Waiting In the Light

There Are No Words

2005-11-08T01:33:00.000-08:00

“The ongoing difficulties faced by Fallujans are so great that words fail to properly express it.” Words from a cleric in Fallujah as he tried to explain the litany of ills that continue to afflict his city one year after the U.S.-led assault took place.

“All the men in the mosque were from my neighborhood. They were not terrorists.” Words from a young man who said he left a room of men either injured or homeless thirty minutes before the raid on his mosque, the same mosque shown in the now-famous videotape of an American soldier shooting unarmed men lying on the mosque floor.

“There haven’t been any funds for home reconstruction available since the change in Iraqi government last January.” The words of a civic leader from Fallujah as he showed CPTers the still-devastated areas of his city.

There are no words. A city that has been demonized by Americans and many Iraqis, using the words “the city of terrorists.” A city that its residents call “the city of mosques.” A city that even its residents have to enter at checkpoints, often taking up to an hour to traverse. A city that is being choked to death economically by those same checkpoints.

CPTers and a member of the Muslim Peacemaker Teams came to Fallujah to meet with friends and contacts to ask them if the city was planning on doing something in remembrance of the tragic events of last November when U.S. forces attacked their city of 300,000 to root out, by U.S. estimates, 1,500 terrorists.

What we heard in response were words of remembrance, resistance and resilience. The cleric said that a number of civic leaders had come to him with a proposal for an action in remembrance of the anniversary. Their proposal was to raise funds to contribute to relief efforts for the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan. He said that a teaching of Islam is to always look to aid others in need before asking for aid yourself.

The cleric said that he recently traveled to another Middle Eastern country and during his visit he met with a cleric from Libya. The Libyan cleric said that in his city, and in other places in Libya, parents are naming newborn girls “Fallujah” in honor of the city. The cleric said that more than 800 girls had been named Fallujah in his city alone.

Words are inadequate, but words are all we have. Words like “collective punishment” and “ghettoize” come to mind for the current state of life in Fallujah.

What words or deeds could undo the massive trauma faced by the people of Fallujah every day? Everywhere we went during the afternoon young boys listened to our words and the words of those with whom we were meeting. I kept wondering what was going on in their minds as they relived the events of a year ago and the ensuing trauma. What effect will these events have on their lives as they grow up?

There are no words.

Snapshots from the Syrian Border

2005-10-26T05:46:00.000-07:00

From Oct. 4th until Oct. 17th CPTers accompanied and then stayed with a group of nineteen Palestinians living in Baghdad who decided to try to gain refuge in Syria: refuge from the night raids, arbitrary arrests and torture-induced confessions their community has been subject to by Iraqi security forces for eight months. They are still camped out at the Syrian border awaiting news from the Syrian government as to whether or not they can enter Syria since their status since 1948 as “guests” in Iraq does not allow them to enter neighboring countries.

Tuesday, October 4th - It is midday and the temperature in this desert region of eastern Iraq is around one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Nineteen Palestinians from Iraq, three CPTers, their translator and one member of the Muslim Peacemaker Teams have just spent the night sleeping on the sidewalk at the Al Walid border crossing between Syria and Iraq. People have enough water, but the intense heat is still taking its toll on the men, women and children. There are dozens of tractor-trailers waiting to cross the border. One of the drivers sees the group and pulls his rig close to the sidewalk, creating a protective shadow for shade.

Thursday, October 6th - The UN has arranged for the community to have two meals per day at the border-crossing cafeteria. The Syrian cafeteria manager is talking to community members about how things are going. One person mentions that there is very little to do as they await word from the Syrian government regarding their status. Soon afterwards a soccer ball appears and is given to the community. Both children and adults find it a welcome source of recreation.

Monday, October 10th - The group has been living in tents provided by the UN for six days. The five children (ages 1 to 13) are getting bored and anxious. CPTer Sheila Provencher and the CPT translator have decided to start a one-hour “school” every morning for the older children. Provencher will teach English and the translator will do art. The first English lesson is teaching words about the weather using the “Itsy, Bitsy Spider” song.

Tuesday, October 11th - The Syrian government still refuses to allow any of the Palestinians to enter Syria as refugees. Two members of the community pay a social call to one of the Syrian officials in charge of the border crossing. At the conclusion of their visit they invite the officer to come meet everyone at the camp. He arrives several hours later as members of the community are gathered under the star filled sky next to a roaring campfire. Community members offer him tea and the conversation goes on late into the night.

When the CPTers left to return to Baghdad on Oct. 17th everyone gathered to share a final meal together and take many pictures and give many hugs, handshakes and kisses. On the bus ride up from Baghdad the community asked CPT to be a protective nonviolent presence through the Iraqi and U.S. checkpoints. After Ramadi, where the danger is bandits and kidnappers, the community said it would be a protective nonviolent presence for CPT. One of the members of the community said, “We will be responsible for each other.” Distance has separated us but that sense of responsibility to each other remains.

Faces of Desperation

2005-10-21T07:26:00.000-07:00

We are gathered around a campfire sharing chai (tea) and fellowship. “We” consists of nineteen Palestinian men women and children (ages one to thirteen) who have either been born in or have lived most of their lives in Iraq. “We” also consists of three CPTers, one member of the Muslim Peacemaker Teams and CPT’s translator (who is also Palestinian). We are camped at the Al Walid border crossing between Syria and Iraq and are awaiting news from the Syrian government. News of whether or not the Iraqi Palestinians, who are currently barred from entering Syria, will be granted refugee status by the United Nations, which will be recognized by the Syrian government.

But why would these people want to leave Iraq now? Iraq is now on its way to democracy. The tyrannical régime of Saddam Hussein has been gone for two and one half years. The reason is quite simple; the new Iraq government’s security forces have made Iraqi Palestinians primary targets for harassment, arbitrary arrest, torture-induced confessions to crimes they didn’t commit and in some cases death. All in the name of demonstrating how well the government’s campaign of ridding Iraq of foreign terrorists is going.

But why the Iraqi Palestinians? First they are easy to find. Most live in two large compounds in Baghdad. Second, they are defenseless. Iraqi Palestinian’s are barred from owing firearms. Third, they have no political clout. They can’t vote, own property or even own a car. Fourth, they are small in numbers. The total population in Iraq is around 23,000. Fifth, Saddam used them to promote his political prestige with Sunni Arabs in the Middle East by giving them subsidized housing, a fact that was resented by many Iraqis. They were forced out of those apartments during the first months of the U.S. led invasion.

So here we are gathered around a campfire in the desert. We spent the first night sleeping on the sidewalk at the Syrian side of the border crossing. Trucks roared by all night making sleep almost impossible. Yet several said it was the best nights sleep they had gotten in months. No sirens, no gunfire, no house raids in the middle of the night, no one being hauled away by Iraqi security forces perhaps never to be seen again.

Now into our eighth day we are living in tents provided by the UN. We are eating two meals a day in the border-crossing cafeteria thanks to the UN as well. My teammate, Shelia Provencher, and our translator have started a one-hour “school” each day for the children. As I am writing this the men are playing a game of soccer and we wait. Wait to see if the UN and Syria can reach a solution to this humanitarian crisis.

I asked one man what he would do if the UN and Syria were unable to reach a solution and they were told to return to Iraq. Would he, and his family, return? “Never”, he said, “We will either stay here or die before we return to the certain death of Iraq.” I cannot imagine the level of desperation a person must reach in order to make such a statement. And yet, I don’t need to imagine it at all. I see it one the faces of the community we are part of every day

Revisionist Constitutionality

2005-09-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

The draft constitution for Iraq that has been published in the Western press has been widely reviewed and commented upon by many individuals. There have been ongoing revisions to the constitution. The most recent version was released internally on Sept. 13th. This version has not been disseminated to either Western or Iraqi press or to the Iraqi public. CPT Iraq was sent a copy by a contact in the government. While much of the document is similar and most changes are more in terms of replacing a word or two there are some significant differences.

Perhaps the most dramatic change is the omission of a section of the “Transitional Provisions.”

