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April 4, 2003
Local Muslims express growing concerns over war
By IVONA LERMAN | News-Journal Staff Writer
DAYTONA BEACH — Two weeks after U.S. troops entered Iraq, residents of Middle Eastern descent say they're deeply concerned as their worst predictions and fears become reality.
American bombs failing to "shock and awe" the Iraqi government into surrender. Numerous civilians and soldiers on both sides getting killed. Anti-Americanism in Arab nations rising. The U.S. government failing to find evidence of the weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion.
"I don't see it's happening the way they wanted it to happen," said Rabya Batterjee, a Daytona Beach Community College student from Saudi Arabia. "The main point was to get Saddam out. Well, he's not out and they're just killing more and more people."
Others agreed.
"It's going from bad to worse," said Jamil Khader, a Palestinian Arab from Israel, who teaches English at Stetson University in DeLand. "It keeps you wondering again and again about the point of this unjust war and the reason people have to suffer."
Khader said his family in Israel also has a lot of resentment toward the war. Bad feelings toward the U.S.-led invasion are even stronger, he said, because Arabic media portray the war in a completely different light.
"The Arabic news media don't trust what the American government is trying to sell them," he said. "People in the Middle East distrust the whole thing about bringing democracy to the Iraqi people. The whole plan for post-Saddam Iraq is about oil and nothing else."
As for the U.S. media, Khader said he thinks there's a lot of one-sidedness, inconsistency and government propaganda.
"I cannot watch the TV anymore," he said. "Any journalist who is trying to tell a different story is getting fired. It's absurd. It's a never-ending web of deception."
Khader was one of the few local Middle Eastern residents contacted by The Daytona Beach News-Journal who agreed to talk Thursday about the progress of the war in Iraq. Many Muslims – especially owners of local businesses – were reluctant to voice their opinions, with reasons ranging from fear of loss of customers to ambivalence.
"I don't watch the news," said one gas-station owner in Daytona Beach, who's from Turkey. "I'm not bothered by it."
Idris Muhammad, an American-born spokesman for the Islamic Center of Daytona Beach, said some members of the Islamic community may be reluctant to talk because they grew up in countries where speaking one's mind wasn't tolerated.
"Many Muslims in the U.S. feel mistakenly they're denied to talk about what affects them," he said. "It's unfortunate they feel they cannot be openly critical."
Muhammad also said the war isn't being debated among members of the Islamic Center right now and he senses a lot of ambivalence toward the situation.
"(Muslims) look at U.S. activities as being aggressive," he said. "But they also understand Saddam is a dictator and a tyrant. They're caught between both of those sentiments."
Meanwhile, opinions were different among some members of the Jewish community, who said Saddam was given a fair chance to leave and the United States has a right to destroy his evil regime.
"Right now, it's not like we expected," said Asher Mor, owner of the Jerusalem Restaurant in Ormond Beach, who moved to the United States from Israel seven years ago. "It's going to take a long time and it's an ugly war. But somebody has to do it."
Mor also said he fears for the safety of his family and friends in Israel, but he thinks the war may be good for the region long-term.
"After it's finished, maybe we can see some peace on Earth," he said.