Flint Syrian Group Opposes Arab American Panel at University of Michigan-Flint
FLINT — With more than 400 signatures on a petition, pressure is mounting for the Arab-American Heritage Council of Flint to cancel a talk on Syria.
“We feel that this event is very much needed and timely,” says Mona Sahouri, executive director of the Flint-based group.
She says the panel discussion aims to inform the community about the crisis in Syria.
“We no longer live in a vacuum so what happens there also affects us here,” says Sahouri.
But a member of the United for a Free Syria group says she’s appalled by the selection of speakers.
Muna Jondy says one of the speakers supports Syrian president Bassar Assad and his alleged crimes against the Syrian people.
“To have a person who supports that to come and have a platform to spew this is just unacceptable,” says Jondy who serves as spokeswoman for the United for a Free Syria group.
“We’re actually not surprised at all,” says Sahouri about the opposition.
Political science professor Paul Rozycki also not surprised by the opposition.
“With all the divisions in the Middle East, it’s almost automatic that whoever you bring will be opposed by somebody,” says Rozycki who teaches political science at Mott Community College.
“It’s absolutely unbalanced,” says Jondy by phone Wednesday. “The majority of the Syrian people want to see Assad go and they want to see the international community act to make Assad go. That is not represented on that panel.”
“At the end of the day, it’s a free speech event,” counters Sahouri.
Jennifer Hogan, the director of university relations at the University of Michigan-Flint, says the event will go on as planned.
Jondy says her group will express their freedom of speech by staging a silent protest at the event which is scheduled for September 25th at 5:30.
MINBCNEWS
Walter Smith-Randolph