Bush back home with war help
WASHINGTON (AP) — It was billed as an economic summit but
President Bush saw it as another opportunity to talk about terrorism.
The message was the same, the venue different.
At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, summit that
ended Sunday in Shanghai, China, Bush spoke of little else to
the 19 other leaders gathered there.
When he wasn't vowing to hunt down the perpetrators of the Sept.
11 attacks, he was lashing out at the anthrax-by-mail phenomenon
that shut down much of Capitol Hill last week and frightened millions
of Americans.
After 76 hours in China, Bush is once again dealing with these
issues at home. Air Force One landed at Andrews Air Force Base
early Monday.
Bush returns to a city that has been staggered since Sept. 11,
first by the terrorist attacks and now by a confounding anthrax
scare that prompted the House to close last week after a letter
with the bacteria was sent to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.
Thousands of people have been tested for exposure and one man,
a postal worker from Virginia, is gravely ill with the most serious
form of the disease — inhalation anthrax.
"We're dealing with a new situation. We're trying to deal
with it rationally," Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.,
said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."
In Shanghai, amid its gleaming office buildings and a 70,000-strong
police presence, Bush found universal sympathy over America's
loss of more than 5,000 people in last month's attacks.
For the first time since the Asia-Pacific summit process began
in 1993, the delegates produced a final document not entirely
focussed on the arcane business of economic growth.
The 20 leaders condemned acts of terror "in all forms and
manifestations committed wherever, whenever and by whomsoever,
as a profound threat to the peace, prosperity and security of
all people, of all faiths of all nations."
But leaders from predominantly Muslim
Indonesia and Malaysia condemned the deaths of innocents resulting
from the U.S. aerial bombardment of Afghanistan.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, speaking with Malaysian
journalists, said he explained to Bush "the anger and frustration
of the Muslim world." Indonesia says a collective international
response to terrorism is preferable to unilateral action.
Still, U.S. officials said they were pleased with the overall
support.
For Bush, there were other plusses in Shanghai. At a pre-Communist
era guest house, he met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin who,
while concerned about innocent victims of American air power in
Afghanistan, is helping the anti-terror campaign, sharing intelligence
and other means.
Bush also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who seemed
increasingly willing to accept a U.S. missile defense shield,
so long as it's limited and is accompanied by deep cuts in the
two countries' strategic arsenals. On the terror issue, Putin
has been a stalwart ally of Bush.
There were light moments — as when Bush bantered with Japanese
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi about baseball. There were moments
of mild discomfort, as when Bush, along with his colleagues, was
obliged to wear a traditional Chinese silken jacket during Sunday's
talks. The awkwardness Bush felt showed in his face.
There was anguish, as when Bush learned that two American soldiers
died in a helicopter crash while supporting the first U.S. commando
raid into Afghanistan.
"These soldiers will not have died in vain. This is a just
cause," he said.
Bush said the attack on the World Trade Center was an assault
on a free enterprise system that has fueled prosperity throughout
the Pacific rim.
"The terrorists tried to shatter confidence in the world
economic system, but they failed," Bush said.
Bush's 19 colleagues agreed that the ripple effect of terrorism
can encircle the globe. The final statement said terrorism is
"a direct challenge to APEC's vision of free, open and prosperous
economies, and to the fundamental values that APEC members hold."
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Holocaust survivor: U.S. can win 'new
war'
Todd G. Dickson
Managing Editor
Jack van der Geest knows how much difference a single day can make.
Before May 10
1940, van der Geest and the majority of the other people living
Holland thought Germany wouldn't attack them. It was such a
small country, the thinking went, that "no one wanted Holland."
But that morning, he was awakened by the sounds of explosions and
the sight of planes dropping pamphlets proclaiming the Germans had
come to "liberate" the people of Holland, van der Geest
told a packed attentive crowd in Gallup on Thursday.
"Liberate us?" van der Geest recounted at the benefit lunch
for the Gallup Veteran's Memorial Park. "We were already free."
