Writings by Voices

Criminal on Wheels?

Dan Pearson — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:56:28 -0600

Short Information Teaser

The officer who was taking the lead yelled at the youth in a commanding voice: “get off the bike, get OFF the bikes!”

Excerpt

December 29, 2008

By Joshua Brollier

I recently witnessed the arrest of a young black male by the Chicago Police Department for doing nothing more than sitting on a bike on the sidewalk. As a member of Northside Action for Justice’s CopWatch program, I have often seen and grown to expect such unwarranted arrests in our neighborhood of Uptown, but this incident struck me as particularly aggressive, uncalled for, and just plain stupid.

Body

December 29, 2008

By Joshua Brollier

It was a Saturday morning and I was on my way to the Voices for Creative Non-Violence office over on Argyle. I decided to stop at a local store close to the intersection of Wilson and Broadway to pick up a pack of smokes. Upon exiting the store, I noticed there was a street stop in progress across the intersection by the Currency Exchange. I decided it was my civic duty to bear witness to the event.

I crossed Broadway and stood approximately 15 feet from the scene where a man was being detained by two CPD officers. He was placed up against a squad car as the officers wrote a contact card. This is a regular practice in Uptown, usually implemented through racial profiling, to gather information on “suspicious” persons and often gives officers an excuse to harass an individual in the future. Nonetheless, this was a routine stop and the man being detained was quietly complying with police orders.

The corner by the Currency Exchange is a busy spot, and several other people were watching the event as they waited to cross the street. Everyone seemed to be looking at each other with a feeling of frustration, wondering why the man was being detained, but no one really said anything. I proceeded to pass out a few CopWatch fliers and several people thanked me for the work we were doing in the neighborhood.

Just as the cops appeared to be finishing up with the contact card on the detainee, two undercover “tac” cars, sometimes know as “attack” cars, arrived hurriedly on to the scene. Four officers jumped out of their cars and immediately approached two black teenagers who were sitting on their bikes, approximately a foot from the street, waiting on the light to cross the intersection. I had been so focused on the street stop that I had not even really noticed the two youth or their mother who was standing directly behind them.

The officer who was taking the lead yelled at the youth in a commanding voice: “get off the bike, get OFF the bikes!” Both of the teenagers moved to calmly get off of their deadly, two-wheeled carriages of crime, but one committed the unforgivable sin of smacking his lips as he did so. He did not say a word; he merely expressed the frustration that any human feels when being verbally assaulted by another. The officer took that as an insult, placed the young men up against the car, and began searching them with no probable cause.

At this point the unnoticed mother decided to assert her presence. She said; “Hey these are my sons! Why are you searching them?” The cops ignored her, so she leaned over and repeated the question. This was too much communication for one of the tactical officers, so he proceeded to forcefully shove the mother away from the scene and her son. “You know not to interfere with a police investigation,” he shouted as he disregarded her concerns.

Approximately 15 people were watching now, and the small crowd echoed the indignation of the mother. The police looked a bit uneasy and quickly decided to place the teenager who had smacked his lips in the back of the car. The frustrated young man said little to nothing during the whole encounter, even as his mother was shoved by the police. Now, he was being rewarded for his good manners by being arrested and taken away to the infamous Area 3 police headquarters at Belmont and Western, a known site of police torture during the Burge years.

As this whole debacle went down, I was documenting the license plate numbers of the undercover cars and as many details about the officers as I could gather. I handed the information to the mother with a CopWatch flier and let her know that we could help her file a complaint. The cops saw our interaction, and one officer barked at the mother; “you can get all the correct information, even spelled correctly, at Belmont and Western when you come to look for your son.” The cops sped away and left the mom and her more fortunate son to figure out some way to get over to Area 3. Never mind what they had been doing before their unlucky encounter; never mind their plans for the rest of the day. Now, bus fare, a whole day, and likely the evening would be spent trying to sort this mess out.

This arrest, a ticketable offense at best, is indicative of the usual and everyday harassment that many citizens of color face by the Chicago Police Department. What’s more, the teenager who was arrested will now most likely have a contact card, a police record, and be well on his way to early criminalization that happens so disproportionately to African American youth in the Criminal Justice System. Can you imagine this scenario happening to a white teenager riding a bike on a sidewalk in Oak Park or Wilmette?

Consider these findings from a recent report titled Critical Condition: African American Youth in the Justice System from the D.C.-based Campaign for Youth Justice:

White youth are significantly more likely than African American youth to use drugs and 30 percent more likely to sell drugs, but African American youth are twice as likely to be arrested and detained for drug offenses.

Drug cases were filed against African American youth in adult courts at nearly five times the rate of white youth, and African American youth accounted for 87 percent of those charged with drug offenses.

In Cook County, Black youth currently make up 84.2 percent of the population at the county’s only juvenile center, while Hispanics make up 13.9 percent, whites 1.4 percent and 4 percent are other nationalities. Males, he said, make up 92.2 percent and females 7.8 percent.

I can personally testify to implications of these statistics having grown up in Tennessee as a middle class white kid who got high and occasionally sold marijuana to friends. I never saw even so much as a fine and many of my friends escaped jail time all together after having been caught numerous times with sellable amounts of narcotics.

And let‘s have no illusions, I am sure there are many upper class white condo owners right here in Uptown that use illegal drugs and do not have to worry about being shaken down by the police on the corner. It is obvious that our justice system discriminates in implementing the “war on drugs.”

At Northside Action for Justice (NSAJ), we are striving to build a society where it is easier for people to live full lives. I think one of the key elements in that struggle is to reduce state and institutional violence along with addressing street violence. Most of the people that fill our prisons are doing time for non-violent drug offences. If incarceration has proven to produce more of the same and higher recidivism rates, why would we pursue these failed policies so blindly?

The officers at local CAPS meetings and the pro-gentrification class in Uptown would have you believe that picking up the phone and calling 911 is the most effective, even righteous, thing to do when you see two or more young black males on a sidewalk in the neighborhood. It takes more courage and character to stop and say hello than it does to make such a fearful call that might lead to who knows what for the youth.

I have often heard it said over at Voices for Creative Non-Violence; “if you want peace, then build justice.” That is what Voices is working towards in Iraq and the Middle East, and that is what CopWatch aims to do here in Uptown.

NSAJ is advocating for affordable housing and jobs that pay a living wage so that Uptown can maintain its diversity and people of all colors and economic backgrounds can live a life of dignity in this community. If we come together and support these low-income and minority groups that have historically been chased off by the police and the gentrification class, this community will be an eclectic and vibrant place where our youth can flourish and explore their potential.

Joshua Brollier is a member of the Francis of Assisi Catholic Worker Community, an activist with Northside Action for Justice, and a co-coordinator with Voices for Creative Non-Violence.

