the base that some prisoners have described as quote the
51:08
tomb above ground. It's essential to know who is there,
51:12
what legal claims they have, and whether they want attorneys
51:16
at American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Lee Glorent said, and
51:22
he added this is a normal ICE lack of transparency
51:26
on steroids. A Defense Department spokesman didn't answer questions about migrants,
51:32
legal access or other information about them. The Homeland Security
51:38
and State departments didn't respond to requests for comment. On Sunday,
51:43
the El Paso based Los Americanas Immigrant Advocacy Center, the
51:49
ACLU of New Mexico, and the Center for Constitutional Rights
51:54
requested a temporary restraining order on behalf of three Venezuelan
51:59
men to presmptively prevent their potential transferred to Guantanamo. In
52:07
the court filing, they argue that if the Venezuelan migrants
52:11
are transferred to Guantanamo, their procedural rights will not be
52:16
fully respected by have A Trump administration. The request came
52:21
after lawyers with the ACLU, along with more than a
52:25
dozen other human rights organizations, sent a letter to Homeland
52:30
Secretary christ L. Noom, Defense Secretary PTE Hegseth and Secretary
52:35
of State Margot Rubio on Friday, requesting immediate access to
52:40
the migrants, as well as information on their immigration status,
52:46
which agency had a custody of them, their anticipated length
52:50
of stay in Guantanamo, and what authority the government has
52:54
to transfer them there from the United States. Nome has
52:58
defended the administration's use of Guantanamo to detain migrants and
53:03
told CNN State of the Union on Sunday that the
53:07
goal is to quickly move deportees in and out, though
53:10
she didn't rule out the possibility that some could be
53:13
there for weeks. She said migrants legal rights would be respected,
53:19
they have due process. She said. My job is to
53:22
make sure we'll following the law and every single individual
53:26
that we're bringing into custody and transporting back to their home.
53:31
Nome travel to Guantanamo on Friday to observe quote, some
53:35
of the operations that were standing up to to house
53:39
the worst of the worst and the legal criminals. She
53:42
said that in the video posted the social media that evening,
53:46
wearing a DHS ball cap and standing in front of
53:50
razor wire top fence as the sun appeared to set
53:55
the military facility where the immigrants are being housed is
53:59
known as camps, according to recent reports and lawyers familiar
54:03
with Guantanamo. The Authorization for Use of Military Force in
54:08
two thousand and one, which allowed for the use of
54:11
necessary and appropriate force against those responsible for nine to eleven,
54:17
was later clarified in the National Defense Authorization Act of
54:21
twenty twelve to apply the people suspected of being members
54:26
of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or affiliated terrorist groups, and
54:31
even if Trump were to designate trend Deriuagua as a
54:35
terrorist group, lawyers said those accused of being members can't
54:40
be held in military custody, which is only for people
54:44
affiliated with the specific terrorist groups behind the September eleventh attacks.
54:50
The Defense Department says the migrants are considered to be
54:53
a nice custody despite being detained in a military facility
54:59
that's finnctioned. That's impossible to make, said j Wells Dixon,
55:03
a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights who's represented
55:07
nine to eleven defendants and has one remaining client there
55:11
who is never charged and has been approved for transfer.
55:15
Camp six is inextricably intertwined with military detention. Dixon said,
55:22
I don't think you can unwrap Camp six from military detention.
55:27
Dixon said the prison was made for suspected terrorists. It
55:31
was designed to break detainees psychologically in Other lawyers representing
55:36
nine to eleven defendants said, also there is the military
55:40
run building that's operated like a high security prison with
55:44
difficult living conditions. The military prison has held as many
55:50
as seven hundred and eighty people over the years. And
55:54
that concludes the reading of the Washington Post for today,
55:58
February tenth, twenty twenty five. Reader for today, I'm Powered Climbing.
56:03
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning this program,
56:08
please feel free to call us at eight five nine
56:11
four two two six three nine zero. Thanks for listening,
56:16
and now please stay tuned for continued programming on Radio
56:20
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