For years, Rita Zawaideh, a Christian Arab from Jordan, has worked to bridge the gap between Middle Eastern and Western cultures.
On one level, this occurs through her business, Caravan-Serai, a tour company that visits Syria, Egypt, Yemen, and, for 16 days in September, a country in Bush's "Axis of Evil": Iran. "Iranian people are the best," she says, recalling how they open their homes to people on her tours. "It's a perfect time for Americans to be going." Though her business doesn't just take tourists to the Middle East. It brings back those caught in war's grip, too: When Israel invaded Lebanon in 2007, her company helped to evacuate 250 people.
Such potentially life-saving work happens on American soil as well. After 9/11, Zadaiweh, 58, helped to establish the local Arab-American Community Coalition -- the first in the country, she says -- to educate law enforcement about Arabs, and to offer those Arabs facing harassment, detention, and deportation assistance. Of groups like the FBI and Homeland Security, she says, "They needed to know who we were and what we're about."
These activities allow her to divide her time between the U.S. and the Middle East, both of which she calls home. Says Zawaideh: "I've got a foot in both worlds.