For the English version, click here.
2009R-337
قرار مدينة منيابولس
بأصدار من: هادجس, جوردن, حافستد, رمينجتن, جلدن
قبول دعوة من مدينة النجف الاشرف في العراق للانضمام بإتفاقية التوأمة و دعوة مواطني مدينتي النجف و منيابولس للمشاركة بالنشاطات المذكورة في الاتفاقية ، والموافقة على تطوير الخطط الخاصة بها من قبل منظمة “مشروع المصالحة العراقية-الامريكية” More »
Below is a simplified version of the second edition of IARP’s new e-newsletter, the Reconciliation Report. If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, please email info@mpt-iraq.org with the word “subscribe” in the subject line, or leave a comment here on this blog.
IARP Reconciliation Report
Issue 2, May 2009
Art shows, water systems, and expanding outreach
By Kathy McKay, Executive Director
Greetings from the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project! I hope this second edition of the Reconciliation Report finds you well and enjoying spring.
I want to thank you for your support for IARP. We’re particularly excited about a number of art shows in the U.S. and Iraq, new water sanitation systems providing clean water for Iraqi schools and hospitals, and our expanding outreach efforts–none of which would be possible without you. This edition includes information on these activities, a note from Sami Rasouli (Director of Muslim Peacemaker Teams), and links for you to learn and act.
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Art Shows
IARP believes strongly in the power of art to transform perceptions and ideas. An Iraqi artist’s expression of war and occupation provides a window into her personal experience. For Americans, this window can counter the objectification of Iraqis as mere recipients of U.S. action (as depicted in photographs and media; e.g., American soldiers with guns bursting into an Iraqi home) and instead personalize Iraqi life.
A number of exciting shows are displaying Iraqi art this spring and summer. At United Theological Seminary in New Brighton, MN, the gallery show Art of War: Artists in Dialogue will be on display through June 15th. The show includes art from U.S. veterans and Iraqis. In conjunction with the gallery show, Iraq War veteran and UTS student Luke Leonard will hold a public discussion on May 6th about the situation in the Middle East. IARP hopes to see you there!
Through July 5th, the Salir a la luz gallery brings to light the interconnectedness of the world and enters “into the lives of children in war-torn Iraq.” The children’s art exhibit is from War Kids Relief, an organization that connects Iraqi and American youth. The Salir a la luz gallery is open Tuesday-Sunday 12-6pm or by appointment and is located in the Blair Arcade Building (lower level) at the corner of Selby and Western, St. Paul, MN.
IARP will display Iraqi art at Art-A-Whirl, the large art weekend in Northeast Minneapolis from May 15-17th. IARP’s display will be at 1400 Van Buren St. IARP will also showcase Iraqi art at the Sabes Jewish Community Center and the Lanesboro Arts Center this September-November.
In Iraq, IARP’s partner organization Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT) recently hosted an art show in Najaf for Iraqi artist Shaima’a Saad. Images from the show, which over 500 people attended, can be found on IARP’s blog.
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Water sanitation systems
With support from IARP and a number of American groups, Muslim Peacemaker Teams continues to install water sanitation systems at schools and hospitals in Iraq, providing clean water for Iraqis. Below are some recent photos sent by Sami Rasouli, Director of MPT.
IARP and MPT are thankful for the many people who have expressed interest in contributing to the Water for Peace project. Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins are currently on a 2000 mile cyclying/speaking tour on the U.S. West Coast to bring attention to two water issues: plastic waste filling the ocean and the critical need for clean water at schools around the world. Part of their mission is to raise awareness and funds for water sanitation systems in Iraq. Dr. Eriksen says, “Anna and I firmly believe that if every citizen could choose two causes (one human rights cause and one conservation cause) to know well, teach about, and defend with time and money, then the world would be a much different place. For this tour down the coast, we chose ‘Plastic waste in our seas’ and ‘Clean water for schools.’ We hope to make difference.” Their website can be found here.
For teachers and others interested in the water situation in Iraq, IARP has a short synopsis of the situation here.
