Family fleeing Syria finds haven in New England

(The Christian Science Monitor) For a man whose store was blown up and who has fled falling artillery shells, life in the United States now offers a new challenge: the political rhetoric of an election year.

Zaid Alnasar and his family were the first Syrian refugees to settle in Westfield, Massachusetts. Their apartment is nestled on a city street, with white sheer curtains and laundry pinned up on the porch. Aside from the baby born this year, their lives are unremarkably routine. But for the Alnasars, this may be the most remarkable thing of all.

“We reached a safe haven,” Alnasar said, recalling his first thought upon arrival in the United States.