Eid Mubarak

I wish all my Muslim friends and readers God's blessings on Eid al-Adha (The Festival of Sacrifice)!

It's an important festival which I think Christians should also celebrate. It remembers the day that Abraham did not sacrifice his son (Issac or Ishmael, depending on you preference). The focus is often on the obedience and faith of Abraham in his willingness to give to God that which he cared about the most. This is certainly an important part of the story, but I think another perspective on it is even more significant. People often wonder why God should ask Abraham to prepare to do such a horrible thing (building the altar, tying his son to it, raising his dagger to kill...) even if he granted a last minute reprieve? I think this question reveals the great truth behind of Eid al-Adha. Abraham lived in a time when human sacrifice, including child sacrifice, was central to most of the religions of the day. God was giving Abraham a very clear lesson: He was not that kind of deity. He is the God who creates, and life is precious to him.

How ironic then, that in a day that we remember a life being spared, in Iraq a life was taken. I was no fan of Saddam. I know many people who suffered directly and indirectly because of his harsh rule and, but for his regime (and the reaction of other countries to it), Iraq might today be a wealthy and peaceful country, the cradle of civilization. However executing him does not undo the damage. In fact in the long term it may inhibit the healing process for Iraqis, who will now not have the chance to have the wrongs done to them because of Saddam heard in court. Saddam is of course not the first person to be executed. There are of course many serious crimes such as murder and kidnapping being committed daily in Iraq, and the Iraqi courts are handing out the death penalty frequently and often on a tiny fraction of the evidence and judicial process that existed for Saddam. I have lost many friends in Iraq in recent years, and I can relate to the desire for punishment and revenge. But sadly I doubt this will set the foundation for the peaceful Iraq, respectful of human rights, that the long-suffering Iraqis deserve.

I would have preferred the punishment for Saddam that Norman Kember has suggested: for him to be dressed in an orange jumpsuit and put to work on a building site, ending his life repairing in a small way a tiny part of the destruction he brought upon his country. And we could think of a few other leaders closer to home who might justly be expected to join him in laying those bricks.

a little good news on Christmas Day

For a couple of months I've been trying to find someone to pay for the treatment of Badr, a 2 year old Iraqi boy who is the nephew of a friend whose father was killed by US soldiers last year and who has a life-threatening heart condition . Now I've just heard confirmation that, thanks to help from CIVIC, an American medical foundation has agreed to pay for him to be fully treated in a hospital in Ohio! Of course this is a small thing set against the hundreds being killed everyday, but at least this boy has a chance at life.

Bethlehem

CPT hostages call for forgiveness

I've just been to the press conference in London (at St.Ethelburgas, a church which was destroyed by an IRA bomb and is now a peace centre) where the former CPT hostages, Jim Loney, Norman Kember and Harmeet Singh Sooden called for restorative justice not the death penalty for their former captors:

"We unconditionally forgive our captors for abducting and holding us. We have no desire to punish them. Punishment can never restore what was taken from us. What our captors did was wrong. They caused us, our families and our friends great suffering. Yet we bear no malice towards them and have no wish for retribution. Should those who have been charged with holding us hostage be brought to trial and convicted, we ask that they be granted all possible leniency. We categorically lay aside any rights we may have over them... Kidnapping is a capital offence in Iraq and we understand that some of our captors could be sentenced to death. The death penalty is an irrevocable judgment. It erases all possibility that those who have harmed others, even seriously, can yet turn to good. We categorically oppose the death penalty." (Statement in full)

It is a very clear message and my friend Tom Fox, who was kidnapped with them but killed a few weeks before they were rescued, would have agreed wholeheartedly with it. In response to a question, Norman said "Tom was the most compassionate of the four of us. Whenever we heard a bomb go off somewhere in the city, Tom would immediately pray for both the victims and the perpetrators."

Separately... the BBC today reports on the pioneering grassroots video-blogging from Iraq that my friends Omar and Brian have been doing in Baghdad. Alive in Baghdad was being run from my flat in Amman earlier this year.

White poppy controversy

For years I've been quietly wearing a white poppy in the run up to Remembrance day (the 11th November, when Britons commemorate those who have died in wars, traditionally wearing the Red Poppy of the Royal British Legion which became a symbol due to the flowers that grew in the trenches of the 1st World War). Until this year, most people were unaware of the white poppy's meaning (as only 50,000 are worn annually compared to 10's of millions of red poppies) which is to honour the dead while not glorifying warfare, and expressing a commitment to non-violence.

This year things have suddenly changed with prominent TV personalities such as newsreader Jon Snow refusing to wear a poppy on air, and the fierce backlash in the media to my friends at Christian think tank Ekklesia encouraging churches to stock white poppies as well as red ones to give people the choice of what to wear and stimulate discussion on the myth of redemptive violence (the idea that long-term peace can be achieved through war). Simon Barrow's article "Giving peace a chance proves highly controversial" gives a good overview of the debate. See also the Peace Pledge Union's White Poppy site.

Interviews from Iraq

Brian has posted up some excellent interviews on his blog with some of my closest friends from Iraq. Merky talks about his detention in Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca, Majed talks about his first experiences after the war, and Sami of Muslim Peacemaker Teams relates the amazing story of a brave Sunni who died rescuing drowning Shias after a bridge collapse.

New opportunities for me, none for Iraq

Apparently my sister-in-law in Ohio regularly checks this blog for updates and has told me off for not writing more often. I've got a little to report today, as it's my last day working on Peacemakers and next week I'm starting work on From Crisis to Opportunity, a new project of the Oxford Research Group to develop more inclusive and legitimate approaches to conflict in the Middle East.

A bigger development for us is that Jenny is now in her third week with a small and quirky accountancy firm which focuses on auditing charities. As it will take Jenny three years to qualify as a chartered accountant, it looks likely that we will be staying in London for at least that long - also conviniently about the time needed for Jenny to get British citizenship.

