wfn.org | PBS Documentary Related to Sept. 11 Features ELCA Pastor

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 28, 2002

PBS DOCUMENTARY RELATED TO SEPT. 11 FEATURES ELCA PASTOR
02-204-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A television documentary chronicling the lives
of three Arab Americans living in New York following the terrorist
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, includes a segment featuring the Rev.
Khader N. El-Yateem, pastor of Salam Arabic Lutheran Church,
Brooklyn, N.Y.
     The documentary, "Caught in the Crossfire: Arab Americans in
Wartime," will air on most PBS television stations Sept. 4.
     The program also features segments with Ahmed Nasser, a New
York police officer from Yemen who was stationed near the site of the
World Trade Center, and Raghida Gergham, a Lebanese American
diplomatic correspondent and journalist working at the United Nations
in New York.
     El-Yateem is from the West Bank town of Beit Jala.  The program
will show how his congregation has become a haven for Arabs, both
Christian and Muslim, who lost their jobs and were harassed following
the Sept. 11 attacks, according to information about the program at
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/caughtinthecrossfire/index.html on the PBS
Web site.
      "Caught in the Crossfire" will show how El-Yateem, while
working in post-Sept. 11 New York, has been concerned about family
members living in the West Bank.  They have been directly impacted by
this year's incursions by Israeli Defense Forces.
     "My sister, her house was destroyed during the Israeli
shelling," El-Yateem said. "I'm worrying about my four sisters and my
brother and my grandmother and those of the extended family."
     The producers began their work with El-Yateem in October and
followed him for several weeks.  El-Yateem told the program's
producers he believes he is meant to serve God in New York.
     "I feel like all of us are people in exile, and God calls me to
be here," he said.  "It's like being a prophet to people in exile, to
remind them about who they are and their faith. I never expected that
the work of a prophet would be this demanding or this complicated.
The requirements are sometimes overwhelming," said El-Yateem.
     The program was produced by Lumiere Productions Inc. through
the Independent Television Service, which is funded by the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  The ELCA Department for
Communication, ELCA Division for Outreach and ELCA Metropolitan New
York Synod each provided financial support for the production.
---
     Local air dates and times for "Caught in the Crossfire: Arab
Americans in Wartime" can be found at http://www.pbs.org on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html