The published draft reads:
1. “It is forbidden for Iraq to be used as a base or corridor for foreign troops.”2. “It is forbidden to have foreign military bases in Iraq.”
3. “The National Assembly can, when necessary, and with a majority of two-thirds of its members allow events stated in #1 and #2 to take place.”This provision is completely missing from the current unpublished version.

Perhaps a more subtle change is in the “Fundamental Principles” section. In the published draft, Article 2 states: “No law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam.” In the unpublished current version, the article reads, “No law that contradicts the established provisions of Islam may be established.” Now this may be splitting hairs but Iraqis have said that “undisputed” would imply Islamic law that is recognized by both Sunni and Shi’a. The word “established” would imply that law that exists in one branch but not the other would be considered the basis of national law. This could create serious tensions if a Sunni or Shi’a were required to obey a national law that is outside of their particular faith tradition.

Financial issues play a major role in the constitution and there is a significant contradiction in two sections of the unpublished current version. In the “Powers of the Regions” the second clause of Article 117 states, “Regions and governorates shall be allocated an equitable share of the national revenues [as a clarification oil revenue is considered national revenue] sufficient to discharge its responsibilities and duties.” But there is an addition to the unpublished current version in reference to oil and gas revenues that states, “A quota shall be defined for a specific time for affected regions that were deprived in an unfair way by the former régime or later on.” In other words the Kurdish region or a new Shi’a region in the south could get the lion’s share of oil revenues for years while the Sunni central region gets but a pittance.

This document is not available to the people of Iraq at this time (Sept. 24th) and yet they will be asked to go to the polls and vote on it in 23 days. Is this democracy or yet another chapter in the ongoing saga of sectarian and religious divisiveness in the country?

Back to the Future

2005-09-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

Back in the days of Saddam, religious and ethnic persecution was commonplace. Shi’as were subjected to detention and harassment by Sunni led police and military and in some cases injured or killed simply because of their religious tradition. Back to the future of Iraq in Sept. 2005 there are allegations that Shi’a organizations such as the Al Dawa Party and the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq create arrest lists (with no charges listed) that have 97% of the names listed being Sunni. These lists are handed over the Sh’ia led military and police commandos who detain individuals without any due process. Human rights groups have alleged that many Sunni’s who have been found murdered execution style are individuals who are victims of this process.

Back in the days of Saddam, there were periodic shortages of fuel, which resulted in a rationing system of only driving your car on alternate days depending on the last digit of your license plate. It was not unusual for a home to be without electricity for four to six hours a day. Back to the future of Iraq in Sept. 2005 driving on alternate days has returned to a country with 23% of the world’s know petroleum reserves. It is not unusual for a home to be without electricity for up to 12 or 14 hours every day.

Back in the days of Saddam, there were a number of secret police organizations that operated without oversight from any government agency. They would detain, torture and sometimes kill Iraqis who were seen as posing a threat to the continued authority of Saddam and his cronies. Back to future of Iraq in Sept. 2005 the secret police organizations have returned. One such secret police organization is called the Wolf Brigade. In May of 2005 there was a car bombing at a bus station in Baghdad. The Wolf Brigade made a raid on a Palestinian complex the same night and arrested four Palestinian men. A neighbor said he overheard one of the brigade members say, “Is four Palestinians enough?” They were taken to a prison and tortured and then shown on television the next day, confessing to the car bombing. A lawyer hired by their families was able to visit them several weeks later (after paying a bribe to prison officials). He found them in the same clothing they had been arrested in, with burn and bruise marks over much of their bodies.

Back in the days of Saddam there was such a multiplicity of ministries and bureaucracies that even Confucius would have been astounded. Back to the future of Iraq in Sept. 2005 the Christian Peacemaker Team must renew its official NGO status every three months. There is a new ministry, the Ministry of Civil Society (MoCS), which now handles NGO issues. The team went to the MoCS with its quarterly report but was told by the MoSC that foreign NGOs must now get a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) that recognizes them as a legitimate foreign NGO. When the team went to the MoFA to get such a letter the team was told by officials at the MoFA that first they needed to get a letter from the MoCS authorizing the MoFA to write the letter requested by the MoCS.

A friend the team summed up the “new” Iraq by saying, “We’ve seen all this before.”

This Sad Wearing Away of the Heart

2005-08-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

“I must have something in life which will fill this vacuum and prevent this sad wearing away of the heart.”- Elizabeth Blackwell

This was the quote today in my planner as I considered the tragedies both great and small, personal and global we are all dealing with. Within one week my Quaker meeting has lost two great souls. Both showed exceptional courage facing medical conditions that took their lives. One faced them all his life and the other faced them over a number of years.

I don’t have a television but the images on the internet and newspapers of the devastation in the Gulf states are almost beyond comprehension. How what was a glorified thunderstorm off the coast of Africa several weeks ago could transform into itself into what we have called Hurricane Katrina is beyond me.

I was planning on sending out the Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq update from last week but it was simply too much bad news- a suicide bomber in our neighborhood; a friend of the team with typhoid from the drinking water in the city; the uncle of a colleague who died from the intense heat due to lack of electricity. It went on and on.

And then today the incredible tragedy on the bridge leading into Kadamiah in Baghdad. A solemn religious processional turned into chaos and death. An event that would not have happened had not the events of the last two and one half years driven almost everybody in Iraq to the edge of the precipice of uncontrollable fear.

Is there something in life that will fill this vacuum and prevent this sad wearing away of the heart? I have no idea but I do know that my heart feels differently when I consider the unknowable realms of disease and natural disaster compared to the man-made disasters that bring about death and destruction.

I say “man-made” intentionally. We have seen again and again in the last one hundred years the evolution of warfare to the point now when the first two parts of war that have been in play for centuries, that of middle-age men sending out young men to fight and die to keep the middle-age men in power, has added a third component. Still the young fight and die to retain the power of the middle-age men but now most of those who lose their lives in the conflict are women and children.

Four months ago the UN commissioned a study to look at Iraqi casualties since the beginning of the U.S. led invasion. The organization that undertook the study was a Swiss group that studies what they consider to be the true weapons of mass destruction- rifles and automatic weapons. Weapons using bullets have killed the vast majority of human beings in Iraq and everywhere else wars are being waged. The study stated that 40,000 Iraqis have probably died from violence since March of 2003. That includes death from U.S., Iraqi and insurgent violence. And 70% of those casualties were innocent non-combatants, mainly women and children.

The only “something in my life” I can hold onto is to do what little I can to bring about the creation of the Peaceable Realm of God. It is my sense that such a realm will always have natural disasters. It is the “man-made” disasters that we are called upon to bring to and end.

Country and God

2005-08-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

This is the end of my first week of living in Frederick County, Virginia, which is situated in the northern part of the Shenandoah Valley. While I’ve spent time there before working at Opequon Quaker Camp, it’s the first time I’ve really had a chance to interact with local citizens and get a sense of the community. I would have to say my first impression is that folks here operate under two main themes: Love of Country and Love of God. I’ve lived in the Washington, DC area for over thirty years, known is a bastion of patriotism, but even then I was not prepared for the plethora of red, white and blue that is part of the landscape here. Bumper stickers, flags on lawns, billboards; the colors of America are in evidence everywhere. As for love of God this week marks the first time in my life (I think) that I’ve been approached three different times with folks giving me bookmarks and other materials concerning salvation, Jesus and God.

As I was unpacking I came across a pamphlet I forgot I had. It is entitled, “The Practice of the Love of God”. It is actually a transcript of a lecture that the Quaker economist and peace activist, Kenneth Boulding, gave right before the outbreak of World War II. He directed most of the talk to concerns he had regarding the conduct of the German people during the 1930’s. I’m hoping I’m way off base on this but as I took a break from moving and sat down to read it again I had a strong sense that much of what he had to say was applicable to my county, the United States, in 2005.

One passage jumped out at me when he said, “ Those who love their country in the light of their love of God, express that love of country by endeavoring to make it respected rather than feared, loved rather than hated. But those who love only their country express that love by trying to make it feared and succeed all to often in making it hated.” Pendle Hill Pamphlet #374, pg. 27

I think it would be fair to say that a survey of opinion taken from news sources in various parts of the world would find people using the words “fear and hatred” much more often than they would use the words “respect and love” when it comes to describing the United States. Not only in the Middle East but in Europe and in much of Asia and other areas as well. We are seen more as an empire rather than a beacon of hope to the oppressed and downtrodden. We are seen more as a militaristic superpower, bent on imposing our will on others, rather than the keeper of the flame of the hope and promise of democracy.

