Saleh Kassim at Cortelyou Smoke Shop & Deli. (Photo by Carly Miller via BKLYNER)
At noon on Feb. 2, a thousand Yemeni-owned bodegas around NYC closed their doors for eight hours in protest of President Trump’s executive order that halts entry into the U.S. of citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries who do not have green cards.
Prior to the store closings, BKLYNER’s Carly Miller spoke to owners of participating bodegas in Ditmas Park, like Saleh Kassim of Cortelyou Smoke Shop & Deli who came to the U.S. as a teenager.
“We respect every religion and human being. We believe in peace, and we love this country,” said Kassim. “My wife and my cousins have green cards, but now they’re scared. They don’t want to be sent back to Yemen.”
Mow Salahi of Salahi Deli will attend the rally with his sons and nephews: “People have fought so hard to get those rights. They can’t just be erased with the stroke of a pen. It’s not right. This isn’t Hitler.”
Go to BKLYNER to hear from more bodegas owners and find out how just many bodegas are Yemeni-owned.
In the afternoon, the Yemeni community held a rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall, where “thousands” turned out. The demonstration started with a Muslim call for prayer, followed by Yemeni merchants and families expressing how the ban has affected their lives.
Thousands are at #Brooklyn Borough Hall to pray, to protest, to be #patriotic. These are the faces of #MyMuslimNeighbor. We #UnifyANDDefy. pic.twitter.com/H3F4ESWCmc
— Eric Adams (@BPEricAdams) February 2, 2017