Lesson Unlearned

In June 1939, the German ship 'St. Louis,' which was carrying nearly a thousand refugees (most of whom Jewish), was denied entry in the United Sates at the port of Miami.  After a month of legal efforts failed to persuade the U.S. to reconsider its decision, the ship (which was awaiting a verdict in open sea near Miami) was compelled to return to Europe.  Nearly a quarter of 937 refugees on the ship died in the Holocaust.  Two of three Americans then and for the duration of World War 2, according to a Gallop poll, were against taking in Jewish refugees, primarily due to fear that Nazi spies may be present amongst the refugees.  The Donald Trumps, Ted Cruzes, and Ben Carsons of that time thrived on terrifying the public of refugee infiltrations which never materialized, with the exception of a couple of isolated cases. 

Following Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt coined the proclamation "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."  Although this sentiment did not manifest in the U.S. wartime policy regarding Jewish refugees, it is relevant to the way Americans, and more broadly people, viewed danger then and view danger now.  Japanese Americans were subjected to internment because of doubts regarding their patriotism and fear that they may commit acts of sabotage at the behest of the imperial throne of Japan.  Nowadays, echos of the much discredited internment policy are being heard amongst the GOP leading presidential candidates and are somewhat resonating amongst a significant, frightened sector of the electorate.  

FDR's big doctrine regarding fear is no more applicable today than to the irrational attitude towards Syrian refugees, especially following the devastating Paris attacks last Friday (November 13).  The US refugee policy should not be dictated by fear of victims, who themselves are fleeing the very barbaric atrocities we have so consistently condemned and continue to condemn.  This was true during WW2 and it is true now.  I believe that fear is still the only thing we ought to fear. 

Compassion, empathy, humanist outlook on life should be our guiding beacon.  We should not be guided by fear of pregnant women, widows with children, young men and women who chose not to enter the grinding mill of war.  Nor should we be guided by fear of orphans, the elderly, and of those who have lost everything, except hope.  We certainly should not be guided, as one governor Chris Christie suggested earlier this week, by fear of three-month-old babies.  The nation's guiding principle should say: We are a people of all faiths and origins, we are the United States of America and we are not afraid.

Azzam Elayan 

Friday, November 20, 2015

Sometimes Racism Gets in the Way

Sometimes, racism gets in the way! Like individuals, governments sometimes cannot get past religious, ethnic, and racial divides, and fear of political cost. International law mandates that all sovereign nations must accommodate the needs of refugees (by providing food, shelter, medical aid, and security) until such time that it is safe for the refugees to return to home country or until they are granted political asylum. I hope that President Barack Obama can help by air-lifting those refugees stranded at sea, in Europe, and in various other locations, to the United States, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Canada, Holand, Denmark, Belgium, Australia, etc. Many of these refugees are well educated and highly degreed and would bring a wealth of intellectual (and cultural) capital to host countries. Above all, countries like ours which are in a position to help, have a moral and historical obligation to do so. Perhaps more than any nation, the United States has the capacity and infrastructure to make rapid and decisive contributions in resolving this enormous tragedy which has befallen so many innocent people from the cradle of civilizations. The rewards for reaching out to the many unclenched hands will undoubtedly be realized, perhaps in much greater ways than we can ever anticipate.

Return to Petra, The Rose City, Jordan

The Treasury shown in the picture below, along with the entire city of Petra, was carved in red sandstone by the Nabataeans (or Nabateans) who made Petra the capital of their kingdom, Nabatene (Nabatea). The kingdom stretched from the Euphrates River to the Red Sea (~586 BC-106 AD); Nabateans were known for their remarkable skills in trade, agriculture, and natural resource engineering. The red sandstone gave the city its nickname, The Rose City. It's a spectacular place which no camera lens can ever offer justice.

August 20, 2015

Open Letter to South Carolina Legislature

Dear South Carolina Legislature:

It is well past time for removing the Confederate Flag from the South Carolina Capitol grounds. The flag is a living bloodied and heinous relic of the worst of times in the distant and contemporary history of South Carolina and the history of our country! When will enough be recognized as enough? It is time for the flag to go, for good. You have the power to make history by passing a resolution to remove the flag and to avoid becoming just another legislature who sat idly by and missed a perfect opportunity to take the reins of change towards the inevitable. 

Every positive symbolism the Confederate Flag may have once held for the people of South Carolina and the American South has long been tarnished, irreparably, by the savagery of slavery, during protracted decades of cruelty and ruthlessness under the banner of this very same flag. The barbaric attack on the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston and the massacre of nine African Americans, only because of the color of their skin, are but one violent reminder of that dark period of time in our history and of the need to once and for all free yourselves and your state from the grip of this antiquated and destructive symbol! Let go with this symbol of divisiveness, inequality, brutality, racism, and slavery. 

You are no longer a state within a confederation of the old south; you are a state within the federated United States of America! Your flag of pride, honor, and heroism is the Stars Spangled banner, which is the flag of all Americans, regardless of their skin color, gender, national origin, sexual preference, religion, and creed. Isn't the Stars Spangled banner, under which tens of thousands of brave men and women made the ultimate sacrifice, good enough? I believe it is. But more importantly what do you believe? The time for posturing and maneuvering is long gone; it is time to act and it is time to act now. Remove the flag now.

Azzam Elayan 

June 23, 2015

At The Curb Of History

Some Muslim women, including more than a few in my extended family, still wear the niqab, hijab, and jilbab year round, even in the sweltering heat of June and beyond.  I have always advocated for the right of women to choose their wardrobe and to determine self-image.  With religious pretext, this choice and this right are denied to women, typically by the men in their lives.  Fathers, brothers, sons, male relatives, and even male strangers, in some cases, decide what a woman may or may not wear inside and outside the house.  

To all these women, I would like to direct this open letter.  Please know that you are equal to men.  Also know that God has nothing to do with the way you dress, with whom you are a friend, with whom you are in love, or whom you chose to spend your life with as a wife or a companion.  The niqab, hijab, and jilbab, like all other types of gender-specific restrictions, are instruments of male dominance which have no place in a civilized society or a happy home.  

Left to her own will, no woman would choose to wear multiple layers of full length clothing which cover the entire body, head and face included, during the hottest days of summer.  It simply doesn't make sense, especially when male siblings & husbands walk alongside them in t-shirts, shorts, and sandals.  Beyond this, it is inhuman.  No God would expect or ask women to do so and no man should either.  

It is time for you to gather all your niqabs, hijabs, and jilbabs, put them in garbage bags and take them to curb of your house on trash day.  That is exactly where they belong, at the curb of your house and curb of history, and ultimately in a trash depository, not on your body.  You should feel free to wear what you see as appropriate, in any color you like, not just black, and in any style.  Feel free to celebrate your identity as a woman and as an equal partner to men, with fifty percent of the responsibilities and fifty percent of the rights.  You are already doing most of the household work, child rearing, and many other chores, and so why not reclaim what is rightfully yours...your image, your body, and your personal freedom.  

It is also time for the Muslim men in your life to help initiate this change.  This change will require extraordinary courage but it is doable and within reach.  To those men I say you need to trust the women in your life (daughters, sisters, mothers, etc.) to do what is right with their bodies and their freedom, just as you have trusted their male counterparts.  Women are not intellectually inferior; they are at least fifty percent responsible for making you the man you are.  If you truly believe in God, regardless of what religion you believe in, then you must believe that God is fair and just and that God would support such change.  The time for this change is now.