Perhaps the only way out of this is to claim the true relationship of God and country as described by Boulding. We must come from a spirit of love and compassion to help our leaders and many of our fellow citizens come to see that if we truly love God then we must make a drastic change of direction in the course of our country. The only way we will gain respect is by showing it to others, even those we disagree with. The only way we will gain love is by giving it to others, even those we disagree with. Love of country must always be subordinate to love of God. Love of country alone sets us on a course towards the disasters that have befallen other counties over the centuries. Charting a new course must begin now before it is too late

Sanded In Baghdad

2005-07-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

Spending three days in the Baghdad airport waiting to see if the sand and dust would let up enough to allow flights to arrive (and then allow me to leave) was more stressful that I imagined. Of course, six trips on the airport road may have been a factor in increasing my stress level.

There were a number of internationals in the same predicament I was in. Many were people I’ve had very little contact with in my time in Iraq. Some were private security contractors who work for the large international firms like Dyncorp and KBR and are paid substantial sums (many 1,000 dollars a day) to protect international facilities and personnel. Others worked for NGO’s and organizations that were business related, such as a firm that did management training for Iraqi entrepreneurs. I took the opportunity of being stuck there to try and get to know a number of them.

Perhaps the stress of cancelled flights and having to reschedule and arrange transport back to the Green Zone or other international facilities made their comments harsher than would be the case under different circumstances. But nonetheless, I was dismayed with what seemed, to me at least, to be very racists and colonialist statements by almost every contractor or entrepreneur I talked with.

Having grown up the Southern U.S. and having a very racist father, it was a very bizarre experience hearing almost the same comments being made against Iraqis that I heard as a child being made against blacks. The same venom, for lack of a better word, was coming out of their mouths as they denigrated the people, culture and societal norms of Iraq.

Equally disturbing for me was the colonialist attitude of most of the business- connected internationals (most of the contractors I talked to were South African or English and most of the businessmen were American and all except one were white males). Remarks like, “We have to show them how it’s really done”, or “They don’t have a clue how it’s done in the West”. There seemed, to me at least, to be no attempt at understanding, much less respecting, the culture of the people they ostensibly are here to work in partnership with.

I have to assume the racist attitudes of the security contractors stems from the necessity for a human being to dehumanize and marginalize another human being in order to kill them. Dehumanization is a mind game military-leaders the world over have used to indoctrinate recruits with and it also seems to be the case with these mercenary soldiers.

The colonialist attitudes are harder to grasp. Is colonialism something unique to white, male Westerners? (And I include myself in this category.) Do we see Iraq the same way as Kipling saw India, that of being “the white man’s burden” to bring Western civilization to the uncivilized Arabs and Kurds?

Those three days at the airport are woven deeply into my spirit. I’m wondering if I have swallowed poison that will harden or embitter me. Or perhaps I have been blessed with a homeopathic remedy of absorbing just enough poison to begin to cure me of my own subconscious racist and colonist tendencies and then be able to help others cure themselves. Time will tell.

For the Sake of Our Children

2005-06-21T05:52:00.000-07:00

A colleague and I walked to a shop to pick up an order. The shop owner told us how very depressed she is regarding the ongoing security and infrastructure crisis in Iraq. She feels, as do many Iraqis, that things are getting worse not better. She said she is beginning to feel as if her life has no meaning beyond working nine hours a day, six days a week. A co-worker did not dispute her assessment of the situation but made an impassioned plea never to give up hope for a better future. And even more importantly to never stop working to help bring that better future to come to pass. The co-worker concluded by saying, “Things probably won’t get better in my lifetime but I will keep working to make things better for the sake of our children.”

Our apartment is across the street from a park. Many evenings around the time we are gathering for supper a mother and her three children walk by our living room window. The western sun illuminates her face and the faces of her young children. I don’t know her but in a way I feel I do. She looks tired. So many, many people here in Iraq are so very tired. She looks a bit fearful. Will today be the day when the insurgents set off a car bomb near the park? Will today be the day when the young men of the Iraqi National Guard, riding like cowboys in the back of their pickup trucks, get trigger happy and start shooting with her and her children in the line of fire? Yet day after day I see her taking her children to the park. Underneath the fatigue and the fear I can sense the hope and the courage in her heart. It reflects on her children as does the setting sun reflect on the nearby Tigris River. She gives me courage to face the overwhelming difficulties of life in this broken land. She is living in the present moment fully aware of the dangers and uncertainties and yet she has not given up hope, she has not given in to despair, she has not let herself be driven into hiding by men with guns and bombs. She is my teacher. She teaches me how to live fully conscious of the horrors of today and still be able to envision a future of promise, peace and plenty. I would pray that we all live each day, no matter where we are, “for the sake of our children.”

Tunnel Vision

2005-06-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

“Iraqis always seem to have lots of guns in their houses.” A U.S. Army colonel was making reference to how prevalent gun ownership is in Iraq. We were meeting with him in his office in the Green Zone. Draped across his high back chair was an ornate leather holster with his service revolver.

“Our young technician can barely keep up with the demand.” The colonel described the work of a sergeant who is an expert in constructing artificial limbs. The colonel said proudly that no one in Iraq has the equipment or expertise that this young man has. Yet there did not seem to be an acknowledgement of why there is such a demand for artificial limbs in Iraq at this time.

“The Iraqi NGOs we work with have a lot of trouble developing a level of trust between them.” He noted that when his office organizes a conference of NGOs in the Green Zone often they don’t want to follow the set agenda but need to express their lack of trust for the U.S. military and for each other. Yet he failed to mention the years of totalitarian rule by Saddam followed by two years of anarchy, neither of which would tend to develop trust in any institutions.

“All of us took a nine hour seminar on understanding Iraqi culture when we got here a year ago.” The colonel said his unit would be going home at the end of the month after a year in Iraq. As is the case with many U.S. military and civilians working in the Green Zone, the colonel said he has never set foot on a street in Baghdad. He has never been inside the home of an Iraqi family nor has he seen any of the historical or cultural sites of the country.

It would seem easy to characterize the colonel as hypocritical and bigoted. I am not the greatest judge of character but I kept having an image of him on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon holding up a tube from a roll of paper towels and describing what he saw. We are all finite creatures with a very limited field of vision. But what I do (and it is my sense that the colonel does this also) instead of opening up my field of vision to include things that I don’t understand or agree with is to make my field of vision even narrower. “Out of sight, out of mind” is an old saying that seems rather apt in this case. The colonel seemed very confident that the vision of the world he described was an accurate and complete one. And this was true. Within his extremely limited world-view, his vision was indeed clear. But what about the vast universe he was not seeing? What about the vast universe I’m not seeing? How do we all expand our vision to see things we don’t want to see? How do we stop putting “out of sight” things we don’t agree with? I wish I had an answer but I don’t even know where to start.

It Was a Fairly Quiet Day in Baghdad

2005-05-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

17 May 2005. In Baghdad today, four clerics (three Sunni and one Shi’a) were assassinated. The bodies of two other Sunni clerics who had been abducted last week were found. A suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle in the Abu Cher market killing nine Iraqi National Guard troops and injuring twenty-eight civilians. Two engineering students were killed when a bomb (or rocket) struck their classroom at a local school. The dean of a high school in the Shaab neighborhood was assassinated. One judge, two officials from the Ministry of Defense and one official investigating corruption in the previous Interim Government were assassinated. In all, thirty-one dead, forty-two injured and seventeen abducted. Rumors abound in Baghdad about who is responsible for all the attacks but no one has claimed responsibility. And yet compared to some days in recent weeks here in Baghdad the number of dead and injured was fewer in number. So comparatively speaking it was a fairly quite day here in Baghdad. Children walked to their schools and people went to work. Shops opened for business and the seemingly endless parade of military, police and private security vehicles went about their business.

