SIGN IN to access Harper’s Magazine
Need to create a login? Want to change your email address or password? Forgot your password?
1. Sign in to Customer Care using your account number or postal address.
2. Select Email/Password Information.
3. Enter your new information and click on Save My Changes.
Subscribers can find additional help here. Not a subscriber? Subscribe today!
As a Palestinian, U.S. president Donald Trump’s talk of travel restrictions, refugee and Muslim bans, and wall-building strike me as eerily familiar. Through his appointment of David Friedman as U.S. ambassador to Israel, his stated intention to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and his bolstered military aid package amid devastating budget cuts, he has made clear his commitment to supporting Israel. Yet, quick as people are to condemn Trump’s positions on a slew of issues, few have spoken out about how his commitment to Israel fits in with the rest of his bigoted policies. In this centennial year—100 years since The Balfour Declaration, 70 years since we were ethnically cleansed from our homeland during the establishment of Israel, and 50 years since the June 1967 War (the Naksa)—many of us, descendants of refugees, remain barred from entering our homeland. Considering the Israeli policies that make it impossible to return, and the echoes of border control cropping up in American political rhetoric, I asked Palestinian-Americans from all walks of life to reflect on what this presidency means for us.
Cost of renting a giant panda from the Chinese government, per day:
A recent earthquake in Chile was found to have shifted the city of Concepción ten feet to the west, shortened Earth’s days by 1.26 microseconds, and shifted the planet’s axis by nearly three inches.
The Chevrolet Suburban sport utility vehicle was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
At Ivanwald, men learn to be leaders by loving their leaders. “They’re so busy loving us,” a brother once explained to me, “but who’s loving them?” We were. The brothers each paid $400 per month for room and board, but we were also the caretakers of The Cedars, cleaning its gutters, mowing its lawns, whacking weeds and blowing leaves and sanding. And we were called to serve on Tuesday mornings, when The Cedars hosted a regular prayer breakfast typically presided over by Ed Meese, the former attorney general. Each week the breakfast brought together a rotating group of ambassadors, businessmen, and American politicians. Three of Ivanwald’s brothers also attended, wearing crisp shirts starched just for the occasion; one would sit at the table while the other two poured coffee.