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First Palestinian American to win Illinois state seat sworn into office

Cook County commissioners Frank Aguilar and Donna Miller, State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele. (AN photo)
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Updated 29 January 2023
RAY HANANIA
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First Palestinian American to win Illinois state seat sworn into office

  • Abdelnasser Rashid seeks social, economic aid for all citizens
  • Vows to tackle Israeli military, US police brutality and killings
Updated 29 January 2023
RAY HANANIA

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Abdelnasser Rashid, the first Palestinian American to win a seat in the Illinois General Assembly, was sworn into office Saturday before a gathering of prominent state and local officials, and Arab American community leaders.

After taking the oath, Rashid demanded justice for “innocent victims of violence everywhere.” This includes Palestinian civilians being targeted by the Israeli military, and also African Americans like Tyre Nichols who died three days after being beaten by police during a routine traffic stop in Memphis on Jan. 7.

Rashid said the rights of Palestinians and African Americans were just as important as the issues that every US citizen faces including improved education for their children, more jobs, a stronger economy, and support for their families.

“I am honored to be the first Palestinian to be elected to the Illinois General Assembly along with my sister, Nabeela Syed. Let’s (give) her a round of applause,” said Rashid who represents the 21st State House District. Syed, a Muslim, was also elected with Rashid in the Nov. 4 General Election and represents the north suburban 51st State Legislative district.

“We recognize the high stakes of the moment that we are in. I had planned to give a celebratory speech that was focused almost exclusively on the progress we are making. But to be honest I couldn’t only speak about progress after seeing the video of Tyre Nichols being brutally murdered by five officers in Memphis Tennessee. A video that reminds us of just how much we still have to do. And videos from Gaza and the West Bank where Palestinians continue to suffer under brutal Israeli occupation.”

Rashid said these issues of African American and Palestinian rights were just as important as the nation’s broken healthcare system and the region’s housing crisis, and he demanded that “we build durable coalitions to fight for justice and equity” for everyone.

A Democrat, Rashid’s district includes parts of the state’s growing Palestinian American population based in the southwest suburbs of Chicago including in Bridgeview and Burbank.

Several prominent elected officials attended the swearing-in citing Rashid’s election as proof that the system can change and become more representative.

Among those speakers was US Senator Dick Durbin, who during his term in office hired several Palestinian and Arab American staff members, including Reema Dodin who served as his deputy chief of staff in Washington D.C.

Dodin was tapped by President Joe Biden to serve as deputy director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, the highest-ranking position to be held by a Palestinian American. Dodin’s parents immigrated to America from Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Newly elected Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, whose former election campaign manager Palestinian American political consultant Hanah Jubeh is now the deputy secretary of state, praised Rashid as a symbol of the openness and inclusion that Illinois embraces.

“This community should be very, very proud of what Abdelnasser Rashid has accomplished ... the first Palestinian American and one of only two Muslims in the history of the General Assembly in the State of Illinois,” said Giannoulias, whose office is considered to be more powerful than that of the state governor.

“You represent the next generation, Abdelnasser. The people who came to this country with nothing. Who worked hard. Who were

discriminated against. Who made sacrifices and had challenges we couldn’t even fathom, are looking at you now as the reason why they came to this country and the reason why they made those sacrifices. They can point to you and say he is one of us. If he can do it, we can do it.”

Rashid defeated 14-year incumbent Democrat Michael Zalewski. Observers said Rashid’s success represents the growing influence of the Palestinian and Muslim American vote in the southwest suburbs of Chicagoland.

Topics: Illinois Palestinian American US Abdelnasser Rashid

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Afghan polio survivor’s sock factory provides hope by employing disabled workers

Updated 6 sec ago
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Afghan polio survivor’s sock factory provides hope by employing disabled workers

Updated 6 sec ago
HERAT: In a tiny room in the center of Herat, Afghanistan’s westernmost city, Shahabuddin uses his hands to propel himself along the floor to a freshly-made pile of socks waiting to be sorted and packaged.
A double amputee since a roadside bomb took both his legs a decade ago, when Afghanistan was mired in conflict between US-led forces and Taliban insurgents, the 36-year-old father of four had struggled to find work. Unemployed for the last decade, he had been forced to rely on relatives for his family’s survival.
But a new sock production workshop in Herat employing only disabled workers has given him new hope.
“I became disabled due to the explosion. Both my legs were amputated,” Shahabuddin, who like many Afghans goes by only one name, said during a brief pause in his work in early December. “Now I work here in a sock factory, and I am very happy that I have been given a job here.”
The workshop is the brainchild of Mohammad Amiri, 35, a former grocery shop worker who started the business about a month ago. Amiri, himself disabled by childhood polio, wanted to create jobs and help provide income for other people with disabilities, particularly as many of them were injured during the conflict and have no other means of income.
He teamed up with another polio survivor to start the sock factory with a workforce of men disabled either through traumatic injuries or because of congenital issues or other reasons. They make four types of socks: long and short, for winter and summer.
“The factory, which is funded and supported by people with disabilities, began operations last month and currently employs around 50 people with disabilities,” Amiri said. “They are busy in the production, packaging and sale of socks in the city.”
A combination of decades of conflict, a weak health care system and struggling economy have contributed to high levels of disability in Afghanistan. Data from a 2019 Model Disability Survey conducted by The Asia Foundation nonprofit organization indicates that nearly 25 percent of adults live with a mild disability, while 40 percent have moderate and about 14 percent have severe disabilities.
“These figures compel us to act with greater urgency and commitment,” the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a statement released on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 3, quoting the same figures. “Persons with disabilities must not be treated as an afterthought; they must be fully integrated into every stage of planning, decision-making, and service delivery.”
Meanwhile, Afghanistan is one of only two countries — along with neighboring Pakistan — where wild poliovirus remains endemic. The infectious disease can cause flu-like symptoms, but can also cause severe reactions, including paralysis, disability and death.
The Afghan Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled Affairs says 189,635 disabled people across the country are registered and receiving financial support from the government.
Amiri said his business faces serious competition from cheap imports of textiles, and expressed the hope that the government would stop imports from abroad. He has hopes of getting a contract to provide the Afghan security forces with socks, and wants to expand his workforce to 2,000 people.
His current employees include former refugees who have recently returned to Afghanistan after spending years abroad.
One such man is Mohammad Arif Jafari, 40, an economics graduate and polio survivor who lived in Iran for years. Returning to Afghanistan has been hard, he said.
“I suffered a lot due to unemployment. But fortunately, now I produce several types of socks,” he said while selling his wares from a stall on the streets of Herat. “I am happy that I am working here and earning an income.”

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