Imagine if these events took place in one day in Washington, D.C. or London, England. A state of emergency would be declared (Baghdad has been under a state of emergency for almost six months) and martial law would be imposed. Many civilians would probably stay home and some might leave the area. There would be nothing else on the media except coverage of the bloodshed. Life as normal would cease, as the populace would look to their government for leadership in bringing the chaos under control. The populace would demand that this complete breakdown of the social fabric be mended immediately. But eventually the populace would look for answers. Why did these horrible events transpire? What led up to this total meltdown of civil society? Who created this nightmare situation?

Why? What? Who? The 17th century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes described the ultimate nightmare of any society as being “the war of the all against the all.” Such is the state of existence here in Iraq. When the U.S. led invasion tore away the façade of the state of Iraq a torrent of religious, ethnic, tribal and cultural tensions that had festered for generations was unleashed. I have not heard one person say that Saddam was a wise or revered leader. But I have heard many people say that while they lived under the threat of violence with Saddam, they prefer that life to the bloodshed, chaos and anarchy that surrounds them now.

No one seems to offer a solution that does not entail more guns, more restrictions on basic human rights, more soldiers, more barbed wire and concrete barricades, more “security” and less freedom. Sooner or later the insurgency will run out of suicide bombers and weapons. Sooner or later the ringleaders will be captured or killed. But what will remain will be one of most restrictive, oppressive police states in the world.

“Spreading freedom and democracy.” “The war of the all against the all.” It was a fairly quiet day in Baghdad.

Throwing Open the Book

2005-05-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

It was the 20th of April, the birthday of the prophet Mohammed. We had guests from Najaf and Kerbala visiting us for dinner that night. For grace before the meal a CPTer went into the office and opened up the team’s English/Arabic Qu’ran and put his finger down on this passage,

“One day shalt thou see the believing men and the believing women- how their Light runs forward before them. And by their right hands their greeting will be, ‘Good News for you this Day! Gardens beneath which flow rivers! To dwell therein for you! This indeed is the highest achievement.” Surra LV ” God Most Gracious” section 2, verse 12

We asked one of our guests to recite it in Arabic and then a CPTer would read the English translation. It was a passage the guest knew from memory. This opened up a discussion of the tradition in Islam, Christianity and Judaism of throwing open the holy book of that faith tradition and reading the first passage that your eyes fall upon. Is this superstition? Does it have any relevance for our broken lives and chaotic world?

Many people have said that there is no logical, rational reason for CPT to be in Iraq right now. The level of violence, which subsided after the elections, has risen each week until now the attacks and kidnappings of Iraqi officials, civilians and internationals are as bad or worse than the months leading up to the election. The infrastructure of the country continues to deteriorate. The people of Iraq appear weary. The people of Iraq are angry. The people of Iraq placed so much hope in the election process but now it seems as if the elected officials are subsuming to the politics of factionalism. This week, a member of the Provisional Assembly was entering the Green Zone to attend a session and he apparently seemed threatening to U.S. military guards. They arrested him by subduing him on the ground with a soldier’s boot on his throat. When he did make it into the Assembly session he was so distraught that he wept. Crying in public is not something that is a cultural norm in this society for a man. Why is CPT here when the “principalities and powers” seem to be in total control? What can a few (currently three) of us do in the face of such massive physical and structural violence?

We are throwing ourselves open to the possibility of God’s grace bringing some rays of light to the shadowy landscape that is Iraq. We are letting ourselves be guided by something that is beyond rational, intellectual analysis. Gardens beneath which flow rivers can again be the dwelling place for the people of Iraq. Everyone whose government and corporations are playing a role in this land needs to throw open the book of their heart. They need to let their Light run before them as they bring redemption to those in power who are seeking to rule from a place of fear, violence and shadows. That truly would be the highest achievement.

The Middle of Nowhere

2005-04-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

Today Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq was visited by a young Iraqi man whose family raised more than twenty thousand dollars from contributors worldwide to pay for medicine for the hospitals and clinics at Fallujah. He has asked that CPT accompany the delivery of the supplies into the city. During his visit, he gave us the grim news that four people he knew have died in the last several days. The day before his visit the father of one of his friends became a target for kidnappers. When his friend’s father resisted, the kidnappers opened fire with their weapons, riddling his body with bullets. Our visitor had to help take the body to the morgue.

Later, another young man who is both a college student and a journalist visited us. He told us that a car bomb detonated within several hundred feet of his house. No one in his family was injured, but two people driving near the booby-trapped car were killed. The driver died instantly but the passenger died as the young man and friends tried to get him to a hospital.

Yesterday we met with an Iraqi human rights worker who documents issues of detainee abuse. He gave us information about a 13-year-old boy who is being detained along with information on inhumane living conditions at the Multi-National Force detention camps.

The ability to feel the pain of another human being is central to any kind of peace making work. But this compassion is fraught with peril. A person can experience a feeling of being overwhelmed. Or a feeling of rage and desire for revenge. Or a desire to move away from the pain. Or a sense of numbness that can deaden the ability to feel anything at all.

How do I stay with the pain and suffering and not be overwhelmed? How do I resist the welling up of rage towards the perpetrators of violence? How do I keep from disconnecting from or becoming numb to the pain?

After eight months with CPT, I am no clearer than I when I began. In fact I have to struggle harder and harder each day against my desire to move away or become numb. Simply staying with the pain of others doesn’t seem to create any healing or transformation. Yet there seems to be no other first step into the realm of compassion than to not step away.

“Becoming intimate with the queasy feeling of being in the middle of nowhere makes our hearts more tender. When we are brave enough to stay in the nowhere place then compassion arises spontaneously” (The Places that Scare You by Pema Chodron, pg. 120).

Being in the middle of nowhere really does create a very queasy feeling and yet so many spiritual teachers say it is the only authentic place to be. Not staking out any ground for myself creates the possibility of standing with anyone. The middle of nowhere is the one place where compassion can be discovered. The constant challenge is recognizing that my true country of origin is the middle of nowhere

Stuff

2005-04-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

With instructions from the airline to check in four hours prior to departure I had ample opportunity to explore the various nooks and crannies of the international terminal at O’Hare. On the north side of the terminal there was an exhibit of photographs from the “Material World” project commissioned by the Sierra Club in 1994. Sixteen photojournalists were sent world wide to interview families from thirty nations. After spending a week with the families the final project was to take all their belongings, all their “stuff”, outdoors for a photo-op with the family. Reviewing statistical data and looking for those families who fit the “average” category in terms of material goods for each country was the method of their selection.

I didn’t have access to the book but looking at the pictures it seemed as if the clear winner in the “stuff” category was the family from Kuwait with a close second being either the family from Japan or the family from my country, the United States.

I got to wondering how they would look if these pictures could be updated to reflect the “stuff” breakdown of 2005. One thing seemed clear to me was that the family from 1994 Iraq would definitely be well above the average in terms of “stuff” in 2005. With an estimated 30% unemployment rate recent economic surveys have shown that what was before the U.S. invasion in 2003 one of the more prosperous countries in the region is now ranked in the bottom 10% in the world in terms of economic output. Iraq is now in the same category with Haiti and Bangladesh.

I also wondered if families from the top three have more “stuff” now? I noted the U.S. family in 1994 didn’t have a computer, cell phones or a DVD player. I would expect a 2005 average U.S. family might have all of those plus the second car in the photo might have turned into an SUV.

We in the United States comprise 3% of the world’s population yet we consume 22% of the world’s natural resources. The word jumps to my mind when thinking about that statistic is “greed”. Does my president’s stated goal of “spreading freedom and democracy” really mean getting other nations to borrow, spend and consume like us? That goal is fine as long as we can find a way to replicate the earth five or six times and use these replicated earths just as a source of natural resources and not try and live on them.

While I’m convinced that there is an infinite amount of spiritual resources in the universe there is clearly a finite amount of material resources. How we share those finite resources is a critical part of creating the Peaceable Realm. Unless we in the U.S. can find intentional ways of letting go of some of our “stuff” so that others have enough “stuff” for the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter a world of peace will continue to elude us.

