Breaking the Silence (page 2 of 3)

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Not Holding Back

Wafa had never been out of Syria before, spoke little English and had two small children in tow: a four-year-old daughter and a nine-year-old son. Moreover, she lacked the credentials to practice medicine in the United States, and within a month found herself pregnant with her third child.

To make it through their first few years in Los Angeles, she and her husband worked a variety of service jobs, including trading shifts as cashiers at a Texaco station. Still, being out of Syria made them "so happy," Wafa says.

She took part in the social life of the local Muslim community, yet insisted that her children "live the American life." They were taught English from the start, and while they can understand Arabic, the younger two don't speak it to this day. But the culture Wafa left behind was never far from her mind. She started writing opinion pieces on women, Islam and radicalism for the local Arabic press. Wafa was careful not to be openly critical of religion, instead questioning an interpretation of Islam that seemed to breed terrorists and wife-beaters.

Even so, some thought Wafa had gone too far. After one editorial came out, she received a phone call from a man who warned that "even in America, there are limits." The person on the line claimed to be from a prominent Islamic organization. Intimidation of this sort made Wafa nervous and her editors more timid.

Then came September 11. Watching the World Trade Center towers fall on her television screen, Wafa felt enraged and emboldened. "I don't care anymore. I will write what I want," she told David. Too few people were speaking the truth about radical Islam and she, for one, would stop holding back.

And so Wafa Sultan found herself at the Los Angeles studio last year, being fitted with a microphone and placed before a camera. The host, in Qatar, presented the topic of Islam and terrorism to the audience and then surprised Sultan by introducing another guest, Ahmad bin Mohammed, an Algerian professor of Islamic law.

Sultan had no idea that someone else would be on the show to challenge her views. Raised in the Muslim culture, she certainly never expected to be placed in direct opposition to a man.

Given the floor first, Sultan became impassioned as she spoke. "Religion in our countries is the sole source of education," she argued. "It is the sole source from which terrorists drink."

Ahmad bin Mohammed changed the subject to President Bush. "Our guest asked how a youth blows himself up. Wasn't it better for her to ask how a President kills innocent people in Iraq?"

Sultan woke up to the reality of her first appearance on live television: This wasn't just a conversation, but an all-out debate. She drew in a breath and opened her mouth, and the words burst forth like water through a sprung levy. She ran through a catalog of atrocities committed by radical Muslims against innocent victims: "Can you explain the killing of 100,000 children, women and men in Algeria? [Or] the death of 15,000 civilians in Syria? How can you explain the awful crime in the artillery school in Aleppo [where radicals murdered Alawite cadets]? Was this a revenge against America or Israel, or was it to satisfy the savage and barbarian instincts aroused by teachings that call for refusing the other, killing him?"

The two sparred intensely for nearly 50 minutes, sometimes shouting over each other. "He must let me finish!" she implored at one point.

The program, Sultan later found out, was watched by millions in the Middle East. When the taping ended, she left immediately with her husband for the drive back home. "You were great!" he said, beaming. Neither had any idea how drastically their lives would now change.

• Divided Middle Eastern Factions
• A look at the divided factions of the Middle East.
• 
• Why Middle Eastern Countries Hate America.
• How America should respond to an angry Muslim world.
• 
• Senator McCain Discusses Isreal
• Senator John McCain says that now, more than ever, we should embrace the Jewish state.
• 
• Condoleezza Rice Talks Anti-Terrorism
• More than anyone in the White House, she has the President's ear. Now she talks to us.
• 

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Before heading on vacation, I went to a tanning salon. I was under the lights so long the protective eye shades I wore left a big white circle around each eye. Gazing at myself in the mirror the next day, I thought, "Man, I look like a clown." I had almost convinced myself I was overreacting -- until I was in line at the grocery store. I felt a tug at my shirt and looked down to see a toddler staring up at me, "Are you giving out balloons?" he asked.

-- Nina Secviar, Hammond, Ind.