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| Writers Tour for Mideast Peace
Touring
Poet, Playwright Promote Mideast Peace Detente: An Israeli and
a Palestinian are visiting the Southland as part of a program
to show Americans that hope is strong for an end to violence.
Los Angeles Times. May. 6, 1995
By Jordan Elgrably
They traveled thousands of miles to promote peace among Jews and
Arabs, to show Americans by their very presence together that
entente between Israeli Jews and Palestinians Arabs was no longer
a mere fantasy.
These days, the ever-fragile peace in the Middle East is threatened
by extremists in both the Arab and Jewish camps. But Sami Michael,
an Israeli novelist and playwright, and Salem Jubran, a Palestinian
poet, have been touring U.S. cities for the last month to tell
Americans that hope will not be destroyed by terrorist attacks.
After April appearances in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago
and San Francisco, Michael and Jubran came to Los Angeles last
month on their tour-sponsored by the Israeli foreign ministry-to
speak with Jewish and Arab Americans about their fears and frustrations.
They were hosted one evening by Palestinian composer Nabil
Azzam, who entertained with traditional Arabic and Hebrew
melodies after a discussion led by Jubran, who read some of his
poetry in Arabic and English, and Michael, who related his experiences
as an Iraqi Jew emigrating to Israel in 1949.
Afterward, a Palestinian woman asked Michael: "History is
always written by the victors, and Israel has won every war with
us. How do we know that the peace is real this time?"
Michael, a tall, olive-skinned man who bears some resemblance
to his Palestinian counterpart, answered solemnly: "Israel
has not been the winner, because every time we win a war there
is another one. For years we tried to throw the Arabs back into
the desert, and the Arabs tried to throw the Jews into the sea.
But we have realized that there are no victors in war. That is
why I believe we will have peace."
Michael said of his monthlong tour: "I don't think that we
have solved every problem between Jews and Arabs, but we've asked
many healthy questions."
The two have become so close, he said, they sometimes have difficulty
telling each other apart. Jubran nodded and said, to rising laughter,
"Yes, I am the Arabic version of Sami and he is the Hebrew
version of me."
Azzam followed the dialogue with several Arabic and Hebrew melodies
thrummed out on his 10-string oud. The defining moment of the
evening came when Azzam played an old Arab standard, "Shati
Al-dini," with his Arab-American guests singing along. As
he slowly segued into the Israeli favorite "Hava Nagila,"
the Arab Americans stopped abruptly, then joined in the singing
with Israelis and Jewish Americans.
The event, co-sponsored by the Israeli Consulate and the L.A.-based
Jewish Center for Culture and Creativity, also included an eclectic
mix of other Jews and Arabs who are working behind the scenes
to promote peace, including Diana Matar-Sufian, who heads the
Palestinian Children's Relief Fund, which provides emergency medical
treatment for diseased or wounded children who are flown to the
United States for free.
What became clear during the dialogue with Michael and Jubran
was that Jews and Arabs are beginning to listen to one another
as never before. This also marks the first time the Israeli foreign
ministry has financed a tour for two of the country's writers,
representing Israeli and Palestinian cultures.