Promoting the Justice of God

2005-03-01T07:35:00.000-08:00

“Promoting the justice of God”

The following talk was given at Northern Virginia Mennonite Church on Feb. 27th, 2005

Being part of Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq has led me to many “firsts”- first time in the Middle East, first time in a war zone, first time being targeted as “the enemy” due to being an American. Now the first time to stand before a religious community as a member of CPT and give a talk during a worship service. And I would have to say that I am more nervous about this “first” than I was about the others.

As a member of a silent Quaker Meeting one aspect of the Mennonite tradition I have learned to appreciate is that of looking to Scripture as a basis for one’s spiritual journey. And so it seemed appropriate to use a passage from scripture as the basis of this talk. The passage that I was led to use this morning is from the Letter of James.

This is from the first chapter of James, verses 19-22. “Each of you must be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to be angry. For a person’s anger cannot promote the justice of God. Away then with all that is unclean, and the malice that hurries to excess. Quietly accept the messages planted in your hearts, which can bring you salvation. Only be sure that your act on the messages and do not merely listen to them.”

We did a lot of listening in Iraq with CPT and the stories we heard were not always easy to hear. And after hearing them I would often find myself becoming quick to pass judgment on others and quick to become angry. The first times I participated in human rights documentation was last September. We interviewed an Iraqi, Dr. Ammad, who had been detained by American forces in May of 2003. He was imprisoned for six months during which time he was subjected to many of the interrogation methods you are all too familiar with. He said that the people abusing him told him they were FBI (aside- but if you have read over the FBI documents recently released by the Freedom of Information Act on the ACLU website these people were probably contracted security pretending to be FBI). But in any case I was taking the notes as he described how they pulled out one of his fingernails. I listened as he described the beatings and showed us the scars. I felt myself becoming very angry at the thought of these horrible actions being done by my own countrymen and women.

After I left Iraq in December I spent several weeks with the CPT project team in Hebron in the West Bank. Another CPTer and I traveled to the Palestinian village of Jayyous (which is near Ramallah) to participate in an action related to the Israeli security fence. We stayed with a European NGO (EAPPI- Ecumenical Accompaniment Program for Palestine and Israel). They had interviewed a family that had just had their home demolished to make way for a new section of the security fence. I listened as they described the family watching the bulldozers level the home that they had lived in for generations. I again felt myself becoming judgmental and angry as I was told that the bulldozers being used were made in my country expressly for such demolitions.

Now I want to be clear that I’m not saying that only Americans and Israelis are capable of such actions. I have no doubt that at the same time I was listening to Dr. Ammad’s story there were people in America listening to the story of a family whose loved one had been killed by insurgents in Iraq or at the same time I was listening to the story of the home demolitions there were people listening to the story of a survivor of a suicide bomber in Tel Aviv.

But the pattern seems to repeat itself over and over throughout history. Human beings listening to stories of abuse perpetrated by other human beings. Then speaking out against those abuses and feeling the surge of anger inside of them which can then lead to violent retaliatory action so that ”justice will be served”.

“Bringing them to justice” is the refrain no matter what side you are on. And it is a violent justice- the justice of and eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth. Is there no other way?

On thing that has been in my heart the most in these first months of being a part of CPT has been getting to know people (both within CPT and with other peace and violence reduction organizations) who have committed themselves to not giving in to anger when faced with injustice. But, and perhaps I am wrong, I have also experienced the sense that a number of these people have been affected by being exposed to so much violence and anger and retaliatory violence. Many I have experienced as being bitter- as if they have encased themselves in a hard shell to protect their hearts from exposure to the pain and suffering they live with daily. Others I have experienced as being burdened- as if they have absorbed much pain and suffering to try and lighten the load for those they live with daily.

Must these be the alternatives to a violent response to anger? James says that, “ A person’s anger cannot promote the justice of God.” No matter if we succumb to anger, harden ourselves against anger or absorb anger; none of these ways can promote the justice of God. But does that mean we are not allowed to feel anger? James says that we need to be slow to anger and that first we need to listen carefully, next to put some words to our feelings and then finally express our anger. But clearly he does not say “never become angry”. However he does say that our response to anger, no matter what form it takes, cannot promote God’s justice. So then what do we do with our anger? James says we need to turn that anger over to God and then, “Quietly accept the messages planted in our hearts”.

One of the most positive experiences I had during my time in the Middle East happened in that same village of Jayyous I mentioned earlier. We were part of a non-violent action that was jointly planned by Israeli peace activists and the Palestinian village council. The villagers have plenty to be angry about. The village is separated from its fields, olive groves and greenhouses by the security fence. There is a gate that is opened three times daily to let some (less than 10% of the villagers have permits) to go across and work their crops. Even more of a threat is that an Israeli colony (the Arabic word for settlement is also the Arabic word for colony) is expanding towards their olive groves. But rather than resort to violence or denial or shame as a response to their justifiable anger the village council worked through their anger and came out on the other side- the side of peaceful non-violent direct actions. In the action that I participated in that Friday in January over two hundred citizens of Israel (mostly from the Gush Shalom peace organization) along with some Jayyous farmers and about fifty internationals spent the morning planting olive tree saplings in the area that had been bulldozed as part of the expansion plan. The destruction had been halted, at least for the present time, by an Israeli court order (the colony is over ten kilometers on the Palestinian side of the Green Line, the UN recognized boundary between Israel and the West Bank). After the planting they peacefully marched towards the security fence. At the same time after Friday prayers most of the village (about one hundred and fifty) along with about twenty internationals peacefully marched down the hill to their side of the security fence. During the weeks of planning the Israeli and Palestinian activists came up with the idea to negotiate a symbolic “crossing” of the security fence with an olive tree from the uprooted grove to be replanted in the village. It took an hour of hard negotiating with the hundred or so heavily armed Israeli troops but in the end three Israelis and one Palestinian took an olive tree across the barrier and gave it to the owner of the grove that had been uprooted (he did not at that time have a permit to cross the fence to work his lands).

It was a tiny thing- but it was totally peaceful and there was a sense of joy and celebration and much waving of hands in a spirit of friendship and peace between the Palestinian’s on one side and the Israelis on the other. And the press coverage of the event (both Palestinian and Israeli) was uniformly positive.

Here was a seed that can take root. Here were people working through their anger and coming out the other side committed to peace. Here were people listening to their hearts and listening to each other. Here a tiny part of the Peaceable Realm was created. Here was the justice of God taking shape.

The Force of War and the Force of Peace? The Same Force Moving in the Opposite Direction?

2005-02-14T09:28:00.000-08:00

It seems as if there is a tendency to see war as a very active force and peace as a very passive one. We refer to peace in the negative- nonviolence or non-aggression. As if peace is a vacuum created when the force of war is absent.

The force of war has three central aspects. First it requires a tremendous deal of energy. Both external, physical energy and the internal drive to carry out the external aspects. Second it requires tremendous organization and teamwork. To take on the implementation of a war plan requires a great number of human beings working together. Third it requires a unified vision of purpose. Goals must be established and everyone plays a part in their successful outcome. Unified vision, teamwork and energy are all very good things to make use of to bring about the creation of the Peaceable Realm. But in the case of warfare all of these aspects come from a reverse image- and that reverse image comes from the negative, parasitic energy of Satan. Satan acts as a mimic of God but a mimic guiding us in the opposite way. It functions just as a mirror reverses everything it displays. Instead of compassion there is vengeance; instead of justice tempered with mercy there is redemptive violence. Creativity is harnessed to discover new and more effective ways to kill each other instead of working to discover new and more effective ways of communicating with each other.

This force of war is evident no matter which side of a conflict a country finds itself. The country that attacks or the country that defends uses the same force. As is chess the rules of the game are the same for white, the aggressor, and black, the defender.

Is it possible that this force is in reality a negative, mirror image of the force of peace? And is it also possible that the major difference is that the false, mirror image leads a person, or country or ethnic group to walk away from God and towards the contagion of Satan. Can we defeat the power of Satan by working to create a true image that draws that person, nation or ethnic group into a relationship of walking towards God?

To really create the Peaceable Realm on earth would require a tremendous deal of energy. Highly motivated and committed individuals and governments would need to expend a great deal of material resources to bring about peace. Economic disparity and material greed have fostered a great deal of the war energy over history. To eliminate or at least level out economic disparity has been the stated goal of those seeking peace since the authors of Leviticus and the great prophets of Israel first called for radical economic reform. This call was picked up by Jesus and carried forth by the early Christian communities and still has a voice in groups like the Quakers, the Mennonites and the Brethren.

