My
Children, Ralph Nader and the South China Sea
28 March 2010
By Ramzy Baroud
I basked in the warm Borneo sun, following a long run
somewhere at the edge of a rainforest. The beach was
only partly clean, but the water was most inviting. My
children ran excitedly, collecting what I assumed to
be shells and whatever other treasures the South China
Sea had decided to divulge that afternoon. Their
movement, from afar, signaled frenzy and perhaps even
a slight panic. I hesitated at first, then ran to
investigate.
At the ages of six and four, my girls Zarefah and Iman
were already the most kindhearted kids. They were
actually going through complete and unmitigated panic,
as they had just noticed the starfish which had been
cast off by the waves and which were now dotting the
shoreline as far as the eye could see. The children
became determined to place every single one of them
back in the water before they died.
But most all of them were already dead.
My kids didn’t know this. And I didn’t have the
courage to break the dreadful news. I stood in
silence, proud to the core, as the girls’ shaky voices
urged everyone around them to help. Then I too was
summoned. “Dad, what are you waiting for? Please help
us before they all die.” I tried to absolve myself
from what seemed to me a waste of time. But when I saw
the tears in Zarefah’s eyes, and heard the fright in
her voice, I joined in – as enthusiastically as the
many other beachgoers-turned-environmentalists.
Four years later, in 2008, both Zarefah and Iman voted
for independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader.
They were ten and eight, so their votes didn’t count.
It was a mockup election at their elementary school in
the little town of Bothell in Washington State. One of
their teachers told me that she was “very surprised to
see how much support Nader has in our school.” It was
well beyond the national average. In the same way the
girls had urged everyone to save the starfish of the
South China Sea, they now relentlessly campaigned for
Ralph Nader among their peers. Their main argument
was: Ralph Nader has done so much work to save
American lives, and both Obama and McCain would enact
policies that would take away many innocent lives - of
Americans and non-Americans alike. Unaware of the
power of corporations and the pro-Israel lobby, the
classmates voted for Nader in droves. In the end, the
true American hero - at least as far as our family is
concerned - tied with McCain, but lost to Obama. Even
children can be swept by the “audacity of hope” fever.
Now, like many of their parents, they have probably
realized what a folly that decision was. My kids still
say to their friends, “If only you voted Nader...”
Zarefah and Iman have always worked tirelessly for
what they believed in. They once made an arrangement
with a local food bank, which involved devoting part
of their weekend to collecting canned food in front of
the local grocery store. “Hi Daddy,” they would scream
in exhilaration as I drove in to pick them up. “Look
how much food we got!” Then they would point at two
huge shopping carts overflowing with tuna cans and
baby food.
A few months ago, Iman somberly and sorrowfully walked
away from her Girl Scout troops. They had been asked
to raise money to send cookies to US soldiers in Iraq
for Christmas. “When they leave Iraqis alone, I will
buy them all the cookies they want,” Iman insisted.
Despite her principled decision, she cried
intermittently for days. As an alternative, the girls
decided to help their mother organize several
fundraisers to raise funds for KinderUSA and Palestine
Children’s Relief Fund. Gaza children urgently need
food and medical treatment, and Zarefah and Iman have
risen to the occasion.
Now they are busily pondering this whole Earth Hour
craze. I am sure that the lights of our house will be
turned off for an hour on the last Saturday of March.
The girls are unlikely to be satisfied by this,
however. I can imagine Zarefah’s argument, which is
likely to be seconded by Iman, or the other way
around. She is likely to claim that World Wide Fund
for Nature (WWF) intended the hour to symbolize what
ordinary people can do to save the environment; that
it’s not enough for one iconic building in a city to
shut off its lights while others stay lit. I am likely
to agree, and they are likely to campaign among their
peers – especially those who regretfully failed to
vote Nader – to urge their families to also turn off
the lights for an hour on March 27.
For the time being, Zarefah is busily fundraising for
a cancer research facility in Washington. A friend of
hers, a beautiful boy of the same age, is succumbing
to an aggressive form of cancer. After years battling
the disease, the boy chose not to be subjugated to any
more painful, and at this point, futile treatment. His
friends are devastated. Zarefah told me through tears
that she was throwing a party aimed at showing their
love and solidarity with the kid, and also raising
funds for cancer research. She spent a whole day on
the phone calling for action. I pledged two hundred
dollars; others even more.
No, Zarefah and Iman don’t take on lost causes. And
they don’t take on easy causes either. They understand
that to make a difference one has to start somewhere,
and this entails action at the level of the individual
- no matter how seemingly limited her or his capacity.
As we drove away from the South China Sea, close to
midnight over five years ago, both girls fell asleep
almost immediately. They were exhausted, and smelled
of fish and salt. That day they had “saved” hundreds
of starfish. And yet, thousands more were left behind.
I had only managed to tear them away from their urgent
task by promising to return with them the very next
day, first thing in the morning, to save the rest. And
we did.
But I am yet to break the news to them that Ralph
Nader is unlikely to run for another presidential
election.
- Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an
internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of
PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is "My Father
Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story" (Pluto
Press, London), now available on Amazon.com.
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EsinIslam.Com
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