Yesterday's Democratic primary for the 86th House District proved to be, by percentage points, one of the closest races in the entire Commonwealth. When all the
“This year has taught us that, in the face of adversity, it’s more important than ever to find ways to help one another,” write Kim McGuire, Julie Perry and Brenda Moss of the Summit County chapter of the National Charity League.
This occupation dooms us to what we are seeing
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May 18, 2021 12.03am
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The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number.
THE GAZA STRIP
This occupation dooms us to what we are seeing
The violent tragedy unfolding in Israel/Palestine is a vile stain on successive Israeli governments and the Palestinian Authority, compounded by Hamas, whose refusal to recognise the reality of Israel is an act of wilful, obsessive and destructive blindness.
Even in our local Jewish and Muslim communities, the pain, anger and fear we feel for our sisters and brothers in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, render us unable to empathise with the same emotions experienced by the other. This is not to equate the suffering on each side, simply to acknowledge it.
Today at 3:30pm
Incumbent Del. Ibraheem Samirah (left) and challenger Irene Shin (right) are competing in the Democratic primary for the 86th District (Photos courtesy Ibraheem Samirah, Irene Shin)
Virginia’s political transformation over the past decade can be summed up by the arc of the 86th House District.
10 years ago, former Herndon mayor and Republican Tom Rust was reelected for a sixth term, running unopposed in both the primary and general elections. Two years later, Jennifer Boysko fell just 54 votes shy of ousting Rust, and in 2015, she turned the district blue after he opted not to seek reelection.
Jumping to 2021, the Town of Herndon and western Fairfax County down to Route 50 in Chantilly are represented in the House of Delegates by Del. Ibraheem Samirah, the Palestinian American grandson of refugees who succeeded Boysko in 2019 as part of a new wave of Democratic leaders that gave the party control of the General Assembly.