Given the last week, I will probably never watch CNN again. As if the stock footage of the Palestinians were not bad enough, the one-sidedness is enough to make me sick. I followed the link for Indy news about all of the Peace vigils, and I myself attended a Peace vigil in Hamtramck yesterday. Knowing me as you do, I would not have attended a ‘Prayer’ vigil. Knowing Hamtramck as I do, I wanted to see what our reactions were especially because we have a large Muslim community, from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bosnia, et al. Hamtramck is really unlike any other city I have ever seen. Within the 2.2 square miles, 65 languages are spoken in our schools. As far as I am aware, there has been no violence, and no intimidation. The Muslim community has not been in hiding either. Life is carrying on as best as we can. The turnout for the vigil was fantastic, by all sectors of the community. The government officials gave brief speeches, but most of the time was given to leaders of the various ethnic groups, and prayers were offered by several Muslim and Christian clergy. To a man, no one spoke with Bush’s bluster and sabre rattling, but everyone expressed a sincere sense of loss and compassion, and hope for real peace. Since we have a poor community, it was done on little budget and time, but was very well done. At the end, everyone wished his neighbor well, even though this may have been the first time that many of these people had directly engaged someone from another ethnic or religious group. Regardless of being inundated by calls for retaliation and prolonged war by the government and popular media, I can’t help but assume that most Americans and people in other countries feel more as we do.

Tim