Within four days, Holland was defeated and van der Geest would begin
an ordeal that would eventually take him to a German concentration
camp and make him a compelling witness to the Holocaust that would
kill an estimated 12 million Jews.
And Sept. 11, 2001, has changed van der Geest's talks which promote
his book about his experiences called "Was God on Vacation?"
Before the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, van
der Geest was out to remind people — and dismiss the naysayers
— that Holocaust existed. Now, van der Geest says, he out to
remind people — especially the youth —
about what a great country the United States is because of our freedoms.
Nevertheless, his recounting stories of the war and the Holocaust
was the heart of his talk and audience listened intently, sometimes
gasping at the more horrific details that van der Geest described.
As a teen in Holland when the Germans arrived, he became part of the
underground resistance — sabotaging road signs and canned food
shipments. The resistance in Holland had few weapons, van der Geest
said, because the Germans took all their guns, which he said the people
of Holland made all-too-easy by dutifully registering their guns.
People were shot in the streets, he said, if they didn't turn over
weapons that were registered in their names.
Eventually, his family was turned into the Germans because of his
and his father's activities in the underground resistance.
Though his mother was sent to a concentration camp, she was able to
get released. His father died in a concentration camp and van der
Geest became one of the few to escape from Buchenwald — but not
before witnessing many of the horrors of the concentration camp.
The trip to the camp was an ordeal in itself as people were packed
into railroad cars so tight there was no room to lay down during the
three-day journey to Buchenwald.
Once at the concentration camp, they were stripped — of their
clothes and identity — and disinfected. Every morning they had
to gather and stand at attention for hours. If a man weakened and
his legs buckled, van der Geest said, he was shot to death on the
spot.
Because was van der Geest was mistakenly believed to have been a doctor,
he was assigned to work "Block 46" where medical
experiments were conducted.
As van der Geest detailed many incidents of cruelty, he often used
the expression "it was unbelievable" what went on each day
in the concentration camps.
"A lot of things happened in that camp that I can't describe
it," van der Geest said.
With each day's survival in the camp, van der Geest said he knew he
was getting closer to death as that was the only way out for nearly
all of the camp detainees. Because of a delay in disposing of bodies
one day, van der Geest was able to escape by pretending to be dead
and overpowering a guard after laying in a pile of bodies a full day
and most of the night.
He later learned he was one of less than eight people to have escaped
Buchenwald and one of three to have survived the area were medical
experiments were conducted on people.
After his escape from Germany, he joined the French resistance and
later worked for the allies in England as an interpreter. He eventually
was able to become a U.S. citizen.
Based on his experiences, van der Geest said he was confident the
United States will win its new war against terrorism. As daunting
as that might seem, van der Geest reminds people that the country
in World War II faced enemies on both sides of its shores and still
"beat the hell" out of Germany and Japan.
His speech was held at the Holiday Inn in Gallup and was hosted by
Western Bank.
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Islam unveiled in area forum
Jim Bryant
Staff Writer
Because the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon
were done by Islamic terrorists, many people in this country have
questions about the religion and their Muslim neighbors.
An attempt to explain "The Way of Islam" drew more than
100 people to the University of New Mexico-Gallup campus to hear Iman
Abouelabbas Elsayed talk about his religion.
"Islam is a message to all humanity and not just the Arab people,"
said the Egyptian cleric through a translator on Sunday afternoon.
"All Muslims in Gallup are pleased and had wished for this meeting
for a long time."
In starting off his talk, Elsayed said, "The Arabs have the holy
shrines of Islam in their countries and the Quran (Islam's holy book)
was revealed in that language."
Noting that figures from the Christian Bible including Abraham, Jacob,
Ishmail and Issac were honored by the Muslim religion. Elsayed said
that "Islam means submission to the will of god (Allah)."
To demonstrate that each time he mentioned the names of one of those
"prophets, who are held in respect by Muslims," he would
ammend the name with the phrase, "peace be upon him."
"We make no distinction between the prophets, no matter their
religion," Elsayed said. "Moses, may his name be praised,
is honored by Muslims as one of our prophets as well as one of the
leaders of the Jewish and Christian faiths."
