Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Najaf city employee Hiba Qader in Minneapolis, October, 2011

In 2009, Minneapolis residents worked with the city council to approve a “Sister City” relationship with Najaf, Iraq. A sister city relationship is about building peaceful relationships between the people of two cities. President Eisenhower launched the idea in 1956, when he called for exchanges between Americans and people of other nations.

Since 2009, Minneapolis residents have hosted seven delegations from Najaf for professional training and friendship-building, sent unarmed individuals (“citizen diplomats”) to Najaf, and helped provide clean water to tens of thousands of students and hospital patients in the Najaf area. Projects and partnerships have developed between academics, businesspeople, artists, and others in the two cities.

This February, six Iraq Ministry of Culture staff persons from Najaf will visit Minneapolis for training on event and festival management, coordinated by Meet Minneapolis: Official Convention + Visitors Bureau. Invited by the Governor of Najaf Province, a large delegation from Minneapolis plans to travel to Najaf in 2012.

As a staff member of the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP), the Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization that manages the sister city relationship, I had the opportunity to travel unarmed to Najaf last summer, carrying with me a letter of friendship from Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak to the people of Najaf and the governor of Najaf Province. Hosted by Sami Rasouli, the Iraqi-American director of IARP’s partner organization in Najaf, the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT), I helped teach English classes and visited local families for five weeks.

My thoughts after returning to Minneapolis were similar to those of a Najafi physician after he participated in a medical delegation to Minneapolis: “I am so honored to gain your friendship. Meeting with you made a great difference in my life and thoughts. Thanks for all that you did for me. Hope to see you soon.”

These are small-scale efforts, but they offer an alternative to the narrative of American domination and superiority often present in our country’s foreign policy. In fact, it is in part because they are small-scale that “city” and “citizen” diplomacy can see past the rhetoric and positioning of nation-based international relations. Our country and our foreign policy need the occasional, or frequent, reality check that we are dealing with people and not ambiguous entities called, “nations.”

The relationship between America and Iraq (and America and the world) depends not only on our nation’s actions, but also on the actions of our nation’s communities. The Minneapolis-Najaf sister city relationship is a model of alternative diplomacy–with a peace-building impact that would make President Eisenhower proud.

Luke Wilcox is a staffperson of the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project. He can be reached at luke (at) reconciliationproject.org.

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Zuhair Sharba

Zuhair Sharba, President of the Najaf Chamber of Commerce, arrived in Minneapolis on Thursday, November 4. Mr. Sharba is in Minneapolis to meet with local government and business professionals about expanding trade between Minnesota and Najaf, Iraq.

Mr. Sharba was a member of the first official delegation from Najaf to Minneapolis in September of 2009 after the two cities became official Sister Cities in July of 2009. Since the beginning of that relationship, Minneapolis has welcomed multiple delegations from Najaf, including artists, business professionals, academics, and individuals injured by the war coming for medical treatment. A mental health professional from Minneapolis traveled to Najaf in January, 2010 to conduct trainings on identifying and treating mental health needs in a post-war context and a team of academics from Augsburg College plans to visit Najaf in January, 2011.

Mr. Sharba’s current visit builds on the relationships and trust established during previous delegation exchanges and will lay the ground for increased trade and business between the two cities. Najaf is a growing economic and cultural center in southern Iraq and many Minnesotan businesses have expressed interest in working there. The Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) in Minneapolis and the Muslim Peacemaker Teams (MPT) in Najaf are facilitating Mr. Sharba’s visit as an Iraqi-led trade mission and effort to promote the economic recovery of Iraq.

As President Obama holds high-level meetings to expand US trade and business in Asia, IARP is working at the local level to build economic ties that promote not only business but peaceful relationships. Mr. Sharba’s trip will expand economic opportunity for both Iraqis and Americans, but it is also part of a larger relationship growing between the people of Minneapolis and Najaf.

If you would like to inquire about a meeting with Mr. Sharba, please contact Luke Wilcox at luke@reconciliationproject.org.

A commentary piece written by Sami Rasouli, Director of IARP’s partner organization the Muslim Peacemaker Teams, appeared in the Star Tribune on February 22, 2010. In the commentary, Sami writes, “In January, I returned to Iraq. I left Minneapolis with thanks for Americans’ commitment to peace and their generous spirit. I left, also, with a plea: Let us remember the people of my other homeland, Iraq. Let us remember our brothers and sisters.” To read the whole piece, click here.

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.