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January 18, 2006
Iraqi-American solidarity
More on the Florida teen who took an impromptu trip to Iraq a few weeks ago:
Farris is the youngest of four children born in America to [Dr. Redha] Hassan and Shatha Atiya, who divorced in 2002. Hassan, an anesthesiologist, lives in a beachside condo in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea; his ex-wife, also a native of Iraq, lives on a finger island just north of Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.The younger Hassan also seems to have inherited an urge for activism.Hassan said he has often visited his home country, sometimes without telling anyone -- a trait his son seems to have inherited.
Hassan fled Iraq 33 years ago, fearing he would be killed. His son, who he said shares his understanding of the country's turmoil and poverty, told his father he wanted to go to Iraq, and Hassan promised to take him when the time was right. . . . The father said he had returned Dec. 10 from his own trip to Iraq.Here's a very negative spin on the whole story, but the author's biases are blatant and should be taken into account. As someone whose father's family escaped Hitler because a distant relative in America got them a visa, I symapthise with the two Hassans.. . . . Farris' father and two of his uncles made news in 1985 when they were arrested and charged with conspiracy and violations of U.S. passport laws. The charges, which were later dropped, alleged that they paid a printer to forge 2,000 Iraqi passports and military identification cards.
The charges were upheld against a fourth man, Salah Jawad Shubber, who is unrelated to the Hassans. Shubber, an Iraqi citizen, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge in 1985 and was forced to leave the United States for five years. Hassan on Friday defended his actions, saying he was trying to get passports to refugees who lived in poverty.
At a news conference in October 1985, the Hassan brothers described the brutal life they led in Iraq, saying a brother had been executed there in the 1970s and their parents had been tortured.
Farris Hassan is also a member of his school's Teen Republican Club. Go, Farris! But learn Arabic first.
(Hat tip from Lisa Ramaci, whose husband might have considered this young man a kindred spirit)
Judith | 01/18/06 at 11:57 PM | Categories: - Iraq
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