Greater Focus on the Needs of the Palestinians

By Sarann Graham Via e-mail

I enjoy reading the Pakistan Link on the Internet. I attempt to read it weekly, especially the letters to the editor columns. My family (father’s side) came from Syria and you would probably be wondering what prompted me to begin reading your paper. The explanation is simple: I recently accepted a position as Corporate Affairs Manager for a wonderful world-class LED manufacturing company, Ledtronics, Inc. which is owned by Pervaiz Lodhie, a Pakistani American. Mr. Lodhie has spent over 18 years building up his business and now has the time and resources to give back to the community, his community, his homeland - Pakistan. About two years ago he started a manufacturing company in Pakistan where he employs 100 people, training them and helping them become productive citizen and useful human beings. We all know that when people are able to work and provide for their family’s needs and growth, the result is a healthier society.

For fourteen years I was an elected official, 6 years on city council and 8 years as elected Mayor in a small city of the Los Angeles area. In 1984, I was selected by the Arab American University Graduates Association to participate, with nine other US Mayors, in a fact-finding mission to Israel. We observed so much de-humanization of the Palestinian/Arab people, that I had many sleepless nights. The American people know only what they hear from the media, which is not always the situation. We visited refugee sites and saw the children and elderly living (actually existing) in conditions that most Americans would not allow their pet animals to live in. An environment that made your stomach ache. While visiting universities and talking with the students and educators, we heard about and saw the conditions of the classrooms and the outdated books that students had available for learning. If an outside organization sent new books to the schools, they were destroyed by the Israeli government before they were delivered. This gave me the impression that the Israelis do not want the Palestinian/Arab people to become educated, because education and educated people make things happen and can implement change.

Educated people know that no situation is ‘one-sided’, but that is not what we hear from the US media. We hear that everything is the fault of the Palestinians...but I witnessed a different scenario during my three-week visit/tour.

I am very supportive of the Arab-American Anti-discrimination Committee for all the work they do in supporting the causes of the Arabs and Palestinians in this country. How can we make a greater impact on the needs of the Arab and Palestinians in the Middle East?