Story by Donald H. Harrison; Photos by Shor M. Masori
EL CAJON, California – The city of El Cajon boasts a large population of refugees from Iraq, with some estimates running as high as 60,000. Behind Detroit, the city is said to have the second highest concentration of Iraqi Christians (Chaldeans) in the United States. It also boasts numerous Muslim Iraqis, and other Arabic speaking groups, including Palestinians.
Grossmont College in El Cajon serves this large community in numerous ways, including classes in a variety of academic disciplines and especially in English as a Second Language. Refugees flock to ESL classes in the hope of improving their communication skills in their new country preparatory to getting well-paying jobs. Their stories of working hard reflects those of previous generations of immigrants from other countries.
The refugees have an Arabic-speaking friend in the president of Grossmont College, Nabil Abu Ghazaleh, a Palestinian who was raised in Jordan and Qatar, and schooled in England, before migrating to the United States where he built a career for himself as an administrator at several Southern California community colleges.
Two days after the April 27 shooting at the Chabad in the nearby city of Poway, Cindy Miles, president of the two college Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District (GCCCD) sent out a message to students, faculty and staff at Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges, saying “our hearts weep for the victims in the shooting at the Chabad of Poway synagogue Saturday, who were attacked as they were celebrating Passover. Our minds ache to comprehend another senseless act, another hate crime, this time in San Diego County just a few miles north of us. But as Rabbi [Yisroel] Goldstein [of Chabad of Poway] said, we cannot let those driven by hatred and ignorance prevail. We must continue to strive to embody the fundamentals of our district’s mission of light and hope: to provide a welcoming, inclusive, diverse, and equitable learning and working environment for all.”
Miles’ letter went on to say that mental health counselors were available on both the Grossmont and Cuyamaca campuses, adding, “If you wish to stand in support of the Jewish community and the Chabad victims, you can join the community vigil to be held by Poway Unifed School District and the Anti-Defamation League of San Diego this evening at 6:30 p.m. at Poway High School, 14400 Espola Road in Poway. Attendees are encouraged to wear blue to show solidarity with the Jewish community.”
Not long after this, vigils were announced and held on the grounds of various college campuses in San Diego County, including at San Diego State University, UC San Diego, and California State University at San Marcos. Ilene Kruger, who had retired this December from Grossmont College after 20 years as an ESL teacher, wondered why no similar on-campus vigil had been scheduled as quickly at Grossmont College.
As she explained Tuesday, May 14, at a 15-minute vigil for Lori Gilbert Kaye, who was slain in the attack on Chabad, and for three victims who were wounded, including Rabbi Goldstein, “It is so important for us to give our students a moral education. We can’t discriminate and we need to stand up for Jews, Muslims, Christians, whether you are gay, straight, anything, and the fact that this event apparently wasn’t going to happen really saddened me because what are we teaching our students? What are we teaching the next generation?”
Kruger, who is Jewish, said that on the Grossmont College campus, “there were people who didn’t want to do anything because they were uncomfortable. They felt that if they brought attention to the situation that there would be some backlash,” explaining that there was concern that some students might turn any expression of solidarity into an occasion for expressing anti-Israel sentiment.
Notwithstanding that possibility, Kruger set about writing to school administrators and faculty that something ought to be done on the Grossmont campus. Her letters had a chain reaction impact. Marty Ennis, who teaches American government at Grossmont College, is a member of the Jewish community. He took up the issue with Sue Gonda, the former head of the Academic Senate and chair of Grossmont College’s Cross-Cultural Studies Department. Gonda in turn emailed the office of President Abu-Ghazeleh, receiving a positive response “without a blink of the eye.” After last week’s flurry of emails, “it was just a matter of getting the logistics together—how to get the word out to the campus community, that was number one,” Gonda told San Diego Jewish World.
“Sue was like a tornado,” said Ennis. After he received queries from former faculty and current students whether anything would be done, “I passed on my concerns to Sue and she turned into Wonder Woman. She’s very humble, I think too much so, but she deserves a tremendous amount of credit for making things happen so quickly.”
On Tuesday, May 14, on Grossmont College’s sunny main quad, a microphone stand was set before a shady tent, and Gonda addressed approximately 75 students, faculty, and staff drawn to the quad for the occasion. At almost the same time in downtown San Diego, John T. Earnest, the accused shooter, was arraigned in federal court on 109 charges of violating the civil rights of people who were in the synagogue on the day of the shooting and also for attempted arson in March against the Islamic Center of Escondido.
Gonda asked people to form a large circle around the tent, and to hold hands “for this moment of silence and solidarity and healing and peace.”
“Members of our campus community continue to struggle with the fear and the trauma of the hate crime shooting at Chabad of Poway,” she continued. “We are here in solidarity with the members of the Chabad community and to take comfort in each other. Many of us at Grossmont who have suffered from trauma or war or violence are not new to hate crimes. But we take solace in each other and in our ability to create and to maintain community like we are doing right now, and to support each other now and in the future.”
Before calling for the formal moment of silence, Gonda introduced Grossmont President Abu-Ghazeleh to say a few words.
“When I look out at the circle of people round me I just want to recognize how delicate we are as individuals and how as people we are so vulnerable,” Abu-Ghazeleh said. “And yet, as a people, we are so tough and resilient. And so we are gathered here today to share the pain and to encourage and support each other. What happened at Chabad of Poway is inhuman and I think that we are here to quietly reject it, but to reject it as a community coming together. So thank you for being here.”
Members of the Grossmont College community, holding hands, then stood in silence for approximately a minute, before raising their hands together, in a symbolic show of unity. Ghazeleh, pleading a cold, declined to be interviewed by news media.
Among those in the circle were Chancellor Miles and Tate Hurvitz, an English teacher who is the current chair of Grossmont’s Academic Senate, as well as students, staff, and faculty of many ethnic backgrounds.
Firas Louis, an ESL student from Baghdad, Iraq, and a member of the Chaldean community, told me he was pleased by the fact that people of different religions and ethnic backgrounds had come together.
He said “when my mom grew up, she grew up with a Jewish neighbor. That’s why she would say that he was her uncle, so we had that experience.”
Pen and paper were set out on a table under the tent, and people were encouraged to write notes to Chabad of Poway. Some like Denise Robertson signed their full names to messages. Hers said “You are in the people of Poway’s prayers. When one of us hurts, we all hurt.”
Others simply signed their first names. “We here at Grossmont are with you and the Chabad Poway community,” said Alexis. “You are in my thoughts and prayers,” commented Hadassah. “There is no making sense of the senseless; healing thoughts to you,” offered Bill. “We are all one people, love and prayers,” messaged Steph.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com