The Statement of Kani Xulam
At the Kurdish New Year, Newroz, Celebration in the United States
Congress
March 24, 2001
Washington, DC

Xusku birayen delal,
Ladies and gentlemen:

Hun be xehr hatin.  Newroz pirozbe!  Her biji Kurd u Kurdistan.

Ji bo xatire mevanen meye Ameriki, bi borin, eze axaftina xu bi zimani Ingilizi bikim.

I want to start by acknowledging a few people who have gone above and beyond the call of
duty to turn this Newroz, the first in the United States Congress, from an idea into a reality
that we all witness here tonight.  Thank you Congressman Filner for helping us with the
reservation of this hall.  In Turkey, the word Newroz is misspelled on purpose and banned
with the force of law if it is celebrated true to its origins.  In America, celebrating it
unfettered, in this most hallow and sacred institution, feels, JUST GREAT!

Next, I want to thank our good friends Zozan and Najim Karim.  We are proud of both of
you and I am especially grateful to the kinder and better half, Zozan Khan.  In the hectic
days of getting ready for this Newroz, you lent me your ears, you let me whine, and you
helped me in ways that I shall always cherish.  Thank you Zozan Khan and thank you Dr.
Karim.

We have guests here from far away places to entertain us as well as support us in our
ongoing Vigil at Sheridan Circle, across from the Turkish Ambassador's residence.  Hozan
Sehruz joins us from Toronto, Canada.  Hozan Delil is of Akademiya Muzika Kurdi in
Neuss, Germany.  Hozan Rania is a native of Boulder, Colorado.  Her partner and sweet
heart, Hozan Dilshad, is from Paris, France.  At keyboard, we have Hozan Alkan who comes
to us from Boston, Massachusetts.  Please join me in giving them a hearty round of applause.

In the audience, we also have a special friend of the Kurdish people who completed her 48
hours vigil in the Cell of Atonement at 10:00 am this morning.  Debbie Dilley is her name
and she is one of the most committed American friends of the Kurds that I have ever come
across.  Historians will definitely write of your sacrifice for our people.  Thank you for your
solidarity.  Thank you for your love of Turkey that recognizes its Kurdish part.  I hope
Turkish leaders will learn a thing or two from you.

I am also happy to tell you of our friends from Volterra, Italy.  Annet Henneman and Gianni
Calastri arrived here a few days ago and will be performing later in the night.  They are an
engaging duo and make a powerful presentation of the Kurdish reality with mimics and
words.  I was impressed with them when I first saw them in Boston, Massachusetts.  They
continue to impress International audiences with their performances.  Thank you Annet and
thank you Gianni for coming all the way from Volterra, Italy.

There are many others in this room who deserve to be acknowledged.  My lawyer, Karen
Grisez, who has literally given me a second chance by stopping, so far, the INS from
deporting me back to Turkey deserves my personal gratitude.  A person who quietly sits in
this room who generously has helped all Kurds without any distinction and who now wishes
to remain anonymous deserves the gratitude of all Kurds.  To all others whose names I have
not mentioned, please forgive me for by passing you.

I now to come to the task at hand and that is to present the 2001 Ahmede Xani Award to our
guest of honor, Congressman Bob Filner.  Last year, we established this award to honor a
member of Congress who stands out for his or her contribution to the Kurdish cause.  This
year, this honor belongs to Mr. Filner.  His name has become synonymous with rights with
responsibilities, liberty with order and peace with justice.  In this labyrinth called the United
States Congress, he stands like a beacon of light not just for us, but many other wronged
and disenfranchised peoples around the world.

There is another story about this man that I would like to share with you tonight. His past,
his roots, analyzed closely, reveal a noble soul going back some 40 years.  In 1960's, this
nation was at war with itself over race relations.  President Abraham Lincoln may have
ended slavery per se, but segregation had taken root in the South and some were openly
declaring it to be permanent.  There were others who were equally committed to its
eradication.  Citizen and student Bob Filner was one of them.  He and a group of his friends
boarded buses, they called themselves, Freedom Riders, and headed south to fight
segregation armed with nothing more than nonviolence but with the determination to change
America for the good.

Mississippi where Bob Filner got off the bus was a war zone.  African Americans were
beaten and killed at will.  Their property was attacked at random.  Guns were fired to cow
down the best of Americans into submission and withdrawals.  Some of these young idealists
tragically were murdered.  Others, among them Bob Filner, were imprisoned.  Citizen Filner
spent several months in jail.  He was only 19.  But the words of the song, we shall overcome,
never left his lips. As we all know these committed young idealists, guided by nobler souls
like that of Dr. King's, in the end, overcame and won BIG for all Americans. Despite some
lingering problems, America remains a world leader in terms of collective liberties afforded
to its citizens at home.

So, it is with a heartfelt pleasure that I have the honor of handing to our friend, a token of
our appreciation, the symbol of our award, a bust of Ahmede Xani and two framed lines
from his immortal work, Memo u Zin, that read, "I am confused by God's wisdom: in this
world of States."  Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in giving our friend Congressman
Bob Filner a warm round of applause and invite him to the podium to accept his award.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com