<div dir="ltr"><div class="" style="margin:10px 0px 0px;padding:0px;direction:ltr;vertical-align:baseline;font-family:Arial,FreeSans,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:17px;clear:both;border:none!important"><div class="" style="margin:10px 0px 0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 26px;direction:ltr;border:0px;vertical-align:baseline"><div class="" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;direction:ltr;border:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(153,153,153);font-size:12px"><div class="" style="margin:2px 0px 0px;padding:0px;direction:ltr;border:0px;vertical-align:baseline;float:left;max-width:310px"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jasmine-m-elgamal/"><b><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">Jasmine M.
El-Gamal</span></b></a> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:black;border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">Truman National Security Fellow, civil servant
in the U.S. Department of Defense and a graduate of Georgetown's School of
Foreign Service</span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif"></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 3.7pt 0.0001pt 0in;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Symbol">·<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:'Times New Roman'">        
</span></span><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.7pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(17,17,17)">An Open
Letter to Idahoans</span></b></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.7pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif">Posted: 11/25/2015 10:20 am The Huffington Post</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(34,34,34)"> </span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">On November 16, North Idaho Rep.
Heather Scott wrote her constituents and told them to <a href="http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/IDLEG/bulletins/1259148" target="_hplink"><span style="color:rgb(0,136,195)">be scared</span></a> of
Muslim refugees coming to America, calling them a "Trojan Horse." I
want to tell you that I understand why you might be nervous about the
possibility of a large influx of strangers from a war-torn land coming into our
country. I also want to tell you why we shouldn't close our borders to our
fellow human beings at a time when they need our compassion the most.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:5.55pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">My name is Jasmine El-Gamal and I am the daughter of Muslim
immigrants. My father left Egypt in his 20s. A proud Egyptian, he was also
always searching for ways to better himself. With his parents long gone, he
kissed his siblings goodbye and headed to a country he heard was built by
immigrants, for immigrants. A land where everyone was equal, where hard work
meant a steady paycheck and the possibility of owning your own house, and where
families convened every year on Thanksgiving to celebrate their blessings.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:5.55pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">He dreamt of having children and raising them with the highest
of hopes and none of the fears he harbored back home. So with less than 200
dollars to his name, he came to America and went straight to work in downtown
Manhattan, less than 10 miles from the Statue of Liberty with its hopeful words
etched at the bottom: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free."</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:5.55pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:black">Look at your own families. Where did your ancestors come from?
What did they have to endure to get here? Aren't you glad America let them in?</span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:black"></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">My parents were lucky. They weren't
fleeing a war or facing persecution because of their religion. They didn't wake
up every morning to the sound of barrel bombs raining from the sky unannounced.
I think of Syrians attempting to flee the carnage that is their daily life and
wonder if Heather Scott also mentioned to you that these people would have to
go through <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2015/11/18/125812/infographic-the-screening-process-for-entry-to-the-united-states-for-syrian-refugees/" target="_hplink"><span style="color:rgb(0,136,195)">18-24 months</span></a> of
security screenings, background checks and interviews before being admitted
here as refugees.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">My immigrant parents taught me and my
three brothers to cherish the safety, freedoms and endless possibilities of America.
But my family's story is not unique. American Muslim immigrants and refugees
and their children love and serve their country, including in uniform --
they've done so under every President from George Washington in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-considine/saluting-muslim-american-patriots_b_7039866.html" target="_hplink"><span style="color:rgb(0,136,195)">1775</span></a> to George
Bush in <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/19/colin-powell-invokes-imag_n_135977.html" target="_hplink"><span style="color:rgb(0,136,195)">2007</span></a>, and continue to
do so today.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">America is not just a country.
America is an idea. It is the idea that anyone, including those facing
persecution back home, can come here, work hard and make it, regardless of
their religion. Just look at our history: we opened our doors to Albert Einstein,
Madeline Albright, Wyclef Jean -- just a few of the many refugees who<a href="http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/gallery/2012/06/201206187636.html#axzz3rspMPKtT" target="_hplink"><span style="color:rgb(0,136,195)">served our country</span></a>,
through science, public service and music. You may not agree with their
politics or religion, but I bet you can agree with the fact that they've helped
make our country what it is. Look at your own families. Where did your
ancestors come from? What did they have to endure to get here? Aren't you glad
America let them in?</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:5.55pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:black">Show the world who we are. We are Americans: Open, tolerant,
compassionate and most of all, unafraid.</span></b><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:black"></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:5.55pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">My father died in 2013, on his birthday, on a flight from Saudi
Arabia to New York. He had just completed the "Haj", which is a
pilgrimage to Mecca required of able Muslims once in their lifetime to visit
the birthplace of their prophet. He died as a proud Muslim, a proud immigrant
and a proud American.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:5.55pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">I've never had the privilege of visiting Idaho -- although I
hope to do so -- so I can't say that I know you. I don't know your specific
fears or experiences and I would never presume to minimize or dismiss them. All
I can say is that we're all Americans, and we share the ability to talk to each
other with an open mind and an open heart.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:5.55pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">So what I propose to you is this: if you have a question about
Muslims, Islam, refugees, Syria, ISIS, or any related issue, email me. Let's
have a conversation. If I can't answer your questions, I promise I can connect
you to someone who can. I ask only one thing of you: Don't listen to hate
speech, or those who insist that you have something to fear from one group of
people -- most of whom simply long for a better life in this great country
they've heard so much about.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:5.55pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Show the world who we are. We are Americans: Open, tolerant,
compassionate and most of all, unafraid.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:3.7pt;vertical-align:baseline;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><i><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">Jasmine M. El-Gamal is a Truman National Security Fellow, a
civil servant in the U.S. Department of Defense and a graduate of Georgetown's
School of Foreign Service. She served as a translator with the 82nd Airborne
division in Iraq in 2003. She can be reached at <a href="mailto:firstgenjasmine@gmail.com">firstgenjasmine@gmail.com</a>. This
article originally appeared in the November 22nd edition of the Idaho Falls
Post Register.</span></i><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)"></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Georgia,serif"> </span></p></div></div></div></div>
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