The force of peace would require a great deal of organization and teamwork. Imagine a moment if the United States government had the same number of people working abroad and at home in the Peace Corps and Americorps as are in the armed forces. And that would just create a degree of stasis. A balance point not really moving us in the direction of God, just keeping us from moving in the direction of the “commander of the spiritual powers of the air” (Eph. 2:1)

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of this peace energy would be a unified vision of the Peaceable Realm. We seem to have such a huge range of vision on relatively mundane things like what form of worship we participate in. Yet throughout the Hebrew scriptures as well as the Christian scripture (and the Buddhist and Taoist and yes even a good part of the Muslim sacred writings) there is a unified vision. Both Isaiah and Jesus used the metaphor of the "the way" as did Buddha and Lao Tzu. Mohammed spoke of the "straight path". Are they all talking about the direction the force of peace sends us that brings us to a true relationship with God?

Would it be possible to bring about the Peaceable Realm and still keep our unique modes of worship? Would it be possible to turn enough swords into plowshares to at least create the beginning of an energy reversal away from the false gods of nation, flag and ideology (gods who owe their allegiance to Satan) and towards the one true God of the Cosmos?

The negative mirror image of war can be reversed and begin to be seen as the true image of peace but it will take many, many people being willing “to turn, turn, turn till by turning, turning we come round right” (from the Shaker tune “Simple Gifts”). Only then would our world-view direct all our energy towards God and none towards Satan.

The Rock of Foundation

2005-01-24T08:02:00.000-08:00

Flying over the Mediterranean to Amman, Jordan in September of 2004 I felt a great deal of anticipation as the plane neared the coastline of Israel and Palestine. I had never been to the Middle East and was beginning my first tour of service with the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Baghdad, Iraq. I had purchased the audio book “Abraham- A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths” by Bruce Feiler to listen to on the twelve-hour flight. The first chapter of the book details the author’s experience of being at the Dome of the Rock in the old city of Jerusalem. There within several hundred yards are some of the most sacred sites of the three monotheistic faiths. Our flight path took us just to the north of the old city and I could see the golden panels of the Dome glistening in the late afternoon sun. I had a very strong image of myself walking on the plaza of the Dome. Of being in such a powerful spiritual space that it had a physical impact.

Before my return to America in January of 2005 I was able to spend ten days with the CPT project in Hebron, Palestine. My flight to the U.S. left from Amman and I needed to travel through Jerusalem to reach the border with Jordan. Would I be able to bring my image to reality and travel to the Dome? I left Hebron early on January 6th so I would have time to walk the sacred spaces of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. I had read about the deep, rich and turbulent history of that rock and the city that it anchors. It is called the Even Shetiyah (Rock of Foundation) in the Jewish faith. It is the site where Abraham, the father of both Jews and Muslims, was led by God to renounce human sacrifice. It is the site of the Two Temples of Jerusalem of which now only the Wailing Wall remains as the most sacred site in Judaism. It is the place where Satan took Jesus to tempt him. It is the site of the Dome of the Rock as it was from that rock that the prophet Mohammed made his Night Journey into the seventh heaven. As I walked the plaza it was if I was walking into the epicenter of three faiths. Before me was the Dome of the Rock where I felt the children of Ishmael looking for solace as they mourned the loss of their homeland. To my right I felt the energy of the Wailing Wall as the children of Isaac mourned the passing of their Temple. To my left I felt the pain of the Via Dolorosa as the other children of Isaac mourned the suffering of Jesus on his final journey in this world.

All the children of Abraham see this site as being at the center of their faith. All the children of Abraham see the rock as being an important symbol of their faith. All the children of Abraham don’t see the rock as belonging to anyone else. What should be seen as the epicenter of God’s love and compassion for all humans has been the site of conflict, bloodshed and hatred.

If the rock is the epicenter then Jerusalem is the first shock wave of monotheism. The city is a microcosm of the conflict between the three monotheistic faiths. Can it be the model for the non-violent resolution of that conflict? But before that question can be answered first there must be an answer to the question, “Whose city is this? Whose faith has the strongest claim to being the possessor of the rock and the city it anchors?”

Whose city is it? It’s God’s city, and not the sole possession of any of God’s children. It belongs to all and it needs to be open to all. No one group can say it is theirs and theirs alone.

While Jerusalem is God’s city it must be under the stewardship of God’s children. If Jerusalem and the rock that is the foundation of the world belong to the world then it should be administered by the world. It needs to be a world city and under the care of the United Nations. Only a world body can begin the work to heal centuries and centuries of anger and hatred. With much hard work and after many generations there can come a time when faithful Jews, Muslims and Christians can work together to care for the city. But in the beginning this care must be given by a world body. Listening must replace shouting. A commitment to peace must replace the failed heritage of violence. As Abraham, the father of all three faiths, came to see that God did not require human sacrifice as a means of worship Abraham’s children must come to see that the rock and the city are whole and can not be broken up and divided. Only then will the true meaning of the rock of foundation of the world become reality.

Uprooted

2005-01-05T04:20:00.000-08:00

The Palestinian village of Jayyous is blessed. Blessed by a wonderful hilltop location looking over a fertile valley with olive trees, orange groves and greenhouses. The village of Jayyous is cursed. Cursed by the Israeli “security” fence that cuts the village off from the fields with one gate open three times a day to allow some (less than 10% of the villagers) to farm the land. The village of Jayyous maybe doomed. The settlement of Zufin, which is entirely on the Palestinian side of the Green Line, is expanding. Not expanding towards Israel but expanding towards the olive groves of Jayyous.

On December 31st over two hundred Israeli peace activists and dozens of internationals drove from Tel Aviv towards the fields of Jayyous to plant hundreds of saplings where part of the olive grove had been uprooted. Legal proceedings have put a temporary halt to the expansion but the settlers maintain that they have “bought” the land from an Israeli company. The activists were stopped by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Israeli police some three miles outside the grove. They got out of their busses and walked the rest of the way with police and IDF taking pictures of them and shouting out on bullhorns, “This is private property belonging to the settlers”.

On the village side of the fence over a hundred Palestinian villagers and about twenty internationals (including two CPTers) marched down the hill to find a way to come together with the Israelis who had planted the olive saplings. The march was organized by local civic and religious leaders and was totally nonviolent. The organizers had the kids carry the signs (it’s harder to throw rocks with a sign in your hand) and kept everybody focused on standing firm against the IDF but not provoking them.
In between the two sides at the gate were an additional 60 IDF and about a dozen police. Intense negotiations ensued between the villagers and the IDF on one side and the Israeli activists and the IDF on the other side of the fence. Eventually four people (one Jayyous farmer and three Israelis) carried one of the uprooted trees that had been left to die through the gate to the village side to be replanted. One of Israelis who carried the tree said, “This is a token act of solidarity of the joint struggle of Israelis and Palestinians. It is a campaign that will continue to grow in strength until the walls and fences are brought down.”

Uprooting an olive grove that has been fruitful for generations is a disheartening act. The sight of Palestinians and Israelis carrying a tree together to replant it is a hopeful act. The only thing that will tip the balance towards planting and away from uprooting is for all peoples, Jewish, Muslim and Christian to work together in solidarity. We must pray together. We must work together. We must continue to bring light to those from all faiths whose hearts are trapped in darkness. We must all find ways to root ourselves in the creation of peace.

Candles in the Shadows

2004-12-25T01:15:00.000-08:00

At a team worship time soon after the kidnapping of Margaret Hassan I have a very clear image. It was of a land of shadows and darkness. But within that land candles were burning; not many but enough to shed some light on the landscape. Some candles disappeared and it was my sense that their light was taken away for protection. Other candles burned until nothing was left and a small number of candles seemed to have their light snuffed out by the shadows and the darkness. What was most striking to me was that as the candles which burned until the end and the candles whose light was snuffed out ceased to burn more candles came into being seemingly to build on their light.