Resettling by Cathy Breen

Dan Pearson — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:35:33 -0500

Short Information Teaser

I learned that among the things he was forced to leave behind was a large feather pillow his mother had made about seventy years ago.

Excerpt

Amman, Jordan
October 22, 2008

I learned that among the things he was forced to leave behind was a large feather pillow his mother had made about seventy years ago. She had gathered the feathers herself. Also left behind were some embroidery pieces she had made as well as a couple of books and other items. When his wife died of cancer over 28 years ago, this gentle man had raised his three children alone. I met his only daughter recently in Syria. She and her husband are among the refugee population there longing to join family in a safe place where they can work and raise their two small daughters. I thought of an embroidered pillow case cover my mother gave me some years back. It is something I cherish imagining how she had laid her head on it as a child. Maybe, I told him, I could retrieve some of the things left behind with a neighbor.

Body

Amman, Jordan
October 22, 2008

Dear Friends,

The other day I saw an elderly Iraqi gentleman off at the Amman airport. After months of waiting on his security clearance, he was finally on his way to join his two sons and four grandchildren in the states. He has been living alone in Amman for at least two years now, and I had asked him if he would like me to accompany him to the airport. He accepted my offer.

As we made our way to the airport in the early morning hours, I asked him if he had gotten any sleep. He said he had been up all night trying to pack, to fit all of his worldly belongings in two medium size suitcases. I learned that among the things he was forced to leave behind was a large feather pillow his mother had made about seventy years ago. She had gathered the feathers herself. Also left behind were some embroidery pieces she had made as well as a couple of books and other items. When his wife died of cancer over 28 years ago, this gentle man had raised his three children alone. I met his only daughter recently in Syria. She and her husband are among the refugee population there longing to join family in a safe place where they can work and raise their two small daughters. I thought of an embroidered pillow case cover my mother gave me some years back. It is something I cherish imagining how she had laid her head on it as a child. Maybe, I told him, I could retrieve some of the things left behind with a neighbor. Iraqi Gentleman at the Amman Airport

As we waited in the airport we were surrounded by a host of other Iraqis, also being resettled to the United States, taking the same flight. Some had family there, others were going to states to which they had been assigned. I watched as each received a large white plastic bag with the letters IOM (International Organization for Migration) on it. The bag would identify them as refugees when they arrived at their various destinations. It seemed so demeaning. As the time drew near to enter the passenger checking area, we joined the others lining up with their suitcases and bags. In front of us was a woman clothed from head to foot in a black abaya. Only her eyes were visible through a slit in the face covering.

Despite all the years I have spent in the Middle East, the sight of women with their faces covered is something that always seems to give me a start. The woman in front of us at the airport was accompanied by her husband, a blind gentleman who stood behind her with his hand on her shoulder. I wondered what type of welcome was in store for them in the states. Where were they going? Did they speak any English at all? What will await them? At a recent McCain rally in Minneapolis, an elderly woman took the microphone to speak. She said “I don’t trust Obama. I’ve read about him, and he’s an Arab.” McCain’s awkward reply seemed to imply that being an “Arab” and a “decent family man” were somehow mutually exclusive.

A friend arrived from the states yesterday. We first met in 2003 in Baghdad in the weeks preceding the U.S.-led invasion. He too was with Voices as part of the Iraq Peace team. He will be spending the next weeks in Jordan and Syria to follow the plight of Iraqi refugees in the region. Last night we went to visit a family of eight who have been advised that they will be resettled in the U.S. They have no family there, and have no idea where they will be assigned. Ironically the father of the family is also blind due to an injury he suffered in the Iraq-Iran war over twenty years ago. It was my third visit to their humble apartment and, together with our Iraqi translator whom they know and trust, we were warmly greeted.

We asked how they are doing, if they received any news from IOM as to when they might travel? They had no news of travel dates, but the mother of six advised us that her own mother in Baghdad is ill. More than anything, she would like to see her elderly mother one final time before she leaves for the U.S. Sadly, this simple wish will not be granted. If she were to travel to Baghdad to visit even briefly with family, she would not be allowed back into Jordan. Two of her brothers were killed in Iraq in the last couple of years. We want to keep in touch with this family. When they find out where they will be going, we might know groups or have friends in that state who could welcome and befriend them.

I am delighted to tell you that I have the feather pillow and some of the embroidered pieces. It gives me such pleasure to think that the grandchildren will have these treasured items.

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Update from Cathy Breen

Joel Gulledge — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:25:52 -0500

Short Information Teaser

I wasn't prepared for the extent of impoverishment I would see in Syria

Excerpt

Amman, Jordan
October 6, 2008

I wasn’t prepared for the extent of impoverishment I would see in Syria. Arriving by bus just a few hours after a suicide car bomb took the lives of at least 17 civilians in Damascus, I learned about the attack from the taxi driver who took me from the bus stop to the neighborhood where I was to meet my translator. Although I understood the Arabic word for “explosion,” it was only later that I would get more details.

Body

Amman, Jordan
October 6, 2008

Dear friends,

This visit was somehow different from my other trips to Syria. Maybe it is that I feel more comfortable and at home in the Middle East. But more likely it was due to the invaluable help and friendship of an Iraqi man, a “refugee” himself, who acted not only as my guide and translator, but who allowed me to see Syria through his eyes, the eyes of an Iraqi. I will call this friend Mohammed.

Coming from the United States as I do, I did not expect a welcome mat. Just over a year had passed since I was last in Syria, but this time the disdain I felt towards me on the part of ordinary people on the street could no longer be disguised or misinterpreted. My frequent requests for directions for example were often met with abruptness or stony silence. Should this come as a surprise? How could it be any different? A suicide bomb exploding in one’s city can only drive fear and terror into hearts and minds, causing each to question: Who brought on this ever-expanding “War against Terrorism?” It was a comfort for me to be at Mohammed’s side a great deal of the time. As an Iraqi trying to survive in Syria, he is himself accustomed to the cold shoulder and to being suspect. We made an odd pair, of that I am sure.

Like countless others Mohammed lives from hand to mouth not sure where he will come up with rent and food money, not to mention money to renew Syrian visas, or for water, electricity, transportation, cooking gas and necessary phone cards and internet—the latter his contact with family and the outside world. Alone in Syria, cut off from family, more than once Mohammed expressed uneasiness about the “walls having ears.” Not that he has anything to hide. On the contrary Mohammed is one of those rare individuals one chances upon only a few times in a lifetime, a person I would describe as “without guile.” Apart from loneliness, not being able to work and earn a livelihood is perhaps one of the greatest hardships he faces.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimates there are 1.2 million Iraqi residents in Syria with current valid visas. To date approximately 220,000 Iraqi refugees have been registered by the UNHCR In addition to numerous visits with Iraqi individuals and families in their apartments, I was very fortunate to meet on two occasions with representatives from the UNHCR, including someone from their Resettlement program. The UNHCR is fortunate as well to have such capable and caring people on their staff. Both times I was warmly received and given ample time to hear about their programs as well as present my own concerns on the basis of concrete cases.

