Metro

Speaking Out

Pro-Israel Arab breaks her silence o condemn
Muslim indoctrination with hate.

Don Cohen
Special to the Jewish NeWs

hen Nonie Darwish
spoke at the
Holocaust Memorial
Center on April 2, her message
of problems in Arab and Muslim
society wasn't news. Most of 200
in the audience had heard and
believed that before they arrived.
The news was that an articulate,
passionate Arab Muslim was
bringing the message.
"Thank God for her!" said Jan
Tilchen of West Bloomfield. "This
is very, very important. We've
only heard about those who hate
us:' Her friend Leslie Schram,
also of West Bloomfield, agreed.
"This is eye-opening. We'd never
heard this side of the story. We
never heard of Arabs who are
pro-Israel."
Darwish, founder of Arabs for
Israel (www.arabsforisrael.com ),
spoke at the program sponsored
by StandWithUs-Michigan."I'm
here to remind us of what can
happen if we choose to remain
silent:' she said. "I am proud to
say that now I am vocal. And I
stand with you."
In 1956, as a young child in
Egypt, her father was killed in
what she called Israel's "first
targeted assassination" for
leading the fedayeen (armed
Palestinian militias) in attacks
against Israeli civilians.
Egyptian President Gamal

18

April 6 • 2006

Abdul Nasser spoke of her father
publicly when he nationalized
the Suez Canal the same year,
and privately asked her and
her siblings, "Which one of you
children willavenge your father's
blood by killing Israelis?"
"They scared the hell out of
us about Jews," Darwish said,
recalling that as schoolchildren
they sang, "Arabs are our friends,
Jews are dogs:' and were told that
Israeli soldiers killed pregnant
Arab women "just to see if it was
a boy or a girl."
"We were taught honor and
peace can only come from jihad.
(holy war) and martyrdom','
Darwish said. "They used fear,
hatred and terror, and everyone
was silent. They told us outra-
geous lies. It was based on pride
and shame. They shamed us to
get our pride back."
But Jews and Israel are not the
only targets.
"There is very little toler-
ance in the Middle East of any
people or nation who are not
Muslim:' she said. For example,
Lebanon and Bethlehem were
once majority Christian. She says
that Muslim moderates also are
terrorized.

The recent death sentence
handed down to a Pakistani
Muslim who converted to
Christianity 16 years ago is
another symbol of intolerance
as well as inaction by moderate
Muslims. "You didn't see Muslim
groups rioting to let him go:' she
observed. "The only riots we will
see in the Muslim world are the
mobs who want to kill him."
Darwish spoke at length about
the devastation of families due
to jihad and sharia (Muslim
religious law). She condemned
female genital mutilation, honor
killings and polygamy — all
destroy families through subju-
gation of women, jealousy, vio-
lence and poverty.
She explained that Arab
.women are expected to sacrifice .
their husbands and sons but then
are left without men in a culture
she says "only respects families
headed by a man." She claimed
widows get bigger stipends if
they say they are happy their
men died in jihad.
"Something is very wrong
in the way my religion is being
taught and practiced:' she said. •
"Wherever you are, you are
always indoctrinated with hate."

Need For Reform
"I am not here to bash Islam, the
book or the religion, but to call
for reformation:' Darwish said.
"Books don't do terrorism. It is
what people do."
Although she says Arab cul-
ture discourages criticism of its
culture, religion, society and the
clan — "You never, never criti-
cize your own" — she nonethe-
less says more and more Muslims
and Arab moderates, like her, are
willing to speak out.
"Brave moderate Arab voices
are advocating peace, democ-
racy and freedom, and many are
right now in Arab jails and the
Western media doesn't even talk
about them:' Darwish said. She
is discouraged when Western
media treats terrorists as free-
dom fighters.
"They are not the underdog;
they are brainwashed killers," she
says. "They are the hidden hand.
They keep Muslim men and
women in bondage.
"We Muslims and Arabs
must admit we have a problem','
Darwish told her audience.
"Israel isn't perfect, but the way
the Jews have been treated in the
Middle East is tragic and a dis-

grace. Arabs do not have a short-
age of land; they have a shortage
of tolerance and freedom."
"Arab children don't need
hatred, they need hope Darwish
said with passion. "They don't
need jihad,'they need jobs."
Quoting the late Israeli Prime
Minister Golda Meir's statement
about peace coming when Arabs
love their children more than
they hate Israel, Darwish pro-
claimed to applause: "I am one of
a growing number of Arabs who
love our Arab children and also
love Israel's children."
"This is the most brave woman
I've ever heard:' said Tilchen.-
"They should bring her to the
synagogues and the temples
so the kids can hear her. They
should know good people like
her are advocating for peace'
Before Darwish spoke, local
activist Linda Stulberg of
Farmington Hills told how Stand
WithUs-Michigan is undertak-
ing several projects: evaluating
Middle East materials in local
libraries and providing supple-
mental pro-Israel books, form- -
ing media response teams and
hosting a June 11 media work-
shop conducted by CAMERA
(Committee for Accuracy in
Middle East Reporting in
America). The group also is sign-
ing up University of Michigan
alumni and parents to weigh in
on the divestment issue. 0

