“I grew up in Iran, but I was from Iraq. Then I came here, to America, and I still continued
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Water for Peace Action at 3 Schools in Iraq
The Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) and our partner in Iraq, the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT), are proud to announce that the 727 students of Al Adnaniyah Elementary School, 575 students of Demashaq Middle School, and 925 students of Imam Hussein High School in Najaf, Iraq now have access to clean water through our Water for Peace program. MPT recently installed large (200 gallon per day) water sanitation systems at each of the schools. Thank you to the donor St. Joan of Arch Church!
A message of condolences and solidarity from Iraqis to Americans
A message of condolences and solidarity from Iraqis to Americans.
Photo credit: Sami Rasouli and the Muslim Peacemaker Teams. View on Facebook.
Water for Peace Action at Jawad Ali Tahir School in Najaf, Iraq
The Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) and our partner in Iraq, the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT), are proud to announce that the 650 students of Jawad Ali Tahir School in Najaf, Iraq now have access to clean water through our Water for Peace program. MPT recently installed large (200 gallon per day) water sanitation system at the school. Thank you to donors St. Augustine Church and Jane Nicholl!
Water for Peace Action at Schools and Medical Clinic in Najaf, Iraq
The Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) and our partner in Iraq, the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT), are proud to announce that the 651 students of Al Amani Middle School, the 729 students of Al Nidhal (The Struggle) Elementary School, and the 599 patients per day at the “For You” Medical Clinic in Najaf, Iraq now have access to clean water. Through our Water for Peace program, we recently installed large (200 gallon per day) water sanitation systems at all three locations.
From ‘Shock and Awe’ to ‘Mission Accomplished’ — The Journey of an Iraqi-American Peacemaker
IARP co-founder Sami Rasouli is both Iraqi and American. Since 2004 he has worked to heal the wounds of war and transform a legacy of violence in his home country of Iraq into one of reconciliation. Author Burt Berlowe tells his story in an article on CommonDreams.org, “From ‘Shock and Awe’ to ‘Mission Accomplished’ — The Journey of an Iraqi-American Peacemaker.”
“Painting has the ability to reach out and reconcile… for it is near to the soul”
IARP is helping an Iraqi artist, Fatin Al-Jumaily, apply for the summer Women’s Art Institute at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota. The following is a message from Fatin (thank you to IARP Board Member Salam Murtada for the translation):
New Report: The Minneapolis – Najaf Sister City Relationship
IARP and our partner, the Muslim Peacemaker Teams, are proud to announce the release of a new report, The Minneapolis – Najaf Sister City Relationship: A Model for Sister City Relationships between Iraqi and American Cities in Support of Reconciliation.
The Gospel of Rutba: Presentation by Greg Barrett
Join investigative journalist Greg Barrett on Thursday, February 21 for a presentation on his new book, The Gospel of Rutba: War, Peace and the Good Samaritan Story in Iraq (Orbis Books, 2012). The book begins with the story of Iraqi Muslims rescuing seriously injured American Christians Peacemakers and nursing them back to health during the 2003 “shock and awe” bombings.
The Good Samaritans of Iraq
The story of how Iraqi Muslims rescued U.S. Christians during the 2003 Shock & Awe bombings.
In March 2003, three U.S. Christian peacemakers survived the first days of “Shock and Awe” in downtown Baghdad only to be injured (two of them critically) in a car accident as they left Iraq. Bleeding, stranded and in a desert ditch, Philadelphia’s Shane Claiborne (of Irresistible Revolution fame), Seattle’s Cliff Kindy and Christian Peacemakers Team veteran Cliff Kindy of rural Indiana, were rescued by Iraqi Muslims and taken to an unlikely haven: the heavily bombed Sunni town of Rutba, a remote Syrian Desert hub for Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime. The town and the surrounding western Anbar region were being heavily bombed by the U.S. military. Three days earlier a team of U.S. Special Forces from Fort Campbell, Kentucky-Tennessee had mistakenly destroyed Rutba General Hospital, the only public hospital within 200 miles.
Sami Reports: Oneness, Security and Abundance!
By Sami Rasouli, Director of the Muslim Peacemaker Teams
From early childhood I learned that Generosity and Hospitality are important to Iraqi culture. Every time my father talked to me about his life when I was young he emphasized how his family members, friends and colleagues were very generous (Kurma’a). I watched my mother get excited when we had guests at home and saw how she was so kind to them, providing the best food we had in abundance and the best comfortable bed and clean linens to our guests. It was not easy for me to define this kind of behavior – whether it was generosity or kindness – until one of my primary teachers explained to me that both are the same: you can’t be generous unless you are kind and vice versa. Then I learned later about *Hatim Al Tai, a legendary Arab figure known in Arabia for his extreme generosity, and I also learned that the most beautiful name of the 99 attributes (names) of God (Allah) is Al Kareem, The Generous.