I had many questions. What about families/individuals facing imminent return to Iraq because their money has run out? What about families/individuals with dire medical and psychological needs, where suicide has been attempted for example? I wanted to know how resettlement cases are being selected given the enormous numbers of refugees in Syria? What about Iraqis who have been in Syria for some years now and feel they are being overlooked and forgotten. They see Iraqis more recently arrived, often with fabricated stories and false documents, being moved on and resettled. Is the increasing destitution of Iraqis in Syria before 2006 being factored into the criteria for selecting cases? Is not being able—ever—to return to Iraq a contributing factor? Does having family in other countries act to someone’s advantage with respect to resettlement?

While the UNHCR’s labors in both Jordan and Syria over the last two years cannot be minimized and are praiseworthy to say the least, it must be acknowledged that the basic needs of the vast number of Iraqi refugees in both countries remain unmet. In both Jordan and Syria it has been left to the UNHCR to get resettlement programs up and running—not to mention the overwhelming task of just registering Iraqis who come to them seeking protection and assistance. The UNHCR remains resolute on their position that it is not safe to return to Iraq.

A critical question for Voices for Creative Nonviolence is how Iraqis can obtain cash assistance to cover their basic needs. How can the exorbitant amounts of U.S. funding going to military spending be diverted to refugee assistance? Even if adequate monies could be diverted, there would first be the issue of identifying people in need, and secondly the task of finding adequate delivery mechanisms to distribute the money. Both tasks are equally daunting in the face of the staggering numbers of refugees.

What I can tell you is the following. Within the next seven month period, the UNHCR in Syria hopes to submit 11,000 cases for resettlement to other countries. The goal for Jordan will be 6,000 for the same time frame. As in Jordan, the selection process for the UNHCR staff in Syria is very labor intensive and time consuming. Each “case” is reviewed and multiple interviews with the candidates are carried out. The cases are selected on the basis of vulnerability, after which resettlement countries willing to take Iraqis must be found. Whether a refugee has family living in one of the resettlement countries enters into the equation only AFTER they have been selected for resettlement. This might sound confusing, but it is vital to understand this point. Perhaps a concrete situation can best illustrate this dilemma. The following account should be seen as just one little boat among countless others, trying to stay afloat in a turbulent ocean of misfortune.

Upon my arrival in Damascus, I telephoned an Iraqi family in Aleppo, in the north of Syria, to put a question to them. I was to meet with someone from the UNHCR before I would have the opportunity to meet the family, and thought that maybe I could speak of their situation with the representative. This couple, together with their two small children and the husband’s sister, were able to escape the death threats and violence of their country. Denied entrance to Jordan, they made their way to Syria in December of 2006. The wife has brothers in the states, and the husband has a brother in Canada. It is through the wife’s 75 year old father here in Amman, waiting to join his sons in the U.S., that I came to learn of this family. Wanting to know what the thoughts and wishes of the family were, I asked the wife over the telephone “Do you want to go to Canada or to the U.S.?” The mother’s voice broke as she answered “We will go anywhere where we can be safe.” A telling response, as wishes no longer factor in.

A few days later I traveled to Aleppo, a 4-5 hour trip, and met the family. I learned that the family had to flee because of the father’s work with a USAID/Iraq Company in Baghdad. He was told that he would be killed if he didn’t cease his work with USAID. One fateful day as Iraqi soldiers were arresting people on the street outside their home, the family burned any documents that would implicate the father’s association with Americans. The mother spoke of her terror and how she miscarried when she was unable to locate her husband. I was struck by the flat affect of their older daughter who is eight years old. I learned that her school was bombed while she was in class. As an “intact” family, meaning they do not fall into the same category as lets say a widow with children or a single woman for example, this family would factor in low on the totem pole for resettlement. This is despite the fact that they have family in both the U.S. and Canada desperate to receive them and grant them a safe harbor. If you do the math, over two million refugees in Iraq’s surrounding countries, and 17,000 possible resettlement slots in the upcoming months, it will cause your hearts to sink. It is at best a dismal forecast.

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Building Peace in Iraq

Joel Gulledge — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:26:03 -0500

Short Information Teaser

David Smith-Ferri writes about Direct Aid Iraq

Excerpt

October 6, 2008

Recently I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in the state of Colorado, giving poetry readings and speaking to communities about a unique American-Iraqi partnership called Direct Aid Iraq.

Body

Building Peace in Iraq
October 6, 2008

This article was originally published by Yes Magazine on October 3rd, 2008. Click here for photos and audio from Yes Magazine

A Careful Reordering of our Priorities and Assumptions

Moustafa recovers in a clinic with support from Direct Aid Iraq Recently I had the opportunity to spend two weeks in the state of Colorado, giving poetry readings and speaking to communities about a unique American-Iraqi partnership called Direct Aid Iraq. In Durango, a mountain community of 16,000 in the northwest corner of the state, I read a poem to audience members at Ft. Lewis College. The setting of this poem is Samawa, a predominantly Shiite city south of Baghdad. And the dramatic situation in the poem is an actual interview, at three in the morning, with Suad, a Sunni mother of four, as she is packing her belongings and preparing to flee with her children at dawn.

I’d read the poem in public many times before, and my main purpose was to share Suad’s experience and perspective. Her hope:

My dreams for my children are simple dreams,
the same as other mothers.
To live in safety and security
in a country where they can be educated…

And her fears:

Of course I’m afraid for my children.
Their future is uncertain now.
I’m afraid they will be kidnapped, or maybe they will die from a bomb.
It’s everyday. Everyday we see killing.
What did we do?

The poem suggests that Suad’s words are jagged and sharp enough to lacerate the paper and cause it to bleed, and that that blood will mark the hands of everyone who reads this book. During an open comment and question period after the presentation, a college student referenced the poem and asked if I thought we all had Suad’s blood on our hands. I responded that my point in using the image was different: I wanted to signify that encounters with Iraqis, with their stories, words, and perspectives, would mark us and could, if we were open to them, transform and inspire us. He wasn’t, however, willing to let me off the hook so easily. “Don’t you think our consumptive lifestyle—especially our enormous energy use—drives this kind of war?” he asked. “Don’t you think it makes us partners in crime?”

I’ll leave the question there, unanswered, and I’ll reframe and ask it in a different form: Five and a half years into this festering invasion and occupation, what is our responsibility to Iraq and to Iraqis? What is our responsibility to Suad and her family? To Mustafa, whose back was broken in a US missile attack in the first weeks of the war, who needs physical therapy and social support if he is ever to walk again? To Hussein who lost his eye and part of his skull, barely surviving the explosion of a car bomb while walking to classes at a university? To eight year-old Lateifa who lost her entire family—both parents, three sisters, and three brothers—when a bomb exploded during their visit to a holy site in Najaf? To nine year-old Leila whose legs were run over by a US Humvee?

