באמונה שהעולם הערבי משמיד את עצמו עם שנאה וטרור נגד יהודים, נוני דרוויש, עיתונאית-אתנרופולוגית ערבייה, ייסדה את "ערבים למען ישראל" ויצאה למשימה מסוכנת - להפיץ ברבים את הצורך בשינוי העולם הערבי.

מבלי להתייחס לעוני, חוסר הצדק והדיקטטורות, מדינות ערביות ירדו ברמה ל"אובססיה המונית עם שנאה לישראל" וזה גרם לאומנות, מעדים ותרבות להיות בירידה, אמרה דרויש.

"הדרך שבה האיסלם נלמד ע"י כל דור חדש היא מאוד הרסנית לתרבותינו בגלל שהיא עסוקה באופן כפייתי עם שנאת ישראל ומעודדת אלימות, במקום להכין המסורים לשיפור עצמי והיודעים את האומנות, דמוקרטיה וחופש." אמרה דרויש, שגדלה כמוסלמית במצרים ועכשיו חיה בצפון קליפורניה.

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January 11, 2005

‘Arabs for Israel’ founder to speak
By JOHN DARLING
for the Mail Tribune

Believing that the Arab world is destroying itself with hatred and terrorism against Jews, Noni Darwish, an Arab journalist-anthropologist, has created "Arabs for Israel" and embarked on a dangerous mission – to publicly spread the word that her people need to change.

Disregarding their own poverty, injustice and dictatorships, Arab nations have descended into "a gross obsession with hatred of Israel" that has sent arts, sciences and culture into decline, said Darwish.

She will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Rogue River Room of the Stevenson Union at Southern Oregon University in Ashland.

"The way Islam is being taught to each new generation is very destructive to our culture because it’s obsessed with hatred of Israel and promotes violence, instead of preparing young men who are dedicated to self-improvement and who know the arts, democracy and freedom," said Darwish, who was raised as a Muslim in Egypt and now lives in Southern California.

Darwish, in a phone interview, said it has become ingrained in Arab culture to "look the other way" about the Arab money contributed to terrorist causes — while America, not the Arab world, is expected to send aid to tsunami-stricken nations.

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"Arabs who want to live in peace with Israel need a venue to speak out," said Darwish, who set up the Web site www.noniedarwish.com to "bring people together" for that purpose.

She gets mostly supportive e-mails, she said with an occasional one expressing anger at her, asking how she could "love those pigs," a reference to Israel.

"She’s a prophetic voice," said Rabbi David Zaslow of Ashland’s Havurah Shir Hadash, a sponsor of her lecture, "one who knows the only solution to peace is peace — and the old paradigm won’t work.

"As an Arab, she’s very courageous, a true peacemaker, taking enormous risks to build a bridge between Israel and Palestine."

Darwish’s message carries extra weight, he noted, because her father, a leader in the Fedayeen operation against Israel, was assassinated in 1956 and declared a shahid (martyr-hero) by then- President Nasser of Egypt.

"My family was destroyed by the obsessive hatred of Nasser toward Israel," said Darwish, whose father was head of the military in Gaza and Sinai and led the Palestinians into Israel.

After hearing Darwish speak last month at a peace conference in Jerusalem, Gerry Mandell of Ashland said he is "impressed by her humility and the urgency of her message that the world is in grave danger from radical Islam and that Arabs must look inward for solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

Darwish said her mission in rousing Arab support for the survival of Israel comes out of love for her culture, "a culture that hates Israel more than it loves itself."

The Arab region, she noted, has been "victimized and terrorized by our own dictators, and mullahs for so long, but we have this tribal mentality of not speaking out against other Arab countries, even if they engage in torture. ... We always try to cover up our own atrocities and scandals and blame Israel as the cause of all our problems."

Darwish has never been asked to speak by an Arab organization, she said, adding that peace with Israel is "never a priority" in Arab thinking.

On her Web site, Darwish said Arabs stand at the place now where they can work for international respect or international fear.

Married with three children, Darwish, now a Christian, has lived in the United States for two decades. She was an editor with the Middle East News Agency and lived in the Middle East her first 30 years.

John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at jdarling@jeffnet.org.

http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/...ies/08local.htm

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