Have you time to help newly arrived Iraqis in the New York City Area?
Language practice is critical to finding jobs. You can help tremendously just by pairing up with a newly arrived Iraqi and talking with them, one-to-one, a few times a week. Conversation. It's an easy and effective tool.
Write to us (mail@121Contact.org) and we'll get you in touch with a grateful family.
The spectre of Guantanamo shadows the world's view of the American people. Civilians around the world judge us primarily by the actions of our government. The voices of those in the U.S. peace movement are rarely heard above the deceptive lies used to justify the invasion of Iraq and the formation of numerous detention facilities designed to exist outside the law of the land.
I am proud to be able to print here the clear, logical, and compassionate words of a distinguished member of the peace movement.
When her son, Timmy was lost on 9/11 she did not seek revenge. She did not seek to blindly hurt others behind the banner of false rhetoric the Bush administration put forth. Instead she has applied her heart and mind to making the world a more peaceful place, seeking ways to turn America from its immoral violence to the measured justice underlying this great nation.
"Several hundred detainees have been released from Guantanamo because there was no evidence they were ever involved with al Qaeda or with any sort of terrorists. There could be no trials because there were no charges to be leveled against them. They were simply innocent bystanders, swept up in raids and sold to the U.S. military for ransom. I have personally met one of them and the family of another. These people are not and could never have been guilty of anything...
This is my argument: Those against whom charges have been filed should be tried and their guilt or innocence determined in a court of law. Those against whom no charges can be filed because there is no evidence against them, should be released to their homes. Those who are incompetent to stand trial because they have lost their minds from being tortured should be given mental health treatment and a determination made at a later date as to their competence to stand trial. That is my personal point of view."
by A. Welty September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
Of the 5 million Iraqi refugees in and out of the country about 4,000 families live in a Chikook, a mostly Shi'a refugee neighborhood on the north side of Baghdad. It is still growing as families who
had been renting houses in other neighborhoods run out of money and are
forced to move there.
(The full story source: Pulitzer Center blog)
It is interesting to note that many of these refugees were forced from their homes by the Sahwa, a U.S. paid Sunni militia. Of course the resentment filters through to the U.S. because our involvement in their losing their homes and belongings is well known to the Iraqis.
So we have paid for the displacement of innocent civilians. The villages and neighborhoods that have been
'cleansed' are now declared sites of victory and proof of the value of the surge. The people who died, the survivors who fled, and the families affected are forgotten, rarely mentioned, and persist as a festering center of resentment against the United States of America.
You can help mend the wounds our government has inflicted. Send your donations now to ease the pain of displaced Iraqis now residing in Baghdad. 100% of your donation will be placed in cash into the hands of a needy displaced Baghdad family.
b
Where is the Department of Peace?
- an investigation into the best way to use US$10 billion a month in the struggle with extremism
- a budget for peaceful support of Iraqi citizens as they rebuild their peaceful nation
- a budget for peaceful support of Afghanis as they seek peace
That durn DoP! They just don't seem to do much these days.
http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=57527
When I think of the good we could do with just half of what we're spending now on violent solutions, and then think of the good we could do with the other half...
Hmmm...what to do now? How do we want to spend our tax dollars?
Let me make one thing perfectly clear. Inshallah.
There is a set of families who grieve on 9/11 in a manner
different from other mourning thoughts on that day. They knew where their
children, husbands, sons and daughters were headed that day. They knew what
plane they were on, and they knew they’d see them again soon. They were wrong.
The reality of their loss was still growing when they were
asked to supply hair brushes for DNA testing.
The results confirmed that their loved ones were dead.
I have spoken to those who were there; pulled bodies from
seats; drained fuel from hallways; painfully remember the details of the day.
---
The pre-boarding list of people on a particular plane
matches the list of DNA samples given by family, friends, and loved ones. The
path of the plane is recorded on tracking radar.
The loss is real. The pain is real.
Acceptance will heal; denial will perpetuate pain.
In loving kindness,
b
---
P.S.
In terms of major influences on psychological resistance to
what seems obvious to most folk:
In Freudian terms:
In terms of the "Repression” episode of the Star Trek: Voyager, the fourth episode of the seventh (and final) season of the series:
---
First Anniversary
By N
Away from Iraq for the first time.
Away from my room,
its corners that I adore
where I left my small dreams on my pillow.
Where I left my sleep and my peace on my bed…maybe forever.