Every day in the Middle East, a team of Iraqi refugees asks themselves these same questions. Their particular answers give flesh and bone, breath and life to the humanitarian aid and peacebuilding program, Direct Aid Iraq (DAI). They asked themselves these kinds of questions recently when they met Haifa, a fifty year-old Iraqi woman, who had been shot in the face by a militia using phosphorous munitions most likely made in the US. These hideous munitions are designed to cling to and burn a person’s flesh. The munitions that struck Haifa’s face, burned out not only her left eye but the bone structure around it, leaving a gaping hole where her eye had been. They also damaged Haifa’s remaining eye, blinding her.

Two years later, under the auspices of an international NGO, Haifa came to Amman for medical care. She would need at least three operations: to rebuild the bone structure in her left eye socket; to insert a prosthetic eye; and to attempt to restore sight to her remaining eye. Operating with a mandate to cover only the first of these surgeries, the international NGO referred Haifa to DAI for the other two. Raising the funds and arranging these operations would be one challenge, but Haifa would need to remain in Amman for a number of months, waiting for and then recovering from surgeries. Because Haifa was blind, she would need full-time care—someone to cook, clean, and shop for her, someone to help her with a hundred things she previously did for herself. And how would she manage travel back and forth to medical appointments? Haifa would also need social support to help her ongoing efforts to deal with both the trauma of losing her eyesight and the challenge of facing an uncertain future. When Najlaa Al-Nashi, DAI’s coordinator in the Middle East, visited her, Haifa would always cry. “I can’t do anything,” she would say. “I can’t even go to the bathroom by myself.” Najlaa stepped in and became an important part of Haifa’s social support.

These kinds of medical social work considerations and the tasks they engender may not be glamorous or newsworthy, but they are an essential component of peace-work among Iraqis displaced by violence, an essential part of helping people maintain intact lives. This, after all, is the goal: how to support people so that they can participate in building Iraq’s future.

Let’s return to the question of responsibility that the Ft. Lewis College student rightly posed. How do we evaluate our responsibility to Iraqis? I believe that we can’t evaluate it fully or forcefully unless we position ourselves alongside Iraqis, unless we are somehow in relationship with Iraqis, aware of their experiences and the hopes and fears those experiences engender, attentive to what they say they want and need.

This does not mean we must relocate to the Middle East. Being “in relationship with Iraqis,” however, may mean a careful reordering of our priorities. It means seeking opportunities to expose ourselves to Iraqi stories and perspectives, through firsthand accounts of encounters with Iraqis, public presentations, face-to-face meetings with Iraqis in our communities, and so on. It requires cultivating an openness. It means listening to Iraqis’ stories, and carrying them with us. It means a willingness to be “drawn in,” not uncritically, but in such a way that we grant the “inside” perspective the validity and centrality it deserves.

Being “in relationship with Iraqis,” may also mean a careful reordering of our assumptions. It means learning to trust that Iraqis are the best source for information about their own experiences. It means shedding the notion that the US somehow knows best what Iraq needs. No, Iraqis are the best source of information about how peace can be achieved and sustained in their country. It means shedding the notion that the US is going to rebuild Iraq. No, it is Iraqis who will rebuild their country. Do they need and deserve assistance? Of course. Does the US bear enormous responsibility to support that rebuilding? Certainly. Does the international community bear responsibility? Yes—at the very least for not mounting a stronger and more effective opposition to the invasion in the first place, a charge, in fact, that can be laid at all of our feet.

If we want to support Iraqis in building peace, we can start by genuinely facing the same difficult questions they are facing: what is my responsibility to Iraqis? How can I live it out? My own effort in this respect has lead me to conclude that Americans are best cast in a supportive role. The question for us as individuals and as organizations is the same question that our government should be weighing: who are the wisest Iraqis? What are the best plans and efforts among Iraqis, and how can we support them?

Direct Aid Iraq is one such program lead by Iraqis, with Americans in a supportive role. It began a year and a half ago, out of conversations between Americans and Iraqis in which the Iraqis were asked: if Americans could do something, what would you have us do? “We need medical care, in order to survive, in order to hold our lives together,” these Iraqi refugees told us. “We need money to pay for it.”

The Iraqis we’ve met through DAI want us to listen and to care. They want us to care enough to look closely at our lives, and yes, as the Ft. Lewis College student suggested, to examine our lifestyles. They want us to care enough to reorder our priorities, to be smart and strategic so that we are in a strong position to support them. They want us to ask some obvious questions about the ways we use our resources and to act on the answers: Do we really need the new furniture, the new wardrobe, the new entertainment center? They want us to learn to live with less so that we have something to share with them. They want us to be generous. They want us to take some risks, to trust that generosity now will not condemn us to poverty in the future.

Here’s a slightly different angle on it. The Iraqis we’ve met through DAI don’t want charity. They want justice. These aren’t people who have been injured and displaced by a natural disaster, but by war—by human folly, greed, violence, and criminality. They want actions that will help restore their capacity to build a productive future. For Americans who also want justice, the question becomes: what are we willing to risk, change, sacrifice in order to be a part of this restoration?

David Smith-Ferri (smithferri [at] pacific.net) is author of Battlefield without Borders, and a member of Direct Aid Iraq and of Voices for Creative Nonviolence.

VCNV Author

David Smith-Ferri

Walk Blog: from Josh Brollier: Of the RNC, the Presidential Race, and “American Exceptionalism”

Dan Pearson — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:30:28 -0500

Project

WITNESS AGAINST WAR 2008: From Chicago to St. Paul

Short Information Teaser

...resonated with the words of Eugene Debs; "I have no country to fight for, my country is the earth, I am a citizen of the world."

Excerpt

Joshua Brollier September 4, 2008

if each of us knew just one mother from Afghanistan, we would actually move to stop our government from continuing its criminal policies that lead to so much “collateral damage.” Maybe each of our actions combined would form the basis for an actual collective movement.

Body

Joshua Brollier September 4, 2008

The Witness Against War crew walked the final stretch of the 500-mile journey from Chicago into St. Paul with a strong contingent from Veterans for Peace, friends from the Twin Cities, and several of Paul Melling’s family members. We were received with a warm welcome from the women of Code Pink, the Sisters of St. Joseph, and many well-known activists. After a short frenzy of media attention, we enjoyed yet another wonderful dose of hospitality. There was food, wine, music, and plenty of conversation to go around.

During our reception and throughout our time at the RNC, people seemed to be excited about our journey but more interested in our intentions for the protests. The sentiment is understandable, with all the tension built up around the conventions, but we collectively came to see the relationships built along the way as a more valuable guide for evaluating the project.