I have been reflecting on two very bright and powerful lights I have had the privilege of getting to know in Iraq over the last several months. One is a an Iraqi who is a member of the Dominican Order. The other is a teacher who also works for a human rights organization. Both have no illusions regarding the dark times their country is facing. But both have a vision of a land of peace that they are working to bring to fruition. As for the current situation in his country the Dominican Father says, "I am prudent. I try to be wise. But I have no fear. This is my rule- I have no fear but I seek prudence and wisdom." The human rights worker said," I believe that the foundation of all major religions (Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Buddhism) is peace. But it is a peace from within not a peace imposed from without."

For a number of years our friend the human rights worker has had a vision of what he now calls an Islamic Peacemaker Team (IPT). He credits his contact and partnership with CPT over the last two years with giving him some concrete ideas to work with. He feels that there are two major hurtles to overcome in the formation of IPT- one is the tension between Sunni and Shi’a people (and leaders) and the other is the issue of what we in the West call "redemptive violence" as an acceptable way of resolving conflicts. The Dominican Father has many projects going at this time. He is working on a translation project in that he says, "Arabic people make up over 5% of the world’s population but only l% of the world’s literature is available in Arabic." He is also starting the Open University of Baghdad. Renovation is beginning on an existing building that was used as a convent. It will be open to all, Christians and Muslims. Payment will be on a sliding scale with an emphasis on technical skill building and language courses.

Fearless, prudent and wise. We in CPT need to work to find a balance between all three of these character traits. But is its my sense that removing ourselves from the shadows and darkness will never create the capacity for those living in the shadows to grow in the light.

Imagine

2004-11-30T09:50:00.000-08:00

Last week Maxine Nash and I visited a friend of the team at his home. Nuir (not his real name) invited us for dinner and to spend the night. A number of things related to that visit seemed quite “normal” for life here in Baghdad. But trying to put in the context of what is normal in North America really strained my imagination.

Visiting their home: Nuir picked us up after dark to minimize the possibility of our being seen going into his house. Maxine and I wore Iraqi head coverings again to minimize the likelihood that someone might see him bringing Westerners to his home, since that would make Nuir a potential target for insurgent retaliation. Imagine: You live in North America and you invite some friends who are visiting from Japan over to your home. You tell them not to arrive until after dark and to please wear the caps and jerseys of the local high school football team to help them blend in.

Getting around: On the way to and from their home we saw lines of cars, some stretching for several miles, waiting to get gas. There is a major fuel crisis in the country with the price of fuel going up dramatically in the past month. The price has increased as much as 500% on the regular market and 2-3000% on the black market. Imagine: You get up in the middle of the night or even spend the night parked in a line waiting for the gas station to open. If you don’t have the time to do that, you pay twenty times more than what you have been paying, knowing that it will affect the amount of food and other necessities you can purchase that week.

In their home: Nuir lives with his wife and two children, ages six and eleven. We spent most of the night with kerosene lamps for light because their neighborhood is getting only about two hours of electricity per day. He has a battery-powered converter that gives the family enough power to run a couple of lights and the television for an additional three to four hours. Imagine: You have to structure your home life around two hours of electric power a day. That will limit your ability to do things like use a computer, play music, listen to television or use any electric appliances you might have like a washer and dryer.

Children: Their son doesn’t live with them. He lives with a grandmother. One reason for this is security. The grandmother lives very close to his school so he stays with her to avoid walking home through areas that have had numerous instances of kidnapping and robbery. The family lives in a second story apartment and their daughter can’t play outside in their neighborhood due to the lack of security. She can only play outside at the grandmother’s because she has an enclosed backyard. Imagine: Your children are confined inside your home at all times. The only outside activity they have is when you visit a relative who has a walled enclosure around his or her backyard.

Business: Nuir has a small shop selling stationery items and business is suffering. Many of his customers come from outside the Baghdad area. They are not able to come to his shop because it is extremely dangerous to drive on the roads leading into the city. Bandits force cars off the road to rob the passengers. Religious extremists do the same looking for foreigners or people from religious sects other than their own to either assault or kill them. Imagine: The customers for your business can’t reach you for fear of being robbed or killed traveling on the main highways into your town.

You might imagine that this family’s circumstances are much worse that those of other friends, contacts and partners of CPT in Iraq. Actually their circumstances are better that most. Imagine.

Pressure Cooker

2004-11-17T11:22:00.000-08:00

“People’s homes are like the cells of a prison. And Iraq is the prison.” A friend of CPT here in Baghdad gave this assessment of his country during a recent visit. His neighborhood is adjacent to an area that has been the scene of daily clashes between insurgents and Iraqi National Guard troops.

“Things are such in my country that we can’t trust anybody. We don’t know if we are with a friend or an enemy.” Another friend used these words to describe how it feels to travel the roads outside of Baghdad.

Those of us here on the ground see a different picture of Iraq than the one being painted by the American government and some American media. It is also a different picture than the one being painted by some Arabic media and governments. It seems as if both Western and Middle Eastern governments and media are using broad brushstrokes to try and paint over each other’s vision of events in this troubled land.

One analogy that seems relevant is that of a pressure cooker. For decades, the repressive regime of Saddam Hussein kept a lid on all the religious, ethnic and cultural tensions that exist in Iraq. Sunni and Shi’a have issues of trust that stretch back for centuries. Many of the Kurdish people of the north feel a need to create a separate country. There are tribal cultural issues that create tension within the country as well. Saddam and his henchmen repressed all of these tensions without doing anything to work on solutions. The lid of the pressure cooker was put on so tightly that when the Coalition forces blew the lid off in March of 2003 everything spewed all over the “kitchen”. What seems to be happening right now is that the Interim Government of Iraq and the Multinational Forces are trying to scoop up the mess, throw it back into the pot and push another lid on it. They are recreating the same unresolved issues of conflict that have plagued the country for more than twenty years.

Our friends, partners and contacts here in Iraq are very pessimistic about the future of their country. It is my sense that the level of optimism and hope for the future is at a lower level than at any time since my arrival here in the middle of September. Even people deeply involved and committed to the electoral process here have told us that they are worried about the possibility of fair and open elections taking place in all parts of the country.

Building a decision making process built on consensus is a foundation of the work of Christian Peacemaker Teams. Building such a consensus process does not seem to be a foundation of the work of the Iraqi Interim Government or of the US led Multinational Forces. I pray that people both here and in North America can reach beyond ego driven confrontation and arrive at a place of spirit led consensus. We should resolve not to use the pressure cooker method of governing and instead use the method suggested by Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching, “Governing a country is like cooking a small fish.” (translation by John Heider from “The Tao of Leadership”)

Remembering Margaret Hassan

2004-11-15T13:07:00.000-08:00

“Giving material goods can help people. If food is needed and we can give it, we do that. If shelter is needed, or books or medicine is needed, and we can give them, we do that. As best we can, we can care for whoever needs our care. Nevertheless, the real transformation takes place when we let go of our attachments and give away what we think we can’t.”
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron pg. 102

Margaret Hassan lived a life of giving away what we think we can’t. She came to Iraq more than thirty years ago, a foreigner in a land that has been manipulated and oppressed by foreigners for much of the last millennium. Yet she came and lived with the people and grew to love them so much that she became a citizen.

She lived a life of giving away the human need for security. She worked tirelessly for the people of Iraq coping with governments whose human rights record varied from somewhat intolerant to outright oppressive. She lived a life with the people of Iraq, not a life spent behind gates and walls.

Finally it seems as if she gave away her life. Individuals who resort to any means in order to justify their ends appear to have taken it from her. The Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) in Iraq prays that these individuals can reconnect with their humanity. We pray for healing for her family, friends and co-workers. We understand that the Qu’ran teaches that an innocent person who is killed travels as quickly as does light to the gates of Paradise.

While Margaret’s light may now be in Paradise her physical presence is no longer with the people of Iraq. We ask all people who have lived in her light and all who seek the light to resolve to continue the work she began. She lived a life of courage in the midst of fear. We are called to do the same, no matter what the consequences.

CPT has had the privilege of knowing Margaret during the two years that CPT has been in Iraq. She met with a number of visiting delegations and shared with them her vision for the future of her country. One CPT member reflected on his experiences with her, “Margaret and her staff placed their energies into building the future for the people of Iraq. When attackers bombed their warehouse last year, they moved the operation, but continued their efforts with other Iraqis to improving life in this country. Margaret modeled an extravagant way of living for others.”

