Najaf nonviolence

As things get hotter and hotter in Najaf I am finding it very difficult to settle back down to my day job in Britain, ever 5 minutes i find myself contemplating flying back to Iraq. I've just heard some shocking news from a friend out there that the Americans are taking hostage the families of Al-Mahdi army fighters in order to force them to submit - this is a shocking development which I doubt will be reported in any the mainstream media, particularly as journalists have been expelled from Najaf by the Interim Iraqi government. Apparently one of the women taken hostage is pregnant and due to deliver in the next week.

One positive thing are the signs of nonviolent resistance, with thousands of civilians forming a human shield around the imam Ali Mosque. I'm excited to see this happening, and I pray that it will be successful in deterring the Americans from launching further assaults and will encourage Iraqis across the country to start practicing nonviolent resistance in the model of Martin Luther King and Badshah Khan (the incredible, though little known, muslim counterpart to Ghandi in the Indian independence struggle).

separately my friend Ewa Jasiewicz has been arrested at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv, entering Palastine/Israel. The Israelis are attempting to deport her, as part of their policy of censoring news about human rights abuses and opposition to the occupation. (see Reuters, Jerusalem Post).