Looking beyond our little lives, I haven't really got anything coherent to say about Iraq today. I'm in a catatonic state these days as the violence continues unabated. Rather than reading a rant from me, I direct you instead to my friend Zaid al-Ali's latest article on Opendemocracy critiquing Peter Galbraith's book on dividing Iraq. Also visit Riverbend who has blogged at last after a 2.5 month hiatus that got us all worried for her, and Jeff's new blog War Every Day on Electrionic Iraq. The BBC aired a powerful and distressing documentary this week filmed by a doctor in Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad - it shows the real results of the violence in Iraq which we rarely see.

If you are in London on Sunday go and join in the No More Fallujah's peace camp outside Parliament. I might join it if I can get back in time from Birmingham where we're doing a workshop on CPT at a Fellowship of Reconciliation conference.

Palestinians with no where to flee

Human Rights Watch has just published a report No Where to Flee: The Perilous Situation of Palestinians in Iraq. Through Christian Peacemaker Teams I've had close contact with many Palestinians in Iraq and know those who are in hiding in Baghdad, stuck in border refugee camps and a very few who have made it safely out of Iraq.

We will not be silent

Before the Monarch flight debacle there was another example of Islamophobia on a flight from New York to San Francisco on August 12. My close friend Raed Jarrar, a secular Iraqi-Palestinian who was groomsman at my wedding in June (when you follow the link he's on at the top of the steps in the first photo throwing confetti and on the left of the second photo), was flying back from NY to rejoin his American wife Niki in San Francisco. He is a prominent figure in the peace movement and was wearing a T-shirt saying "We will not be silent" in English and Arabic (a slogan first used by opponents to Nazi rule in Germany). But JetBlue airlines decided to silence him, insisting that he remove his T-shirt in case it worried other passangers. Raed explained "I grew up and spent all my life living under authoritarian regimes and I know that these things happen. But I'm shocked that they happened to me here, in the US." (see his blog for more). You can call JetBlue on 001-801-365-2525 to ask them why he was treated like this. The Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee have lodged a formal complaint.

Today the story featured as a front page item on BBC News (and elsewhere)

Peacemakers

I've just started working on a project Peacemakers launched after the 7/7 bombings in London last year to build bridges with the British Muslim community. It's a range of multi-media products (films, commericals, a photo exhibit, a music video, teachers guide book etc.) showcasing the lives of ordinary Muslim, Christian and secular Brits and peacemakers from these communities. The materials are due to be completed towards the end of the year and I'm working on organising consultation with stakeholders (particularly the Muslim community) and figuring out how to best distribute them through schools, churches, broadcasts etc.

If anyone reading this is going to be at Greenbelt this bank holiday weekend, I'll be hanging about the Peace Zone with friends from Christian International Peace Service and Christian Peacemaker Teams UK and others, so come and say hello!

What to do for Lebanon?

(1) Stay informed: Wikipedia, ElectionicLebanon.net, JuanCole.com, DahrJamailiraq.com, beirut.indymedia.org, lebanonupdates, Siegeoflebanon, Tadamon, Daily Star (Lebanese paper), Haaretz (Israeli paper), Jerusalem Post (right-wing Israeli paper), IsraellyCool, Lebanese Bloggers Forum, Lebanese blog Aggregator

(2) Protest the war. You can do this in demonstrations, letter writing etc. to your own government officials and to Israeli embassies. Some resources for this: www.saveleb.org, www.stopwar.org.uk

(3) Support refugees. At least a quarter of the Lebanese population of 4m have fled the country to Syria and beyond or been internally displaced. There are hundreds of thousands squating in schools and other buildings in Beirut with dwindling supplies. Here are some good organisations working with them you can donate to: FDCD, Sanayeh Relief Center, ICRC, Christian Aid, Toys for refugee childen (set up by some friends in Jordan)more donation options

(4) Remember the dead. I'm looking into establishing a Lebanon Body Count, similar to Iraq Body Count, to use media reports to create a record of all those killed (including Israeli civilians). If you'd like to volunteer to help with this let me know. We particularly need people who also speak Arabic/French. Israeli peace activists would be particularly welcome.

(5) Assert the rule of law. Some Lebanese friends are working to systematically document the damage caused by this war to people and property, with a view to making legal redress. Unfortunately it is very difficult to bring cases related to war crimes when a country such as Israel doesn't sign international treaties and otherwise immunises itself, however it's important that we try. Lawyers to research options for cases against the Israeli government, soliders or officials, as well as potential volunteers to help with the documentation on the ground in Lebanon would be particularly helpful. See Sue Israel. Also see excellent reports by Human Rights Watch on war crimes being committed.

(6) Peace March to the South. A group of Lebanese friends are looking into organising a march from Beirut to Qana and possibly to the border (ideally to be met by an Israeli peace march from the South) to highlight the plight of civilians trapped by fear and destroyed roads in the Israeli kill zone, remember all the dead and demand a ceasefire. If this happens international accompanyment and publicist in the media will be critical - consider if you can fly out to the region within the next week, maybe get a Syrian visa and look into flights in preperation. UPDATE: A similar idea is being developed by www.lebanonsolidarity.org who are planning convoys to the South on 12th and 19th August.

Pit Stop Ploughshares - Not Guilty

On 3rd Feburary 2003, five Irish Christian peace activists slipped into Shannon airbase in southern Ireland (through which 1000 US soldiers pass each day) and disabled a US war plane bound for Iraq with their household hammers. Today an Irish jury found them NOT GUILTY, accepting their defence that their action to damage property was intended to prevent a greater crime. This further strengths the precident set in England ten years ago when the Seeds of Hope Ploughshares affinity group damaged a Hawk fighter due for export to Indonesia (and likely to be used for repression in East Timor). This should encourage people everywhere to stand up against violence and conduct civilian disarmament actions.

