FilMs

Iqraa and other Marathon Charity Cooperation runners at Fletcher's Cove in Washington, DC ready to start the “virtual” Marine Corps Marathon, on Oct. 25, 2020.

showed us the diverse natural beauty that abounds in the Washington, DC area: trails by rivers and creeks, through woods and over hills and next to neighborhoods and parks.

We met our running buddies and ran in a group—socially distanced and with a gaiter or mask to protect ourselves and others. Our Saturday running friends became like our wolf pack and satisfied our need for social interaction. And the good works we did for our cause helped fulfil our desire to participate in social justice action on behalf of our one human race.

What is Iqraa? Iqraa—we’re entering our 14th year of running for a brighter Palestine—is a running club that raises funds for university scholarships for students in Gaza, the West Bank and Jordan in partnership with United Palestinian Appeal (UPA). We’ve raised over $305,000 since 2008 in support of the Mahmoud Darwish Scholarship Fund. (Visit <act.upaconnect. org/Iqraa2021> to contribute.)

Interested in joining the Iqraa running team? Our training program begins in May and continues through October. Most runners train for either the Baltimore Racing Festival (5k, half marathon or marathon) or the Marine Corps Marathon in DC. We partner with Marathon Charity Cooperation to provide coaching and support for the Saturday training runs and on race day.

Iqraa coordinates the training and fundraising activity, e.g. providing advice and fundraising templates to our runners through weekly emails, as well as information about the cause to assist with fundraising. We also ensure our runners have direct access to coaches, two of whom are Iqraa runners.

If you want to join the Iqraa email list, contact me at kirkcruachan@yahoo.com. You can also visit <iqraadc.org> to learn more. And don’t forget that you can make a difference by Running for a Brighter Palestine! —Kirk Campbell

Retired Patriarch of Jerusalem: America “Does Not Care What Will Happen” to Palestinian Christians

In the 26-minute film “The People’s Patriarch,” Michel Sabbah, the first Palestinian in 500 years to serve as the Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch of Jerusalem, obliterates all illusion that Israel has any intention of ever letting up on the Palestinians and granting them statehood—or that the United States cares. “You will not have a state,” he says. In fact, only two choices are on offer, the patriarch emeritus tells his people: “either to swallow the poison forced upon us” or to persevere in demanding full political rights, even as “the worst may be yet to come.”

Superb cinematography and a gripping soundtrack reinforce the sense of peril of the moment. Now that Israel’s “mask has fallen,” Sabbah says, the Palestinians face the “direst situation” since the ethnic cleansing of their country began in 1948.

The patriarch’s dark foreboding extends beyond his homeland to the Middle East as a whole. In his view, the West, led by United States, “wants to destroy the existing Middle East and create a new Middle East” to achieve its own geopolitical objectives. In doing so, they “do not care what happens” to the people of the region, not even the Christians; “If they die, then they die.”

For Sabbah, Jerusalem is the key political and moral indicator. “Jerusalem today is not a holy city of love,” he says. “It is a city of hatred. It is a city of war.” The U.S. decision to move its embassy to East Jerusalem was the act by which “America closed the doors for peace,” he adds.

Sabbah, who is in his 80s and lives in the West Bank village of Taybeh, was appointed patriarch by Pope John Paul II in 1988, and served until 2008. The film includes footage of the ancient and solemn Vatican ritual of investiture to the position, and of Sabbah’s momentous return from

HAZEM BADER/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Rome at the very outset of the First Intifada. We see and hear the sounds of the popular uprising—and its merciless suppression. Sabbah and his fellow patriarchs of other denominations are barred entrance into the largely Christian town of Beit Sahour, under siege for withholding tax payments to the occupier, Israel.

Upon his arrival in Israel-Palestine, the world’s press badgered the new patriarch to say where he stood on the intifada. His reply was direct and simple: “The people have a right to their freedom. They have a right to their uprising.” In the film, he emphasizes that he is not on the side of the Palestinians because he himself is a Palestinian, but because as a human being and a Christian he is obligated to advocate for the oppressed.

