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The Mayor of Dearborn, Michigan – the capital of Arab America – said his community declined to meet Joe Biden's re-election team, a reflection of the anger Arab and Muslim Americans feel towards the US President and his handling of the war in Gaza.
Abdullah Hammoud, the city's first Arab-American mayor and a Democrat, said his office and other Arab and Muslim leaders in Dearborn turned down Friday's invitation from Mr Biden's campaign team.
“As the ongoing genocide persists, for us here in the city of Dearborn, for the Muslim-American and Arab-American community, we're trying to have a conversation about policy, not about elections,” Mr Hammoud told the National.
“So we find that disrespectful and dehumanising when they're sending campaign staff to see to it as if this is some sort of transactional electoral problem.”
Michigan, home to one of the largest Arab-American populations in the US, is a key battleground state.
It is also one that overwhelmingly turned out for Mr Biden in 2020, helping him to clinch victory.
But Mr Biden, a Democrat who is running for re-election in November, has had a significant loss of support among Arab Americans since Israel's war on Gaza began on October 7.
A recent poll conducted by the Arab American Institute found that 17 per cent of Arabs now support him, down from 59 per cent.
Last week, Mr Biden brushed off losing the support of the community, suggesting there was still time to turn things around before the election.
He has been a staunch supporter of Israel in its military campaign in Gaza and has refused to call for a ceasefire, despite widespread demands and nationwide protests.
He bypassed Congress to approve emergency weapons sales to the country and has questioned the number of Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza.
Arab Americans were particularly incensed when this month, in a statement marking the 100 days of war on Gaza, Mr Biden made no mention of the thousands of Palestinian civilians killed in the conflict.
“Dearborn is the result of poor foreign policy decisions,” said Mr Hammoud, the son of Lebanese immigrants.
“And so we are a beautifully diverse, large Lebanese, Yemeni, Iraqi, Syrian and Palestinian community,” he said. “And they feel betrayed.
“I feel like we're being asked to dehumanise ourselves and just solely look at this as a political problem. And I'm not prepared to do that.”
Since October 7, more than 26,400 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed by Israeli bombardments on Gaza, in response to Hamas's attacks in Israel in which 1,200 people were killed.
Most of the coastal enclave's 2.3 million residents have been displaced to the southern city of Khan Younis where Israel is launching strikes, and where they have been facing severe shortages in food and water, and in access to medical care.
The Biden administration has been increasingly calling on the Israeli government, led by right-wing President Benjamin Netanyahu, to scale down its attacks and allow more humanitarian aid in.
But Mr Biden has stopped short of applying direct pressure on Israel or conditioning military aid.
He has cast his campaign as being against former president Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee who has vowed to ban the entry of many Muslims to the US if he is elected back in office.
Mr Trump refused to accept his election loss in 2020.
“The former president wants to put a ban on Arabs coming into the country,” Mr Biden said last week, conflating Arabs with Muslims.
“We’ll make sure that we understand who cares about the Arab population.”
Arab and Muslim Americans in Michigan and elsewhere have historically leaned towards the Democrats, but in recent weeks have been campaigning against Mr Biden, and communities across the US have vowed not to vote for him.
This could spell disaster for Mr Biden, especially in Michigan, the state he won by 3 percentage points – 154,000 votes – in 2020.
Records show that Michigan is home to about 200,000 Muslim voters and 300,000 people who claim ancestry in the Middle East and North Africa.
Mr Hammoud said several residents had been trapped in Gaza when the war erupted and had to be evacuated by the State Department, and several others have lost relatives.
One resident, he said, lost his two grandmothers, who were trapped under the rubble for days.
Mr Hammoud says he keeps thinking about the UN Women report this month that said two mothers have been killed every hour in Gaza since the start of the war.
“For me, the primary hat I'm wearing right now is just another Dearbonite, Muslim, Arab American, and a father of two,” he said.
“And it's hard. In our community our mothers mean the world. We respect our mothers, we dignify our mothers.
“We said no to this campaign because I have to go back and face them.”
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
New process leads to panic among jobseekers
As a UAE-based travel agent who processes tourist visas from the Philippines, Jennifer Pacia Gado is fielding a lot of calls from concerned travellers just now. And they are all asking the same question.
“My clients are mostly Filipinos, and they [all want to know] about good conduct certificates,” says the 34-year-old Filipina, who has lived in the UAE for five years.
Ms Gado contacted the Philippines Embassy to get more information on the certificate so she can share it with her clients. She says many are worried about the process and associated costs – which could be as high as Dh500 to obtain and attest a good conduct certificate from the Philippines for jobseekers already living in the UAE.
“They are worried about this because when they arrive here without the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] clearance, it is a hassle because it takes time,” she says.
“They need to go first to the embassy to apply for the application of the NBI clearance. After that they have go to the police station [in the UAE] for the fingerprints. And then they will apply for the special power of attorney so that someone can finish the process in the Philippines. So it is a long process and more expensive if you are doing it from here.”
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500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
U19 World Cup in South Africa
Group A: India, Japan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka
Group B: Australia, England, Nigeria, West Indies
Group C: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Scotland, Zimbabwe
Group D: Afghanistan, Canada, South Africa, UAE
UAE fixtures
Saturday, January 18, v Canada
Wednesday, January 22, v Afghanistan
Saturday, January 25, v South Africa
UAE squad
Aryan Lakra (captain), Vriitya Aravind, Deshan Chethyia, Mohammed Farazuddin, Jonathan Figy, Osama Hassan, Karthik Meiyappan, Rishabh Mukherjee, Ali Naseer, Wasi Shah, Alishan Sharafu, Sanchit Sharma, Kai Smith, Akasha Tahir, Ansh Tandon
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
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ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