Casus Bellum: Hizbollah's three grievances

I've just come across an excellent article, written at the start of the current conflict, which lays our clearly the genuine grievances Hizbollah (and Lebanon as a whole) had against Israel as of 12 July. Its by the Council for the National Interest, a lobby group founded (surprisingly) by a veteran Republican Congressman aiming to counterbalance the Israeli lobby in Washington.

"No one is denying the right of a nation or a people to defend itself. But Israel does not have the right to destroy bridges, roads, power stations and international airports in a vindictive show of force, in what will likely be a futile attempt to force the release of the two soldiers captured near the border. The right to defend a nation of people also applies to even the followers of Hezbollah trying to regain still-occupied territory and prisoners held illegally by Israel. There are real issues between Lebanon and Israel that should have been settled with the help of the United States long ago.

(1) Israel failed to keep her promise to make available maps of the 140,000 mines she left behind in Lebanon.

(2) Three small sectors of land overlooking the Litani River [Sheba Farms] were retained by Israel and were the cause of complaints from the government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, not just Hezbollah.

(3) The three Lebanese prisoners that were moved by Israel, contrary to the Geneva Convention prohibition against an occupying power transporting prisoners into its own territory, should have been returned long ago.

The U.S. has ignored all three complaints made repeatedly by the Siniora government. The Council for the National Interest delegation to the Palestinian elections also visited Beirut and talked with all factions from the President on down. In almost every case, the three issues cited above were mentioned and an appeal was made for the United States to take some action before it was too late. That was six months ago."

A word from the wise on Lebanon

The backbone of almost every UN mission in the Middle East (and plenty outside it) are invariably Palestinians. The grow up in the West Bank, Gaza or one of the camps in Syria, Lebanon or Jordan and start working in some basic capacity for UNRWA. Gradually they work their way up and prove their worth, and the cream of Palestinian society (highly educated because study is one of the few life options that is open to them) gets skimmed off and dropped into UN missions across the region. Unlike other nationals who can only stomach the Middle East for a year or two, the Palestinian UN employees will stick around for decades - for one thing they have no where else to go, no chance of other similarly salaried employement (by which they are supporting dozens of family and friends back in Palestine who have no hope whatsoever of an income). They also speak Arabic of course, which is surprisingly uncommon for UN missions in the region, and generally flawless English to boot. So if you want to understand what's going on in Sudan, Iraq or wherever, don't go and talk to the senior UN officials, but find a Palestinian somewhere, even in the admin office, and ask them the score.

I was doing just that earlier today and over the course of an hour learnt more about the current conflicts than I would from a year reading the New York Times. Take for example the news just in that Syria has refused to admit a UN delegation on Lebanon if it including Terje Roed-Larson. "This is no surprise" my Palestinian friends said "Roed-Larson is despised in Palestine because of his closeness to the Israelis and Americans and the Syrians know how biast he is. If he returned to Gaza [where he used to be UN envoy] he'd be killed in 24hrs." They also put forward the plausible thesis of a tension between the US and Israel over involving Syria in the current hostilities "The Americans want the Israelis to use the opportunity to ravage Syria as well as Lebanon, but the Israelis are smarter and actually want to eventually achieve a peace treaty with Syria, as they have with Egypt and Jordan, and so they are unwilling to follow the US instructions. The Israelis are past masters at getting the Americans to do their bidding without ever returning the favour." But in the case of Lebanon they are sure that the normally savvy Israelis have made a big blunder: "Hizbollah were actually a very decent foe to have on their northern border. They had clear objectives (the release of prisoners, the return of Shebaa farms) which the Israelis could have negotiated successfully on and, until now, have actually been very restrained in their methods, in spite of all the attempts to paint them as terrorists. However what is likely to emerge out of this catastrophe is a very agressive enemy on Israel's north following the instructions of Iran far more heavily than Hizbollah currently does." In fact they think that combined with the chaos in Iraq the latest Israeli assault is likely to result in an ongoing regional conflict from which Israel will not actually benefit and the people of the region will suffer horrendously.

The end of Iraqi Democracy

Within the next 12 months there is likely to be a bloody Coup de-tat by senior officers in the Iraqi Army and those close to them. It will entail killing of a large number of the leaders in the current (many of whom are aquiantances or friends) and certainly the murder of Ayatollah Sistani and others in the religious leadership. This is the view of some of the most experienced Iraq analysts I know working in Baghdad at the moment. They can even point out the most likely coup leaders. The only thing which is required is for (a) the sectarian violence to get even worse, which its fairly certain and (b) for the US to give a tacit nod of approval. This is beginning to look like their only exit strategy. It will spell the end of for Wolfowitz's supposed dream of a democratic Iraq and more importantly the hopes of the Iraqi people for self-determination. But if it can bring an end to the sectarianism and insecurity than maybe they'll accept a coup with open arms. This is all deeply depressing. Hundreds of Thousands will have been killed, millions impoverished and made refugees and the country's infrastructure devestated - all leading up to a new Saddam. Maybe this won't happen. But some experts seem to be predicting it and quietly hoping for it as well.

Electronic Lebanon

My friends behind the excellent Electronic Iraq and Electronic Intifada websites have just launched a similar aggregator of news and eye-witness accounts: www.electroniclebanon.net

An eye for an eye

The famous Biblical quotation "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" (Exodus 21:23-27) is often misused as a justification for revenge and retributive justice. In fact it was instigated by Moses as a law of limitation. In Genesis there are a number of examples of people who took extreme revenge, massacering whole familes in revenge for an injury. The lex talionis inisted instead that at most the punishment for a crime should be proportionate (and that it should be exacted through a judicial process not on individual initative). Jesus challenged his disciples to go beyond this and apply a restorative justice of forgiveness and love, but let us stick now with the older Jewish law of limitation.