More pictures from the Water for Peace project can be found here.
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Expanding outreach
IARP is working hard to expand its outreach, connecting with a number of groups and individuals. Our new blog provides an open place for you to explore and contribute to IARP’s work. We invite you to submit activities, events, articles or other content that expresses your views on reconciliation, peace, and the relationship between Iraqis and Americans. IARP also has a Facebook group and Twitter online.
Recently, IARP Board Member Matt Gilroy visited a number of local and national organizations that support peace and human rights in the U.S. and Middle East. IARP is exploring ways to collaborate with Friends for a Non-Violent World, AMIDEAST, Global Action for Children, Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Washington Office, and others.
IARP also recently met with War Kids Relief to talk about collaboration and exchanged some exciting ideas. Both organizations work with kids and students in Iraq and the U.S. to build friendship and peace. What if there had been programs like the Young Ambassadors Program and Water for Peace 40 years ago, throughout the U.S. and Iraq? Would the same war have happened? It’s much harder to go to war with your friends than your “enemies.”
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Sami Reports
A note from Sami Rasouli, Director of the Muslim Peacemaker Teams
Dear IARP and friends,
Congratulations! If there is any kind of CHANGE taking place or will take place in the US since January 20th, 2009, CHANGE of minds and hearts would be what we need in Iraq, and this is happening right now, day after day in Najaf due to your fine work of peacebuilding and extending bridges of respect and understanding between people of the US and Iraq. I would like to report to you about Water For Peace action that took place this morning at Al-Khawrnaq High School for boys (700 students) in Najaf. The School is an old teaching institution, was established in 1923. I personally had attended my 7th, 8th and 9th grades in the sixties. A large unit of 300 Gallons of drinking water production purifier has been installed at the school. Thank you!
School Principal, Staff members and students have expressed with enthusiasm their appreciation for you and the donors of the gift they have received and friendship you are offering. They also have listened with interest to MPTer Samirah (project coordinator) who graciously explained MPT & IARP plans for Minneapolis-Najaf sister city project.
More reports to come soon.
Best,
Sami Rasouli, Muslim Peacemaker Teams
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Update on Najaf delegation planning
IARP continues to plan for a delegation from Najaf, Iraq to visit Minneapolis this coming September. Members of the delegation will include professors (likely a Dean and a Department Chair) from the University of Kufa, a representative from the Chamber of Commerce of Najaf, one or two members of the Najaf City Council, representatives from two or three women-focused NGO’s, representative(s) from the Social Science research group AFAAQ, and a member of the writer’s group currently corresponding with a group at the Loft in Minneapolis. Several of these visitors already have communicated with individuals here in the Twin Cities.
The Najaf residents are reportedly excited to meet people here that they have communicated with, to see how our city is run, and see how we live.
The delegation planning group has met once and is looking for more volunteers to make sure this is a rich, relaxing and educational visit for our friends from Iraq. Please respond to info@mpt-iraq.org if you would like to be involved.
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Links
UNAMI Human Rights Report: the recently released report from the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, covering the period from July 1 to December 31, 2008.
Peace with Justice Center (Vermont): provides some good resources for peace and justice activists.
Blogs of the Month
Preemptive Love Coalition: “Life-saving heart surgeries for Iraqi children & cooperation between communities at odds.”
Checkpoint Baghdad: Newsweek’s Iraq blog. Stories are usually interesting and informative.
From Baghdad to New York: “Iraq as Iraqis see it and love it.”
Take Action!
The Shape of Change project is an expanded sculpture project, investigating Iraqi and American concepts of political change, independence and civic agency. People across both countries are answering questions ranging from the meaning of democracy to the importance of national identity. Answers will be collected in an open source data base and interpreted in several ways. As content evolves in response to political events, artistic renderings of the data will function as evolving representations of change. If you are interested in the project, you can read more information and fill out the questionnaire here.
Urge President Obama to support Iraqi refugees.
