Christians, Jews and Muslims Thronged Five Separate Los Angeles Rallies Against Bombing Iraq

By Pat and Samir Twair

As war clouds darkened February skies, proponents of peace staged rallies, demonstrations and programs imploring Washington to solve the Iraqi crisis with diplomacy, not bombs.

“Sanctions Are Weapons of Mass Destruction” was the theme of an interfaith rally for the Iraqi people presented Feb. 22 at the Islamic Center of Southern California. Despite an El Niño downpour, more than 350 Christians, Jews and Muslims gathered for the rousing and inspirational program. On three different programs during the following week, Pacifica Radio broadcast excerpts from the speech of Rabbi Steve Jacobs of Temple Kol Tikvah.

“We are again traveling at an enormous speed toward the highway of death,” the Woodland Hills rabbi said. “Tonight we are here to throttle the speed with which our government is moving to destroy so many more lives on the highway of death. Out of control, the highway leads to death in other nations and more violence and the potential loss of millions of lives. For me there can be no moral distinction between biological and nuclear weapons. Killing people is killing people.”

Even if Iraqi President Saddam Hussain doesn’t value the lives of his people, Rabbi Jacobs said, many people do. “We will not let a dictator drive us to war. We need to develop weapons of intelligence,” he continued.

“The Holocaust is a word that sends shivers up and down every Jew, yet the word does not belong to us. Friends, the Holocaust was not a Jewish event. It was a human event that overwhelmed the 20th century. Tonight we must remember the Russian and Chinese revolutions and the 20 million deaths during Stalin’s collectivization of peasant holdings, of the 50 million deaths due to famine after Mao’s Great Leap Forward, of millions of Armenians, of the slaughter of two world wars, of Korea, of Vietnam, of Israelis, of Palestinians, of Egyptians and Iranians and Iraqis and our own American children.”

The room reverberated with applause as Rabbi Jacobs said the moment had arrived for international disarmament and that Washington should lead the effort to eliminate weapons of mass destruction. “We are here to say we will not assist international disarmament by initiating another war of aggression against Iraq,” he emphasized.

“History tells us clearly that any power-hungry demagogue can start a war. It also tells us that years and decades of terrorist activity could follow. U.S. citizens already are in danger by virtue of their status in many countries of the world. A war started for the frivolous reason of refusing to limit our inspectors rather than empowering competent technicians from anywhere else in the world will place all citizens in grave danger of retaliatory attacks wherever we may be.

“Let President Clinton and Saddam Hussain know that the killing of innocents is a crime against humanity. Not against Iraqis, not against Americans, crimes against humanity. A crime against Iraqis, a crime against Americans, a crime against Israelis, a crime against Palestinians is a crime against humanity. Let us not be silent.”

Members of the audience leaped to their feet as Rabbi Jacobs closed his address with the words: “The prophet Isaiah was not silent. He was outspoken and demanding when he said, “Let nation not lift up sword against nation, let them not learn war anymore.”

In welcoming participants in the rally to the Islamic Center, Dr. Hassan Hathout stressed that he has never had sympathies for Iraq’s Saddam Hussain, but when he views the dictator on TV, he sees a “Made in America” label. “The U.S. encouraged Baghdad’s war against Iran and turned a blind eye when Saddam used biological weapons on its own people,” Hathout explained. “We announce our attack isn’t designed to remove Saddam, but to reduce his weapons. So Washington theoretically could strike Iraq every few years,” he warned.

The Rev. Ed Bacon voiced his repugnance over the appalling number of 5,000 Iraqi children who die each month by the combined acts of Saddam Hussain and the international sanctions. The rector of Pasadena’s famous All Saints Church said it is morally bankrupt to maintain a policy that kills children. “We must work for building up the family of nations and not for eliminating any from it,” he concluded.

Rabbi Leonard Beerman commented that it had been seven years since he had been in the Islamic Center during the buildup to the Gulf war.

He called out for a world of human decency that recognizes that all humans “want to live a little life and die a little death next to those who love us.”

Soloist Liz Tatum of All Saints Church sang a stirring rendition of “Precious Lord” and Cantor Caren Glasser sang “When Heaven and Earth Touch.”

Youngsters from the Islamic New Horizon School displayed a message they had written to Iraqi children.