Do Israel's current actions in Lebanon adhere to the Jewish law of limitation? A large proportion of Israelis are secular, but given that its very identity and exclusivity are defined on Jewishness, it seems reasonable to ask whether its action match up to the standards of Jewish law.

The crime: On 13 July Hizbollah crossed into Israel in a raid which captured two soldiers and killed a further eight in the raid itself and the Israeli pursuit back into Lebanon. In the longer term, since Israel withdrew from most of southern Lebanon in 2000 (bar the disputed Sheba Farms area) Hizbollah has sporadically fired rockets into Israel causing occassional casualties (for which Israel has general responded tit-for-tat by striking Hizbollah positions). Since the Israeli attack begun it has intensified the rocket barrage and fired about 700 at last count, killing about a dozen civilians (and claiming to show some restrain by not chosing to targeting sites such as the Haifa petro-chemical plant which could cause significant casualties).

The response: For a week Israel, using its overwhelming military superiority, has bombed targets not only in Hizbollah areas but across the whole of Lebanon. Tripoli a Sunni town and the Christian towns of Zahle & Hadath have been bombed, amoung many others - these are areas where there is next to no support for Hizbollah. Lebanons only airport (which I've flow through 4 times this year) has been devestated, as have many of its roads, bridges, power stations and other infrastructure. The last count I heard on the BBC was 180 civilians killed and 450 injured. More significantly Lebanon's economy, which was finally on the road to recovery 16 years after the end of the civil war, has been set back by many years. Businesses who were beginning to relocate back to Lebanon and tourists who were starting to enjoy the cosmopolitan country will leave and not come back any time soon. This, more than the direct damage and casualties, will be the lasting legacy of the Israeli assault. Hizbollah plucked out an eye and Israel has ravaged the whole body not merely of Hizbollah but of the entire Lebanese polity.

We should not forget that while eyes are turned to Lebanon now, the daily death count in Iraq is often in the hundreds (at least 5818 killed in May and June alone), the level of suffering there is far greater. However, whereas Iraq has been in a fairly hopeless state for years now as a result of American bunders, Lebanon was one of the few areas in the region where things were looking hopeful. The Syria occupation had ended last year and the economy was begining to bloom. Now it is ruined. Killing hope is a very serious crime indeed.

I had a surreal time yestarday evening, sitting down by the Dead Sea watching a beautiful red sun set over the mountains on the Israeli side. I was with some friends (American, British and Algerian) from the UN in Beirut who'd had a 30 hour coach journey exacuating via Syria. They were deeply depressed about what has happened, each with horrific stories of the devastation and the undoing of a city, country and people they'd come to cherish.

Support refugees in Lebanon

I've just received a request for donations for refugee relief in Lebanon from my friend Sam Rizk who runs the Forum for Development, Culture and Dialogue, an arab peacebuilding NGO which works across the region but is actually based in Beirut. They are trying to raise $150,000 for initial work providing food, hygiene and bedding to 1500 refugees from the South. This document provides the background for the relief project and includes details of their account for donations. One of the great dangers of the Israeli assault is that it could re-ignite the civil war. This project which is bringing together Lebanese churches and Islamic NGOs to provide relief to the mainly Shia refugees is the sort of initiative which can help bind Lebanese society together at this difficult time. Please make donations and encourage your churches, mosques, workplaces etc. to take collections for it.

Accounts from Lebanon

I arrived in Jordan at 5.30am this morning. As ever the Hashemite Kingdom is a little oasis of peace in the region. I'm only about 100 miles from Beirut but of course there is no immediate sign of that conflict here. I haven't yet had a chance to talk to many Jordanians, but I intend to do that and join in with any demonstations happening here in the coming days. I emailed a dozen friends in Lebanon and have heard back from only four so far of them saying they're safe. It seem communications are difficult, with one friend saying he had to try 30 times to make an international phone call and another mentioned that even the phone and email for the UN offices in Beirut are all down.

A Lebanese Indymedia activist writes: "The Israeli offensive against Lebanon is an act of aggression against the whole Lebanese people. The IDF claims to be attacking an “infrastructure of terror”, but the attacks on bridges, roads, airports and ships are cutting the country into pieces, threatening to create a disastrous situation by impeding the transportation of food and medicines, and terrorizing everyone. Besides the hundreds killed and injured, thousands of people are fleeing the country, and thousands of people are fleeing from the areas where the bombing is heaviest into central Beirut. Even here in the “safe” parts of the city we can hear the bombs throughout the day and night, and electrical and water supplies are tenuous. Political and civil society organizations here are organizing to help people deal with the effects of the invasion, but there is only so much we can do on our own. We are calling on our brothers and sisters in the rest of the world to do two things to help us. First we call on you to protest at Israeli embassies and consulates, as we hear some groups are already doing. The Israeli government must be held accountable for its criminal and terroristic actions here and in Palestine. We also ask you to send us information about any such protests you carry out. Secondly we are asking you to help us with our work with displaced people here in Beirut. The group we are part of, the Relief Center - Spears, is working in 23 schools in the central areas of Beirut, which were housing more than 5,000 people as of the night of July 15th (we don’t know how many thousands more are in other areas). People there are sleeping 10 or 15 to a room without enough mattresses, and they are only receiving food and water irregularly from the government. Many are children or elderly, and except for trauma centers the only medical care is being provided by volunteers organized by the Relief Center. These volunteers are lacking the medicines and other supplies they need to care for people. Media activists here will shortly be distributing videos documenting the situation in these schools, which will only get worse if nothing is done. Besides the humanitarian aspect of the situation, helping displaced people is crucial to the reconstruction of Lebanon after this crisis ends. One aspect of the Israeli offensive is an attempt to foment tensions between different cultural groups in Lebanon. This is the only way they can hope to achieve their goals without an all-out war, but in the end it would do more damage to Lebanese society than any amount of physical destruction. A broad relief effort is an essential part of avoiding such a disaster. We urgently need money to buy the supplies we need to help the internally displaced population here." We ask everyone who can to send donations, however small, the Relief Committee – Spears in the care of the following two people by bank transfer.