Assisting in the forum were Benito Crdova, of the UNM-Gallup history
department, who gave a brief historical background of Islam as it
related to the Spanish language and the words that have evolved into
English.
"About one third of the words in Spanish come from Arabic,"
he said. "Almost all of the Spanish words that begin with 'Al,'
such as algebra or alameda, come from the Arabic from the hundreds
of years when the Muslims were in Spain."
Also part of the program was Muhammed Absar Khan, a teacher in the
business department, who said that his family had come from Saudi
Arabia. Khan spent much of his time chastizing the U.S. government
for various actions and condemning what he described as "the
superpower syndrome."
Khan described the recent incidents in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania
as "absolutely wrong," and "contrary to the teaching
of Islam."
Lutfi Nassar, a Gallup resident from Palestine, acted as translator
for the Iman, and had possibly the most difficult job of the afternoon,
taking notes to keep track of the various questions and working back
and forth in two languages, Arabic and English.
Elsayed spent a good deal of time "not trying to defend Islam,
but to try and tell you what Islam really is, which could take months
or perhaps years."
In some areas, such as the place of women in society, the cultural
differences between contemporary America and Islamic practice came
into play. "Mohammed encouraged people to be kind to women,"
Elsayed said. "The veil is used to protect women and men are
responsible in the eyes of God for their protection," he said.
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Gallup Bengal soccer
Abelita Rose Freeland
Staff Sports Writer
GALLUP — The Gallup Bengal soccer teams played their season finales
against the Cibola Cougars in a District 1AAAAA game at Public School
Stadium on Saturday.
The Bengal boys held the Cougars for a 2-1 victory and the Lady Bengals
finished with a 6-0 loss.
Boys
The Bengals boys ended their season with a near defeat at the end.
The Bengals were up 2-0 until late in the second half. Cibola's Aaron
Bachincha drove through an open field and shot in a goal.
Bachincha once again got the ball in goal range and made an attempt
that was stopped by Bengal goalie Christian Isaacson just before the
whistle was blown to end the game.
In the first half, the Cougars had four attempts with three stopped
by the Bengal goalkeeper Jeremy Padilla. Bengal Shane Hargrove then
had an attempt but missed on a high kick.
On the Cougars' next goal attempt. Bachincha got the ball down field
and Bengal Padilla tried to run the ball down with the goal left open.
Bachincha then got past Padilla and passed the ball to an open Cougar
who missed the kick.
Gallup then came back with their first goal with 17:49 left on the
clock with an assist by Robb Erickson to Marc Lujan for the point.
Senior Hargrove worked his way past the Cibola defense and kicked
in the goal to give the Bengals a 2-0 lead.
Bengal Padilla had nine saves in the first half and Isaacson had seven
saves and allowed a goal in the second half.
Early in the second half, the Bengals attempted to widen their lead
with attempts by Ray Saucedo, Jeremy Padilla, Adam Berg, Antonio Charvarria
and Wes Hurlbut.
The Bengals will lose 12 seniors: Adam Berg, Jason Bonney, Antonio
Chavarria, Josh Espinosa, Shane Hargrove, Wes Hurlbut, Todd Laurer,
Sean Noonen, James Owens, Jeremy Padilla, Ray Saucedo and Ryan Troncoso.
Girls
Despite finishing the season with a shutout against the Lady Cougars,
Lady Bengal coach Shannon Gill is happy with the way her team went
out.
"The girls really played hard and they improved from the first
time they played (Cibola)," said coach Gill.
"The girls have made tremendous improvement on their team and
individual skills even if the win-loss record doesn't show,"
Gill added.
The Cibola Lady Cougars controlled the ball over the Lady Bengals
to score the first of their four goals in the first half.
The first goal came from Kim Sisneros and with 11:57 left in the first
half Kelsey Lueckenhoff scored on a free kick.
Two-minutes later, Sisneros scored another goal on a drive past the
Bengal defense for the shot.
The Cougars had four more attempts, missing three.
