BEIRUT: A Syrian musician who was allowed to legally immigrate to the United States on account of his “extraordinary” abilities, and who recently toured with famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, is now wondering whether he can return to his Brooklyn home.
Kinan Azmeh, a clarinet player who has called the US home for 16 years, said Sunday he does not have a “plan B” if he is not allowed to return.
Azmeh, who flew to China three weeks ago to perform with Ma, was caught in travel limbo after President Donald Trump issued an order last Friday to refuse entry to citizens of Syria and six other Muslim-majority nations, including travelers holding valid visas and residency permits.
He was granted a green card three years ago through an EB-1 visa, for applicants who can demonstrate “extraordinary ability” in science, business, or art.
The 40-year-old is currently in Beirut on the last leg of his tour before he will attempt to return home later this week. He also performed with Ma in Denmark.
“I have my apartment. You know, 16 years is not a short time, you accumulate lots of stuff,” he said. “But what is not replaceable is all the friends who are incredibly supportive.”
He said he was flooded with messages of support in the hours after the executive order, which is being challenged by civil rights attorneys in federal courts. Several judges have granted injunctions against the order, but lawyers say border control officers at several airports still have not granted them access to detained travelers. They say they are afraid the deportations will continue.
Azmeh said he was “positively surprised” by the support shown by demonstrators at US airports.
“I am holding onto the optimist in me,” he said.
Azmeh grew up in Damascus, Syria, before coming to the US to pursue his doctorate in music. He stayed in the US for years on a student visa, before applying for permanent immigration status three years ago.
“It seemed like the natural step,” he said. “New York is where I developed my musical skills, and where I grew as an artist.”
Syrian musician in limbo after travel ban
Syrian musician in limbo after travel ban
Arts festival’s decision to exclude Palestinian author spurs boycott
- A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival
SYDENY: A top Australian arts festival has seen the withdrawal of dozens of writers in a backlash against its decision to bar an Australian Palestinian author after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as moves to curb antisemitism spur free speech concerns.
The shooting which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.
The Adelaide Festival board said last Thursday it would disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week in the state of South Australia because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi.”
FASTFACTS
• Abdel-Fattah responded, saying it was ‘a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.’
• Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival.
Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
Among the boycotting authors, Kathy Lette wrote on social media the decision to bar Abdel-Fattah “sends a divisive and plainly discriminatory message that platforming Australian Palestinians is ‘culturally insensitive.'”
The Adelaide Festival said in a statement on Monday that three board members and the chairperson had resigned. The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex moment.”
a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board decision.
In the days after the Bondi Beach attack, Jewish community groups and the Israeli government criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to act on a rise in antisemitic attacks and criticized protest marches against Israel’s war in Gaza held since 2023.
Albanese said last week a Royal Commission will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia. Albanese said on Monday he would recall parliament next week to pass tougher hate speech laws.
On Monday, New South Wales state premier Chris Minns announced new rules that would allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls.
Minns said the new rules were prompted by the difficulty in closing a prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.
The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield said the rules were ill-considered and councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.
“Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way,” Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.