c/o Georges Azzi:
- Bank Name: Credit Libanais SAL Beirut – Agence Sassine
- Swift Code: CLIBLBX
- Client Name: M. Al Azzi Georges Chaker
- Account Number: 0430012080006817356

c/o Bassem Chit:
- Bank Name: SociÈtÈ GÈnÈrale de Banque au Liban – Hamra Branch
- Swift Code: SGLILBBX
- Client Name: Bassem Chit
- Account Number: 007004362092875014 or 007004367092875014

Here is a petition you can sign which a Lebanese friend asked me to publicise. It seems to have been started by the Free Patriotic Movement of Michel Aoun.


An American university professor married to a Lebanese lady writes: "Greetings from a country on the verge of total destruction! I am in Beirut for a few hours this morning because my wife needs to do some medical tests that they only can carry out properly at the American University Hospital. We spent the last four days outside of Bhumdoun, at 1,000 metres, overlooking the burning capital city. For some reason it has been very foggy, so we were spared the sight most of the time. All the alpine resort towns were emptied of Gulf tourists on Thursday and started filling up with refugees from the south and Beirut on Sunday, so supplies are now starting to get tight. If any of you are wondering what you can do to help the Lebanese people, there is really only one way. The country's infrastructure is being systematically destroyed by sea and air, and we expect Israeli land expeditionary forces sometime soon. This week will be hell for us. Please contact your respective governments, local, regional and national, as well as the EU if you live there. The only way to slow down the Israeli war machine and prevent them from totally destroying Lebanon is to make them aware that the world is not only watching them, but also sincerely cares about the Arab populations in the Middle East, Muslim, Christian and secular. There must be an international tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity after this carnage. Please do whatever you can to make the Israeli government and Israeli people aware that they (along with everbody else) will be held accountable for their actions. There must he no impunity in this war."

Some more links: A Lebanese discussion forum on the war - already there are 190,000 posts on it. ShoofiMafi is a youth-orientated webzine with some coverage. Human Rights Watch explains the relevance of international humanitarian law to this situation. Finally my journalist friend Dahr Jamail arrived in Syria a few days before this all started and is producing some excellent reports on his blog.

More on our wedding registry...

I'm afraid that the story about our fairly unremarkable wedding registry (in our eyes) just won't die. The latest article is Charity Begins At the Altar in the Chicago Tribune who even sent a photographer around to snap us in London last week. "It might seem that Alexander and Elliott, who fell in love while doing volunteer work in the West Bank, have a one-of-a-kind wedding registry, an altruistic gift list that does not include a single request for place settings or Tupperware. But statistics show they are just one couple among thousands leading a burgeoning, multimillion-dollar trend: using a ceremony that celebrates love as a way to help people caught in the grip of poverty."

UPDATE: Yet more coverage... the Chicago Tribune article has been syndicated around US local papers, usually on 21 July under the title "Giving Cupid a shot at Charity" in Belleville News-Democrat, IL, San Luis Obispo Tribune, CA, Monterey County Herald, CA, Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC, Duluth News Tribune, MN, Macon Telegraph, GA, Biloxi Sun Herald, The State, SC, Bradenton Herald, Kentucky.com, Contra Costa Times, CA, Centre Daily Times, PA, Grand Forks Herald, ND, Charlotte Observer, NC, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, GA, Kansas City Star, MO, Wichita Eagle, KS... and probably elsewhere (as I didn't run this search until late August by which time Googlenews wasn't picking up articles before 21st July. It was also mentioned in the Christian Century on 8 August, and in the Victoria Advoacate, TX on 13 August.

Attack on Lebanon

"In my judgment, the best way to stop the violence is to understand why the violence occurred in the first place." For once I agree with President Bush. Unfortunately his analysis of causes turns out to be a little limited as he continued: "And that's because Hezbollah has been launching rocket attacks out of Lebanon into Israel and because Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers. The best way to stop the violence is for Hizbollah to lay down its arms and to stop attacking."

Lets step back and give the President a brief history lesson. In 1948 and again in 1967 European Jewish settlers drove millions of Palestinians out of their land. A large number ended up in camps in neighbouring Lebanon, thereby destabalising the newly created country (carved out of Syria by the French to be a Marionite-majority state) with a delicate balance of over a dozen sects (Shia, Suni, Druze and Marionite Christian being the largest). By 1975 the tensions resulting from the presence of Palestinians exploded into the Lebanese Civil War which lasted until 1990 and claimed over 100,000 lives in the tiny nation [Pity the Nation by Robert Fisk is still the classic history of the war]. Israel invaded first in 1978 (but withdrew after UN condemnation) and again in 1982 under Ariel Sharon, initially pushing into the country as far as Beirut (during which Sharon's Phalangelist allies - a Marionite militia ironically styled on the Nazis - notoriously massacred thousands of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps). Israel withdrew to the South of Lebanon which it occupied until 2000.

Southern Lebanon, as it turns out, is the heartland of the country's Shia Muslims - largely poor and rural and now the largest grouping, representing perhaps 45% of the population (exact population statistics are a delicate issue in Lebanons political system which allocates certain numbers of seats in Parliament to each sect, but the birth rate of the Shia has caused the biggest demographic shift in Lebanon's history). The presence of Israeli troops and proxy militias catalysed the formation of Hizbollah ("Party of God" in Arabic) as a Shia Islamicist resistance force, with close links to Iran and Syria. When Israel finally withdrew in 2000 Hizbollah naturally claimed this as a victory. A small area on the border called Shebaa Farms remains contested and Israel and Hizbollah have been exchanging fire at relatively low levels for the past six years. Hizbollah has also been calling for a long time for the release of its members captured over the years by Israel.