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Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project
Join IARP’s Facebook group or follow us on Twitter
Visit IARP’s website or Blog
Email IARP
Donate online and help strengthen the work of IARP. Donations can also be sent by mail to:
Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project
1346 Westwood Hills Road
St. Louis Park, MN 55426
Welcome. Ahlan wa sahlan! This is the first post of the website of the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP). Since you’ve gotten this far, you’re obviously an intelligent and caring person (or you’re lost), so I won’t say much in the way of an introduction. IARP is an international non-profit organization based in Minneapolis, MN and Najaf, Iraq. It supports reconciliation between Iraqis and Americans through education, art, and development programs. This website will provide you with news and resources relevant to the relationship between Iraqis and Americans; the fields of reconciliation, conflict transformation and development; and the activities of IARP. By reading this website, you will become even more intelligent and knowledgeable about these things (we hope).
In lieu of a longer explanation of IARP, below is a copy of an article I wrote about the organization’s work, published recently in the Twin Cities Daily Planet.
Minnesotans and Iraqis work together for reconciliation
by Luke Wilcox | February 25, 2009 • Iraq can seem far from Minnesota, both geographically and culturally. While nearly six years of military operations in Iraq have brought images of war and its consequences into American homes, the culture and people of Iraq have rarely followed. Many Americans support peace with Iraq, but know little about Iraqis and wonder how much impact one person can realistically have in a violent world. For a group of Minnesotans and Iraqis, the answer is, “more than you think.” For the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) and the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT), interpersonal and local community connections – rather than strategic agreements between national governments – are exactly what is needed to sustain an enduring process of reconciliation and peacebuilding.
Based in Minneapolis and Najaf, Iraq, IARP and MPT work as partners to build stronger connections between Iraqis and Americans through education, art, and humanitarian aid. Their programs include exchanging handwritten letters between Iraqi and Minnesotan students, showcasing Iraqi art in Minnesota, and finding Minnesotan communities, businesses, and other groups to sponsor water filtration systems for Iraqi schools with no access to safe drinking water. In January, IARP and MPT installed filtration systems at three schools in Najaf, with more schools planned for February and March.
Besides providing clean drinking water for students, the partnership between MPT and IARP is a concrete example of Iraqi and American citizens promoting “reconciliation.” More than resolution of a dispute, reconciliation within the framework of conflict transformation seeks to repair broken relationships and establish “right relationships” of justice, peace and equality. As John Paul Lederach notes, reconciliation “is built on and oriented toward the relational aspects of a conflict… and create(s) an encounter where people can focus on their relationship.” As the U.S. military slowly draws down its presence in Iraq over the coming months and years, it will be important for Americans and Iraqis to engage in sustained, deliberate and creative efforts to promote reconciliation.
Despite significant (yet fragile) progress in the security and political situation in Iraq, the wounds of war remain in both Iraq and the U.S. Consider the following numbers:
• 151,000 violent Iraqi deaths from March, 2003 through June, 2006.
• 2 out of 3 Iraqi children without access to safe drinking water and 4 million Iraqis considered food insecure and in need of food assistance (November, 2007). Only 17 percent of Iraq’s sewage treated before entering the country’s rivers and waterways (March 2008).
• 4.2 million Iraqis displaced from their homes – 1.8 million refugees outside of Iraq and 2.4 million inside Iraq. Four out of 5 Iraqi refugees report having witnessed a shooting and 3 out of 4 report having had someone close to them killed or murdered (March, 2008).
• More than 4,100 U.S. military casualties in Iraq (February, 2009). About 20 percent of Iraq war veterans report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression (October, 2008).
• Approximately $650 billion spent on Iraq war operations by the U.S. (July 2008).
The last six years have bound the histories of Iraq and the U.S. together. If a real partnership between the two countries is to emerge from these six years, local and community connections that promote reconciliation and build grassroots support for peaceful and just foreign policies will be critical.
