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| I've received a mountain of e-mail since 9-11-01, and some of it was so moving that I will be sharing it here. If you would like to submit something please do and I may add it. susan@snakeandsnake.com |
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The Museum of the City of New York maintains an ever-growing
virtual exhibition called Virtual Union Square, inspired by the spontaneous memorials created
at Union Square Park (near Ground Zero).They also have an exhibit on
Arab Americans New Yorkers
open from March 2 - September 1, 2002. Definition of Peace by Jean Zaru a Palestinian Quaker from Ramallah. |
 mideastweb.org |
The people at MidEast Web brought me a bright ray of hope: Created by Middle Easterners of various ethnic and religious backgrounds, all active in peace education and dialog. They are working to weave a world-wide web of Arabs, Jews and others who want to build a new Middle East based on coexistence and neighborly relations. |
One As the soot and dirt and ash rained down,We became one color. As we carried each other down the stairs of the burning building, We became one class. As we lit candles of waiting and hope, We became one generation. As the firefighters and police officers fought their way into the inferno, We became one gender. As we fell to our knees in prayer for strength, We became one faith. As we whispered or shouted words of encouragement, We spoke one language. As we gave our blood in lines a mile long, We became one body. As we mourned together the great loss, We became one family. As we cried tears of grief and loss, We became one soul. As we retell with pride of the sacrifice of heroes, We become one people. We are One color One class One generation One gender One faith One language One body One family One soul One people author unknown |
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| Turkistan Newsletter Tue, 25 Sep 2001 07:40:21
> > Turkistan Bulteni ISSN:1386-6265 > > Uze Tengri basmasar
asra yer telinmeser, Turk bodun ilining torugin > > kem artati,
udaci erti. [Bilge Kagan in Orkhon inscriptions] > > <<>><<>><>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<><<
The Christian Science Monitor's electronic edition. Headline: A Muslim embrace Byline: Tanya Weaver Date: 09/25/2001 Tanya Weaver is a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity International. (BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN)As long as I have been living and working in the Muslim nation of Kyrgyzstan, nestled in Central Asia, I have known it to be a peaceful country. But when the tragedy of Sept. 11 struck - and we heard reports of people in other Muslim countries celebrating in the streets - my husband and I, both Americans, decided to take precautions. We stopped speaking English on the street, we haven't lit candles in honor of the victims, we're not wearing red, white, and blue. When we go to and from our work site, building houses for Habitat for Humanity International, we go with locals. Then I had one of the most touching experiences of my life. I was invited to attend a memorial service for the brother of one of our homeowners. I looked frightful: My sweatpants and shirt were filthy, my hair covered with dust. I suggested I probably shouldn't attend. But the family insisted. Upon arriving, I realized I was the only foreigner in a crowd of Muslim Kyrgyz people. I sat in a corner and tried to disappear. Kubat, the brother of the man who had died, would have nothing of that, and invited me to sit at a table full of women in mourning. In spite of their pain, each of the women offered their sympathies for the attacks in America. They asked after my family and friends, and expressed sorrow that such barbarity could be carried out in the name of Islam. We chatted throughout the dinner - mainly horse entrails and large chunks of lamb. Suddenly, a chant rose up behind me. It was the mullah, and he was reading from the Koran in memory of Kubat's brother. Then a prayer was said. With the ceremony almost over, Kubat stood up, red-eyed, and asked the mullah to read from the Koran in memory of those who had died in America and to pray for peace. As I sat with my eyes closed, listening to the Arab words from the Koran chanted in a most haunting way, I had a hard time controlling tears. I couldn't believe I was sitting in a large group of Muslims praying for my countrymen. Then the mullah said a prayer as we held our hands out in a cupping motion in front of our faces. The prayer asked God for forgiveness for evil, for mercy over those who had lost loved ones, and for peace in our world. When the beautiful prayer was over, this Christian American and my old and new Muslim Kyrgyz friends said the "Omin" in unison. This is like the Christian "Amen," and as you say the word, you pass your hands over your face as if washing it. The ceremony was over. I stood up to offer my condolences to Kubat and leave. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder. There was a woman I didn't know, conveying her sorrow over the loss of life in my country. Every person followed her in that room, each expressing horror and sadness for the events of Sept. 11. <<>><<>><>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<><< Herhangi bir yazının Turkistan Bulteninde |