Because he is “not a politician and not a warrior,” but “a Christian clergyman,” he doesn’t map the path ahead. He does, however, call for a nationwide, open and comprehensive discussion of “how we got to this point” and the formulation of a “realistic vision and sensible discourse…that can prepare us to enter a new era after 70 years have elapsed.”

In his most chilling statements, he says, “We have been told that you have no right to exist. And those delivering this message to us are the rulers of the earth today.” Even more bluntly, he warns, “We need to know that we are facing death and therefore, we must take the simplest of things seriously.”

Some might feel that these words are too dark, but the patriarch ultimately centers his message on resilience and dismissing feelings of despair and defeat. He calls for “hope, resistance and not running away,” coupled with a rootedness in the power of transcendent love. “We have to raise our children to survive and thrive and be capable of loving one another. Only this kind of love will enable them to address their oppressors,” he says. “I should not let despair get to me….One day I will be master of my fate—free of oppression.”

At the same time, as a man of prayer, he humbly places his trust in God and seeks guidance, acknowledging to the Lord that ultimately, “humankind is for you to handle.”

No written article quoting his strong words and describing his concerns can adequately convey to readers the immense dignity, simplicity and gravitas with which the patriarch expresses his anguish and outrage. “The People’s Patriarch” must be seen to be fully understood.

The film, produced by Dr. Lily Habash and directed by Mohammed Alatar, is available for free on YouTube.

—Steve France

“The Mauritanian” Shines Light, Hope into Gitmo’s Darkness

“The Mauritanian,” released in theaters this February, tells the story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who was wrongfully detained and tortured at the United States’ Guantanamo Bay detention facility for 14 years.

In November 2001, a rendition team transported Slahi from his native Mauritania to Jordan at the request of the United States. Months later, Slahi was taken to a U.S. base in Afghanistan and then transferred to Guantanamo Bay. At every stop, he faced dehumanizing questioning and torture.

The U.S. detained and tortured Slahi for nearly a decade and a half despite having no evidence directly tying him to terrorism. In fact, prior to his kidnapping by the U.S., Slahi had been questioned and cleared by the security agencies of several countries, all of which determined he only had unfortunate tangential ties to terror suspects.

On Feb. 19, the Muslim Public Affairs Council held an online interview with key members of “The Mauritanian,” including Slahi and two of the film’s leading stars, Jodie Foster and Tahar Rahim.

Central to the film is Slahi’s ability to forgive those who inflicted unimaginable pain upon him and his family. “In the beginning I was fantasizing about getting back, about getting even with those who visited a great harm upon me,” he admitted. “After torture, you become someone else.”

However, he ultimately found peace and strength in practicing the virtue of forgiveness extolled by Islam. “I have no bitterness toward anyone, and I completely and utterly forgive everyone because that’s what my faith tells me,” he said. “If you forgive, you are closer to Allah,” he added, quoting the Qur’an.

“This film is really about Mohamedou’s character,” Foster noted. She plays the role of Slahi’s no-nonsense lawyer, Nancy Hollander.

Foster also hopes the film helps Slahi process his ordeal. “The greatest satisfaction of this movie is that I think that it can be healing for Mohamedou,” she said. Slahi was involved in the film’s production, making sure the set and the script were true to his experience.

Foster also noted that the film provides an inspiring message of interreligious unity. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch plays the role of Lt. Col. Stuart Couch, who was tasked with prosecuting Slahi’s case. Having lost a friend in the 9/11 attacks, Couch was motivated to prove Slahi’s guilt. However, citing his Christian faith and devotion to the law, he refused to prosecute the case after learning that torture was used to force Slahi into making self-indicting statements.

“I would say that the Christian side to the movie in some ways is as strong as the Muslim side,” Foster said. “The most important part of Islam is justice and the most important part of Christianity is love, and this film is really about those two things coming together.”

Rahim, who plays Slahi, hopes the movie helps Americans understand the travesty of Guantanamo. Film, he noted, helps people think, digest and contem-