As always, the Islamic Center’s spokes man, Dr. Maher Hathout, minced no words as he appraised the possibly imminent U.S. bombing of Iraq. Commenting that he knows what dictatorship is because he emigrated to the U.S. from a country that has a leader for life, he said Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s Feb. 20 comment that foreign policy in the U.S. is not made by public opinion but by the president sounded ominously familiar to him. “Policy should reflect the will of the people or the leader should be out of office,” the outspoken Egyptian-American physician concluded.

Iraqi Community Lets Off Steam

Many Iraqi Americans live in Southern California’s Inland Empire, but they’ve rarely voiced political opinions in public even when Iraq was pummeled by U.S. bombs in 1991. But as renewed air attacks seemed unavoidable in February, Mohand Eshaiker, California coordinator of the Iraqi American Committee, called for an unprecedented meeting to discuss the crisis.

“I wanted the candle of hope to keep burning,” stated the Irvine architect, who emceed the Feb. 21 program in the Islamic City of Knowledge School in Pomona. Evidently, the media was anticipating a U.S. strike on Iraq because three Los Angeles TV stations dispatched cameramen on a 60-mile trip to record the proceedings.

“All it takes for evil to prevail is to remain silent. We need to ban together and make our voice heard,” Eshaiker told the 200 Iraqi Americans on hand. “We have a right, a privilege and a duty to speak to our elected representatives. Maybe you believe you’re not interested in Saddam, but Saddam is interested in you. We are here to state our opinion: no to bombing and no to Saddam.”

Seyed Mustafa Qazwini, director of the Islamic Education Center of Orange County, noted the root of the crisis in Iraq is not Saddam Hussain’s weapons of mass destruction, but his misuse of Iraq’s resources. The tragedy of the Iraqi people is compounded, he said, by the fact that Saddam does not care about the well being of his people.

“Saddam is inviting a military strike,” the Shi’i cleric stated, because he will emerge from one of his bunkers after his palaces are bombed and appear as a hero, unscathed by U.S. missiles.”

Iraqi-born psychologist Dr. Ilham al-Sarraf discussed the trauma the Iraqi people were undergoing as they anticipated yet another blitz of their country.

“It is ironic to hear the world now is acknowledging the suffering of the Iraqi people when public executions, missing relatives, house searches, terror and starvation have been the norm for so many years,” commented the U.S.-educated psychologist.

Noting that she interviewed Iraqis in 1991 and again in October 1996, Dr. al-Sarraf said the most common psychosomatic illnesses of the beleaguered Iraqis are poor concentration, insomnia and a disorder she calls “disassociative.” “These individuals deny what lies ahead so they can function on a minimal level because they know they have no control of the nightmare about to occur.”

Dr. al-Sarraf says the body and mind are not equipped to cope with the ambivalence of anticipatory grief: will we be bombed or not? Some people choose suicide because they can take control of their destiny by ending it.

“Today, the Iraqis are again experiencing the 11th hour before the bombing begins. The unconscious doesn’t realize the passage of time and many are undergoing flashbacks to the bombings of 1991. Many ask why God has turned his back on them.”

Dr. al-Sarraf assured her listeners they should combat any feelings of powerlessness by writing and calling their legislators about the need to solve the crisis through diplomacy and to lift sanctions. “Maintain your faith,” she urged. “God is as close as your jugular vein.”

Amin al-Sarraf, 13, was asked to read his letter to the children of Iraq. “We understand your conflict, but we can’t feel it,” he said. “We understand your pain but we can’t feel it.” The eighth grader noted that 4,500 Iraqi children are dying each month, a number that is five times greater than the children in his school.

There was scarcely a dry eye as he articulated the pain and hunger Iraqi children are enduring in a nation ruled by a dictator, a political tragedy which the young California-born Iraqi-American admitted he could not comprehend.

The catharsis was visibly working when members of the audience volunteered to sign a letter directed to President Clinton and Congress to stop the sanctions and not bomb Iraq. Others asked how they could support the Iraqi people. “Support an Iraqi government in exile that is out in the open,” responded Eshaiker, who hastened to add “the future of Iraq could be the topic for another meeting. This emergency meeting is to let America know Southern California Iraqi Americans are against a military strike.”

Demonstrations Abound

Among Southern California anti-war demonstrations were two at the downtown Los Angeles Federal Building, one in Orange County and two in Westwood. The largest protest drew in excess of 400 peace proponents Feb. 17 in Westwood. Rain was falling as marchers pulled parka hoods over their heads and unrolled their banners. Motorists from Duluth, MN, parked their car and joined the peace rally.

