LOCAL STUDENT, BUSINESSMAN REFLECT ON MIDEAST WOES

Southeast Missourian/Chris Howard

Local businessman Mohammad Abukhudeir, left, and Southeast Missouri State University student Karim Djerboa discussed problems in the Middle East.

Mohammad Abukhudeir learned his sibling's home town, a Palestinian suburb of Jerusalem, had been a flash-point of the recent violence in Israel

By Christopher Howard

While the escalating violence in the Middle East may seem far removed for many southeast Missourians, for Southeast Missouri State University student Karim Djerboa and local businessman Mohammad Abukhudeir, the events hit close to their hearts.

During a phone call to Israel three days ago, Abukhudeir learned that his sibling's home town, a Palestinian suburb of Jerusalem, had been a flash-point of the recent violence in Israel.

Abukhudeir said he learned that the town of Shufat, the home of his brother, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, had been attacked by residents of a Jewish settlement to the northeast.

"They were very scared to death because the settlers are backed up by Israeli soldiers, live bullets," Abukhudeir said.

While none of his relatives was killed in the attack, Abukhudeir said he worries intensely about what could happen if the skirmishes continue to intensify.

"It feels like I've been stabbed," he said. "I feel that me and my family have paid for what Hitler did to the Jews."

Friday, U.S. investigators began sifting through the evidence of an apparent suicide bomb attack that left a state-of-the-art U.S. warship crippled and listing in a Yemeni harbor. At least two radical Muslim groups have taken credit. Also Friday, Islamic militants declared another "day of rage" and called for Palestinians to vent their growing anger against the Israelis. In Cape Girardeau, Karim Djerboa, secretary of the SEMO Muslim Students Association, cautioned Missourians not to associate all Muslims with acts of violence.

"There are so many movies you can see where the terrorists are Muslim. Rules of Engagement, that was a recent one, and it was in Yemen," said Djerboa. "Here, when someone sees a Buddhist in a yellow robe, they think Dalai Lama, he's a good guy. But when someone sees the long beard of an Islamic, they think, does he have a Kalashnikov (rifle)? They think terrorist."

"It is true there are some fanatics in the Muslim world. But there are fanatics everywhere," said Djerboa, a French citizen of Algerian descent.

Muslim extremists, such as those claiming responsibility for the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, are ignorant of Muslim law, which advocates peace and, secondly, ethics in war, said Djerboa.

"There is a lack of knowledge about the Muslim world, even among Moslems themselves," he said. "It is written in black and white (in Muslim law), you cannot attack women and children, or the elderly, or sick."

Another popular misconception about the violence in Israel is that it is a solely Jew-versus- Muslim conflict, added Djerboa. The fact that many Palestinians are Christian rules out that possibility, he said. The conflict is more political than religious, he said.

"It's not a religious conflict. That's just the picture being shown to the people. It's an escape door," said Djerboa. "It's political. It's people who believe the land, Palestine, belongs to them."

An offer made through the SEMO International Studies Department for Jewish students to comment for this article failed to produce any sources.