Daughter of Arab martyr challenges hatred, terrorism
By Anne Koppel Conway
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Former Muslim Nonie Darwish spoke about "Challenging a Culture of Hatred" at Portland State University's Multicultural Center, May 23. Darwish, whose father created the Fedayeen and was assassinated by Israelis in the 1950s, is the founder of Arabs for Israel.
Of the 130 people in the audience nearly 90 percent were American and Israeli Jews while the remainder were comprised mostly of American Indians, immigrants from Arab countries and Christian Americans. All attendees were polite and respectful but liberally spoke up with opinions. The event was co-sponsored by the PSU Jewish Student Union and the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland.
Darwish began her impassioned talk with a historical perspective of the origins of hatred in the Middle East and her personal past—very much entwined with that history.
She was born in Cairo and raised as a Muslim in Gaza City. Her father, Lt. Col. Mustafa Hafaz of the Egyptian military, had been sent by Gamal Abdel Nasser to head Egypt's military intelligence in Gaza and the Sinai where he founded the Palestinian Fedayeen armed resistance. He directed their cross-border attacks into Israel in the Negev. The Fedayeen commando units "caused as much death and destruction as possible," said Darwish. In 1956, when she was 8 years old, her father was killed by Israeli Defense Forces as the "first targeted Israeli assassination."
Commending her courage to speak, a Jewish man in the audience said he had a connection to Darwish's childhood. "In the early '50s, I was in the Negev when the Fedayeen sprayed machine gun fire into our home—not far from where you lived."
Darwish said she can recall someone asking her and her siblings which one of them will avenge her father's death by killing Jews. Her mother was left to fend for herself and five children, and people came to their home to congratulate her family because her father had achieved the status of "shahid," or martyr. The Palestinian culture demanded that the family celebrate his demise. The then 8-year-old Nonie did not feel like rejoicing, rather she "hated heaven" for taking her father away from her.
In the 1950s, as a child in Palestinian schools, she had been told that Israelis were monsters. Palestinian schools then and now "filled hearts with fear, making it easy to bring in hatred," she said. "Terrorism became tolerated. If only a few [of the students] believe the lies they're told, you're going to have a big problem."
In mosques, the young Nonie heard sermons imploring the destruction of God's enemies, synonymous with all non-Muslims. "I was ashamed my religion was teaching such hatred," she commented.
At the audience microphone a Christian woman complimented Darwish on her explanation of radical Muslims but added that the majority of the world's Muslims do not live in Arab countries. "Those people don't want to be counted in the radical group. They say, 'Not in my name.'"
As a young woman, Darwish felt anger when she heard that Israeli homes had been looted and when she was subsequently told "Good Muslims don't ask questions."
"I'm scared to be outwardly Muslim," said Soha, a post-baccalaureate Muslim woman. "Recently emigrated Muslims don't think we're Muslim enough. Americans are scared of us." Soha accused Darwish of making it harder for moderate Muslims to blend in to American society.
"Innocent Muslims are being hurt," acknowledged Darwish, who added, "moderate Muslims should be on the frontlines against terrorism." She said that not enough moderate Muslims spoke out after the atrocities of 9-11.
"Islam is in crisis," said Darwish, who believes it must be moderate Muslims like Soha who become the true heroes of the religion to reform it and speak out for peace.
Darwish, a married mother of three in Los Angeles, is a converted Christian who has lived in the U.S. for 28 years. In this