Birmingham Residents Rally to Show Support for Syrian Refugees
A about four dozen people gathered Saturday morning in Birmingham’s Railroad Park downtown to take a picture showing that some Alabamians would like to accept Syrian refugees.
Back in November, when Governor Robert Bentley stated that Alabama would not accept any refugees fleeing the war in Syria, Rebecca Kallies felt betrayed.
“He is just perpetuating the bigotry that we are so known for,” says Kallies. “Somebody’s got to say no. We are going to say something different.”
So, she started the Facebook group “Refugees Welcome in Alabama-Birmingham” and invited over a thousand people to gather in Railroad Park and show support for refugees.
A group of teenage girls from the Islamic Academy of Alabama came with their teachers. They made handmade signs that read “No to Islamophobia” and “Refugees are Human Beings!”
One of their teachers, Yasmin Nimer, said that more members of the Muslim community want to come, but were too afraid “to be in public places.”
Ashley Cleek,WBHM
Yasmin Nimer is an Islamic Studies teacher and a counselor at the Islamic Academy of Alabama.
Nimer says that the recent announcement by presidential candidate Donald Trump to bar Muslims from the U.S. has spread fear through the Muslim community.
High school senior, Dina Abdelqader, 17, came to show her support for refugees.
She shows a picture of a KKK flier on her phone that reads: “fight the spread Islam.” Abdelqader wears a bright pink headscarf. She says she hasn’t felt any increased hatred or suspicion in the past month, but that her friends tell her “to be careful.”
Gini Mohammad watches as her three children play in the park.
“We need to open our hearts and our doors. It could be us,” Mohammad says. “Kids, they are dying every single day. It could be us.”
After about an hour, those gathered stand together and hold up the letters to a hand-made sign that reads “Alabama Welcomes Refugees.”
Judge denies release of Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury transcripts
President Trump called for the release of the grand jury transcripts after growing pressure to divulge more information about Jeffrey Epstein's case, but the judge on the case said there is nothing new to release.
What’s the deal with claims that birth control is dangerous?
Social media is full of videos saying hormonal contraception can hurt you and promoting natural alternatives. How did the treatments get such a bad reputation and do alternatives work?
Trump’s tariff revenue has skyrocketed. But how big is it, really?
President Trump's new tariffs are pouring in. But it's still only a fraction of overall government revenues — and falls short of new spending in the recent Republican megabill.
Factories are losing immigrant workers, stressing those who remain
Trump campaigned on helping American workers through his immigration policies. Now that he's revoked work authorization for thousands of immigrants, those left behind are feeling taxed by their absence.
Boston Public Library aims to increase access to a vast historic archive using AI
The library is launching a project in collaboration with Harvard Law School and OpenAI this summer to digitize the materials and make them more fully searchable.
Israeli strike kills journalists in Gaza City, worsening the death toll for the media
Israel's military targeted an Al Jazeera correspondent with an airstrike Sunday, killing him, another network journalist and other people, all of whom were sheltering outside the Gaza City Hospital complex.
