Thanks to the generosity of Joan and Philip Haan and other donors, water sanitation systems were recently installed at two schools in Najaf, Iraq: Al-Basmalah and Al-Siraj Al-Muneer schools. The installations were part of IARP’s Water for Peace program.
Sami Rasouli, Director of the Muslim Peacemaker Teams, has been speaking to audiences in Minnesota and Wisconsin about peacebuilding in Iraq and the United States. Check out this article by Mary Grieco of the Catholic Herald: “Iraqi-American peace activist seeks to ‘build bridge’.”
You can hear audio from one of his presentations here.
You can now support peace and reconciliation by purchasing greeting cards from IARP. Designs are original art by Iraqi artists and all profits support Iraqi artists and the peace-building work of the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) and the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT).
Click here to see all Greeting Cards.
The following is a post by Dick Bernard on his blog, “Thoughts Towards a Better World“:
“Iraq” is one of those words-never-uttered-in-polite-conversation these days. Even in the protest community, out-of-Afghanistan is more in as the issue du jour.
Iraq does come up, but only indirectly, and not by name: there is worry about our horrible national debt…but not much focus on where much of that national debt came from: almost a trillion dollars in off-the-budget money spent on our now eight year “War on a Word” (See #mce_temp_url#). To focus on that would be bad form…we must look forward, one would protest.
Ho-hum or not, we went, last night, to hear Sami Rasouli and his son,Tariq, talk about Iraq. Sami is well known in my area; I know Sami, though not well. He’s Iraqi, left Najaf for the broader world back in 1976; ultimately settling in the U.S. in 1986. He became a successful restaurateur here, an American in all the conventional ways.
2003 was the time of the shift in attitude for Sami. More »
Sami Rasouli, Director of the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT), and Kaia Svien, Education Director of the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project, recently spoke at St. Anthony Park School. Rasouli and Svien spoke about life in Iraq and peacebuilding. Susan Fredrickson from St. Anthony reports, “I believe your message and passion touched their hearts. Hopefully, this small seed will grow to build healthy relationships between our two countries.”
Speakers: Sami Rasouli and Tarik Rasouli
Tuesday, October 27, 7:00 p.m.
St. Joan of Arc Church, 4537 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis.
Sami Rasouli and his son, Tarik Rasouli, are Minnesotans with a unique knowledge of the situation for Iraqi citizens who have endured over eight years of U.S. war and occupation. They will present their views, free of charge, on Tuesday, October 27 at 7:00 p.m. at St. Joan of Arc Church in Minneapolis. More »
The delegates from Najaf attended the dedication of a new peace bridge at the Lake Harriet Peace Gardens:
Check out IARP Board Member Steve Clemen’s article about the Najaf delegation’s visit to Minneapolis: “The face of “The Enemy.”
“I was their designated driver; thirteen Iraqis from Najaf, a holy city to the Shi’a Muslims, had come to the Twin Cities. They were accompanied by my friend, the founder of the Iraqi-led Muslim Peacemaker Team (MPT), Sami Rasouli….”
After two weeks in their new Sister City of Minneapolis, 13 Iraqi delegates from Najaf departed on October 2 to head home. The delegates had a busy, productive time in the Twin Cities, meeting with hundreds of educators, business and nonprofit professionals, government officials, and Twin Cities residents. The delegates look forward to future visits and exchanges with Minneapolitans and Americans.
Sami Rasouli, Director of Muslim Peacemaker Teams, and Al Nettles, IARP Board Member, at the Cornucopia Art Center for the Iraqi Art Exhibition
One delegate, Dr. Asaad Al-Janabi, told us, “We are not here on vacation. We are here on a mission to tell Americans about life in Iraq and to work for closer relationships in the future.” Another delegate, Sameera Al-Halawi, said, “I am taking you all home in my heart.”
For more information about the delegation visit, please see “Small steps — and a serendipitous encounter — in journey toward peace in Iraq” by Michael Kiesow Moore in the MinnPost, or “Minnesotans help address Iraq’s water crisis, one filtration unit at a time,” by Kathlyn Stone in the TC Daily Planet.
Sami Rasouli, Muslim Peacemaker Teams Director and leader of the Iraqi delegation from Najaf, will remain in the U.S. for the next couple of months and will be available for speaking engagements. To schedule Sami for an engagement, please contact Marie Braun.
Kathlyn Stone recently wrote an article about the Iraqi delegation visit and IARP’s Water for Peace project. You can find the article on the TC Daily Planet: “Minnesotans help address Iraq’s water crisis, one filtration unit at a time” or here: “Community groups work to mitigate Iraq’s water disaster.”