Lady Cougar Tesa Hays scored off a corner kick for the last goal of
the half.
In the second half, Lady Bengal JoAnne Kolb had a close attempt and
followed her rebound before the Cibola goalkeeper stopped the next
attempt.
The last two goals made by Cibola were by Jill Oldewage and another
by Sisneros.
"The girls were fighters and they never gave up but continued
to work hard. I look forward to next year."
The Lady Bengals will lose six seniors: midfielders, Randi Russel,
Carmen Athens, Elise Athens, defender Lucia Parra, and strikers Sharla
Wicketts and Nicole Casey.
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Military graduates honored
Stan Bindell
Special to the Independent
POLACCA, ARIZ. — Hopi High School honored22 active
military graduates from its high school Oct. 12 before the football
game against
Winslow.
Following is the list of graduates, the year they graduated from Hopi
High, the branch of service that they are in and the name of their
parents:
Trevor Arviso, 2001, Navy, Mary Ann Yazzie; Jonathan Coochyumptewa,
1997, Marines, John and Crucita Coochyumptewa; Ryan Lewis, 1998, Navy,
Harvey and Ellen Honyouti; Shirlene Nixon, 1994, Army, Loren Keevama
and Clarenda
Lomayestewa; Yvonne Sockyma, 2000, Navy, Elizabeth Mariano and Lee
Sockyma;
Michael Tenakhongva, 1997, Air Force, Clark and Ann Tenakhongva; Gary
Leslie, 1998, Air Force, Delfred Leslie and Bernie Navakuku; Andrew
Sahmie, 1998, Marines, Andrew and Ida Sahmie; Andrea Sahmie, 1997,
Army, Andrew and Ida Sahmie...
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Music show goes to Hopi schools
Stan Bindell
Special to the Independent
POLACCA, ARIZ. — The Grand Canyon Music Festival, a traveling
musical performance, recently wrapped up its annual educational tour
at Hopi Junior/Senior High School.
Brent Michael David, Native American composer in residence for the
Grand Canyon Music Festival, has taught several area students during
the past year how to compose music for a string quartet. The Grand
Canyon Music Festival's string quartet performed these tunes for the
band students at Hopi High.
This is the 18th season for the Grand Canyon Music Festival. The festival
stopped at several Navajo and Hopi schools. The project is funded
by the National Education Association, Chamber Music of America, Arizona
Commission on the Arts, Flinn Foundation, Compton Foundation, Target
and Burlington-Northern Railroad.
David said the hardest part for composers, especially young composers,
is getting started on a song. He added, however, that many of the
young composers wrote music for instruments they had never played...
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Events will honor area cancer survivors
Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Special to the Independent
GALLUP — Cancer patients and their families sometimes feel
very isolated and alone as they cope with the different phases of
treatment. But two organizations are joining forces this week to
offer some recognition, honor, and support for those whose lives
have been touched by the disease.
A public dedication ceremony for a handcrafted Cancer Memory Honor
Quilt will be held on Wednesday evening, and a reception and tea
that honors all area cancer survivors will be held on Sunday afternoon.
Both events will be held at the Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital
and both are sponsored by the local American Cancer Society's Relay
For Life organization and Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care
Services (RMCHCS).
Wednesday's dedication
The general public is welcome to attend the quilt dedication ceremony
at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the main lobby of the hospital. Carolyn
Mahnke, a local Registered Nurse and certified diabetes educator,
initially conceived the idea of the quilt as a method to raise funds
for her 2000 Relay For Life team. Mahnke sold quilt blocks as a
way of memorializing or honoring people struck with cancer. And
as a fund raiser, the quilt was very successful: Mahnkeand the two
dozen or so people who helped with the projectraised $1,760 with
the sponsorship of quilt blocks...
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Human bones found in city
Staff Report
GALLUP — The McKinley County Sheriff's Department is trying
to identify remains of a human body that was discovered near the
3800 block of West Chee Dodge Drive Friday.
According to police, the body was discovered after Joseph Azua called
up and reported the remains of a human arm on the ground near his
property.