The Lebanese elections in 2005, following the assassination of former PM Rafiq Hariri, changed the situation dramatically. Firstly Hizbollah became a powerful force in parliament, increasing its representation from 8 to 23 out of 128 MPs (still far below what they would have got in a national proportional representation electoral system). Secondly Syria, which like Israel had been interfering in Lebanon since the Civil War, finally withdrew its soldiers. Although Syria and Hizbollah are traditionally close, the Syrian army probably exerted some restain on Hizbollah (quite the reverse of what Israel may claim) which has reduced since the withdrawal.

So with all this background, my quick summary of causes for President Bush are: Hizbollah (whose identity is based on resistance to the 18yr Israeli occupation), emboldened by its increasing political representation and freedom of action since the Syrian withrawal, has been openly looking for leverage to negotiate a prisoner release. Perhaps imspired by the Palestinian attack on an Israeli military base near Gaza last month, Hizbollah launched one of its largest strikes across the border, destroying two Israeli Humvees, a tank, killing 8 soldiers and capturing 2. Hizbollah then expressed its openness for a prisoner exchange with Israel, something which has happened before.

Instead of negotiations, Israel, with overwhelming military superiority, launched a massive campaign not solely against Hizbollah but across the whole of Lebanon including bombing the airport (which I have flown through 3 times this years, and which some English friends flew out of just a few hours before the first Israeli strike), roads, petrol stations etc. killing over 70 civilians at the current count. Quite apart from the fact that this is collective punishment of the Lebanese people on a massive scale, there is no way Hizbollah is going to roll over in response. This is not going to bring about the release of the two Israeli POWs (who I'd like to see back with their families). What it will do is devesate Lebanon's economy, which had only really begun to recover three decades after the start of the Civil War (Dan Halutz, Chief of Israel's Army, has made the shocking threat to "take Lebanon 20 years back"), kill many more innocent civilians, and possibly reignite the civil war if the Lebanese government is forced to crack down on Hizbollah. Interestingly in both Gaza and Lebanon Israel reacts with much more agression whenever its army is attacked than when there are suicide bombings or other attacks on civilians.

If President Bush would only take his own advice and understand the causes then he would be the best placed person to stop the violence. Sadly this is unlikely to happen. I had lunch today with a Jewish friend in London who posed the question "how does Israel think it can get away with this?" and the answer of course is that it has been getting away with massive collective punishment as "defense" and "response to terrorism" in the West Bank and Gaza for decades (today it even bombed that bastion of terrorism - the Ministry of Economy in Gaza).

Having written all this, I find as usual the Wikipedia community has already done a much better job which will stay updated unlike this blog entry.Here is the BBC's coverage which is ok so far. From more detailed coverage see the Electronic Intifada. Blogs: Joshua Landis, gives the perspective of an American in Damascus. Prof. Juan Cole sees things in the region more clearly from Michigan than most people on the ground. Here is a collections of Lebanese blogs on Open Lebanon.

Our UK wedding

Not content with just one wedding, we had a second ceromony in London last Saturday (8th July) to involve our friends here. It was a really fun day and it was wonderful seeing everyone and watching new friendships (and possibly new romances...) forming amongst our guests. Some photos have been posted online by Tim, which at the moment are the only ones we have - if you took any please could you email them to me in as high a resolution as you can. Here is a copy of the service sheet.

Seasoned Justin & Jenny groupie Milan Rai, among a handful to attend both US & UK halves of the wedding (ust our parents, best man Tim and groomsmen George and Adi), writes more of his always interesting reflections. If anyone else has blogged about the wedding let me know so I can link to it.

Why the US won't employ Arabists

There's an important article in Newsweek about the US government refusing to employ Danny Kopp who recently moved back to the US last year after spending his life in Jerusalem where his parents pastor the Baptist church. He speaks perfectly fluent Arabic and understands the region better than anyone I know but apparently he is considered to be "too close". When my wife Jenny was considering applying for a job with the State Department a few years ago she was told that although she would pass all the examinations there was no way she would be posted to the Middle East precisely because of her experience there - they just wanted people who can "represent American culture and policy" not genuinely engage with the countries where they are posted. The State Department told Newsweek that its arabic-speaking staff had only increased by 15% since 2001 - so in 5 years in which the US has spent over a trillion dollars in Homeland Security and in obliterating Iraq it has made no effort to hire people who actually understand the issues. Its no surprise that US policy in the Middle East (not to mention elsewhere) is such a mess if they filter out the very people who could craft a sane and sensitive engagement. The British Foreign Office has its own problems, but it at least promotes Arabists rather than blocking them.

Newsweek also has an interview with Rev. Andrew White, the vicar of the Anglican church in Iraq and a close friend whose political views are essentially the opposite of mine but who's love for all the people of Iraq is very genuine.

More articles about our registry and wedding

I just did a Google and found some more articles about our Wedding registry that I wasn't aware of. We continue to find the interest amusing as we didn't think that asking for charitable donations as wedding presents was particularly unusual and really is one of the least strange things about our lives! Here a good piece in the Rocky Mountain News (Colarado paper) "Some save a piece of the wedding cake for the needy". Here's the press release that The Big Day (who managed our registry) sent out about us, I should note that the figures given in it for the number of beneficiaries are incorrect.

