Loading ...Arab-Americans try to turn spotlight on Syrian refugee crisis
It took a single photograph — of a drowned child on a Turkish beach — to awaken many in America to the plight of Syrian refugees and the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Europe.
But for two Milwaukee-area physicians — one Muslim, one Christian — the crisis is nothing new. Waleed Najeeb and Adel Korkor, both Syrian-Americans, have watched it emerge over the last four years in the wake of the Arab Spring.
Both have family members and friends who have died in the civil war, or fled into neighboring countries and beyond. Their colleagues and the local Muslim and Arab Christian communities have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for refugees, funded medical missions, and sent clothing and supplies by the ton.
“For us, it’s on our minds every day, every moment,” said Najeeb, who toured the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan — home at the time to almost 160,000 displaced people — as part of a 2013 medical mission.
“Just the scene — people in tents and caravans…with almost nothing…It was overwhelming,” he said. “We felt almost helpless. Anything we could do was nothing compared to the situation.”
People of faith and religious organizations are often the first to mobilize when a humanitarian crisis develops. From the tsunami in Indonesia to the earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal, faith-based groups moved quickly, pouring millions into rescue and reconstruction efforts, airlifting children to safety and opening their homes to orphans.
Many of those same communities have been slow to respond to the Syrian refugees and the flood of migrants into Europe — at least at the grass-roots level. National and international faith-based charities such as Catholic Relief Services and World Relief are seeking donations. But the messages in some cases are not making their way to the pulpits and the pews.
Observers point to a host of likely reasons: a lack of understanding about the scope of the problem and the ways to help; polarized views toward the whole issue of immigration; other pressing priorities; and, in some cases, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab sentiment.
“There are probably multiple explanations,” said Maurizio Albahari, assistant professor of anthropology at Notre Dame University and author of “Crimes of Peace: Mediterranean Migrations at the World’s Deadliest Border.” “And it might be true for some parishioners or a bishop, and not others. But the combination is resulting in less help, or not mobilizing.”
Millions fleeing, displaced
The photograph of 2-year-old Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian boy who drowned with his mother and brother as they tried to cross the Mediterranean, was just one of the disturbing images that emerged in recent weeks as European countries attempted to deal with the deluge of migrants from Africa and the Middle East.
This year alone, more than 380,000 people have made their way to Europe, with more than 2,600 dying at sea, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. At least half of the refugees are from Syria, and three-quarters are fleeing war-torn, oppressive or unstable countries, including Afghanistan, Somalia and Eritrea, according to the United Nations. A minority, officials say, are economic immigrants seeking greater opportunities, which can complicate the debate about how to respond.
Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, more than 4 million people have fled to neighboring countries, including Lebanon and Jordan, and almost 8 million have been displaced within Syria.
The refugees have received a mixed welcome in Europe, facing hostility and violence in some cases. Some countries have said they would accept only Christian refugees, prompting conversions by some Muslims desperate for asylum.
Some fear the crisis in Europe is a prelude to the conflicts likely to emerge on these shores as pressure mounts for the United States to open its doors to more Syrian refugees in the coming years. To date it has resettled only about 1,500 people. President Barack Obama has said the country would welcome 10,000 next year. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is campaigning to succeed him, has said he would accept none.
Like Najeeb and Korkor, Vera Maalouf, a Lebanese-American and founding member of the Maronite Mission of Milwaukee in Sturtevant, said religion is never a factor in efforts to serve the refugees.
“Children are suffering regardless of whether they are Muslim or Christian or Druze,” she said. “They are innocent victims of a cruel war they have no control over. Does it matter who we feed? It doesn’t matter.”
Maalouf is a member of the local American Syrian-Lebanese Lodge, which sponsored a festival this month to benefit three Eastern Christian churches: the Maronite Mission in Sturtevant, St. George Melkite in Milwaukee and St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox in Cedarburg, all of whose traditions are rooted in the Middle East. Lodge members met last week to donate a portion of those proceeds to refugee aid in Europe. It raised about $6,000 for refugees at a dinner last year.
Leading local efforts
Members of Wisconsin’s Muslim and Arab Christian communities have been at the forefront of local efforts to aid Syrian refugees, through groups such as the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, Aid to the Church in Need and the Zakat Foundation of America. However, some Western Christian churches have taken part, as well. The Rev. Matt Erickson of Eastbrook Church in Milwaukee said his members have contributed about $200,000 to support missionaries and aid workers serving refugees in Jordan over the last two years.
Arab Christians locally have helped raise more than $120,000 at events in Chicago and Detroit this year, according to Maalouf. The local chapter of the Syrian-American Medical Society — where Najeeb and Korkor serve as president and vice president — worked with the Islamic Society of Milwaukee to raise about $200,000 during Ramadan this year.
Beyond offering prayers, there has been less of a push in the broader faith communities. Faith leaders, including retired Milwaukee Catholic Bishop Richard Sklba and the Rev. David Seemuth, executive director of the Wisconsin Center for Christian Study, said they believe it’s because people don’t know how to help.
“The profound complexity of the problem leads some Christians to just throw up their hands and say I don’t know what to do,” said Seemuth.
Korkor, vice president of the Syrian American Medical Society, is hoping to change that.
He’s hosting an open house for friends and neighbors in October as part of a personal mission to open Americans’ eyes to the suffering of the Syrian people.
“I’m hoping it goes beyond financial support to actually accepting refugees. That’s what we really need to do,” said Korkor. “We need to deal with this as part of the human species. We can’t look at this and leave it unattended.”
How to help
Many faith-based and secular organizations are making pleas for funds to assist Syrian and other refugees displaced by war and instability. The website charitynavigator.org offers insights in vetting those.
About Annysa Johnson
Annysa Johnson is an award-winning reporter covering faith and spirituality in southeastern Wisconsin.
Source: www.jsonline.com