Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project

For two hours every Thursday afternoon, First Lutheran Church in St. Paul is an escape from the constant stress of refugee and immigration work.  Social workers and volunteers meet on equal ground with Butanese, Koran and Iraqi refugees.  It is a space for gathering and discussion, playing games, cooking and knitting.  Women bring their children and settle down to socialize–exchanging knitting patterns, cooking recipes and different cultural traditions.  Men often participate in a bike workshop or take driving lessons using toy cars and traffic signs.  Volunteers come through refugee services, friends and word of mouth.   IARP intern Allison Stuewe and I attend every Thursday, contributing and aiding wherever we are needed.   More »

IARP’s Luke Wilcox recently returned from Iraq, where he was hosted by Muslim Peacemaker Teams Director Sami Rasouli. The Huffington Post recently published an article by the two of them here. Wilcox also wrote a blog about his trip here.

The Star Tribune published a story about his trip and IARP’s Water for Peace program here.

On June 12 , we bade adieu to our communications and development director as he departed on a month long sojourn to Najaf, Iraq.  He is working with the Muslim Peacemakers Team and their director, Sami Rassouli, who is a close friend and collaborator with the IARP.  Luke goes to Iraq as both a representative of the IARP and as a Minneapolitan representative for the Sister City Project, carrying a letter from Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak to Najaf Governor Adnan Al-Zurufi.  In Najaf, Iraq he hopes to raise $2,500 dollars for the Muslim Peacemakers Team as well as document their work in supporting human rights and nonviolence in Iraq.  From teaching English in local schools to working closely with the MPT, Luke will be immersed in Iraqi culture and the process of reconciliation.  Reflecting about the goals for his trip, he writes, “I want to meet in person the Iraqis who I know through IARP–students, professionals, and others who are optimistic and work hard for the future.”  Follow his a diary of his trip here.

By Jess Winter

In eleventh grade, Mr. Jeperson, my social studies teacher, turned off the news.  It was mid-afternoon.  My classmates and I had watched the news in every other class, except social studies.  It was September 11 and current events were crucial.  In response, we argued with him, yelled and proclaimed that it was our right to learn what was currently happening and not what happened in the past.  We were ignored and threatened with detention.  During that month and thereafter, we did not talk about the significance of what happened, and the invasion of Iraq was never discussed.

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The original version of this article appeared in The Veteran (Spring 2011).

By Luke Wilcox

“It’s not clear how much time passed. Perhaps it was only a handful of minutes. Suddenly, she awoke to a burst of pain. Sitting squarely on top of her legs was a shell bomb. Shock and horror. Crushing weight. Loss of consciousness. An errant US shell had crashed through her bedroom wall and landed on top of her as she slept in bed. It did not detonate. If it had, this would be a different story. There would be nothing left to speak of.”

— Excerpt from Zainab Jawhar, a book by Clare Beer, Monica Haller, and Zainab Jawhar appearing in the exhibit, Navigating the Aftermath.

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Navigating the Aftermath is an art exhibit and campaign that creates a shared space for Iraqis and Americans to speak about the ongoing war in Iraq and its consequences.

Organized by the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP), Navigating the Aftermath opened on February 18 at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. From June to October, it will tour with the film, The Unreturned (a documentary film following five Iraqi refugee families), to six towns in Minnesota: Duluth, Ely, Mankato, Bemidji, St. Cloud, and Winona.

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