I don’t know why I feel that I am the first person
who decided to take this step.
The first person away from country
in this world.
The first person who left her fingers planted for ever in the soil of Iraq.
Oh, Iraq, your burden is heavy.
I can’t hold it any more.
But I love you because in you happiness can be found,
even though it’s rare,
and true friendship.
Oh, Iraq, for you this everlasting bleeding of sadness.
The country of real women, real men,
childhood, and passion.
I can’t feel the joy despite smiling.
I can’t taste my love for beauty…
Only in you.
What kind of madness when I decided to leave you
How and why?
Is it true that I am away from Iraq?
Is this a dream? Even if it is,
when will I wake up?
Is it real that I am in another land?
Not Iraq?
Oh, Iraq, you are the pain that never ceases.
Is it true I am wearing another gown?
Not Iraq?
And my heart will beat away from Baghdad?
Oh, God,
When will I wake up.
I want Baghdad.
I want Iraq again.
Just a small note about the current news coming out of American media...
Attack levels are down. This is true, but civilian casualties are still very high and Iraq is still a dangerous place, and Baghdad, despite photo-ops of children in swimming pools, is still hellish with no electricity for most neighborhoods, no water in most neighborhoods, and oh, yes, the killings and kidnappings and constant fear...
Victory in Basra, Sadr City, Mosul, and Amara. Yes, the Iraqi forces are taking control, little by little, and this is a good thing. But are they winning the battle against the forces aligned against them? That is harder to tell because many times the 'enemy' just melts back into the fabric of Iraqi life. Perhaps to fight again another time.
There's more to tell, and here's an interesting source: http://abumuqawama.blogspot.com/2008/06/big-gains-in-iraq.html
Let there be continued progress. Let the government of Iraq gain the trust of the people by showing the people the way to the peaceful, multi-cultural, unified Iraq that is just beginning to form. Inshallah.
And in the meantime: Please don't forget the Iraqi civilians who continue to suffer each day from the traumatic experiences they endure as their crumbled society continues to hemorrhage tears of blood.
A woman grieves near the body of one of her three sons who were all killed in a roadside bomb attack outside a mosque in Baquba, 65 km northeast of Baghdad, July 1, 2008.
You can help.
Send your contributions now. Write mail@121Contact.org for more information about how you can help innocent Iraqis.
b
NEW EVENT: JULY 14 2008
Noor, a Baghdad schoolteacher, will speak at a Peace Boat event centering on Ground Zero in Manhattan. We'll meet at 10AM at St. Paul's Chapel. http://www.peaceboat.org/english/wtpb/index.html
Shaykh Faruq Kazim, the Imam of the Ibrahim ibn 'Ali mosque, confirmed that the American aircraft committed the massacre, in which eight members of a family including women and children were killed and six others wounded. But a spokesman for the US forces in the American Central Command asserted that he had no information about any killing of civilians during the last three days or that there had even been an American attack in the area. The official American spokesman said, however, that they were "investigating."
Here's what some folk are reading in Iraq today:
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr,
 |
Sunday, 18 June 2006.
·
US air raid butchers eight
members of family northeast of al-Fallujah. · American soldier
reported killed by Iraqi Resistance sharpshooter in ar-Ramadi. · Resistance bomb reportedly kills two US troops south of Bayji. Al-Anbar Province. Al-Fallujah. In a dispatch posted at 2pm Makkah time Sunday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US aircraft struck a civilian house in the al-Karmah area northeast of al-Fallujah, totally destroying the house and killing eight members of one family. Six others were wounded in the air raid which took place in the early hours of Saturday morning. A witness told Quds Press that the American attack took place at 4:30am Saturday morning. He said that American troops surrounded the village for hours as they raided houses. At that time US aircraft were prowling the skies overhead. Then they struck the house, killing eight civilians including women and children, and wounding six more. The witness said that the Americans also captured four women whom they took away with them to an unknown destination. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported Dr. Nasir ad-Dulaymi of al-Fallujah General Hospital as saying that his facility had received eight bodies – three of them women, two children and three men, one no more than 13 years of age. Dr. ad-Dulaymi said that in addition two women, one three-year-old child and three men were wounded in the American air strike. Villagers confirmed that US troops surrounded the house after the raid and would not allow neighbors or anyone to go in to recover the bodies or help get the injured out of the rubble for an hour after their attack. Al-Jazeera satellite TV, as monitored by Mafkarat al-Islam reported residents of the area as saying that US warplanes struck the house of Hasan Shallal after American ground troops raided and searched various homes in the area. They then sealed off and blockaded the area for several hours after the air raid – for which villagers say they do not know the reason. Shaykh Faruq Kazim, the Imam of the Ibrahim ibn 'Ali mosque, confirmed that the American aircraft committed the massacre, in which eight members of a family including women and children were killed and six others wounded. But a spokesman for the US forces in the American Central Command asserted that he had no information about any killing of civilians during the last three days or that there had even been an American attack in the area. The official American spokesman said, however, that they were "investigating." The television station ar-Rafidayn, run by the Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq, the highest Sunni Muslim religious organization in the occupied country broadcast pictures of the children killed in the raid and scenes of the wounded being rushed to the city hospital, Quds Press reported. At the funeral of the victims, Quds Press reported, neighbors were impassioned in their denunciation of the American attacks on civilian targets. Local residents demanded revenge. The Imam of the local mosque, Faruq Kazim told the mourners that the Americans had committed another massacre, like those of al-Hadithah and al-Ishaqi and he called on "all honorable people in the world to take a stand against these attacks." US troops kill two Iraqi civilians during house raids in al-Fallujah early Sunday. In a dispatch posted at 10:55am Makkah time Sunday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US occupation forces killed two Iraqi civilians in the course of another American campaign of raids and house-to-house searches in the areas of ash-Shurtah and al-Jaghifi in northern al-Fallujah, about 60km west of Baghdad, at dawn on Sunday. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in al-Fallujah as saying that US forces surrounded he northern parts of al-Fallujah under air cover by helicopter gun ships. They then began raiding and searching homes, arresting many local people in those neighborhoods. The Americans stormed into houses in a barbaric fashion, using percussion grenades and local explosives to blast open house doors doors. In the course of those raids, the US troops killed a youth named Sinan Najm ash-Shamri, aged 20 years. They also killed Shaykh Nazim ad-Dulaymi. Neither killing was explained. Families of both men said that the US troops killed the youth Sinan ash-Shamri when he was asleep in his house. They killed Shaykh Nazim ad-Dulaymi when he heard the approach of the Americans and went to open the door of his house. At that moment the US troops bust down his door and encountering the Shaykh there, they shot and killed hi with their small arms.
Ar-Ramadi.
US soldier reported killed by Iraqi Resistance sharpshooter in ar-Ramadi. In a dispatch posted at 11:10am Makkah time Sunday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance marksman shot and killed a US soldier in the eastern ar-Ramadi district of al-Bu 'Ubayd. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in al-Bu 'Ubayd as saying that the soldier was on observation duty in the turret o a US tank that was parked at the entrance to the village. The soldier took a direct hit from the bullet of an Iraqi Resistance sharpshooter, killing him instantly. He fell convulsively into the tank, witnesses said.
'Anah.
US aircraft destroys 1100-year old Abbasi Palace near 'Anah in western Iraq. In a dispatch posted at 6:20pm Makkah time Sunday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US warplanes attacked an archaeological area dating to the First 'Abbasi Period (about the years 750 CE to 850 CE) located between 'Anah and al-Qa’im in western Iraq. The 'Anah correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported local eyewitnesses as saying that US fighter-bombers struck one of the early medieval 'Abbasi palaces, firing four rockets into it and razing it to the ground. The correspondent reported that no one was killed in the attack on the ancient monument. US occupation forces claimed that their attack was intended to expel what they call "insurgents" – that is Iraqi Resistance fighters – from the heights around the city where they had fortified themselves. But the correspondent reported that the Americans have targeted five Islamic historical sites in al-Anbar Province, including one location in the town of al-Khalidiyah were the Islamic commander Khalid ibn al-Walid, one of the Prophet Muhammad’s companions, had battled a Persian imperial army.
Baghdad.
