>Arab-American Third-Grader Returns From Recess Crying, Saying He Didn't Kill >Anyone >ROYAL OAK, MI Eddie Bahri, 8, a Lincoln Elementary School third-grader of >Iraqi descent, tearfully denied accusations during morning recess Tuesday >that he was a terrorist who killed a bunch of people. "I did not kill >anybody," Bahri told classmate Douglas Allenby. "And my dad didn't, either, >okay?" Also implicated in the Sept. 11 attacks was 9-year-old Rajesh >Soonachian, a Lincoln Elementary fourth-grader of Indian descent.
OMG! That is the elementary school I attended! How weird that you have this in here. Metro Detroit has become a haven for people of the Arab nations. I have feared this type of retaliation happening in my old home town, but this is too much. So I am going to share the funny story from 9-11. Sounds like an oxymoron, but those who know me realize that I am always looking for the bright side of things.....So here goes.... Luther is a 7th grader who isn't at the top of the class, if you get my drift...anyway, while waiting in line for lunch I notice that Luther has sided up next to me and is looking quite upset. Visiably shaken, in fact. When things die down in line I ask him quietly if everything is o.k. He asked me, in all seriousness, why Pellston (a neighboring village 8 miles north of us with a county airport) would fly it's planes into the WTCs. I tell him that Pellston was not involved in anything that occured today. He shakes his head at me, and says in this quivering voice, "But Mrs. Cameron, it said right on the news that the PELLstinians were the ones flying the planes". Of course I couldn't laugh, but several of Luther's buddies had stepped up and were chiming in with great glee that it was the PAListinians, from Palistine, not the PELLstinians from Pellston. Luther never did look reassured. So the week after the attack I am dealing with the slightly off balance kids seeking attention at school by saying that they had a family member on one of the planes or in WTCs. The second week I calmed the nightmares, and instilled that we're safe at school. The third week we lost power due to a wind storm and I thought a few of the kids were going to come apart at the seems, screaming "we are being attacked!" at the top of their lungs...Now this week it is kids crying because their parents are being called to duty. Wish I had the answers for these children... Thanks to everyone who is sharing what they are feeling. Thanks especially to our Toronto reporters for taking my mind off of recent events. Thanks to Murph for the Little Green remark then Jimmy for the comic retort. This is my oasis from the evening news and yes, there is a Joni lyric for every occasion in life! "I'm a lucky girl, I've found, my friends....." Much love, Suze