Did we achieve what we set out to do? Did we challenge and non-violently resist our nation’s occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan during our walk? The answer would have to be “yes” and “no.”

Along our route through Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, we conducted over twenty community forums focused on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some presentations discussed the Iraqi refugee crisis and the terrible human cost of war. Other events looked at the occupation through the eyes of a former artillery member of the United States Army. Members of local peace groups also spoke about their struggles to organize nonviolent resistance to these unnecessary wars.

We concluded our walk by participating in the August 31st march to the Excel Center, coordinated by the Veterans for Peace and Code Pink. The protest was well organized. We delivered tombstones with the names of Iraqi civilians and US soldiers to the convention to dramatize the deadly effects of the GOP’s foreign policy. We also attempted to deliver a letter to the delegates that spelled out the numerous ways in which these policies were in violation of international law. Our diplomatic overture was spurned, even though we could see a few people in fancy suits just past the police in riot gear. Nine of us were arrested after crawling under a hole in a steel fence in a continued attempt to deliver the letter. Other than Dan Pearson and me, four of the arrestees were in some way connected to Witness Against War. They very probably would have been there despite our witness, but we surely “caught courage” from each other to take part in the action. So through the relationships, the community forums, and the public witness; I would say that we passed the litmus test.

However, we also failed miserably. We found ourselves rather sarcastically joking that “well, we did not stop the war- we thought it would end the day we set foot in St. Paul.” With the level of our country’s political dialogue during this election year, we knew that would not be the case. And it is not really too funny at all. Over a million Iraqis have died as a result of these conflicts and over 4 million are now displaced from their homes. Over 4,000 U.S. soldiers have been killed. How many more lives must be crushed before we wake up and demand an end to the wholesale looting and indiscriminate killing in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Witness Against War delivered our message to the RNC despite the police aggression and pre-emptive independent media crackdowns. Our voices were raised and our presence was felt along with the ten thousand plus other protestors who gathered in St. Paul. That being said, hopefully our objective to “hold both political parties accountable” was made quite clear along the way. With the election in sight, the Democrats are now talking as if escalating the war in Afghanistan is the noble thing to do. In his acceptance of the nomination for president, Barack Obama even ridiculed John McCain for not being willing to “follow him (Osama bin Laden) to the cave where he lives.” Apparently Osama’s cave must be somewhere close to the Shindand district where over eighty Afghan civilians were recently killed. It is sad when that kind of tough talk is necessary to get you elected. There was also much talk of America’s Promise; as if the United States was chosen by God to inherit and own the planet. Judging by our over-consumption, our harsh treatment of immigrants, and the willingness to trade the lives of others for the resources we desire- I am not too sure how many of us disagree with that notion. Judging by our shortsightedness, we must think God is planning to give our American grandchildren another planet shortly down the road.

We received so much generosity and hospitality along this trip that it was tempting to fall into this form of “American exceptionalism.” Residents of the rural and urban areas throughout the Midwest were so genuinely welcoming and caring towards us as sojourners. However, after some reflection, I remembered how well I was treated as a guest in Zimbabwe in 2004 (a nation that was then considered by the CIA World Fact book to be on the “Axis of Terror”). The people of rural and urban areas in Zimbabwe took me in as if I were a brother. I also remembered the kindness and hospitality of friends that are now living in the United States that immigrated from Mexico, Colombia, India, Sudan, and so many other places. These two experiences combined resonated with the words of Eugene Debs; “I have no country to fight for, my country is the earth, I am a citizen of the world.”

It is time for us to make amends for the past and to begin seeing ourselves as equal partners in the global community. Maybe then we could hear the claims of the Arab nations. Maybe then we could hear the voice of indigenous peoples in the United States, Asia, Latin America, and Africa when they cry out for equality and justice. To quote Robert Moses from a memorial service in 1964;

“Now we’ve watched the phenomenon time and time again… Before the summer project last summer we watched five Negroes murdered in two counties of Mississippi with no reaction from the country. We couldn’t get the news out. Then we saw that there were three civil rights workers killed (Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman), and two of them were white, the whole country reacted, and went into motion. There’s a deep problem behind that, And I think that if you can begin to understand what that problem is—why you don’t move when a Negro is killed the same way you move when a white person is killed—then maybe you can understand this country in relation to Vietnam and the third world, the Congo and Santa Domingo.”

Our country has come along way in black/white relations since 1964 and most people now welcome that change as positive. The circumstances of the current election certainly prove that there has been some major progress. Meanwhile, hopefully we can still recognize that en route to the peaceful society we long for, a long path lies ahead of us. Understanding that path requires each of us individually to see our common humanity reflected in our brothers and sisters across the globe regardless of whether they are in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Palestine; Russia, Vietnam, or Zimbabwe.

Similar to Robert Moses’s experience, Voices in the Wilderness had a hard time “getting the news out” about the brutal consequences of the US/UN economic sanctions imposed on Iraq from 1991 to 2003. The UN itself estimated that over 5,000 children under the age of five died per month as a direct result of the sanctions. People in the US scarcely heard a word of this in the media and reacted with disbelief when informed, so Voices and the Middle East Children’s Alliance decided to honor one Iraqi child, named Omran, who was killed by a bombing in the “no fly zone.” People were able to picture their own children in Omran’s eyes.

Maybe if each of us knew just one Iraqi youth, we would think twice before allowing drone planes to fly bombing missions over the child’s home for the purpose of “liberation” or “fighting terrorism.” Maybe if each of us knew just one mother from Afghanistan, we would actually move to stop our government from continuing its criminal policies that lead to so much “collateral damage.” Maybe each of our actions combined would form the basis for an actual collective movement.

So many US citizens, young and old, enjoy and applaud progress toward racial equality, here in America, even though we did not lift a single finger to help the civil rights movement. So many are now eager to condemn the Vietnam War, even though they didn’t take a single risk to end the madness of that war. Will we have the courage to step up to the current challenges posed? What risks are we willing to take on behalf of voiceless people whose lives and future are jeopardized? How can we work together to form a viable and cohesive movement that challenges the powers that be and the status quo American life- that puts and end to the so called “war on terror” and begins to see each community across the globe as inter-related and equally valuable?

These are the questions that I pondered as the walk came to its conclusion this week. Voices for Creative Non-Violence is considering several options for future projects. One suggestion is to undertake an “electricity fast” in DC, during which a group of people would agree not to use electricity for a certain time period, thereby identifying at least partially with Iraqis who have, for many years, lacked this most basic service. Voices will continue urging activists and concerned citizens nationwide to take their vigils into the offices of elected representatives. It is obvious that public opinion has shifted against the war, but legislators are reluctant to defy the will of oil and defense companies, even though their own constituents register strong disapproval of the war. Should Barack Obama be elected, Voices will join in a 24-hour vigil, from December 27th – January 15th, near his Chicago home to remind him not to forget the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. These are just some suggestions. If you have any creative ideas on how to bring these wars to an end, please keep us informed. Many people looked at us with disbelief when they read our signs announcing that we’d walked 492 miles from Chicago to St. Paul. “It’s do-able!” said Dan Pearson, repeatedly. It’s amazing what we can do.

