Lebanese-Americans rally for Tayyar Michigan, with Free Patriotic Movement, April 2009

Speaking in video is May Akl, press secretary of MP Michel Aoun. Before the June elections in Lebanon, Lebanese-Americans held campaign events in the U.S. to generate support for their parties. Tayyar Michigan was created to represent the coalition led by former Gen. Michel Aoun, a Christian who formed a coalition with Hizballah and Amal. His coalition ran against the group led by Hariri and some Maronite Christians. See full story below. --------------------------------- http://www.freep.com/article/20090531/NEWS05/905310455/ May 31, 2009 Immigrants to Michigan eye politics at home Family ties keep them involved, with many campaigning, casting votes BY NIRAJ WARIKOO FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER Decorated with a political party's orange and white colors, the Troy hall had all the trappings of a typical campaign event: calls for change, potshots at the rival party and music to energize voters. "More than ever, reform is needed," a 27-year-old Lebanese-American man from Detroit said to a crowd of cheering supporters. "The people can no longer afford the status quo." But the stump speech wasn't for a race anywhere in the United States -- it was for the June 7 national election in Lebanon. The scene was a striking illustration of how the growth of metro Detroit's immigrant communities, coupled with modern technology, has led to increasing political activity in Michigan for elections held thousands of miles away in foreign countries. Metro Detroiters also have been involved with elections in Iraq, Pakistan, Mexico, Iran, India and Israel, among other nations, according to interviews with immigrants, politicians and government officials. Foreign candidates and groups, or their representatives, campaign in Michigan. Political parties hold major rallies in the state, and some raise money. Michiganders have even run for contested races in their native lands, including a Clinton Township man who won an assembly race in India earlier this month. And others go back to vote. This week, many are flying to Lebanon to campaign and cast ballots in an election watched by the U.S. government and others concerned about the Middle East. Chadi Haddad, 34, of Livonia is one of them, saying that "whatever happens there will affect me here because we have family attachments, economic ties, investments, our attachment to the land." But at the same time, Haddad added, "I'm very loyal to America." Technology shapes immigration When Rami Haddad, 25, watches the evening news in his Livonia home, it's not Brian Williams or Katie Couric on the screen. It's a Lebanese station he relies on to find out the latest political developments in his motherland. Technological advances -- especially in communications and travel -- have reshaped immigration, making it easier to flit back and forth between two worlds. The changes may be most visible in the way immigrants participate in the politics of their native land. In the past, immigrants who flocked to the United States from European countries maintained close ties to the politics of their birthplaces, but information was slow to reach them. Today, they can take affordable flights, text message or make long-distance phone calls at cheap rates. They also can use a range of tools on the Internet, from blogs to social media networks, to track in minute detail the politics of their native lands. Faiz Khan, a Pakistani-American activist from Sterling Heights who hosts a local radio show, remembers how in the 1970s, it would often take weeks to learn what was happening in south Asia. Now, in cafés across Dearborn, Arabic satellite TV stations broadcast several updates daily on Lebanon's heated political races. 'Immigration has changed' Lebanon's ambassador to the United States, Antoine Chedid, touched upon those changes during a talk at a Dearborn banquet hall decked with Lebanese and U.S. flags. Decades ago, immigrants "used to leave without even hoping of going back," Chedid told the Lebanese-American audience. "Nowadays, it's totally different. Immigration has changed." "The world," he explained "has become a small village, in terms of traveling, in terms of technology, in every way." Detroit who speak Telugu rallied for an Indian party in the state of Andhra Pradesh called Telugu Desam. To raise public awareness, they've held blood drives and hosted Desam leaders speaking in metro Detroit. Last year, it held a motorcade rally through Farmington Hills. This month, Anil Eravathri of Clinton Township won a seat in the state assembly for Andhra Pradesh with another party, said his business partner Sagar Reddy of Canton. The activity extends to a broad range of countries. A Mexican opposition leader campaigned three years ago in southwest Detroit and marched in the March 2006 immigration rally in Detroit. In March, Moshe Feiglin, head of the right-wing Israeli faction Manhigut Yehudit in the Likud party, spoke at local synagogues to raise money.

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