This week, Donald Trump issued a revised executive order restricting immigration from six majority Muslim countries and more than halving the United States refugee programme. This version includes some significant changes: it is more carefully written, it removes Iraq from the list of countries falling under the ban and it exempts those with green cards and valid visas. Nevertheless, it remains a false, dangerous, cruel, arbitrary and bigoted assault on Muslims and the very idea of America as an open, welcoming society.
It is based on the false premise that it is designed to protect Americans from foreign terrorists. Arguments to this effect peppered the order. Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, cited the case of a naturalised Somali-American who was convicted of planning a terrorist attack in 2014 and claimed that the FBI was investigating 300 refugees for possible terrorist activity.
The Somali American case is the only known instance in which a former refugee from one of the six countries sought to engage in violence.
Given the administration's penchant for “alternative facts”, the first ever mention of 300 individuals “under investigation” must be taken with a pinch of salt until it can be independently verified.
In fact, just a few days earlier, the department of homeland security released a study concluding that most recorded terrorist crimes were committed by individuals who became radicalised after living in the US, and that, in any case, “country of citizenship is unlikely to be a reliable indicator of potential terrorist activity”.
The executive order is designed to set up Muslims as a "bogeyman" in order to win support for Mr Trump's efforts to overhaul the entire immigration programme.
Some have argued that this is the precursor to Mr Trump making good on his promise of a general “Muslim ban”. It very well may be, since the order states that more countries may be added.
Additionally, the order includes mention of a still undefined ideology test for admittance to the US.
Arabs, including US citizens, who have already undergone similar screening by border patrol officials, can testify to how insulting and intrusive this process can be. Laptops and phones have been seized and their downloaded, and individuals have been asked for their views on the American-led invasion of Iraq, whether they support Israel and their religious beliefs.
This is a sure-fire way to discriminate against an entire group of people – and, I might add, not just Muslims.
Just as insidious is the suspension of the refugee programme and the pledge to significantly reduce the number of refugees from all countries being allowed into the US.
From the earliest days of his presidential campaign, when Mr Trump first warned about the dangers of refugees, major church-based refugee resettlement groups responded forcefully with evidence demonstrating the thoroughness of the vetting process. But Mr Trump has persisted with the lie that refugees are not screened. This order will ultimately reduce the number of refugees allowed into the US from 110,000 to 50,000.
This is unconscionable, since those who apply for admission as refugees are desperate souls seeking to escape life-threatening situations. They have risked everything in the hopes of securing safety and opportunity for their families. Fear mongering at their expense is a cruel and heartless act.
The architects of the administration's machinations are a small cadre of ultra-nationalist advisers. They fear that “their” country is at risk of being transformed and that action must be taken to save America.
On the one hand, they are right, as America is changing. Where they are wrong is that the very idea of America is found not in exclusion, but in its inclusiveness.
The same xenophobic fear being expressed by the president and his supporters today once prompted others before them to agitate against Jews, Catholics, Eastern Europeans, Chinese and every other wave of new immigrants.
It was they who said “Irish need not apply”, led the forced deportation of Mexican-American citizens, lynched Italians, committed violence against Eastern Europeans, supported the internment of Japanese and fought against equal rights for African Americans.
The idea of America is bigger than the one the xenophobes have espoused and so, time and again, they lost.
Not learning the lessons of history, this administration is trying once again to impose exclusionary policies. They are building a wall, ordering mass deportations, and issuing a bigoted executive order.
When all is said and done, it's not refugees and immigrants, Latinos or Muslims, who pose an existential threat to the American idea. That threat comes from Mr Trump’s administration and its policies.
Dr James Zogby is president of the Arab American Institute
On Twitter: @aaiusa
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Results
Women finals: 48kg - Urantsetseg Munkhbat (MGL) bt Distria Krasniqi (KOS); 52kg - Odette Guiffrida (ITA) bt Majlinda Kelmendi (KOS); 57kg - Nora Gjakova (KOS) bt Anastasiia Konkina (Rus)
Men’s finals: 60kg - Amiran Papinashvili (GEO) bt Francisco Garrigos (ESP); 66kg - Vazha Margvelashvili (Geo) bt Yerlan Serikzhanov (KAZ)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%20Supercharged%203.5-litre%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20400hp%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20430Nm%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Now%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh450%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
THE BIO:
Sabri Razouk, 74
Athlete and fitness trainer
Married, father of six
Favourite exercise: Bench press
Must-eat weekly meal: Steak with beans, carrots, broccoli, crust and corn
Power drink: A glass of yoghurt
Role model: Any good man
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Rashid & Rajab
Director: Mohammed Saeed Harib
Stars: Shadi Alfons, Marwan Abdullah, Doaa Mostafa Ragab
Two stars out of five
MATCH INFO
Jersey 147 (20 overs)
UAE 112 (19.2 overs)
Jersey win by 35 runs
Day 5, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day When Dilruwan Perera dismissed Yasir Shah to end Pakistan’s limp resistance, the Sri Lankans charged around the field with the fevered delirium of a side not used to winning. Trouble was, they had not. The delivery was deemed a no ball. Sri Lanka had a nervy wait, but it was merely a stay of execution for the beleaguered hosts.
Stat of the day – 5 Pakistan have lost all 10 wickets on the fifth day of a Test five times since the start of 2016. It is an alarming departure for a side who had apparently erased regular collapses from their resume. “The only thing I can say, it’s not a mitigating excuse at all, but that’s a young batting line up, obviously trying to find their way,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach.
The verdict Test matches in the UAE are known for speeding up on the last two days, but this was extreme. The first two innings of this Test took 11 sessions to complete. The remaining two were done in less than four. The nature of Pakistan’s capitulation at the end showed just how difficult the transition is going to be in the post Misbah-ul-Haq era.
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