Walk Blog: Walking against war in God's country

voices — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:43:21 -0500

Project

WITNESS AGAINST WAR 2008: From Chicago to St. Paul

Short Information Teaser

Bill Christofferson write about the final week of the Witness Against War walk

Excerpt

By Bill Christofferson
August 22, 2008

Witness Against War, a walk from Chicago to St. Paul to promote non-violence and an end to the war is Iraq, is in its final week.

Dan Pearson, the one who dreamed it up, scouted and planned the route, and coordinates much of the logistics, calls it “a totally worthwhile endeavor.” He and Kathy Kelly are co-coordinators of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, the Chicago-based group that organized and sponsors the walk.

The drive from Milwaukee, where I had last walked with them, to Pepin, WI, on the Mississippi River, to rejoin them, took five hours. It had taken the walkers five weeks.

Body

By Bill Christofferson
August 22, 2008

Witness Against War, a walk from Chicago to St. Paul to promote non-violence and an end to the war is Iraq, is in its final week.

The drive from Milwaukee, where I had last walked with them, to Pepin, WI, on the Mississippi River, to rejoin them, took five hours. It had taken the walkers five weeks.

As they started Saturday’s trek from Pepin to Maiden Rock, along one of the most spectacularly scenic stretches of river in the country, they had covered 420 miles. When they reach St. Paul this weekend, in time for the Republican national convention, they will have walked nearly 500 miles.

There are 10 walkers on Saturday, including Marie Kovecsi, who joined the group in Winona, MN to spend a week walking with them before returning to start another school year as a teacher of deaf and blind students, and me. The rest are part of the core group who left Chicago in mid-July and have walked most or all of the way. Most days they are joined by local activists who walk with them for a day or two, but there are none on Saturday in this sparsely-populated area.

Almost all of the others have some connection with the Catholic Worker movement, inspired by Dorothy Day and dedicated to non-violence. (I changed the title of this piece to reflect their view.) I am an atheist, although the best argument I have seen for some sort of intelligent design is Lake Pepin, the wide, 20-mile stretch of the Mississippi we are walking today. I discovered it – much like Columbus “discovered” America – 45 years ago, and it is where my ashes will be scattered one day.

The walk starts early, shortly after 7 a.m., to avoid the heat of the day. It’s a slightly hilly, winding stretch along the river, and with a couple of stops at scenic overlooks, bathroom breaks and even a quick pot of propane-stove coffee, it takes almost exactly five hours. The first seven miles, to Stockholm, a tiny artist colony with a population of 98, goes quickly. The second half is hillier and seems longer, with the promise of Maiden Rock just over the next hill – or maybe the one after that.

The walkers carry signs –“Witness Against War,” “Keep Red Arrow (Wisconsin’s National Guard division) Home,” “Stop War Spending,” “Rebuild Iraq, Rebuild America.”

The reception from drivers and motorcyclists is positive, with waves, honking horns, peace signs, and thumbs-up from many – and nary a middle finger during the five-hour, 13-mile walk along Highway 35.

“We have made a lot of good connections with people along the way, both people who agree and those who disagree,” Dan Pearson says in explaining why he thinks the walk has been an unqualified success. “It has ended quite well, usually, when people – often active duty military or veterans – pull over to talk. Once you show people you’re willing to listen and they understand that we are not attacking them personally, we have had some good conversations and find there is a lot we can agree on.”

When the walk reached Fort McCoy, Wisconsin’s main military base, two weeks ago, 13 people – including core walkers Kathy Kelly, Josh Brollier, Lauren Cannon and Alice Gerard — were arrested for crossing the line onto the base. Most were quickly processed and released, but Kelly was held on a 10-year-old warrant from Ashland County for civil disobedience against Project ELF, a submarine communication antenna system based in northern Wisconsin, now abandoned.

She spent two nights in the Monroe County jail and another in Ashland County jail before being released. When Ashland County jailers announced at 10:30 p.m. that she was being released, Kelly didn’t know if anyone was there waiting for her, and she was hundreds of miles from the walk. “Well, I know I can always walk 15 miles,” she recalls thinking. “I wouldn’t have thought that a year ago.”

The soldiers were friendly at Ft. McCoy, she said, but the military presence and influence is overwhelming. “In the Monroe County jail, an older woman jailer was keeping an eye on us,” Kelly said. “She was excited that she was going to Ft. McCoy where they would let her carry an AK-47 and play the role of an insurgent — and pay her $12 an hour. There is such a powerful presence around military base that it affects people’s hopes and imaginations.

“Bessie, the kindly jailer, should have an affinity for the Iraqi mothers and grandmothers, the refugees with sick children, but no one’s going to pay Bessie $12 an hour to identify with them.”

The walkers, with a colorfully painted old bus as backup, usually finish walking around mid-day, leaving afternoons to check in online, prepare for evening events, pitch tents if no one has offered overnight accommodations, prepare a meal, and have some personal time.

Along the way, many local peace groups have hosted the walkers, sponsored events and held community programs. Most of the walk has been in Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, a Madison-based network of some 150 groups, has helped make those connections.

The walkers slept in a rectory in Alma Friday night, and will camp out at the end of Saturday’s walk. After reaching Maiden Rock – where legend has it an Indian princess leaped to her death from a high bluff rather than be forced into marriage with a man she didn’t love — the group discusses whether to camp there, in a campground right on the river, or return to a campground in Pepin. Pepin has showers; Maiden Rock seems more likely to have a wirelsss Internet connection. Showers carry the day.

Others in the core group are Lauren Cannon, a theology student and staff member at Voices for Creative Non-violence; Paul Melling, an Iraq veteran from Minnesota who shares bus-driving duties with Bob Abplanalp, recently returned from a Pastors for Peace caravan to take supplies to Cuba, and who’s also part of the Voices nucleus; Josh Brollier of Clarksville TN, a musician who takes a drumming break now and then; Mary Dean, part of Chicago Voices community, returning to a new physical therapist job when the walk ends; and Alice Gerard, a freelance writer from Grand Island NY, who met Kathy Kelly in a Columbus GA jail after both had crossed the line at the School of the Americas in Ft. Benning.

Several of them have spent time — and sometimes put themselves in harm’s way — in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other hot spots, working to end sanctions and aid refugees. Pearson, 27, a native of Luck, WI, learned Arabic in Syria, where he has twice lived and worked with refugees. Cannon was in Iraq three times during the Voices campaign to end economic sanctions there.