When police arrived at the scene, they found the arm, which was
mostly bone but did have a little skin on the hand. The finger nails
were long, said the police report.
Azua told police that he found the arm while walking to his vehicle.
He said that he thought that his dog had probably brought it home...
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Navajo Chief Justice says Diné
need more police
Jim Maniaci
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — While most American police departments have three
officers for each 1,000 residents, the Navajo Nation has been forced
to get along with one-half of an officer for that many people.
This is part of what Navajo Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Yazzie
told the Navajo Nation Council last week during his part of the
quarterly "State of the (Navajo) Nation" address.
With a reservation population of more than 175,000 people that would
mean about 525 officers. The Navajo Law Enforcement Department has
about 250 patrol officers and the Criminal Investigations Department
less than 50 detectives.
Yazzie said that while meeting with the Bureau of Indian Affairs
about the fiscal year 2003 budget, "Our goal is to draw attention
to the Navajo Nation's law enforcement and justice system needs.
For example while other rural areas outside Indian Country have
three police officers for every 1,000 people, the Navajo Nation
has point five officers for every 1,000 people," he said in
his prepared text...
Navajos finalize investment in Native
American Bank
Larry Di Giovanni
Staff Writer
WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation has become one of 10 tribes
to invest $1 million each in the Native American National Bank
of
Denver.
Despite concerns over taking ownership and responsibility of the
formerly troubled Blackfeet National Bank, Derrick Watchman, chief
of staff to Navajo President Kelsey Begaye, said the commercially
oriented bank could see the tribes realize a 10-fold
return on their investment within 10 years.
"If the projections go, we can do that," Watchman said.
He added that one Navajo Nation requirement for securing the deal
was that $1 million will be invested in the future as loans for
prospective Navajo businesses.
Watchman offered that $1 million is not a "huge" investment
for the Navajo Nation, especially for a chance to become a co-owner
of a first-ever of its kind bank, while the potential payoff down
the road could be enormous...
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Deaths
Sally Ann Lee
SHIPROCK — Services for Sally Lee, 83, will be held at 10 a.m.,
Tuesday, Oct. 23, at Shiprock Bethel Reformed Church. Rev. Greydonus
and Edison Barton, Sr. will officiate. Burial will follow at Shiprock
Community Cemetery.
Lee died Friday, Oct. 19 in Shiprock.
Sally was a member of the church sewing and quilt-making classes and
several Navajo Church choirs. She taught Sunday School and assisted
with Church home visitations and interpretations. She was a farmer,
sheep rancher and completed the fifth grade.. Her hobbies included
playing basketball in school.
Survivors include her sister, Fern Etcitty of Shiprock; brothers,
Vern Barton, Lewis Barton, Frank John, Sr., Edward Barton and Hoskie
Barton all of Shiprock; sons, Herman T. Lee and Davis A. Lee all of
Farmington, Emerson T. Lee and Walter L. Lee both of Kirtland, and
John T. Lee of Gallup; daughters, Betty A. Lee, Peggy A. Lee and JoAnn
Lee John all of Shiprock,
15 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Lee was preceded in death by her husband, Tom Dale Lee; parents, Richard
and Fannie Redgoat-Barton; daughter, Hazel A. Lee; son, Samuel T.
Lee; and five sisters.
Pallbearers will be Michael W. Lee, Gabriel (Tse'be) Beyuka, Emerson
(Bubbs) T. Lee, Jr., Wilbert (Yahze) S. John, Jr., Brian A. Lee, Lambert
T. Lee, Craig J. Lee, and Harold (J.R.) Victor, Jr.
Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
Lillian Gleason
NEWCOMB — Graveside services for Lillian Gleason, 69, will be
held at 11 a.m., Tuesday Oct. 23 at Homer Gleason's residence, five
miles east of Newcomb.
Gleason died Friday, October 19, in Gallup. She was born January 1,
1935, in Newcomb.
Survivors include her brothers, Homer Gleason of Newcomb, Roy Gleason
of Two Grey Hills and Tsosie Gleason of Tohatchi.
Cope Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
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