Bus drivers and motorists honked their approval at a giant banner reading: “Fight Racism and Bigotry, Not the Iraqi People.” Another read: “Send Medicine, Not Bombs to Iraq.”

Demonstrators frequently chanted: “Clinton and Albright You Can’t Hide. We Charge You with Genocide.” Others marched to the cadenced words: “We want jobs, we want peace. U.S. out of the Middle East.”

Our favorite poster was: “Smart Bombs, Stupid Leaders.”

Rima Nashashibi Runs for State Assembly

The California primary elections are set for June 2 and a front-runner for the 67th Assembly seat is Arab-American Rima Nashashibi of Seal Beach, CA. A Democrat in traditionally Republican Orange County generally doesn’t stand a chance, but the Republican contenders are making it simple for her. The incumbent, Huntington Beach Republican Scott Baugh, faces a June trial on felony and misdemeanor charges of campaign wrongdoing. Baugh is being challenged by Republican Doris Allen who lost the 67th Assembly seat in a 1995 recall. Allen won national headlines when she struck a deal with Democrats and became California’s first female Assembly speaker.

So while the six Republican contenders fight it out, Rima is mustering all the support she can in her district representing Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Westminister, Rossmoor, Los Alamitos, Fountain Valley and parts of Cypress, LaPalma and Garden Grove.

The Jerusalem-born Nasha shibi holds a degree in economics from the American University of Beirut and has been a Democratic Party activist since she received her citizenship 10 years ago. The key issues she is pushing are more schools and safer schools free of gangs and hate crimes.

Persons interested in contributing to Rima Nashashibi’s campaign are invited to call her at (562) 598-9288 or e-mail at Rnashashibi@yahoo.com.

USC Turkish Students Sponsor Farabi Concert

Hospitable Turkish students expressed pleasure that we were interested in the music of their country as they escorted us into Hoffman Hall on the University of Southern California campus for a Jan. 16 concert by Farabi, a Santa Barbara-based quartet specializing in Middle Eastern dance music.

A Farabi concert is an enjoyable experience. The music definitely is not commercial and, judging by the rapturous expressions on the faces of the Turkish students, it is authentic. Farabi musicians, we learned, are scholars of Turkish folk and classical music and have researched rebetika, a specialty that developed in Greek nightclubs in the 1920s.

Comments Eliot Bates, who performs on the oud and sings, “In a way, our development is similar to that of Greek and Turkish rebetika bands that started in smoky clubs and restaurants. However, we’ve increasingly gained recognition at festivals and concert stages.”

Performing with Bates are: Shirley Wood- Force on the Arabic riqq and Turkish daire, who also teaches percussion in the University of California at Santa Barbara Middle Eastern Ensemble; Jonathan Kessler, a master doumbek player; and Brad Wright, playing the 13-stringed Bulgarian gadulka.

The quartet has performed with the Necdet Yasar Ensemble, Turkey’s most renowned classical group, but on Jan. 16 they concentrated on folk music of Turkey. When Farabi broke into a Gypsy 9/8 number entitled “Sulukule,” scores of students jumped from their seats and danced their way to the front of the auditorium. Nearly all present joined in singing a song from Western Anatolia entitled “Karanliktan” (Emerging from Darkness). One young fellow next to us seemed overcome with homesickness.

“How long have you been away from home?” we asked.

“Since last Wednesday,” he sighed.

Percussionist Wood-Force fascinated the audience as she shimmied the riqq while Wright, an abstract painter and master of Turkish makam, performed on the fiddle by holding it upright. Bates, a composer and ethnomusicologist, also performs Javanese gamelan music and wrote three of the songs appearing on Farabi’s latest CD. Drummer Kessler is a psychotherapist and has published articles on Arabic and Turkish rhythms in addition to teaching sold-out drum workshops available on video.

A lot of research and talent has gone into this group which has just released a CD, entitled “Mosaic,” on the Shefa label. The selec tion is a true mosaic of gypsy music from Turkey and Greece, rebetika, and songs from the Upper Nile. For more information, visit Farabi on its Web page at http://www.ix.netcom.com/~kesslari/farabi.html.

Pat and Samir Twair are free-lance writers based in Los Angeles.