wfn.org | Palestinians share U.S. anguish, missionaries say

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Sept. 17, 2001  News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville,
Tenn.     10-21-71B{404}

A UMNS Report
By Tim Tanton*

Contrary to what Americans have seen on television, most Palestinians did
not celebrate the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington,
according to United Methodist missionaries in the Middle East.

The brief footage of Palestinians celebrating the attacks did not depict the
reactions of the many people in the area who have expressed sympathy and
grief for America, the missionaries say.

The expressions of joy in the streets "were few and certainly did not
represent the feelings or mood of the general population," wrote the Rev.
Sandra Olewine in a widely circulated e-mail note. Olewine is a United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries missionary working in Jerusalem. "The
deep shock and horror of the Palestinian people, the real sorrow for all the
dead and wounded, was, and continues to be, unseen by the world,
particularly in the U.S.A. It is the story unheard."

"We understand the anger of the American people at this time," the Rev. Alex
Awad wrote in an exchange of e-mail with United Methodist News Service. Awad
and his wife, Brenda, are with the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries, and they serve at Bethlehem Bible College and East Jerusalem
Baptist Church. 

"We too are angry -- angry at the terrorists, angry about the human
destruction, angry for the injured and the bereaved -- but we hope that the
Christian community in the United States will heed the advice of the apostle
Paul who said,  'In your anger do not sin' (Ephesians 4:26)," he wrote.
"Therefore we pray that in our anger and frustration we will not rush into
actions that will bring calamity upon innocent people around the world."  

U.S. officials have identified the terrorist network of Saudi dissident
Osama bin Laden as the prime suspect in the attacks. Bin Laden is believed
to be hiding in Afghanistan, and U.S. authorities have demanded his
extradition unsuccessfully for the past two years in connection with other
terrorist acts. Afghanistan's Taliban government, an extremist Islamic
regime, has refused to give him up.

Awad's church in Jerusalem held a special prayer meeting for the American
people on Sept. 12, which was attended by Palestinian Christians and people
of different denominations and nationalities.

In a widely circulated e-mail message, Awad described asking his Palestinian
students on Sept. 12 for their reactions to the attacks.

"My students unanimously condemned the attacks and expressed feelings of
shock and horror," he wrote. "I was relieved because many of these students
come from the town of Beit Jala that has experienced months of bombing,
devastation, and most recently, an Israeli incursion into their town. I
found out that although some Palestinians, upon hearing the first breaking
news reports, celebrated the attacks, many of them regretted their rash
reaction as soon as they understood the scope and magnitude of the attack."

Afterward, he talked with people in Bethlehem's marketplace about the
attacks. "I could not find one Palestinian in Bethlehem, Christian or
Muslim, who expressed joy over the heinous assaults. I returned home with
the conclusion that while a few Palestinians gloated at the misfortune of
America, the vast majority of Palestinians are shocked, horrified and
disgusted. ... Unfortunately, the media does not know how to focus on the
millions of Palestinians who grieved silently as they watched the horrible
scenes of death and destruction on their TV screens."   

Olewine received phone calls from Palestinians around the West Bank
expressing their horror and condolences. The U.S. Consul General told her
that he had received a large stack of faxes of condolences from Palestinians
and Palestinian organizations, she said. Outside the American Consulate in
East Jerusalem, Olewine saw about 30 Palestinian Muslim schoolgirls with
their teachers, holding bouquets of flowers in a vigil. Later, at home, she
said she was visited and called by Palestinian Christian and Muslim friends,
checking to see if they could help in any way and asking if the people she
knew were OK.

"Despite the world, and particularly the American world, not seeing them or
seeing them only as 'terrorists', Palestinians continued to express their
common humanity with people everywhere as they shared in the heartache and
dismay," Olewine wrote.

A backlash has begun in America against American Muslims and people who look
Middle Eastern. Awad noted that such bashing happened during World War II
with innocent Germans and Japanese living in the United States. "I was very
pleased to see President George W. Bush declare clearly on TV that we must
not act hatefully against Arab Americans and Muslims who live in the United
States," he said.

Olewine recalled that much of the initial hatred and anger following the
Oklahoma City bombing focused on Muslims. "But, when it was discovered that
it was a white American, suddenly the blanket-blame ended," she wrote to
UMNS. "When an act is carried out by someone within 'our group' we seem to
have an easier time appointing 'individual blame' or accountability.  But,
when suspicion points to 'the other' (especially an other we know little to
nothing about) we too often react as if the 'whole of the other' is someone
marred by a deficit. ...
 