Such connections will be important, in part, because we live in a globalized and interconnected world. While nation-states (like Iraq and the U.S.) remain the most visible actors on the world stage, the effects of globalization have increased the importance of international corporations, international organizations, and direct, “people to people” dialogue and interaction. Increasingly, the world is tied together through the environment, the global economy, global security, and global communication. With a focus on human rather than national security, many international NGOs and individual actors recognize that, in the 21st century, the future well-being of all people is increasingly interconnected.
While some argue that international peace and reconciliation are unrealistic or even irresponsible goals for nation-states to pursue in a chaotic and dangerous world, too often this argument misperceives reconciliation as an all-or-nothing, ideal end state. Instead, reconciliation is an imperfect, practical process with concrete and achievable steps that can support national (as well as global) interests and security. For example, a process of reconciliation could help alleviate the current, widespread anti-Americanism among Arab populations. Anti-Americanism harms U.S. interests in the Middle East in several ways: government allies in the region find it harder to cooperate with the U.S.; greater instability follows a greater disconnect between repressive, pro-American governments and anti-American populations; anti-American movements find it easier to recruit new followers; and the U.S. has less “soft power” (everything “American” – values, culture, and policy – is less attractive). By taking steps to address grievances and change policies that are perceived as unjust, anti-Americanism can be reduced and foreign policy goals made easier to realize. President Obama took one such step on January 26 when he gave a television interview to the Arabic news station al-Arabiya. In the interview, he asserted his commitment to listen to the Arab world and the Muslim world and his readiness “to initiate a new partnership based on mutual respect and mutual interest.”
Of course, words must be followed by actions in order to demonstrate sincerity. One initial action that Americans can take is to acknowledge the truth, a common first step in processes of reconciliation. The Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project, for example, begins with an acknowledgment that the U.S. invasion of Iraq caused widespread suffering among Iraqis (and among all those affected by the war, including U.S. military personnel and their families). Because this truth – or any “truth” – about history depends on one’s perspective in history, it is important to listen to multiple perspectives (in this case, to Iraqis and to others around the world), and especially to victims. Then, after listening and acknowledging, it is important to apologize for past wrongdoing and admit guilt or responsibility. The corresponding step of forgiveness occurs in some processes of reconciliation but not all, and cannot be imposed.
Acknowledging truth and accepting responsibility usually must be followed by concrete action to redress past wrongs. Such action usually takes the form of retributive justice (perpetrators held accountable and punished), restorative justice (perpetrators, victims, and their communities undergo a process to repair and rebuild their relationships), or distributive justice (goods in a society are redistributed in a more just manner), or a combination of these three. Restorative and distributive justice generally entail some form of reparations, or compensation offered to victims. Besides economic reparations, social and political reparations (e.g., greater political rights) are possible. While not exactly reparations, the water filtration systems installed by IARP and MPT offer aid to victims of the conflict in Iraq with the goal of transforming relationships between Americans and Iraqis.
In order for a process of reconciliation to endure, it is important to build trust and create assurances that past grievances will not reoccur. At the interpersonal level, cultural exchanges can develop shared values and increase mutual understanding and respect, thereby decreasing support for future use of force or violence that could harm the other. For example, IARP’s Iraq Art Project brings art from Iraq to local Minnesota communities with the aim of building “on the transformative power of art (to) personalize relationships with Iraqis.” Local galleries, coffee-shops and businesses host art shows of paintings by Iraqi artists and expose Minnesotans to the people and land of Iraq. IARP then sells the paintings, giving part of the proceeds to the artists and part to MPT to support its reconciliation efforts in Iraq. Similarly, IARP’s Letters for Peace program facilitates exchanges of letters between Iraqi and American students in order to create personal relationships and plant seeds of understanding and respect.
Such programs offer creative ways to decrease the distance between Americans and Iraqis at a critical juncture in the relationship between the U.S. and Iraq (and between the U.S. and the world). Nearly six years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Americans and Iraqis have been bound together by war. Now is the time to turn those ties into a more peaceful, shared future. As organizations like IARP and MPT recognize, this can only happen in local communities – one personal connection at a time.
