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"Caught in the
Crossfire" Study Guide
Arab-Americans in Wartime
The videotape "Caught
in the Crossfire," first aired on PBS on September 11, 2002.
Copies are available in all ELCA Resource Centers.
The Background
A recent report from the Associated Press states that people who
are or appear to be of Middle Eastern descent were victims of hate
crimes more often last year than ever before. The FBI calls this a
consequence of the fear and suspicion that followed the September 11th
terrorist attacks. Muslims especially remain worried about a backlash
of hate if the United States goes to war with Iraq or if Islamic
extremists should mount another attack against the United States. But
there is also fear among Christian Arab-Americans and others of Arab
descent about this resurgence of suspicion and fear.
"Caught in the Crossfire" gives voice to people who
desperately need to be heard. It provides a glimpse of three
Arab-Americans whose lives are impacted deeply by suspicion and fear.
These immigrants are now caught in the crossfire of the American
administration's "war on terrorism." As one of them
poignantly reminds viewers, "I'm an immigrant like all the
others; I'm an American 100%. I'm Arabic 100%. America is my
home." This video addresses the dilemma shared by Arab-Americans
caught between belief in the American dream and dissent from American
foreign policy, between empathy with victims and anger at being
stereotyped in the "war on
terrorism."
Introduce this one-hour documentary for youth and adult groups by
sharing the following background:
The
Story
Before September 11th, New York's Arab population was an
immigrant group making its way like any other: politically diverse,
assimilated or separatist, Muslim, Christian, fundamentalist,
wealthy and working class, struggling and successful. When two
planes hijacked by Islamic extremists crashed into the World Trade
Center, the lives of this immigrant group changed forever.
The
People
Journalist: A high-level diplomatic correspondent for the
leading Arabic newspaper and a regular on CNN, she hobnobs with
world leaders and media elites. Her daughter goes to an exclusive
New York private school. But this cosmopolitan insider sometimes
feels like a woman without a country. She can't return to Lebanon,
her homeland, where she's under indictment for treason, and her
reporting of Middle East perspectives regularly earns her hate mail
from Americans too. Critic to all, compatriot to none, this
Arab-American works to bring hard truths to both Arabs and
Americans.
Minister: Khader El-Yateem was born in the West Bank town
of Beit Jala in 1968. As a young man he worked as an activist and
youth leader at Reformation Lutheran Church and was a student at
bible college. When he was 20 years old, Israeli soldiers surrounded
his family home and took him to prison despite the fact that he was
never accused or charged with any crimes. He was detained,
interrogated, and tortured several times that year. In 1989, after
being held captive for 55 days, Khader spent months recuperating
from his wounds. He married Grace, an Arab American woman, in 1992.
In 1996, he finished theological studies and was ordained into the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He's an outsider among
outsiders – a Christian Arab. But since September 11 his Salam
Arabic Lutheran Church has become a haven for Brooklyn Arabs,
Christian and Muslim alike. They turn to him for help after losing
relatives at the World Trade Center, after being harassed, after
losing their jobs. ... And all the while, the minister is carrying
his own burden. Each day he phones to Palestine and turns on the TV
to talk to his family as he watches Israeli forces bombard their
(his) village. To complicate matters, his parents, who have been
visiting, want to return home to Beit Jala, which is occupied by
Israel. Khader thinks it's unsafe for them to go back and he
realizes that the financial burden will be greater on him if they
return home. Khader desperately seeks peace both for his adopted
country and his homeland and feels called to serve God in New York.
Policeman: As a child in Yemen, he watched American cop
shows and decided he wanted to be "one of the good guys."
It turns out to be a little more complicated than that. He was
stationed at Ground Zero in the days after 9/11 and felt the full
impact of terrorism on New York. But in the same period he also saw
his fellow offers ignore or minimize calls for help from harassed
Arab-Americans in his precinct. Now the policeman has joined with
other Muslim cops to help their community get the protection
promised by the American system of justice.
For more information and photos, please visit: www.pbs.org/itvs/caughtinthecrossfire
For Discussion
- Invite viewers to share stories of other immigrants who have
experienced hate and oppression. In what ways is discrimination
against Arab-Americans similar? Dissimilar?
- At the beginning of the video, the policeman in this documentary
refers to the September 11th attacks and asks, "Should Arab
Americans apologize for what has happened?" How would you
respond?
- The psychologist meeting with a group of women at Salam Arabic
Lutheran Church listens to their descriptions of fear following
September 11th and observes, 'They took from all of us –
especially our kids – our sense of security." Invite
viewers to consider how this observation has impacted their own
lives. Then ask them to imagine what it might mean for
Arab-Americans.
- Discuss how this loss of "our sense of security" has
contributed for good or for ill to the current political climate.
Name some ways Christians might reach out to Arab-Americans who
feel particularly vulnerable.
- Journalist Raghida Dergham says Arab people have long felt
betrayed by American political policies. She describes a
"legacy of suspicion" and challenges our leaders to form
a bond of trust with the Arab world. Is this possible, and how
might it contribute to dialogue and deeper understanding? Why is
it necessary?
- Dergham's work as a journalist who tries to report events from
the Middle East fairly and accurately is threatened by an
indictment from her own homeland of Lebanon. She is charged with
treason and only later is her case dismissed. She describes the
importance of seeing all points of view and says, "Once
people respect each other's pain, then there is hope." How
might this happen?
- The despair of Palestinian immigrant and Lutheran pastor, Khader
El-Yateem, is evident throughout the documentary. His family is
caught in the spiral of violence in the West Bank and he feels
called to be a prophetic voice in this country. As he watches news
reports from his hometown of Beit Jala near Bethlehem, he says,
"They've destroyed the whole country. I feel like Arabs are a
people in exile." How is this true?
- Pastor El-Yateem describes his incarceration at the hands of the
Israelis. His parents look on and observe, "We don't like to
remember. We've never known the meaning of freedom, the meaning of
peace." What will it take for real peace to come to the
Middle East?
- Sorrow is evident in the faces of each of the three people in
this documentary. Policeman Nasser describes his sorrow at Ground
Zero and asks, "What does it mean to be a human? To turn to
dust, just dust?" Discuss.
- Even as this discussion guide is being written, the deadly cycle
of fear, death, and violence in the Middle East is being reported
on the evening news. How do we avoid becoming numbed by those
events? How can we engage with and support Arab-Americans? Discuss
ways of making our voices heard and our actions significant.
Julie K. Aageson
Coordinator, ELCA Resource Centers
The Resource Center, Eastern ND Synod
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