(L-r) Joanne Demchock , Dr. Najat Arafat Khelil, Saleem F. Zaru, Dr. Mai Abdul Rahman, Samar Najia, Amal Morsi and Laila Boufraine. Photo Alex Shanahan

By: Oday Abdaljawwad and Delinda C. Hanley
Source: Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

The American Palestinian Women’s Association (APWA) co-hosted a Ramadan iftar to honor World Refugee Day at the Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ in Arlington, VA on June 17. The fact that a church co-hosted this special fast-breaking dinner, eaten by Muslims after sunset during Ramadan, symbolized the very real coexistence between the Muslim and the Christian communities in America.

Dr. Mai Abdul Rahman, president and co-founder of APWA, launched in 2005, opened the evening with a brief overview of APWA’s mission, shedding light on the significant role that Palestinian women play in the current political situation. “We’ve tried to create a social movement, a social consciousness about being one and together,” Abdul Rahman noted. The event was a real example of being one and together, with Arabs, Americans, people of other nationalities as well as Muslims and non-Muslims gathering in one place to honor and show love and support to refugees.

Abdul Rahman shared her own personal journey into political activism, which began after the 9/11 attacks, when she was a third grade teacher. Her principal warned her she’d have to prove every day  that she wasn’t a terrorist. That drove her to run for public office and put her Arab-American name on yard signs all over DC, to proudly say, “I am one of you. I’m Muslim. I’m an Arab-American. I’m Palestinian.”

Samar Najia, another APWA co-founder, recited three poems that she wrote. One was titled “Bint Al-Quds,” or “Daughter of Jerusalem,” which she wrote in dedication to the soul of her mother, who was displaced from Palestine at the age of 14 and sought refuge in many countries, beginning in Egypt and ending in the U.S., which was her home when she died. The poem is a conversation between Najia and her mom, Nanal Dajani, who always referred to herself as Bint Al-Quds, as she held on to the heritage of her parents and ancestors. Mrs. Dajani never forgot who she was and who she would always be. Najia’s poems projected the very real dilemma refugees face as they settle in lands around the world, fitting in but making sure they never forget their heritage.

Palestinian Ambassador to the U.S. Hussam Zomlot, who had recently returned from the West Bank, emphasized the close relations between Palestinian Muslims and Christians. He also expressed his awe for Palestinian women as he described an invitation to speak to the Dutch Palestinian Women’s Association in The Netherlands when he worked in London. Actually, he admitted, he was terrified by the thought of addressing 500 Palestinian grandmothers, mothers and students. Turning serious again, he said that after the Nakba of 1948, Palestinian women held their family’s wealth in the form of gold. It was up to Palestinian mothers and grandmothers to protect the children when their men were killed, left to find work, or imprisoned. Growing up in a Gaza refugee camp, Ambassador Zomlot said he had 20 mothers, because the camp had such a strong sense of community.

“Every refugee has one dream—to return home,” Zomlot said. He criticized the framing of refugees as a threat or a burden. “The United States is great because of refugees,” he said, listing famous refugees, including Steve Jobs. “Jesus was a refugee. The Prophet Muhammad had to become a refugee.”

There should be no stigma in being a refugee, he continued. They aren’t only victims, they are also human beings who make valuable contributions. Ambassador Zomlot assured the audience that when President Donald Trump visited Bethlehem, Palestinians were very clear in stating their rights and demands, including the fact that there could be no solution without honoring the rights of refugees.

Rev. Graylan Hagler, senior pastor of Plymouth United Church of Christ in Washington, DC, spoke about the role of U.S. churches in challenging Israel’s military occupation of Palestine. He said he accompanied activists, including hip hop artists, on trips to Palestine in 1974 and 2014. Most recently, he led a trip with 10 black clergy last December. One committed Christian Zionist argued all the way there, Rev. Hagler said. It took only 48 hours for even him to say, “I’ve never seen oppression like this.” Looking at the occupation through black American eyes, Jim Crow eyes, “it makes the hair on the back of your neck bristle,” Rev. Hagler said.

Zionists have relied on the religious right to give them cover, Hagler continued. They’ve used empire theology, wrapping themselves up in the Bible, to protect the status quo. It is time to change the ideology, Hagler insisted, like we did in South Africa, and to oppose apartheid.

Palestinian-American writer Zeina Azzam, the Arab Center DC’s publications editor, read her moving poems about refugees, “Leaving My Childhood Home” and “Colors of the Diaspora.”

After reading his own poem, “Let Your Love Live,” Imam Yahya Hendi, the Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University, said it should come as no surprise that Muslims would gather in a church. He had recently attended an iftar with 800 Christians and Muslims in Tennessee.

There are some groups that spend millions of dollars trying to vilify Muslims and divide us, he warned. But, he countered, “We are one family. An injustice to one of us is an injustice to all. When one nation is occupied we are all occupied. When one nation is oppressed, we are all oppressed.” Imam Hendi closed by describing the significance of Ramadan.

After attendees enjoyed a tradtional iftar dinner of lentil soup, olives, rice pilaf with nuts and chicken, topped off with fabulous desserts, APWA presented well-deserved awards to United Palestinian Appeal’s executive director, Saleem F. Zaru, and Arab America co-founder Amal David, The Washington Report’s Middle East Books and More joined other booths in selling books, olive oil and embroidery to attendees.