Ayman's Pledge

By Ralph Isenberg
September 5, 2007

Ayman Suleiman called me from Jordan tonight. He wanted to talk about his growing up in the United States. Ayman reminded me that for eleven and one half years he went to school and each morning he recited the “pledge of allegiance.”

“That is the only pledge I know or want to know” he said. His words have amazing meaning given what he has been through.

There is a new pledge for Ayman to recite. That pledge has to do with manhood, for Ayman must now care for the entire family.

In the next 72 hours Ayman is going to do something very brave. He is going to take his sisters to the US Embassy in Amman, Jordan and ask to talk to the head of the Citizen Immigration Services (CIS) with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The topic will be what can be done by DHS in Jordan to bring him and his two sisters’ home now.

Ayman is willing to care for his sisters in the United States even if it means the family must be temporarily separated. His sisters and he must continue with their education. One can only wonder what is going to happen.

Regardless, the Suleiman children will continue to recite the “pledge of allegiance” and Ayman has learned the pledge of manhood that goes with caring for family.