President Donald’s Trump’s call to “Make America Great Again” reflects a populist movement for isolationism.
We are told that building walls and closing our borders will keep us safe. This stance ignores the interconnection of world events. The Syrian war created a refugee crisis unparalleled since the Holocaust, spurring waves of Islamophobia, adding to the destabilization of the Middle East and the rest of the world. Isolationism creates a breeding ground for terrorists who recruit from those who believe the world has turned their backs on them.
Recently, we have been consumed by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. We’ve lost sleep over North Korea’s threat to launch a nuclear attack against the U.S. DACA participants live in fear of deportation, and each day brings a new presidential tweet. How can we focus on the rest of the world when we are inundated with disasters in our own country?
I ask myself this question often. While the U.S. dealt with Hurricane Harvey, thousands in Sierra Leone and South Asia died from mudslides and tropical storms, while drought and famine have devastated Somalia and Ethiopia. Trump pulled us out of the Paris climate accord, but can we escape the worldwide consequences of global warming that precipitate wars over scarce resources, increase refugees and wreak political havoc in so many regions of the world?
Are we obligated to respond to human suffering irrespective of geographical borders? If we turn our backs on the rest of the world, will they do the same to us when we need help?
I don’t have the answers. I do believe attending to what’s happening in the world, does not give us power to bring peace to the world, but it does provide opportunities to bear witness to human suffering, to campaign for human rights, and implores us to teach our children that all people are born with dignity and worth. I think it makes us more human.
Four and one-half years ago, when I responded to a friend’s request to help “raise funds for Syrian children,” I knew next to nothing about Syria. I certainly never dreamed we’d still be educating, advocating and fundraising for victims of this brutal civil war. At times I feel discouraged, but then I realize how much I have been transformed by this work.
The Valley Syrian Relief Committee has not ended the war in Syria, but our programs, activism, and fundraising have let people in Syria know that they have not been forgotten. I have also been inspired by the tireless efforts of others, who have not given up the fight. MazenAl-Hamada is one of these people.
Born into a left-wing, middle-class family in Syria, Mazen was part of the army of thousands of Syrians in 2011 who marched, protested and demonstrated for democracy. His activism made him a target for the Assad regime, which used violence to silence protesters.
An organizer of protests, Mazen Al Hamada was considered a threat to the Assad dictatorship. His name appears on at least one of the 600,000 pages of documents smuggled out of Syria that provide evidence of state-sponsored mass arrests, detentions, tortures and executions. Like the Nazis, the Assad regime carefully documented its actions.
An official document dated January 2012 orders that Mazen be picked up and detained. After being arrested for supplying baby formula to a besieged area, he endured 18 months of inhumane torture in a detention camp. At one point, he had to be hospitalized, where he experienced what should have been a place of healing as “a slaughterhouse, not a hospital.”
Tens of thousands of Syrians, including 2,000 children, have disappeared. Families are desperate for knowledge of the fate of their loved ones. In an interview, Assad dismissed these detentions and murders as “fake news.” Despite the evidence, vetoes by China and Russia have prevented the U.N. from bringing charges against the Assad regime to the International Criminal Court.
MazenAl-Hamada continues his efforts to focus the world’s attention on these crimes against humanity. He demonstrates around the world, demanding that the deaths of those detained be investigated, that the Syrian government provide families with information about their loved ones, that the detentions of innocent people must end, and that the government of Syria be held accountable for its actions.
Mazen’s story is told in a documentary entitled, “Syria’s Disappeared,” which includes voices of former prisoners, family members, and those people dedicate to bringing the perpetrators to justice.
The Valley Syrian Relief Committee will show the film at Edwards Church in Northampton from 3 5 p.m. Oct. 1. My hero, MazenAl-Hamada, will speak and answer questions following the film.
As I experience our own rights being eroded on a daily basis, I fear the lengths our own government will go to suppress dissent. Maybe the reason we need to take interest in the world beyond our borders all boils down to something as simple as the golden rule: Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.
Sara Weinberger, of Easthampton, is a professor emerita of social work and writes a monthly column. She can be reached at opinion@gazettenet.com.