After all the embarrasing praise we've had for the rather unremarkable act of including some opinions for donations in our wedding registry, its rather refreshing to see this critical article by Lindor Reynolds in the Winnipeg Free Press "Save the world, fund a honeymoon" (here is the Google cache of it to avoid registering). "I've found the registry for do-gooders Jenny and Justin... [thence follows a list of both the charitable items on our registry and items related to our honeymoon]... Maybe it's me, but didn't it used to be traditional to have the honeymoon you could actually afford? And not to call it charity if it's just wrapped around a list of extravagant desires?" Ouch. In response to Linor, let me explain the thinking behind our registry. As people whose lives are split between many countries lot and who anyway don't like being cluttered with lots of possessions we asked most of our guests not to buy the standard wedding gifts. We would have been quite happy with peoples presence and/or prayers, but people naturally like to buy gifts at weddings, and so when we came across a website which enabled people to give cash instead of objects, but to do in a more personal way of contributing towards our honeymoon, this made sense. And as a time when a lot of money is being spent on our wedding and honeymoon, we didn't want to forget others, hence the inclusion of donations for medical aid for Iraqi children, funds to support a Palestinian friend's wedding and provision of livestock for subsistance farmers through Heifer International. So far we've had a total of 63 gifts to these three causes, totalling over $1200 and representing more than a quarter of the gifts we've recieved. We're grateful to everyone who's given. Interestingly the most (outrageously) generous gift we received came from an Iraqi.

I've just seen that Mil Rai has blogged about the wedding. He's an amazing Nepalese-English activist/writer who took a day out of his US speaking tour to attend the wedding. I didn't get more than 2 minutes to talk to him (this is the way with weddings) but I was so delighted he came and his reflections are interesting reading as always: The Resistance Wedding, Christian Song, Resistance Wedding Litany, The Other Cheek (his final post raises some important questions which I'll blog a response to in the future).

Back from Honeymoon!

We had a wonderful honeymoon in St.Lucia, in spite of Jenny getting stung about 200 times by tiny jelly fish while diving. We're now in Missouri where she is packing up her life in preperation to move to London on Sunday (her UK settlement visa came through in double quick time, el-hamdullilah). Next week will be busy planning the UK-half of the wedding festivities (i hope to see lots of you there!) and also we're trying to find interesting jobs related to the Middle East / conflict resolution / development etc. (any ideas welcome!). Our official wedding photos are online here (I gave the wrong link before) and there are also some on Raed's and David's and Tim's websites.

Married!

Can you believe it? I'm struggling to! Some pre-wedding photos should be posted here and I'll put up a link to the Wedding day photos as soon as they're online (any guest reading this please email us any snaps you took). We're off on honeymoon in an hour so bye for now! - A very happy Justin.

Our wedding registry story on St.Louis TV

Jenny and I thought that probably the most normal thing about our relationship was our wedding registry, but somehow the media have got interested in it. KMOV, the local TV station in St.Louis came and interviewed us about it today and it aired on the 5pm news and is the most viewed news item on their website here. Its kinda embarrassing. Watch out for the bit in the video where they zoom in on me picking a piece of lint out of Jenny's hair - apparently the camera was running when they were sorting out the sound levels and they chose to play this - it's a bit like the intro to Farenheit 911 which catches Wolfowitz, Bush and others making faces and doing their hair prior to interviews when they don't realise the camera is running! The reporter apparently thinks everything in life comes in 20s, i'm not sure where she got that from, also her description of Tuwani "a village in West Bank where almost everyone lives in caves with their sheep" sounds a bit funny but actually isn't too far from the truth.

They edited out all the politics in our interview of course. For the record there's a reason why Palestinians need sheep donated - because the settlers kill their folks and because of the economic blockade by Israel and the West. Also, Iraqi children wouldn't be needing medical aid - in a country which used to have good universal free health care - unless we'd seriously messed the place up through our wars, sanctions and occupation... Anyhow I can't blog any more as we're deep into wedding planning and Jenny is pulling me away from the computer...

Pre-wedding photos

Jenny and I wandered out in St. Louis' Forest Park (the largest municipal park in the US, twice the size of Central Park) with a photographer friend of the family to get some pre-wedding photos as we have very few decent ones of us together. The full set is here

Our wedding in the Globe and Mail...

This is hilarious article about"ALT WEDDING REGISTRIES" by Karen Von Hann in Canadian Globe & Mail (3 June 2006) mentioning our wedding registry, which the journalist stumbled acro

"What to get the couple who have everything? How about livestock? When Jenny, 24, and Justin, 27, tie the knot next week, the two Christian peacemakers, who are based in Amman, have asked their wedding guests to chip in for sheep and goats for needy Arab families. "Justin and I don't feel the need to develop an extensive dining collection," explains Elliott, who believes that "having a lot of things just weighs you down." She adds: "We want our wedding to reflect our values and set the tone for our lives, so this made sense." As it happens, Jenny and Justin may be trendsetters, yet they are also an altruistic exception. Most couples, finding themselves with little need for the traditional essentials of setting up house, are finding novel ways to romance what they see essentially as an opportunity." [continued...]

So I turned 28 this morning - yikes! I'm leaving the Middle East in a few days to head to St.Louis Missouri for the wedding (on 17 June) then honeymooning in the Caribbean then settling in London and franctically searching for jobs for Jenny and myself. It feels strange and in a way disloyal to be moving on with my life when so many friends are trapped in Iraq with little hope. Still my Iraqi friends have given me their blessing, and while I probably won't be in the country for a while I'll try to stay involved. CPT-UK held a retreat this weekend, reported here, sadly as I'm not in country yet I couldn't attend.

Chomsky on CPT

Speaking at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon this week, Noam Chomsky painted a gloomy picture of international affairs under the US empire. At the end, when he was asked by a member of his audience "Is there any hope?", he mentioned "International solidarity movements, such as those in Central America and Palestine, and Christian Peacemaker Teams, who actually go to places being bombed by the U.S. and live with the people." On this note, here is an article in the Scotsman about Jan Benvie who did CPT training with my in Jan 2005 and is now joining them full time. Also here is an interview (Realaudio format)on CBC with former hostage Jim Loney.