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| Note: I don't know if this was really written by
Thich Nhat Hanh, but that's what the e-mail said. REST IN PEACE by Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh I am a World Trade Center tower, standing tall in the clear blue sky, feeling a violent blow in my side, and I am a towering inferno of pain and suffering imploding upon myself and collapsing to the ground. May I rest in peace. I am a terrified passenger on a hijacked airplane not knowing where we are going or that I am riding on fuel tanks that will be instruments of death, and I am a worker arriving at my office not knowing that in just a moment my future will be obliterated. May I rest in peace. I am a pigeon in the plaza between the two towers eating crumbs from someone's breakfast when fire rains down on me from the skies, and I am a bed of flowers admired daily by thousands of tourists now buried under five stories of rubble. May I rest in peace. I am a firefighter sent into dark corridors of smoke and debris on a mission of mercy only to have it collapse around me, and I am a rescue worker risking my life to save lives who is very aware that I may not make it out alive. May I rest in peace. I am a survivor who has fled down the stairs and out of the building to safety who knows that nothing will ever be the same in my soul again, and I am a doctor in a hospital treating patients burned from head to toe who knows that these horrible images will remain in my mind forever. May I know peace. I am a tourist in Times Square looking up at the giant TV screens thinking I'm seeing a disaster movie as I watch the Twin Towers crash to the ground, and I am a New York woman sending e-mails to friends and family letting them know that I am safe. May I know peace. I am a piece of paper that was on someone's desk this morning and now I'm debris scattered by the wind across lower Manhattan, and I am a stone in the graveyard at Trinity Church covered with soot from the buildings that once stood proudly above me, death meeting death. May I rest in peace. I am a dog sniffing in the rubble for signs of life, doing my best to be of service, and I am a blood donor waiting in line to make a simple but very needed contribution for the victims. May I know peace. I am a resident in an apartment in downtown New York who has been forced to evacuate my home, and I am a resident in an apartment uptown who has walked 100 blocks home in a stream of other refugees. May I know peace. I am a family member who has just learned that someone I love has died, and I am a pastor who must comfort someone who has suffered a heartbreaking loss. May I know peace. I am a loyal American who feels violated and vows to stand behind any military action it takes to wipe terrorists off the face of the earth, and I am a loyal American who feels violated and worries that people who look and sound like me are all going to be blamed for this tragedy. May I know peace. I am a frightened city dweller who wonders whether I'll ever feel safe in a skyscraper again, and I am a pilot who wonders whether there will ever be a way to make the skies truly safe. May I know peace. I am the owner of a small store with five employees that has been put out of business by this tragedy, and I am an executive in a multinational corporation who is concerned about the cost of doing business in a terrorized world. May I know peace. I am a visitor to New York City who purchases postcards of the World Trade Center Twin Towers that are no more, and I am a television reporter trying to put into words the terrible things I have seen. May I know peace. I am a boy in New Jersey waiting for a father who will never come home, and I am a boy in a faraway country rejoicing in the streets of my village because someone has hurt the hated Americans. May I know peace. I am a general talking into the microphone/s about how we must stop the terrorist cowards who have perpetrated this heinous crime, and I am an intelligence officer trying to discern how such a thing could have happened on American soil, and I am a city official trying to find ways to alleviate the suffering of my people. May I know peace. I am a terrorist whose hatred for America knows no limit and I am willing to die to prove it, and I am a terrorist sympathizer standing with all the enemies of American capitalism and imperialism, and I am a master strategist for a terrorist group who planned this abomination. My heart is not yet capable of openness, tolerance, and loving. May I know peace. I am a citizen of the world glued to my television set, fighting back my rage and despair at these horrible events, and I am a person of faith struggling to forgive the unforgivable, praying for the consolation of those who have lost loved ones, calling upon the merciful beneficence of God/Yahweh/Allah/Spirit/Higher Power. May I know peace. I am a child of God who believes that we are all children of God and we are all part of each other. May we all know peace. |