Speaker discusses travel as an act of peace

* The following article was published in February 2006 in The Blue and Gold, a community newspaper for Centralia College



When students choose to travel abroad, they often backpack across Europe or explore the Mayan ruins. But what about journeying to the Middle East, a region both feared and misunderstood?

Students were given a taste of the Middle East at the Corbet Theatre during a a Lyceum presentation last month.

Char Simons, a freelance writer and faculty member of The Evergreen State College, gave a presentation "Travel as an Act of Peace: Tales of the Middle East."

Simons used over 70 photographs to show an in-depth travelogue of her own Middle East adventures.

Interest began in 1979

Simons' personal connection to the Middle East spans back to 1979 when she was a college student in the Midwest. During that time, revolution turned Iran upside down, by toppling the shah and installing an Islamic government.

These events led to the deterioration of the relationship between Iran and the United States. Because the United States supported the shah, Iranian militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 66 Americans hostage.

At the time, Simons had many Iranian friends at college and took an interest in their culture. On campus, her friends enjoyed relative comfort--but off campus they faced contempt.

Once, while having lunch at a restaurant, a man in his 60s approached her and a friend and asked, "What religion are you?"

Moments like these led Simons to believe that while Americans harvested many opinions about the Middle East, they were based on scarce and inaccurate information.

After college, she lived and taught English in Turkey. She freelanced articles here and there about the region. But, her passions for the region eventually settled.

Bringing cultures together

Then 9/11 shook the world.

In the aftermath, the same misconceptions arose and ignited a fire within her, Simons said.
She wanted to help people push past the confusion that clouded the Middle East for Americans, so she invited students and community members along on study tours.

Her tour groups weave through Jordan and Lebanon, sometimes exploring Syria and Egypt as well. She chooses these places because they are Arab countries, and recognizes a reciprocal relationship to foster.

Most Americans have never met an Arab and most Arabs have never met an American, but both have opinions about the other, Simons said. Bringing these cultures together leads to the shedding of misunderstanding.

These nations are small but diverse. The landscapes are painted with deserts, forests and mountains. Each country is an intricate mosaic of culture and politics.

She and her fellow travelers sight see--they climb Mount Sinai and snorkel in the Red Sea. But they also interact with journalists, activists and locals.

Their favorite event, camping under the stars with the Bedouin people, the name meaning nomad in Arabic.

Women in the Middle East

Last year, her group was invited to a Bedouin wedding--a ritual quite unlike our own. The wedding took place in the Wadi Rum desert of Jordon. Like our weddings, there is an emphasis on feasting and socializing, but there are no vows at the alter--in fact, the men and women are segregated into two black tents separated as far as a football field.

Simons' group was invited into the men's tent. Later, lit only with the night's stars, the men linked arms and chanted. Then--and only if the women wished to--women emerged from their shadowy tent in a wispy, sensual dance, Simons said.

This dance, where the women call the shots, Simons said, challenged the number one assumption Americans have about the Middle East--that the women are oppressed.

What's ironic is that Arab women think American women are oppressed, with cosmetic surgeries and obligations to cook, clean, rear kids and work a full-time job, said Simons.

Americans are familiarized with media images of women veiled head to toe in black. Simons said these images are mostly from the stricter Saudi Arabia and are used as political tools. This leads to a generalization of the Middle East that blows the veil out of proportion.

There actually is a wide range of women's dress in the Middle East. In Lebanon, someone could buy hip-hugger jeans in a Safeway. In a cafe, a girl could be wearing a tank top, but wear a jacket outside for modesty.

Simons displayed photos of a veiled Christian nun and of market windows showcasing women's evening gowns and lingerie.

Plus, there is the climate factor--the veils are practical because they keep the body and head cool in the intense heat.

Violence and Danger

The idea that violence and danger lurk everywhere is another popular misconception, Simons said.

Even when they are Syria, which borders Iraq, Simons said she felt like they were a million miles away from the war because the violence is so contained.

Of the 22 countries in the Middle East, only three have violent contact--Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel.

Simons said to fear visiting the Middle East for these conflicts "it s like deciding not to visit Centralia because of you hear there are gang fights in Missoula."

According to the United Nations Interpol, an international police organization, the Middle East has the same level of violent crime as Europe--which isn't much--and dramatically less petty crimes, such as theft, than the United States.

At the same time, Simons' groups do interact with people and places effected by the war.
Simons showed a photograph of the Jordan River that borders Jordan and Israel, where Jesus Christ was baptized. What's not in the image is the armed soldiers lined along the river.

Another photograph depicted a cafe, when her group met with the activist group stopthewall.org, whose goal is to educate people about the apartheid wall Israel built. Simons said the wall is bigger than the Berlin wall ever was.

Still more images tell stories of Palestinian refugee camps, which Simons said are cinder block cities with populations as large as 70,000.

After the presentation, a few students lingered behind.

Curt Taylor, 18, said he was surprised how closely related the Middle Eastern world was to ours, with the Western influences on clothes.

Laura Scharber, 18, came to the presentation because of her avid interest in the Middle East. She said talks like these "broaden our understanding...because the media only gives one side, and even if they give another, there's more than two sides."

Simons believes young people should explore the world as a rite of passage.

"After high school or college, work or live in a different country," she said. "You'll never look at the world the same."