Kelly and Voices challenged economic sanctions against Iraq by delivering medical supplies to Iraqis and organized over 70 delegations as part of a campaign of civil disobedience from 1996 to 2003. In October 2002 Voices organized the Iraq Peace Team, in Baghdad, where they maintained a presence throughout the bombardment and invasion. Kelly remained in Iraq throughout the US Shock and Awe bombing and has returned three times, most recently in May of 2006 when she traveled to northern Iraq. She recently spent five weeks living in Amman, Jordan, amongst Iraqi families who have fled Iraq.

They walked from Maiden Rock to Red Wing, MN on Sunday and, after a day’s rest there today, leave Red Wing on Tuesday for the final 50 miles to the Twin Cities, where they expect to link up with Veterans for Peace and other groups calling for an end to the war and occupation while the Republicans nominate warmonger John McCain, a candidate who never met a war he didn’t like.

To Witness Against War -and Vårberg Violence...

voices — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:30:19 -0500

Project

WITNESS AGAINST WAR 2008: From Chicago to St. Paul

Short Information Teaser

"Whatever polished ideals and brave ideologies I may have to claim for my pro-peace/anti-war stand on Iraq they would still only make a skeleton image of the very human face to war. To suffering."

Excerpt

By Heléne Hedberg

Helene here speaking. I left the walk a week ago now to go back to Sweden. A rather busy schedule awaited me here but I finally made some time to wrap things up for you and tell of what the WAW-walk was like for me. -The Swede…ha ha.

Let me just begin by saying that I was very glad to hear of how the encounter that some of you made at Fort McCoy the other day turned out peaceful and rewarding. I had just picked up Thoreau’s Walden and Civil Disobedience and I’ll now continue reading it with the gleaming image of the thirteen walkers crossing the line. Thank you for doing it and putting peaceful, creative nonviolent means into practice. Excellent writing Jeff.

Body

By Heléne Hedberg

Okay, so I came to Chicago somewhat burned out and discouraged from this year’s first hand experience of the increasing violence among some of the Iraqi youth in this southern ghetto-area in Stockholm called Vårberg. At the same time I was filled with great anticipation for what the walk would do to me personally. And maybe not so much if it would challenge me but how.

Less than a week before I left for Chicago I went to court to testify “against” one of the boys concerning our most violent incident at the afterschool center in Vårberg where I’ve been working with the youth for two years. A week before that I met with Marten who had just gotten his own apartment outside Stockholm. A young boy who came to Sweden by himself as a refugee after his family’s separation and who, after celebrating Christmas with us, I consider my little brother :) I went to the kid’s summer party at the afterschool center thinking that with the speed they’re growing in I’ll be happy if I just recognize the youngest ones, Ari and Ben, by the time I get back… It was an intense week which now, looking back on it, makes a pretty good outline for what made me wanna come do this walk.

And like I said during one of our presentations (and since our walk has enjoyed overwhelmingly positive response), for me every cheerful honk along the road has meant saying the war is not worth the pain that I’ve seen in the kids in Vårberg. The pain that they’ve carried with them from a wartorn Iraq. It’s meant saying the war is not worth the ugly scenes Ahmed came back from Baghdad to Stockholm with. It’s meant saying it’s not worth the death and bombing of Marten’s older brother. It’s meant saying it’s not worth the loss of a young generation of beautiful, innocent Iraqi kids growing up.

Whatever polished ideals and brave ideologies I may have to claim for my pro-peace/anti-war stand on Iraq they would still only make a skeleton image of the very human face to war. To suffering. I think we need to fill our reasons with faces. That’s what I wanna do. That’s what drew me here and it’s what I think the walk has challenged me personally to keep committing myself to.

Also, when I move to Vårberg this August together with some friends I’ll remember not to do it by myself. I’ll remember the powerful testimony that an encouraging community of folks driven by love for people and longing for peace can make together. I’ll remember the walkers. Off the top of my head - walker and voices friends: Kathy, Bob, Dan, Jeff, Leah, Tim H, Mike, Mary, Alice, Josh, Lauren, Paul, Laura, Joel, Hiwa, Mark, John, Gerald, Tim B, Steve, Jim & Jeanie. Thank You.

Ps. I’ll see you in Chicago again :)

Peace Pirates

Jeff Leys — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:26:02 -0500

Short Information Teaser

Cathy Breen writes from Amman, Jordan

Excerpt

Amman, Jordan
August 24, 2008

Dear Friends,

Yesterday afternoon as I got into a public taxi, or “service” as they are called here, a friendly driver greeted me in English, something very rare. This type of taxi carries four passengers, and it seems that people are reluctant to be heard speaking English. I had ridden in this driver’s taxi before, and the other time he felt free as well to address me in English. His words yesterday however took me completely by surprise. “Did you hear about the boats arriving in Gaza!” he said excitedly. He was referring to the Free Gaza campaign which I too have been following with great interest. We have friends among the 45 or so human rights activists on the two boats which, despite multiple threats, set sail from Cyprus to break the siege and end the blockade of Gaza and its 1.5 million occupants.

Body

Amman, Jordan
August 24, 2008

Dear Friends,

With 42% of the Palestinian population living in Jordan, this event received extensive news coverage on Jordan TV last night and today. Sadly I was unable to understand much of the Arabic, but the joyful faces of the Palestinians and the “peace pirates” alike were worth a million words. The mission of these humble vessels and their international crew was clear, “We are not delivering humanitarian aid. This is about the right of the Palestinians to live freely,” said one of their spokespersons. What a sign of hope to all of us in these desperate and dark times!

School began last week here in Jordan, and this is always a painful time for Iraqis who have no income or legal status. So many Iraqi children are either not in school or have been out of school for some years. Many are teenagers now with little hope of ever catching up with their peers. What is the saying “Idle hands, a devil’s workshop?” But with staggering rent, fuel, electricity, water and food prices,. school enrollment has become a source of distress for the majority of the Jordanian population. The cost of milk has risen 35%, and lentils has increased fourfold in price over the last months.

Over 30,000 Jordanian children have been transferred from private to public schools this year. Some classes are already overcrowded with 60 students, and now there is the need in many areas for the school to “double-shift.” Under the two-shift system the morning classes begin at 6:45am until 11:45am, the second shift from noon to 5:00pm. Teachers on fixed salaries are bearing the burden. “As teachers how can we live with this system? I chose this profession so I could go home and take care of my family!” (The Jordan Times, Aug.22-23,08) Tragically the resentment felt by teachers, parents and students alike is often transferred to Iraqi children. The overcrowding has led to “waiting lists” for new students, and it falls to the school administration to decide if spots will go to Iraqi or Jordanian children.

