Arabs on social media are praising President Donald Trump for ordering the first direct U.S. military action against Syrian government forces, and they’ve even invented an honorific title for him: “Abu Ivanka al-Amriki.”
“You what!? Good morning.. How big you are Abu Ivanka,” wrote Moussa al-Omar, a Syrian journalist living in London.
لك شو في !؟ صباح الخير .. كم أنت كبيرٌ يا ابو إيفانكا …
— موسى العمر (@MousaAlomar) April 7, 2017
The full title — Abu Ivanka al-Amriki — means, “Father of Ivanka the American,” the BBC reported.
The Guardian‘s Kareem Shaheen, a Turkey and Middle East reporter, shared this hilarious photo of Trump with the title in Arabic, complete with full blonde beard.
More Abu Ivanka al Amreeki hilarity from Syrian friends pic.twitter.com/j72ewXjIiJ
— Kareem Shaheen (@kshaheen) April 7, 2017
CNN’s senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, confirmed the reports of Trump’s title on the ground in Syria. “One Syrian tells me the new nom de guerre for President Trump on the ground in Northern Syria is Abu Ivanka al Amriki.”
One Syrian tells me the new nom de guerre for President Trump on the ground in Northern Syria is Abu Ivanka al Amriki. #syria
— Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) April 7, 2017
This reporting suggests serious support for Trump, along with the fact that many Syrians changed their social media avatars to pictures of the U.S. president with “I love you” in Arabic beneath them.
7) Still, some are changing their avatars to show Trump their appreciation – "we love you" it says simply pic.twitter.com/fDnXK4iPIo
— Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) April 7, 2017
Many might just have been joking. One user declared of Trump: “He became Sheikh of sheikhs Wahhabism. hahahahahah your blessings, o Shaykh Abu Ivanka hahahahah.” (A sheikh is a religious leader, and Wahhabism is a violent sect of Islam which inspired the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State.)
#احمق_البيت_الابيض أصبح شيخ من شيوخ الوهابية.. ههههههههه 😄
بركاتك يا شيخ ابو ايفانكا.. ههههههههه 😄 🙈 pic.twitter.com/BQuh7XDBZw— 👊رايــــــ(النصـــــــــر المقـــاومة)ــــــة ✊ (@jamaleelbrather) April 7, 2017
Another shared a video of a Syrian man “praising Trump (Abu Ivanka)” with crying while laughing emojis.
https://twitter.com/twit2407/status/850266153419104256
One Syrian praised Trump, describing him as a “man of his words,” unlike President Barack Obama.
https://twitter.com/HazmKSA1/status/850169710188560385
Another said, “You did in a few months what Obama couldn’t do in 8 years.” Yet another offered roses to “my brother Abu Ivanka.”
The BBC reported many more messages.
And while some said they “never thought” this day would come, they thankedTrump for doing “what no cowardly Arab ruler could do”.
“Hope is slowly returning to our hearts. Thank you, Trump,” one Syrian posted.
“For the first time in six years, the Assad regime has been held accountable for its crimes,” a London-based Syrian said.
A Houston-based Syrian shared an image of Trump with the simple message, “we love you.”
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=785453918297286&set=a.112264898949528.19382.100004980551494
Syrian journalist Rami Jarrah presented a more measured response, arguing that “Syrians are not cheering a pathetic human being like Trump, they’re just happy Assad has less means to kill them with.” That may be true, but whatever the reason, Syrians are hailing Trump.
One user asked, “So now you love Trump? Where are those who said when he came into power that he hates Arabs and Muslims?” (Translation via the BBC.)
صرت تحبون ترامب وين الي دعو عليه اول مامسك الحكم و قلتو يكره العرب و المسلمين https://t.co/wLsF9P6Ri1
— أم عبدالله♈︎💚 (@Z3bdallah) April 7, 2017
Pro-Assad Syrians had a different perspective, however. One user asked, “Is Trump going to bomb his own airfields for all the Iraqi and Syrian children they have killed in Raqqa and Mosul?”
Despite such critics, Abu Ivanka al-Amriki has become rather popular among the Syrian rebels. The question is, what will he do next, and how will the Syrians respond?
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