TRAVELOGUE - DETROIT DAY ONE

(Editor's note: Upon arriving in Detroit, the Hands in Healing travelers have made site visits to several area community agencies, including a major center of the Arab American community here; see report below. On Saturday, May 11, the group will join Wayne County Sheriff Robert Ficano and WDIV-TV Morning News Anchor Tom Haynes at Christ Church, Detroit. Of historic interest is the fact that the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, the Rt. Rev. Joseph Horsfall Johnson, was ordained to the episcopate in Christ Church before moving in the mid-1890s to the then-newly-established Diocese of Los Angeles. L.A.'s Sixth Bishop, the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, will remember this connection during his visit to Christ Church today. On Sunday the travelers will join Bishop Wendell Gibbs of the Diocese of Michigan on his Sunday visitation to Grace Church, South Gate. Additional coverage will follow the report posted here.)

Near Detroit, youth from largest Arab-American community in U.S. share views with L.A. Hands in Healing peers
By Bob Williams

(Dearborn, Mich., Friday, May 10) -- "I read the Bible; I read the Koran. Religion is not hatred," Jawat Ramadan, 21, told L.A. peers sharing cross cultural dialogue today in this Detroit-area city that is home to the largest population of Arab Americans in the United States. "Our religion does not teach us hatred."

Decrying the rage that is "killing too many elderly" and is such that "a 6-year-old kid is blindfolded, handcuffed, and taken out of his house," Ramadan said the solution for the current violence between Israelis and his fellow Palestinians in and around Jerusalem is to apply more reasoned "adult" action to achieve not only a ceasefire but also justice and lasting peace.

"Everybody is acting like kids," said Ramadan, one of seven dialogue participants representing ACCESS, the region's 32-year-old Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services. They need to get over it. I myself could never build up that level of hatred. I'd admit my problems, be a man about it, and move on. What's going to happen? When all the holy sites are gone, then will they realize they were wrong when it's too late? These are adults. These are not kids."

Ramadan, who recently moved to Dearborn from Allentown, Pa., called for "an independent Israel, and independent Palestine. Bam. That's how it should be...." He said all parties "should do what we're doing today: sit down and talk about it before more kids end by dying in the streets. They need to stop and come to an agreement, and stop shedding innocent blood on both sides."

Anne Warnock, 18, of Long Beach, Calif. -- one of seven Southern Californians visiting here today with Episcopal Bishop Jon Bruno through the cross-country 'Hands in Healing' anti-violence initiative of the Diocese of Los Angeles--added her agreement.

"I think the voice, the outcry in this situation, is coming from the youth," said Warnock, noting that as a person of Irish-Jewish heritage herself, she finds "embarrassing" the ways in which some Israelis persist in perpetrating and perpetuating violence against Palestinians. "Before we get too comfortable, we need to do something. If we can organize, we can make a huge difference."

One step toward such collaboration came today as the Hands in Healing team extended to its ACCESS hosts an invitation to visit Los Angeles at some future date for the purpose of engaging in further dialogue and advocacy for peacemaking. Hospitality and accommodations could be provided at L.A.'s Cathedral Center, Bishop Bruno told the group, noting that the conversation should also include the voices of peer participants of Jewish heritage and faith.

"Non-Arabs learning about the issues makes such a difference," said dialogue participant Sherry Guirguis, 22, an ACCESS representative of Egyptian descent. "It creates a domino effect" of achieving wider action and understanding that can help dispel stereotyping and isolation, she added.

"When I was younger and going to school, I was the only Arab American, so I tended to shy away from any kind of political statements of situations," Guriguis told the group. "Then...through Desert Storm...and as I became older, I came to terms with my identity, and I began to think about what's going on in Iraq...and Palestine...and I became more comfortable discussing issues."

Joining Guirguis and Ramadan in today's dialogue were three other ACCESS representatives of high school and college age who are each of Iraqi, Saudi Arabian or Yemeni backgrounds. Arranged by Michael Bsharah of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan, the dialogue was coordinated by ACCESS youth services coordinator NIchole Namy, who told the group about the pace and scope of cross-cultural education that has increased greatly since Sept. 11. It is only now, she said, that she and her collegeages are beginning new stages in the healing process.

NEXT: A report from Celena Khatib of ACCESS's Cultural Arts Dept. outlines highlights of Arab American community in Dearborn, Mich.
 

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