Arabs want peace

Graffiti on the wall of an Iraqi shop in Madaba, a mainly Christian town in Jordan.

Report on HIV/AIDS in Central Africa + random updates

The guidebook for donors that I wrote last year, on HIV/AIDS in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, has been published by New Philanthropy Capital. Please pray that it can result in many new grants to the excellent organisations profiled in it who are tackling HIV/AIDS in a really dire situation of conflict and poverty. UNAIDS says the infection rate in the Middle East and North Africa has risen to 1/2 million, I hope governments here get their act in order quickly and don't ignore it out of embarrassments as was done for far to long in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Other recent bits and pieces:
* I wrote a little bit about the brave Iraqis who refused to fight in Saddam's wars (and had their ears cut off) as part of the defence for the US refusniks Pablo Paredes and Kevin Benderman. You can sign the petition for Pablo.
* Jubilee Iraq, together with Voices in the Wilderness and others, is planning a 2 week fast for economic justice 15-30 June in Geneva in the run up to the final meeting of the UN Compensation Commission, awarding reparations against Iraq, on 28-30 June. First announcement of this in Gulf News.
* For friends reading this blog you might be surprised to hear that amid all the termoil of the last few weeks I've managed to fall in love. Email for more details as I'm not going to blog about my new habibti (arabic for girlfriend) for the time being.
* See my friend Jonty's report of the Protect Sudan demonstration in London, I was shocked by the casualty figure he quotes - 400,000 - if the reality is even half of this the genocide is worst than I'd been led to believe from the media.

Shia peacemakers help in Fallujah

Yestarday something wonderful happened. At a time when Iraqis are being increasingly polarised along religious and ethnic lines, a courageous group of people stood against this. In its first public action the recently formed Muslim Peacemaker Team (MPT) arranged for a group of 15 Shia from Najaf, Kerbala and Baghdad - including 3 women - to visit Fallujah and show solidarity with its vilified Sunni inhabitants. Only two members of the team had visited Fallujah before (I was with them on this exploratory trip in March, another trip 10 days ago including accompanying in medicial aid from the Jarrar family). The flyer which MPT distruibuted explained: "We are among our brothers and sisters in the city of Fallujah to demonstrate our solidarity with you. Our action today is symbolic but... God willing, this project will be . . . the beginning of many projects that will show the world that we are truly one people."

MPT donned orange jump suits and yellow helmets (provided by the city's department of public works) and worked alongside Fallujans to clear streets of rubble and rubbish left over from the US assualt last November. Many passersby and children were excited by the activity and joined in enthusiastically.

Later the MPT members joined in Friday prayers at the Furqan mosque. Earlier they had discussed among themselves whether they should pray in the Sunni or Shia style (which involves a slightly different positioning of the arms and the use of a clay cylinder to rest one's forehead on during prostration). Their conclusion was to use their traditional style because, they said, we are not pretending to be Sunnis, rather we are Shia Iraqis praying alongside our Sunni Iraqi brothers and sisters. Sheikh Abdul Hameed Al-Jumaily presented everyone with inscribed Qu'rans and the Fallujans treated MPT to a generous lunch and they shared an afternoon of fellowship together.

More photos from the trip should be posted here shortly. I am overjoyed that the project went so well and I wish I could have been there myself. I should explain that the project was envisage, organised and paid for by Muslim Peacemaker Team. We merely helped make the connection between Kerbala and Fallujah and went along for the ride.

Media may contact MPT for more information: Sami Rasouli (Najaf) +964-7801-003326, rasouli264@gmail.com and Hussain al-Ibrahemy (Kerbala) +964 7801-076862

"The British don't care about us"

I watched the first depressing few hours of UK election results with some fellow Iraqi refugees here in Jordan, who have fled here following death threats. We cried as we watched the British people endorsing the Blair regime, despite the devestation it has wrought in Iraq. The only real controversy in the last few weeks, and generally in our media, has been whether Blair lied to the British people about Iraq. But the real issue is the 100,000+ Iraqis who have been killed, and many more injured and traumatised, over the last two years. This demands a radical change in policy and a dramatic increase in aid so that Iraqis have genuine freedom and reconstruction. When I was in Basra a few weeks ago I saw the infrastructure still in chaos, the hospital poorly stocked, the university still lacking most of the looted equipment. People told me again and again that although the British were committing few direct human rights abuses, they have broken all their promises of rebuilding even the little corner of Southern Iraq they have been alotted.

"The British people don't really care about us," said one of my friends. "Sure, 2 million people turned out in Hyde Park on 15 Feb 2003, but they only stood there for a few hours and then went back to their comfortable homes feeling self-righteous. If they really cared they would have all sat down outside Parliament and refused to move until Blair committed not to invade. If they really cared then they would have been loudly challenging the government for the last two years. If they really cared they would have visited Iraq to stand alongside us. If they really cared then the smallest thing they could have done was vote Blair out, but they wouldn't even do this."