I want to close with another sign of hope. A mother in the states wrote the following message and sent a gift of money which will go to several mothers of Iraqi children for shoes, uniforms or other school related needs. Each of the mother’s receiving a small sum of money will hear her words.

“Dear Friend, First, I want you to know that there are many, many people in this country who care about you, and would like to help you. We feel almost as helpless as you. This money seems like a small gesture. Here is a picture of my son, Andy. He’s 8 years old. It is so painful for me to think of other children, just like him, caught in the middle of such a terrible situation. I cannot tell you that it’s all going to be OK. But I can tell you there are many people who care about you and are trying to improve your situation. I wish our children could be playing together while we talk and laugh. But this is the best we can do right now. Inshallah [God willing], someday we will meet in peace.”

There are so many “peace pirates” doing what they can to bring healing and hope. Let us take heart.

Cathy Breen

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Walking as Healing

Jeff Leys — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:50:21 -0500

Short Information Teaser

Josh Brollier reflects on his time on Witness Against War

Excerpt

August 22, 2008

By Josh Brollier, Witness Against War

There is something undeniably therapeutic about walking. Just outside of Lacrosse a psychologist joined our walk for a day and described how it was her practice to take a leisurely stroll with patients during sessions. As we walked along the bike path later that day, I was thinking that if just twice a week we ventured out into the quiet space of nature that surrounds our cities and homes, then the world might be a very different place.

We left Chicago just over five weeks ago with a core group of fifteen walkers and I quickly felt as if these fellow sojourners were lifelong friends. We have heard each other’s stories, laughed at each other’s ridiculous jokes, and we have born each other’s burdens. Though the number of our caravan has fluctuated, each person that comes into the circle brings a unique history, personality, and depth of life experience. Walking two by two gives you the chance to try to really understand each person and to love them right where they are in life’s greater journey.

Body

August 22, 2008

By Josh Brollier, Witness Against War

Anyone that knows me very well realizes that I have been going through a particularly turbulent time in my life. This mobile community of friends has helped to heal some of the wounds that existed before they even had the chance to turn into scars. I have been very grateful for the open ears and the encouragement that has been so generously extended. The Witness Against War crew has also challenged me to exercise my talents, sharpened my resolve, and they have given me an excellent model for dealing with life’s struggles.

Walking has also appeared to be rejuvenating for the communities we have passed through. Many day walkers came out and joined us and then decided that they wanted to keep walking as long as possible. They shared their homes and hospitality with us. They shared with us the successes and the failures that their communities have faced in building peace and justice. They shared their lives.

As our path has been taking us toward the RNC to speak out against the “symphony of destruction,” many communities and towns have been almost anxiously longing for a direction that will lead our world towards healing.

We have not claimed to know the answer, but maybe part of the solution lies in walking- getting out of our houses and apartments and meeting with our sisters and brothers face to face- listening- organizing- resisting the temptation to bury our heads in the sand- resisting the temptation to put our faith in politicians and a system that has consistently lied to us- risking failure - admitting mistakes- loving unconditionally- working for no monetary reward- searching for the truth- acting boldly in response.

These are just a few suggestions, and they would look different for each person and community. I hope we can all visibly walk and physically move towards our goals of a more sustainable, equitable, and compassionate world.

Project

WITNESS AGAINST WAR 2008: From Chicago to St. Paul

Walk Blog: Josh Brollier, Civil Disobedience a Success?

voices — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:14:48 -0500

Project

WITNESS AGAINST WAR 2008: From Chicago to St. Paul

Short Information Teaser

Josh Brollier writes about the non-violent act of civil resistance at Ft McCoy

Excerpt

By Joshua Brollier
Aug 12, 2008

The press has gone out and the word has spread about our non-violent act of civil resistance at Ft McCoy, and I have been reflecting on the event and hoping that our action was an encouragement to the soldiers who are set to deploy to Iraq in 2009. We attempted to enter the base and have conversations with soldiers about their right to refuse illegal orders and to file as conscientious objectors. We also wanted to inform them that Spencer Black is going to introduce a piece of legislature that will potentially keep the 32nd Brigade Combat Team of the Wisconsin National Guard at home- this will be the second to third deployment of many members of the guard.

Body

By Joshua Brollier
Aug 12, 2008

The thirteen of us who entered the base were eager to hear the Red Arrow’s stories and struggles concerning Iraq and Afghanistan and wanted to gauge their response to upcoming legislature-opening up a dialogue for their input and involvement. Our group was denied entry to the base as was to be expected. This refusal of access was somewhat humorously set against the backdrop of the Alice Cooper concert that took place on the base the night before.

The moment was a bit surreal as we approached the line of civilian contracted base officers, but that disconnect lasted only for an instant as we came closer to the people who would seek to keep us from entering the base. I extended the invitation for the crew to join us in our venture by escorting us to the PX where we could talk with and deliver an open letter to soldiers. My offer was declined and I was outfitted with a stylish pair of zip-cuffs.

The processing was done rather quickly and we were treated with kindness and a good bit of curiosity by the base police. In fact, we were able to dialogue with the officers about the war, Ft McCoy, and the civil-disobedience itself. One of the older officials who wrote my ticket even remarked that he thought that the action was a success! He thanked us for our co-operation and peaceful spirit. As we were being removed from base property, the driver told me that there was a “mutual respect” between us and there seemed to be a genuine connection made there.

So the question remains- was our action a success? I am not sure what would constitute a success after the last 18 years of economic and military warfare against Iraq, but it is a healthy discipline to ask ourselves if we achieved our goals. After we regrouped, Jessica from Christian Peacemaker Teams remarked that it would have been a success if the officers and soldiers had decided to help put an end to the war. I agree. We definitely made progress by bringing a scarcely heard voice to Ft McCoy and by the connections made between ourselves and the community. And we plan to continue with this momentum as we head to the Twin Cities.

However, I think this spirit of optimism and empowerment has to be tempered and cultivated by the harsh reality that many people are facing as a result of our country’s “wars of choice.” I think our ambitions must also be weighed against the long and stubborn history of U.S. militarism and then contrasted by the rich tradition of non-violent resistance that seasoned activists have been engaging in for years. In agreement with our recently incarcerated friend- Kathy Kelly, I am sure that these activists would encourage us to use every non-violent and non-destructive means at our disposal to speak truth to power and demand an end to the violence and imperialism being waged against our brothers and sisters across the globe.

I am also energized and challenged by the determination and fearless activism of groups committed to non-violent change in Iraq (La Onf) and Zimbabwe (Women of Zimbabwe Arise). These courageous souls are risking their lives every time they speak out and they continue to act despite the often brutal consequences. I hope that we can learn from their sacrifices by stepping up our efforts to hold ourselves, our leaders, and our corporations accountable for the destruction of life we have brought to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tomorrow it is on to “Representative” Ron Kind’s office- one step at a time…