By Melissa J. Brachfeld

Sentinel Staff Writer

Worlds collided last Wednesday afternoon when Iraqi translator, activist, writer and educator Eman Ahmad Khamas came to Prince George's Community College to speak on her experiences as both a citizen of Iraq and as a woman.

Khamas is part of a group of Iraqi women touring the United States arguing for disengagement from the war in Iraq. The lecture/discussion was hosted by the PGCC's Muslim Student Association, Just Cause and the African Student Union.

Khamas, who has been documenting crimes committed by both the Iraqi and U.S. forces over the last three years, spoke mainly on education, but did take the opportunity to discuss politics with the audience.

"We had a good educational system in Iraq before the war," she said. "Our educational system has suffered a great deal."

Khamas said several schools and colleges are still standing in Iraq, but some have also been destroyed, bombed and looted. She said everyone who attends school in the war-torn country has suffered, but it is women who have suffered the most.

For example, Khamas said, women who participate in athletics have received threatening letters from extremist groups, telling them that their uniforms are too revealing. She said because of this, some women have been forced to stop participating in athletics. The other alternative is to create "closed hall practices," which Khamas said could be difficult to set-up.

In addition to those restrictions, she said women have difficulty getting to and from school. There is the fear that if they walk to their classes, they may be raped or even kidnapped. Khamas, who has two daughters of her own, said that parents like herself have had to charter buses to ensure that their sons and daughters get to school safely.

She said teachers and professors also fear for their lives. To illustrate her point, Khamas revealed that a friend of hers, who was a journalism professor, was recently shot and killed leaving his university.

After detailing her experiences with the present education system, the conversation turned a little more political as students and faculty presented questions of their own. Some expressed their regret over U.S. involvement, while others asked what could be done to repair Iraq.

When asked if Iraq was better off under the leadership of Sadaam Hussein, Khamas responded that the former ruler had not really affected her way of life.

"At least we were secure," she said. "We could walk in the streets without fearing a car bombing or worrying that we would be raped or kidnapped."

She also emphasized that the conflict in Iraq is over politics and that it has nothing to do with religion. In order for Iraq to recover and achieve stability, Khamas said the American occupation would have to come to an end.

"President Bush has to announce now at a certain, definite point that the occupation will come to an end," she said. "We've been asking for that all along. The Americans have to show some good will... they have to show some faith in us."