On the Fourth of July my husband and I happened to be in Dallas, Texas, where we were visiting a young couple from Lebanon. We have known the wife since she was a cute little seven year old. Now she has a hospitable husband and two handsome little boys. That evening we all drove nearly two hours to celebrate the Fourth of July with a bunch of Arabs! The setting was rural, on a lake, in a home.
Though we had not anticipated this, there were people there whom we knew many years ago. So much happy greeting, hugging and laughing! Of course we ate Middle Eastern food, made in the others guests’ kitchens. We talked around the table, loudly and then louder and louder, because of the multiple loud and louder conversations in the room. We reminisced with old friends and made some new ones. Then we all went outdoors where we sang Arabic Christian songs and helped the children play with their lighted balloons. Oh yes, we ate dessert out there: Texas watermelon and American pie. Some macho, in-charge fellows exploded fireworks right over our heads, a few of us women agreeing that after the wars we lived through, it has taken us years to learn how not be afraid of noises too much like gunfire. We saw other beautiful displays, expanding circles of glowing colors, in several locations around the horizon. Too far away to hear, the way I like them.
The Important Announcement
I have related all of this to tell you this one thing. A gentleman we did not know walked purposefully across the patio, stood in front of Wayne and me and made a little speech. In Arabic he said, “We LOVE America, because here we have freedom, we have community, and we have human rights.” The words seemed carefully chosen. He ticked off the three points on his fingers, then turned and walked back to the other side of the patio.
On the long ride back to Dallas, I remembered and thought that It had been a very Middle Eastern and a very American event: a group of immigrants, friends and strangers, celebrating our country and our good fortune to live in it.
Another Speech
We flew home on the sixth, and the next morning my newspaper, The Sacramento Bee, told me about the end of Ramadan in California’s capital, a city with 14 mosques and 40,000 Muslims. The headline read, “Islamic State is a ‘clear and present enemy,’ says Sacramento Imam.” The article quoted the Imam M.A. Azeez who had addressed several thousand Muslims celebrating the Eid-al-Fitr (the end of the 30-day Ramadan fast). He had called on them to declare war on the Islamic State.
He called it Daesh. This happens to be an uncomplimentary word, at the same time it is an acronym standing for Ad-Dawleh al Islamiya al-Iraq wa As-Sham (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (or the Levant). The Imam explained that he did not want to call them an Islamic state because they are a group of criminals. He said, “I take Daesh as my enemy. It truly is a battle for the spirit of Islam. Every one of you must do everything in your power to stop them.”
These remarks remind us that around the world it has not been a happy Ramadan. Daesh observed this sacred month of fasting by killing hundreds of people, most of them Muslims, all in the Middle East. “We must denounce them,” the Imam said, “for the safety of our families, our country and our world.”
A Different Message
Very close to the same hour in which he spoke these words, the Black Lives Matter movement was staging a peaceful demonstration in Dallas, protected by contingents of policemen. It just happens that the Dallas police force has been an example to the country because of their restraint in the use of violence, but suddenly they were fired on from a nearby building. The crowd fled as 12 police officers fell, men and women, black and white, five of them mortally wounded. Again America was stabbed in the heart by one of our own! Someone had taken advantage of the demonstration to deliver hate, offering us another reminder that our society is not a perfect model, for we have yet to live up to our ideals.
A Human Wish
The words I quoted, those spoken at the party in Texas, those preached in California, seem to be such a contrast to that killing in the street. Surely they gladden the hearts of all who believe in that statue in the harbor in New York and those who grieve because of the violence tearing our world. They speak of the diversity we boast of and the unity we crave.
So, there you have it, a small summary of the Fourth of July and Ramadan, the first six days of July, 2016 in America. These events lead me to wish for all of you to have, and to happily share with others, these blessings: “freedom, community and human rights.”