Gold Star Parents Who Blasted Trump to be Honored in Dearborn

DEARBORN, MI — The Gold Star parents of an American Muslim soldier killed in Iraq who criticized Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in a stirring Democratic National Convention speech will be honored next month in Dearborn at an Arab-American civil rights group’s annual gala.

Khizr and Ghazala Khan, of Virginia, will be honored at the Arab American Civil Rights League’s fifth annual Fight for Justice gala at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center on Sept. 29. Their son, U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, was killed by a suicide bomber while serving in Iraq in 2004.

The Khans immigrated to the United States from the United Arab Emirates in 1980 and became citizens in 1986. Humayun Khan and his older brother, Shaharyar, were born in Dubai, and the Khans’ third son, Omer, was born in Silver Springs, Maryland.

In his now-famous speech, Khizr Khan blasted Trump for ethnically charged rhetoric and for “smearing the character” of religious minorities like his family, and said that under Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States, his son would never have been able to serve in the military and, ultimately, give his life for his country.

“Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America — you will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities,” Khan said on the final night of the Democratic National Convention last month. “You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”

In a particularly powerful moment, Khan pulled a pocket Constitution from his suit pocket, hoisted it defiantly in the air, and declared:

“Donald Trump, you're asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words, look for the words, liberty and equal protection (under) law.”

Khan’s quintessential smack-down set off a public spat between Trump and members of his party, sending the candidate’s poll numbers into a freefall and his campaign into crisis.

The bombastic candidate went so far as to suggest that Ghazala Khan, who stood quietly beside her husband as he addressed the convention delegates, had been forbidden from speaking, declare that Khan had no right to question his understanding of the Constitution, and take to Twitter to say that he had been “viciously attacked.”

To the utter bewilderment of the candidate’s Republican allies, the feud went on for days, and Trump’s poll numbers have yet to rebound — causing worry among party leaders that he may drag down Republicans in key Senate and other down-ticket races. At one point, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Trump’s criticism of the Gold Star parents was “inappropriate,” Patch reported.

In Michigan, where about a third of Arab-Americans live, many of them in Dearborn, the state Republican Party sharply rebuked Trump and called Capt. Khan “a hero.”

“The Michigan Republican Party is thankful to the Khan family, and to all of the others who so selflessly defend our country and our freedom in the United States military,” Sarah Anderson, the state party’s communications director, said in a statement to the Detroit Free Press earlier this month. “Those who make the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation and their families deserve honor, respect, and appreciation. We disagree with any statements or implications to the contrary.”

At the Arab American Civil Rights League gala, the Rev. George Shalhoub, the founding pastor of Livonia’s Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary, will also be honored. The keynote speaker is Amre Moussa, a politician and diplomat from Egypt who is the former secretary-general of the Arab League, which represents 22 Arab countries.

Image: Screenshot of Khizr and Ghazala Khan from Democratic National Convention video