The Iraq Christian Peacemaker Team

One Cool October Night in Baghdad

2004-11-02T05:06:00.000-08:00

Sunday night mass at St. Raphael’s
The cool evening breeze of Baghdad in late October
Windows open letting the sounds at twilight enter in

The tenth day of Ramadan
The muazzin begins his call to prayer from the minaret
Sound travels for blocks over the speaker system

Mass begins as the first chants of the azan sound out
God is greater, God is greater
God have mercy, God have mercy

Sitting near the window the volume from the altar
Matches exactly the volume from the minaret
The sounds of both faiths each going into one of my ears

Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth
The true light that shines on everyone was coming into the world
Rush to prayer, rush to prayer/ Our Father who art in heaven

Songs of the eight-note scale merge with the chanting of twenty-four
Blending together in my ears to form a beautiful bireligionality
Chant and song forming sounds sent to Heaven.

The God of Abraham listening to the sounds of the evening
Might think that all is well with creation here on earth
The children of Abraham are singing my praises in their own voice

Later that cool October night in Baghdad
The roar of F-16’s returning from another night of missile attacks
The rumble of a car bomb exploding on Karrada Street

I declare that there is no god but God
The Peace of God be with you, the Peace of God be with you
I declare that there is no god but God

Writer’s note: For the sake of transparency, I admit while I am trying to learn Arabic, I don’t have a clue what part of the Qur’an was being recited that night. I was having a lot of images of light, both physical and spiritual. Later I opened up a translation from the 24th surah of the Qur’an titled, “The Light” and wrote down the first line my eyes fell upon. I used a translation of the call to prayer, the azhan, by Yahiya Emerick.

Fight or Flight?

2004-10-22T04:54:00.000-07:00

“If an attacker inspires anger or fear in my heart, it means that I have not purged myself of violence. To realize nonviolence means to feel within you its strength--soul force--to know God. A person who has known God will be incapable of harboring anger or fear within him [or her], no matter how overpowering the cause for that anger or fear may be.” (Gandhi speaking to Badshah Kahn’s Khudai Khidmatgar officers; “A Man to Match His Mountains” by Eknath Easwaran, pg. 157.)

When I allow myself to become angry I disconnect from God and connect with the evil force that empowers fighting. When I allow myself to become fearful I disconnect from God and connect with the evil force that encourages flight. I take Gandhi and Jesus at their word--if I am not one with God then I am one with Satan. I don’t think Gandhi would use that word but Jesus certainly did, on numerous occasions. The French theologian Rene Girard has a very powerful vision of Satan that speaks to me: “Satan sustains himself as a parasite on what God creates by imitating God in a manner that is jealous, grotesque, perverse and as contrary as possible to the loving and obedient imitation of Jesus” (“I Saw Satan Fall Like Lighting”, R. Girard, pg. 45).

If I am not to fight or flee in the face of armed aggression, be it the overt aggression of the army or the subversive aggression of the terrorist, then what am I to do? “Stand firm against evil” (Matthew 5:39, translated by Walter Wink) seems to be the guidance of Jesus and Gandhi in order to stay connected with God. But here in Iraq I struggle with that second form of aggression. I have visual references and written models of CPTers standing firm against the overt aggression of an army, be it regular or paramilitary. But how do you stand firm against a car--bomber or a kidnapper? Clearly the soldier being disconnected from God needs to have me fight. Just as clearly the terrorist being disconnected from God needs to have me flee. Both are willing to kill me using different means to achieve the same end. That end being to increase the parasitic power of Satan within God’s good creation.

It seems easier somehow to confront anger within my heart than it is to confront fear. But if Jesus and Gandhi are right then I am not to give in to either. I am to stand firm against the kidnapper as I am to stand firm against the soldier. Does that mean I walk into a raging battle to confront the soldiers? Does that mean I walk the streets of Baghdad with a sign saying “American for the Taking”? No to both counts. But if Jesus and Gandhi are right, then I am asked to risk my life and if I lose it to be as forgiving as they were when murdered by the forces of Satan. I struggle to stand firm but I’m willing to keep working at it.

Safety

2004-10-17T04:45:00.000-07:00

Safety

The building across from our apartment houses the Baghdad offices of a political party. They have at least two armed guards patrolling outside with their Klashnakov rifles 24/7. Most offices, apartment buildings and hotels (and even places of worship) employ full-time armed security guards. It is a culturally acceptable in this part of the world for people to have at least a rifle or pistol as part of their household possessions. The U.S. forces here in Baghdad are of course armed with a bit more in their arsenal than rifles and pistols. And last but not least is the small number of insurgents whose weapons lack the sophistication of the U.S. forces, however, they never seem to lack for ammunition to use what weapons they’ve got. I have no way of knowing this, but on some level I’m convinced that I’m living in the most heavily armed city in the world.

Excluding criminals, terrorists and psychopaths, my sense is that most people would describe their need to possess a weapon in terms of safety. I don’t have any specific instances of that here in Iraq, but back in America I have heard that from a number of people. I’ve heard, “I need a gun to feel safe in the areas of the city I have to work in.” I’ve also heard, “I want to make sure my family is safe, so that’s why I keep a gun in my house.” So the link between guns and safety might be a relevant point here in Baghdad as well. I’m trying to imagine what it would be like if we had a pistol or rifle in our CPT apartment here. Well, first I would need to imagine that we all had been trained in the use of the weapon. Having a gun and not knowing how to use it would be like having a car and not knowing how to drive. But assuming we did have training, would I feel safer than I do now? As with our neighbors at the political party office, I would assume we would need to keep the weapon “on display,” so to speak. My sense it that people feel that letting “the bad guys” know that they have a weapon acts as a deterrent. So would I feel safer? I am clear that I would not feel safer.

But heck, if I’m wrong and if in fact guns do create a feeling of safety, then I’m already living in the safest city in the world right now, so what do I have to worry about?

First Impressions of Baghdad

2004-10-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

You should take these first impressions of Baghdad with several grains of salt. The first being I have only been in the city for seven days and have never been to the Near East before. The next grain is that I have only been a CPTer for fifty days having just taken the training in Chicago in July and August 2004. The final grain is that I have no previous background in peacemaking, having spent the last ten years working for a natural foods company and before that having spent the remainder of my adult life as a musician.

“Do not lie and do not do what you hate.” (Gospel of Thomas v.6) This saying of Jesus, as is the case with so many of his teachings, seems so obvious. Yet the longer I consider it the greater its subtle truth becomes.

It has become increasing evident to me that after stripping away all the rationales for the US invasion of Iraq, what is left is the reality that the current U.S. Administration felt compelled to invade from a basis of hate. I can envision them saying, “Saddam is evil. We hate evil. Therefore we need to rid the world of this evil man and his cronies.” I can see that actions taken by Saddam could lead them to feel hatred towards him. He and his associates built palaces and enclaves where they lived in luxury while across the Tigris River was a slum where over a million residents of Baghdad lived in poverty and squalor. He maintained control of the country by devoting huge amounts of material resources to his military and security forces, a decision that allowed the infrastructure of the city to deteriorate. And most hateful of all was his use of imprisonment and torture to keep the population of Baghdad living in a state of fear.

My impression of Baghdad in my first seven days is that most of the American and Iraqi interim government officials have sequestered themselves in palaces and enclaves, which has served to disconnect them from the majority of the population. These officials are devoting a significant amount of material resources to maintain both military and contracted security organizations while the already marginal infrastructure continues to deteriorate. And in the continuing cycle of hatred –creating- more -hatred there are elements of the society that are using terrorist tactics to try to destabilize the American forces and the interim government. Their actions and the response by the American forces keep the population in a state of fear and uncertainty. An insurgent mortar round aimed at an American target might just as well fall into a residential area. If a person is unlucky enough to live in an area where insurgents are suspected of living, he or she might his or her own life and property are at risk when an Apache helicopter launches its vast arsenal of lethal weaponry.

Do not do what you hate, what you hate, what you hate, what you hate, ….