Resistance bomb targets US military column in south Baghdad’s Hur Rajab area. In a dispatch posted at 3:45pm Makkah time Sunday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US military column on the main road in the Hur Rajab area in the south of Baghdad. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the southern Baghdad suburban area of Hur Rajab as saying that a bomb that had been planted by the side of the road leading to 'Arab Jabbur blew up when a US column was driving past. The explosion disabled one Humvee, wounding four American troops who were aboard it, two of them severely. Heavy mortar shells strike Shi'i college in northern Baghdad. In a dispatch posted at 11:30am Makkah time Sunday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the Iraqi Resistance fired three heavy 120mm mortar rounds into the al-Imam as-Sadiq Shi'i college in the al-Waziriyah district of northern Baghdad. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in al-Waziriyah as saying that the college, which was opened after the US occupation of Iraq took direct hits from the shells, which sent plumes of smoke rising into the sky. Quds Press reported that the school, located in the al-Qahirah neighborhood, was set up in the former al-Bakr Military College after the US occupied Iraq and Shi'i sectarians seized many government facilities for their own use. The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported that the nature and extent of casualties from the attack was still unknown because of the "security cordon" thrown up around the facility. Quds Press reported that several employees of the school were wounded in the attack. Resistance fighters gun down puppet "National Guard" troops. In a dispatch posted at 11:05am Makkah time Sunday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters shot and killed two puppet "Iraqi National Guard" soldiers in western Baghdad’s al-'Amiriyah district. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in al-'Amiriyah as saying that Resistance fighters equipped with light arms attacked the two puppet "National Guards" who were dressed in civilian clothes in the middle of al-'Amiriyah. After killing the puppet troops, the Resistance fighters immediately withdrew from the area.
Salah ad-Din Province. Samarra’.
Resistance sharpshooter kills two puppet "Shock Troops" in Samarra’. In a dispatch posted at 3:50pm Makkah time Sunday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance marksman shot and killed two members of the puppet "Iraqi Interior Ministry Shock Troops (Maghawir)" in the as-Sikak neighborhood of Samarra’, about 120km north of Baghdad. The Samarra’ correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in as-Sikak as saying that a patrol of puppet "Shock Troops" was moving along the road to the headquarters jointly occupied by US and Iraqi puppet forces in the neighborhood when two of the puppet "Shock Troops" were felled, one after the other, by an Iraqi Resistance sharpshooter’s bullets. Both died instantly.
Tikrit.
American forces terrorize residents of south Tikrit area, arrest 15 residents in sweep through neighborhood. In a dispatch posted at 2:55pm Makkah time Sunday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US occupation forces arrested 15 Iraqi civilians during raids and searches in the al-Bu 'Ujayl area of southern Tikrit, about 180km north of Baghdad. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the al-Bu 'Ujayl area as saying that US occupation forces surrounded the area and imposed a curfew. They then raided most of the houses in their usual barbaric way, blasting down doors with percussion bombs and local explosives and using police dogs to terrorize families. No reason for the arrests was given.
Yathrib.
Resistance bomb blasts US patrol near American-occupied base in Yathrib area. In a dispatch posted at 12:20pm Makkah time midday Sunday, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US patrol on the main road to the American-occupied al-Bakr Airbase near the city of Yathrib, about 70km north of Baghdad. The Americans call the base "Camp Anaconda." The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in Yathrib as saying that the patrol was made up of six Humvees and that the blast disabled one of the vehicles, wounding four American troops who were aboard it.
Bayji.
Resistance bomb reportedly kills two US troops south of Bayji. In a dispatch posted at 11:30am Makkah time Sunday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US military column on the main road south of Bayji, about 200km north of Baghdad. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in Bayji as saying that the bomb completely destroyed one US Humvee, killing two American soldiers and wounding two more of them.
Babil Province. Al-Yusufiyah.
Resistance bombards US headquarters west of al-Yusufiyah. In a dispatch posted at 3:40pm Makkah time Sunday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces fired three 82mm mortar rounds at the US military headquarters in the Nazim al-Furat area west of the city of al-Yusufiyah, about 30km southwest of Baghdad. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in al-Yusufiyah as saying that the mortar shells scored direct hits on the American occupation headquarters in Nazim, sending smoke billowing into the air. Witnesses say four or five Resistance fighters captured two US troops in al-Yusufiyah Friday. In a dispatch posted at 8:20pm Makkah time Sunday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that sources in the Iraqi puppet police had said that four or five masked Iraqi Resistance fighters had captured two American soldiers who were reported missing after a Resistance attack on a US checkpoint in al-Yusufiyah Friday night. The American CNN network, as monitored by Mafkarat al-Islam, reported the puppet police as saying that eyewitnesses described how Resistance fighters in two cars took the American prisoners away to an unknown destination. American military officials said they had found an unidentified in the rear of which were bloodstains and beside which were army boot prints in the soil. US forces have carried out four raids trying to find the captured US soldiers but so far have turned up nothing.
