The fondest of farewells

Mira Almukarker will bring a passion for peace when she returns to Palestine

By Cliff Newell

The Lake Oswego Review, Jun 18, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Mira Almukarker will return to Bethlehem bringing her MBA degree from Marylhurst and a 4.0 grade average.

VERN UYETAKE / Lake Oswego Review / West Linn Tidings

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The friends of Mira Almukarker gave her the fondest of farewells on Monday night.

They gathered in Wiegand Hall at Marylhurst University to pray, sing and dance for a young woman who soon will be returning to her hometown of Beit-jala near Bethlehem in Palestine. Their words came from the heart.

“Mira is someone dear to many of us,” said Jenny Pixler, who helped organize the liturgy for the occasion. “She’s a beautiful woman and a great soul.”

The verdict from Marylhurst is unanimous: Almukarker is wonderful.

“She is a bright and delightful young lady who will go places in life and will make all of us very proud of her,” said Alain Gracianette, chairman of the Marylhurst MBA department. “We already are.”

Heather Mather, Almukarker’s academic adviser, said, “We immediately understood that she was a gifted student. It didn’t take us long to realize that she is also a compassionate human being committed to increasing human rights awareness.”

“I’ve spent 49 years in teaching at the university level. Mira truly has to be one of the most outstanding students I have ever met,” said business professor Paul Gilbarg. “Not just an outstanding student, but also an outstanding human being. Her dedication to her work was superb, as were her intellectual skills.”

When Almukarker returns to Bethlehem she will be bringing her freshly minted MBA degree from Marylhurst (and a 4.0 grade average, plus a listing among Who’s Who Among University Students). Her ambitions for a career in international business are huge.

Almukarker is getting ready for another big deal, too. She is getting married in August. The 26-year-old woman’s life is bursting into bloom in every way.

Yet her greatest goal is peace. Bringing peace to a land that knows no peace. When Almukarker returns to Palestine she will not be surrounded by loving friends but by 8-foot thick concrete walls, towers, checkpoints and soldiers. Because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict goes on and on with no end in sight.

To a large degree, she will lose her freedom. No longer will Almukarker be able to hop in her car and be at her destination in 15 minutes. Instead, she will be standing in lines for three hours.

Almukarker remembers, “When I was going to work in Jerusalem, all the workers were standing at 5 a.m. I was always late. I’d get to my job between 8:30 and 9. My job was only a 15-minute drive from my home. It was like going from here to Tigard.

“They would check my shoes, my belt, my accessories, my shirt if it had any metals in it. Even then the metal detecting machine would make a signal, because at the time I had braces on my teeth.

“They treated me terribly. I would beg for a woman soldier to check me. They laughed at me. I was told, ‘You’re illegal in Jerusalem.’”

Instead of being allowed through the checkpoint, Almukarker was told to take a detour through the “Valley of Fire” roads, which were rocky and dangerous.

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