Come January 2017, Donald Trump will be occupying the White House as the president of the United States. For Muslims and Arabs the world over, there will be enough time between now and then to mull over his surprising victory over his rival Hillary Clinton — and enough time to wonder what to expect next.
As much as one could reasonably surmise, Trump has been shooting from the hip during his run for the presidency. Much of his rhetoric can be safely discarded now that he is elected. And while doubts remain over his racial stance, one has to remember that he will be accountable to his people as the president of ALL Americans.
One Arab-American who finds himself today searching for a clear definition on what Trump will be is Sami Jadallah who had served in the US Army between 1966 and 1968, during the Vietnam War, and then went on to establish and administer the Veterans Housing and Education Foundation. More recently, Jadallah has taken his ideals a step further by establishing the Arab Peace Corps, along the lines of what John F. Kennedy had created several decades ago.
Its mission is to capitalise on and tap into the powers, dynamism and commitments of youths in the Arab world. To engage them like never before, to empower them to take charge and shape the future through active participation and involvement in societal transformation, overhauling the entire educational system to meet the needs and challenges of the future, participation in job training and building the needed skills for an ever-changing job market, and, certainly, playing an active role as citizens of their nation. As Jadallah says, “At the Arab Peace Corps, we give youth reasons to live for, not causes to die for.”
Following Trump’s victory at the polls, Jadallah penned a letter titled ‘An open letter to President-Elect Mr Trump’. After the expected congratulations, Sami wrote: “I am one of the millions who did not vote for you. I was a Bernie Sanders supporter not because he was a ‘socialist’ or as some called him ‘Communists’, but because he has almost the same message to Main Street you had, perhaps he was more eloquent, but nevertheless, he spoke in defence of the hundreds of millions disfranchised and feel neglected by Washington and its elites. And here I include lifetime members of the Congress, and as he spoke of the collusion between Washington and Wall Street — a rigged system in favour of the rich and powerful, definitely against Main Street.
“I did not vote for you because you disfranchise me as a Muslim-American. You offended me without knowing that I am a loyal citizen who served in our army with four other brothers who served in the US Army and Marine Corps. You ruled us as disloyal citizens when in fact millions of us, made America our choice and are loyal Americans who care about the safety and security of our country, of our cities and our neighbourhoods, as you do, given the fact that we are the first line of defence against terrorism.
“We are just like all segments of American society. We are loyal Americans; law-abiding citizens with higher-than-average education, hardworking and for the most part do not depend on government handouts, but on our hard work. We also share the same American values like our neighbours, our colleagues at work and our fellows at the health club. I think you were unfair to ‘us’ as a group of citizens.”
Jadallah concludes with the hope that Trump would be right, that he will be the president of all of the people of America irrespective of race, colour, faith or origin, that he will keep his commitments to Main Street through the appointment of executives outside Wall Street. “I am sure America has so many competent people outside the power corridors of Washington-Boston. America needs fresh faces with new innovative ideas not recycling of old faces and talents.
“We wish you good luck. It will not be an easy task to heal the many wounds left as a result of this election, and you need to allay the fears of many people like me and the millions of immigrants who need to know the next step. You must treat these people with respect and dignity as they are not thieves and rapists and terrorists, but people who fell on hard times and are without hope. They came to America seeking a better life. I hope that the “immigration issue” will be handled with the moral standard America holds, with fairness, dignity for all and does not scum to ugly hateful politics — Good luck Mr Trump.”
What is penned in Jadallah’s wish list is also a desire on the minds of millions of other Americans, many of them children and grandchildren of immigrants. With a relatively unfamiliar commodity on the political landscape in Trump, the next few months will quickly spell out if Jadallah’s expectations will bear fruit.
Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@talmaeena.
