From the United States of America

The World's Young Women's Christian Association invited seventy-five delegates from various countries to a meeting held at Columbia University, and Miss Salwa Zgheib (whose picture we published on the March cover) was the Association's delegate for Syria and Lebanon. In this article of hers she tells us of her impressions in America and of the projects the Association intends to undertake.

Perhaps the greatest aim of the World's Young Women's Christian Association is the training of women leaders for the service of society, and so from time to time it holds study conferences to which it invites individuals from different peoples, to train them in theory and in practice.

Perhaps the greatest consolation I had, after I had felt that Zionist pressure upon American thinking in the state of New York, was what Dr. Hocking said to me in particular, with tears glistening in his eyes: "Will you allow me to apologize for America's policy toward the Arab states in recent times? But the Zionist influence in our country explains this tendency..."

Often some people in New York said to me, "Aren't you happy to be in America?" "Wouldn't you like to stay here for the rest of your life?" And they were greatly astonished when I answered them: yes, I am happy for this opportunity that came my way to visit you, but my country is sweeter to my heart and more desirable.

This feeling was not the product of patriotic sentiment alone; I believe that, with all our faults, we are happier than those who live in the land of speed and the dollar. The air of our country, our family bond, the friendly atmosphere among relatives and friends, and the time that we govern instead of it governing us, give us what money and the fast mechanical life cannot give.

The Americans know very little about the peoples of the world, and this ignorance goes back to many causes, among them their deep absorption in their various occupations and their specialization in the sciences, and then the policy of neutrality which they pursued until recently. I used to marvel at the news in their papers: quite apart from containing no world information, they are also empty of American news except the local kind, together with advertisements, sports news, and comic strips.

All this did not keep them from inquiring about our country. I was invited, sometimes to three speeches in a single day, in which I spoke of our country and our Arab cause; and out of this would come heated discussions at the end of which some were convinced, while many would say: this is the first time we have heard your point of view. Nor was the atmosphere free of Zionist troublemaking, which was defeated in those circles that wanted to understand the truth.

Perhaps the greatest thing I wished for my own country was a unified program of compulsory education. No schoolmaster or schoolmistress may teach in the state of New York without holding an M.A. degree. The government takes care to give the rising generation a sound upbringing; often I saw children no more than ten years old taking the place of the traffic policeman at the crossroads, their orders obeyed by old and young alike. Then my eye fell upon special magazines and newspapers suited to the age of the pupils, which accustom them to leafing through the papers and reading them. And there are the many public gardens and the means of recreation and sport, besides the numerous scientific lectures whose aim is to raise the standard of health.

What pleased me most was the atmosphere of union and concord that followed the elections: the Republican and the Democrat were bitter enemies before the elections and warm friends after them. I expected sharp criticism in the press or from individuals, but I was disappointed, for I was always answered — and by Republicans at that: "This is democracy, and this is what the people want."

Space is too narrow for me to count up the many things I saw and experienced. But someone may ask: what fruit are these experiences likely to bear? I answer: first, I shall work with all my strength to persuade many people against emigration and for working in our country and improving it, for no country is better than another. At present we are working with the Munjidat committee to found a magazine for the adolescent girl, which she herself would edit and read, its aim being to draw the thinking of our various educational institutions closer together.

Then we are working to create study and discussion classes among mothers, so as to do away with any disparity there may be among the members of a family, and to direct woman's attention to the necessity of pursuing lessons in home life in order to preserve the family bond, the pride of our country.