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View from the Pew  Mary Adamski |
Mona Darwich-Gatto, right, hugs her son Khalil, being held by her husband, Sgt. Michael Gatto, after she was sworn in last month in Honolulu as a new U.S. citizen.
Grace under pressure
A Muslim UH student praises
freedom, but as a Jewish Kailua girl
knows, hurtful bias still existsThe experiences of a Jewish high school girl in Kailua and a Muslim University of Hawaii student struck a sour note amid the grand sentiments of patriotic songs people sang in churches, parks and parades last weekend.
"Frank grabbed me by my backpack, lifted me off the ground and shoved me out of line while referring to me as a stupid Jew."
It was one of the anecdotes told by Jessica Rodriguez at Temple Emanu-El when her confirmation class gave speeches to the congregation.
Mona Darwich-Gatto, who swore allegiance to the United States in a June 23 naturalization ceremony, said, "People were asking me why in hell I want to be an American citizen."
That was a response from campus acquaintances of the senior who will graduate next month with a bachelor's degree in sociology.
While other youths at the May synagogue ceremony talked about shared experiences in Hebrew school and families and lessons learned about their faith, Rodriguez, a Kalaheo High School junior, described "my experiences with anti-Semitism" at school. Her stories:
>> A boy, retaliating because she accidentally spilled salad on him, poured a carton of milk over her head. "He then threw the empty carton at my face and called me a stupid little Jew girl.">> Her friend asked another boy about red paint on his shoe. "He replied: 'Oh that. I shoved it up a Jew's rear end.' He then realized I was in hearing distance and mumbled an apology."
>> Talking with a classmate about the past weekend, her description of teaching at a Hebrew school raised his awareness of her religion. "He looked me in the eyes and told me he was Christian and that I had killed his Jesus Christ."
>> She watched a boy draw on his desk that the teacher "is a dumb Jew. I was so upset about this," said Jessica. "Sure, she is Jewish, but she isn't even dumb. She is nice, funny and very intelligent."
>> "Lots of kids think it's funny to call me Jewsica, or they say things like 'How are Jew doing?' Many, many people at my school use the word Jew to describe being cheated out of something. Example: The lunch lady jewed me out on my Tater Tots."
No, Jessica was not seriously threatened or harmed. But her speech upset and angered many of the adults who heard it.
"Afterwards a lot of people were confronting me, like, 'Why are you putting up with this? Who did this? I want to get him,'" Jessica said.
"It does bother me. I'm not enraged about it. I don't get stuck on every little thing," said the student with a goal of a career in art.
She said she has told her parents, and talked to a vice principal about one incident, but, "I'm not going to run back and tell them every little thing that happens. If something bothers me, I am going to go out and say something."
Perhaps what concerns the adults who heard her is that she is so matter-of-fact about religious bias and harassment being part of life in school, in the land of aloha, in the 21st century.
Darwich-Gatto is comfortable with her high visibility as a Muslim, wearing a head scarf and clothing prescribed for women. It was heightened by writing for the campus newspaper Ka Leo and doing interviews with local Muslims to write a history of the local Islamic community. She said outsiders' usual response to her religion is curiosity rather than antagonism.
She did not expect the negative response to her decision to become a U.S. citizen. Only one person at the local mosque made a point of congratulating her. Several Hawaiian university acquaintances chided her for wanting to be an American, Darwich-Gatto said.
"Basically, I was defending myself. I am telling people it's so I can vote, I cannot be deported.
"I tell them you don't know what it's like to live in a place where you don't have all the gifts you have here," said Darwich-Gatto.
She was born in Brazil to Egyptian parents who took the family back to Egypt when she was a teenager.
"There is no such thing as freedom of speech in Egypt. There is no Bill of Rights. Women have no voice, no equality."
"I feel I'm doing an educational role," she said.
Female friends who shrugged off her drive to vote got the lecture: "Don't you know about women at the beginning of the 20th century who had to fight to get the vote for women? You can't not vote."
She joined her America-born husband and their 10-month-old son as citizens. Sgt. Michael Gatto, a Marine, will leave on deployment to Iraq this month. It was in their military community that Darwich-Gatto found applause for her citizenship. His commanding officer, Col. Bill Febuary, attended the naturalization service in U.S. District Court and urged her to write a column about it for the Marine Corps Key Volunteer Network Web site.
Said Darwich-Gatto, "Some people told me, 'It's nice to hear that someone is still proud to become an American.'"
Rodriguez said, in the finale of her speech in the synagogue: "Maybe I just expect too much from others. Everyone has his or her own thoughts and beliefs. I don't bother or harass people about theirs. Why can't I be left in peace about mine?"
It sounds like a verse from a song we've just been singing.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Religion Calendar
Mary Adamski covers religion for the Star-Bulletin.
Email her at madamski@starbulletin.com.