"Yes, there are Muslims who carry out acts of violence -- as there are
Christians, Jews, and people of every tradition, background, nationality and
race. In Christian terms, all humanity is marred by sin. I hope that we as a
nation will not succumb to blanket retaliation, but rather look for a way to
carefully investigate the events and search to bring those accountable to a
system of international justice, avoiding adding death upon death by killing
innocent people as we seek retribution."

Attacking poor countries and innocent civilians "will only inflame a billion
Muslims to take actions against the Western world," Awad wrote to UMNS, "and
if they cannot do it in a lawful, armed struggle, they will do it through
heinous, terroristic acts."  

"To avoid the next catastrophe, we need to build bridges with the peoples of
the Middle East and the Islamic world. We need to understand why about 20
Middle Eastern extremists, some trained to be pilots, sacrificed their lives
and took thousands of innocent lives in such terrible suicide attacks.
America must ask the questions: 'Why do these people hate us so much?'
'What did we do to stir their wrath?'"

He cited the U.S. use of military force through the years, the imposition of
sanctions and what he described as the policy of supporting Israel "right or
wrong" as factors fueling the grievances of Arabs and Muslims. Awad
expressed the hope that the United States would get to the root of the
Arab-Israeli conflict, and that the church in America would become more
involved in issues of peace and justice around the world.

"It is very important for Americans to understand that though Palestinians
perceive the U.S. policy in the Middle East as one that constantly
compromises Palestinian legitimate rights and national aspirations, the vast
majorities of Palestinians do not hate the American people and do not wish
them harm," Awad said.

The International Center of Bethlehem (Lutheran Christmas Church), an
outreach ministry where Olewine does much of her work, issued a statement on
its Web site expressing solidarity with the American people. "We do not want
to compare suffering, since every suffering is unique and this particular
tragedy has such hideous dimensions," wrote the center's Nuha Khoury and the
church's pastor, the Rev. Mitri Raheb. "Yet, never before have Americans and
Palestinians shared so much."

Olewine also forwarded on an e-mail message from Hope Secondary School in
Beit Jala, condemning the attacks. The school receives support through the
United Methodist Church's Advance, and Volunteer-In-Mission teams have
worked there through the years, Olewine said. 

"The children and staff of Hope Secondary School are shocked by the ugly and
cowardly attack on New York and Washington," the school's Solomon Nour
wrote. "Our thoughts and prayers are with America people in this tragic
ordeal. We sympathize with the families of the innocent victims. We pray to
our Lord Jesus Christ to give comfort, to each one of you, to overcome this
tragic ordeal."

In a statement posted online, the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement
Between Peoples also condemned the attacks. The center in Beit Sahour has
received a number of grants from the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries for its work on democracy building, youth leadership development
and justice advocacy, Olewine said.

"Make no mistake, the evil minds and the cold inhuman hearts, which planned
and executed this horrendous act of terror, can never be on the side of
justice," said Ghassan Andoni, the center's director. "They should not be
allowed to shelter behind the suffering of my people. As they have no
respect for human lives they should not be allowed to claim that they act on
behalf of oppressed people. ... Nobody in the face of earth can do more harm
to Palestinians than this terror group did. 

"I feel so ashamed of the few among us who even smiled watching the drastic
scene. I know, and for sure, that the vast majority of Palestinians are
shocked, sad, and deeply sharing the pain of the victims and their
families," he wrote.

Students at the Mar Elias Educational Institutions in Israel called the U.S.
embassy and offered to give blood, according to the Rev. Abuna Elias
Chacour, president and 1994 recipient of the World Methodist Peace Award.
His school has worked with the United Methodist-related University of
Indianapolis to set up an Arab-Palestinian-Christian university in Israel.

"The students and faculty at Mar Elias Educational Institutions join me in
this deep, heartfelt expression of solidarity," Chacour said in a statement.
"Every morning we explain to (students) the horror of violence and of enmity
that is nurtured with hatred very often coming out of a deep sense of
injustice and of real frustration. We continue our life together,
Christians, Moslems, Druze and Jews. Nothing will break this bond of
friendship and of common origins."
# # #
*Tanton is news editor for United Methodist News Service.

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United Methodist News Service
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