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About 100 men, women and children stood for two hours in a hot afternoon sun in front of the state Capitol yesterday in a plea for peace in the Middle East. Isle Muslims rally
for Mideast peaceBy Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.comMuslims, who organized the protest, were joined by Christians, Jews and others at they silently held signs and flags facing traffic on Beretania Street. The flags included the American flag, the Palestinian flag and the flag of Israel.
As in most rallies, the signs carried the message in shorthand:
"Occupation and Dead Civilians is Terrorism."
"War Is Not the Answer."
"Occupation will never lead to peace."
"Middle East Peace Now -- Not War."
"Judaism: An Alternative to Zionism."
Muslim Association of Hawaii President Hakim Ouansafi said the decision to rally for peace came "when (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon defied our president."
"We want Israel to heed the call of the president (Bush) to leave the premises and establish an independent, sovereign Palestinian nation," he said.
Ouansafi said he believes Secretary of State Colin Powell should meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat because "If you want peace you need to meet with two parties. That's Mediation 101."
Nur Ataullah said he has a "deep feeling of sadness at the state of affairs and what's going on in Palestine."
"I really want to emphasize that suicide bombing (which has been employed by a number of Palestinians in recent weeks) is not a part of Islam," said Ataullah, "but I think (that some people resort to it) really emphasizes how desperate the situation is."
Several demonstrators held large black-and-white photos of people killed or injured in the Middle East.
"There's too much suffering in the Middle East right now," said Nahid Qadir, a Pakistan native who is now a U.S. citizen and has lived in Hawaii 13 years. "It doesn't matter who's suffering, Israeli or Palestinian, the way I look at it.
"We as Americans living in this country, we can facilitate peace," she said. "I don't think we have played as big a role as we could there."
Ruth Hsu, a UH professor representing the University Peace Initiative/Professors Opposing War, said the group "wants to show solidarity with the Muslim community, with Arab Americans and with all groups in the Middle East who are sincerely trying to bring about peace with justice."
A fair number of passers-by honked to show agreement with the peace sentiments, rally participants said.
Michael Egan was holding an American flag during much of the rally and said he was saddened to see several motorists "shoot me the bird when I am holding the flag and doing my civic duty."