Pinning hopes

  • Julie Muhlstein / Herald Columnist
  • Monday, October 1, 2001 9:00pm
  • Local News

Immigrants show their patriotism with sale of beaded flags

Julie Muhlstein

Herald Columnist

This is a better country because Hayat Al-Zohairy is in it. Stronger, richer, safer. If every one of you could meet her, it would be better still.

Before I introduce Al-Zohairy, I’ll confess this: Last week I had a conversation I now regret. If you recognize anything of yourself in it, know that minds can be changed.

Scared by the Sept. 11 horrors and reports on bioterrorism, I said something to the effect of: "This is our country, these are our borders and universities. Maybe we should shut the doors."

This is Al-Zohairy’s country as much as it is mine.

She was born in Iraq. A social studies and Arabic language teacher before Persian Gulf War bombs wrecked her town, she and her husband spent four years in a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia. They lived in a mud house and did little more than survive. They moved to Everett in 1994, sponsored by a church group and a cousin here.

"The Saudi camp was like jail. We came here to be free," Al-Zohairy said.

Two years ago, she became a U.S. citizen. Already accomplished in English, she studied American history and scored 100 percent on the citizenship test.

I met 33-year-old Al-Zohairy on Friday at the American Red Cross office in Everett. Wearing a traditional Islamic hijaab scarf, she was there with a group from the Refugee Forum of Snohomish County to donate $5,450 raised through the sale of American flag pins painstakingly made from safety pins and tiny beads.

"The American Red Cross helped us when we first came to this country," said Van Dinh-Kuno, director of the Everett Community College-based Refugee Forum, which provides services for immigrants in the area.

"For new Americans, this country is near and dear to our hearts. This is an opportunity to let America know that," said Dinh-Kuno, a native of Vietnam who organized the pin-making and fund-raising effort. "We are really hurting because of this act of evil."

At Everett High School Monday, Al-Zohairy wore an American flag on her modest black jacket as students streamed into her classroom and called out greetings — "Miss Hayat, hi Miss Hayat."

Al-Zohairy is an Everett School District educational assistant. She teaches English as a Second Language. She works part-time for the Refugee Forum. She does more, much more. She’s a comfort, a nurturer, someone to whom Middle Eastern students and their parents could come after the Sept. 11 attacks to voice their fears.

She is charming and articulate. Her smile lights up the room. She is an American success story, a shining example of all we hope citizens will be.

And she is hurting.

"This happened to us, too," she said of the World Trade Center-Pentagon tragedies. "Look at New York. Do you think no Arabic people died? These terrorists are like a cancer in my world.

"When I became a citizen, I became part of this country. This happened to my country," Al-Zohairy said. "Believe me, my religion is against terrorism. Bin Laden is a Muslim, but he didn’t practice his religion."

Although Al-Zohairy hasn’t experienced any hateful comments since the attacks, she knows women in her community who won’t leave their homes. Because of a parent’s fears, one Iraqi student has quit coming to Everett High, she said.

"They’re afraid to go. They’ve said people give them bad looks. Cashiers in stores don’t treat them as well," she said.

Her own fears rest in the possibility that the innocents of Afghanistan will pay a bloody price for what happened to the innocents on Sept. 11.

"If the U.S. decides on war, I hope they find and kill the terrorists, not the innocent people," she said.

As we pin on our flags, let none of us forget that hope.

I’m a better person because I looked into the dark brown eyes of Hayat Al-Zohairy, and I listened.

My German ancestors arrived, acquired land and became U.S. citizens. Through two world wars in which their homeland was our enemy, they prospered. They were Americans, unquestioned.

Let none of us forget that, either.

Contact Julie Muhlstein via e-mail at muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com, write to her at The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206, or call 425-339-3460.

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