Ninwa Province. Al-Mawsil.
Resistance car bomb rips through US column in western al-Mawsil. In a dispatch posted at 3pm Makkah time Sunday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance car bomb exploded by a US military column on the main road in the Cultural Complex area of western al-Mawsil in northern Iraq. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the Cultural Complex area as saying that an explosives-laden car that had been parked by the side of the main road near the Qasr Ninwa ("Nineveh Palace") Hotel blew up as an American column was driving past. The explosion damaged the hotel and nearby shops and disabled two US vehicles. A number of American troops were killed or wounded and nine civilians who were in the area also suffered injuries in the blast. US forces quickly closed off the area making an assessment of the nature and extent of American losses impossible. Resistance fighters ambush puppet police patrol in eastern al-Mawsil. In a dispatch posted at 12:20pm Makkah time midday Sunday, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters ambushed a patrol of Iraqi puppet police in the ath-Thawrah neighborhood in eastern al-Mawsil in northern Iraq. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in ath-Thawrah as saying that Resistance fighters equipped with light arms attacked the patrol setting one patrol vehicle ablaze and killing one puppet policeman and wounding two more of them. One of the wounded men was the captain in charge of the patrol. Resistance bomb wounds US troops in al-Mawsil. In a dispatch posted at 11:55am Makkah time Sunday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US military patrol on the main road opposite the big cathedral mosque in the middle of the northern city of al-Mawsil. The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the al-Hudaba’ neighborhood of the city as saying that the bomb went off as a patrol of five Ameican Humvees was driving past. The explosion disabled one Humvee, wounding two US troops and also one civilian who happened to be nearby at the time. |
a note I got from Bay Ridge Neighbors for Peace:
from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, June 28, you will find a few of us gathered
near the entrance to Century 21 on 86th Street, where we will hold a "silent
demonstration / vigil" aimed at bringing an end to the War in
Iraq. We will each hold a sign bearing a simple message, asking
our neighbors to "Please Do Something Today To Stop The War In
Iraq."
Waw! Who would have thought that in 'conservative' Bay Ridge, Brooklyn we'd see a gang called Bay Ridge Neighbors for Peace? Not me, for sure.
But things do change, and little by little the neighborhood is exhibiting a sophistication about politics that is surprising to some and boringly inevitable to others.
Even the cop-fireman conversations around coffee and eggs in the early morning have changed. Nobody around here is happy with what Bush has done. Blind patriotism is not forthcoming. Mostly I hear it is about the waste of our young people. Sure there's sympathy for the innocent Iraqis, and sure there are some who think it's just for oil, but I gotta tell ya':
It's about the waste of our soldiers. These are not pacifist outcries I hear from my neighbors. These are practical, patriotic feelings. You just don't send soldiers out to die for any old reason, and it better not be just for money! We love our military around here. And we don't want them wasted for business friends of the Bush men.
What it is!
Housing prices soar as relative security returns to Basra
If the housing market is an economic indicator, then Iraq’s southern city of Basra is in the midst of an economic boom....
more 12/06/2008
What it be!
Basra is the world’s largest minefield
There
are about four mines for each of Basra’s 2.5 million people, said
Brigadier Faisal Kazzar, a senior civil defense official in the city....
more 20/06/2008
What it am!
This is just a rant, dear reader. No logical arguments for extending/ending the occupation lie within. No heartfelt descriptions of the hell we engendered invade this short missive. Only the gentle tug of madness, like a tidal swell that slowly but without hesitation drags one into the maelstrom...but wait! A light! A glimmer of hope not yet drowned in the power-hopper survives!
I thought I'd go to Erbil to meet with some peace activists who are on the ground. Iraqis talking to Iraqis about peace, reconciliation, and non-violent activity. Sounds good, doesn't it? I mean Iraq will only get healthier when Iraqis start taking control of their country, and they're going to need a lot of talking--to each other!
I'm not talking about talking-by-outsiders who are sincerely trying to help (or not. Sometimes it's hard to tell.), but talking by Iraqis to Iraqis. There simply isn't any other way to forge an enduring, satisfying nation out of the people that live there.
So talk it up, you Iraqis. And don't listen to what the outsiders have to say about what is best for you. You already know...hmm, so why do I want to go to Erbil and talk to Iraqis? Am I not the outsider?
b