Memorial service for Tom Fox

Today there is a memorial service for Tom Fox in Washington. As I'm here in Baghdad I sadly can't attend, but I remember his simplicity, commitment to Iraq and non-violence, practicality and gentle nature. He was far from a perfect man, but Jesus shone through him very clearly. Here are a few words written for his memorial by Norman Kember, who spent the first 3 months with him in captivity:

"His loyalty to the CPT ethic of nonviolence was outstanding. He led worship in Quaker style and in Bible Study followed the 4 exercises for each: first impressions, relevance to our life experience, difficulties in understanding and how the message would change our life. His contributions to these discussions were often profound and based on his extensive reading. It was like having Rene Gerard present with us. I remember Tom for his outstanding humanity. We often heard explosions in the city and he would pray for the victims and their families. He reminded us that our deprivations in captivity were paralleled by those in the lives of many in Iraq and the wider world. In captivity he volunteered to take on the greater discomforts. In the many hours of talks together he gave us insights into his love of music, of the natural world and his family. I salute Tom Fox."

Easter Freedom

Holy Saturday is an appropriate time to be in Baghdad. In the Gospels it is a time of gloom. Jesus has been seized by a religious militia, brutally tortured and then executed. His lifeless and mutilated body is lying in a stone tomb. His family and disciples have run out of hope and were probably afraid also for their own lives.

That situation has a immediate resonance here in Iraq. Today dozens of families will be searching through the gruesome photographs in Baghdad morgue, in search of answers they do not want to find, or discretely burying a loved one with a single executioners bullet hole in his head. The situation here is very dark indeed, as one Iraqi told me today about a vision of "a huge devil hovering over the whole country." But... we know that Holy Saturday is not the end of the story... tomorrow comes resurrection. Iraq may have to wait a little longer than that for a new government, let along a new life for its people, but as I worshiped today with the Iraqi congregation of St.Georges Baghdad, shared communion and heard their stories of suffering, I was strengthened by their faith that though the situation remains grim Jesus has indeed conquered the power of death.

As my CPT friend Jim Loney, who was freed from his kidnappers in Baghdad last month, eloquently writes today in the Toronto Star: "There are no easy answers. We must all find our way through a broken world, struggling with the paradox of call and failure. My captivity and rescue have helped me to catch a glimpse of how powerful the force of resurrection is. Christ, that tomb-busting suffering servant Son of God, seeks us wherever we are, reaches for us in whatever darkness we inhabit. May we reach for each other with that same persistence. The tomb is not the final word."

Response to critics of CPT

They media coverage over the past few days has been a depressing postscript to the freedom from captivity of Jim, Harmeet and Norman. Almost as soon as their bonds were cut loose the attacks began, showing little sensitivity to their families and the 3 men who had also just been informed about Tom's death. One radio programme in the US told its listeners to phone the CPT offices in Chicago and Toronto and jam their phone lines. I have personally recieved some hate mail and those more centrally involved in CPT have recieved torrents of it.

A principle allegation is that the hostages and CPT as an organisation did not express gratitute to the military personel involved in their release. This allegation has been most widely reported through quoting General Sir Michael Jackson who spoke to Channel 4 News on Friday evening saying that “saddened that there doesn’t seem to have been a note of gratitude for the soldiers who risked their lives to save those lives”.

While it is true that CPT's first press release on Thursday morning did not contain specific thanks to soldiers, it is because this was released in the middle of the night in Canada, at 3.30am EST, when CPT had just recieved a phone call from Jim Loney's family saying that the three were free. At that stage CPT had no further details of what had happened and so issued a simple statement rejocing in their freedom and remembering Tom Fox. As soon as details emerged they issued an addenda to the statement that evening expressing specific thanks. This came a day before General Jackson's comments to Channel 4 News (which in fact he qualified on that interview by saying a thank-you may have been issued, but if so he was not aware of it - this qualification has usually been cut out from quotations). Furthermore in their first statements upon arriving home in England, Canada and New Zealand, all of the three men have expressed thanks to those involved in their release. Also, more important than press statements, the three men thanked the people who helped them face to face when they were in Baghdad.

As for other media attacks such as accusations of naivite etc., see this excellent set of responses to criticisms prepared by the religious think-tank Ekklesia.

In any case, it is better being attacked than ignored, it a sign that the powers-that-be are feeling uncomfortable. Jesus told his followers to expect things like this: "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:11-12).

Rescue of CPT hostages!

This is wonderful news this morning that Norman, Jim and Harmeet my CPT colleagues were rescued this morning. The reports I have heard so far say that no one was harmed in the release, and if this is true then that is a relief as none of the three would want anyone to be killed to secure their freedom. I am grateful for the many people who worked for their release, both those involved in this operation and moveover the dozens of Iraqi and Muslim friends who have supported us over the last 4 months, and particularly those who put themselves in danger in the process.

Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, has said that this operation justifies that continued Coalition military presence in Iraq. I know that all the former hostages will reject this. They came to Iraq to stand with Iraqis against the abuses perpatrated by the Coalition, and it is because of the actions of the Coalition that Iraq is in such a state of chaos where kidnapping is commonplace and where any foreigners are particular prized targets.

I'm going to keep updating this page today as facts emerge

LOCATION: The Interior Ministry says they were found northwest of Baghdad between the towns of Mishahda, 20 miles away from Baghdad, and the western suburb of Abu Ghraib, 12 miles away. Maj.Gen Lynch is saying it was a "house in West Baghdad".
TIME: Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the U.S. military spokesman said they were resuced at 8am this morning.
CONDITION: Reports are that Norman is in a "reasonable condition" but Jim & Harmeet required hospital treatment (I think they were only briefly in Ibn Sina hospital in Baghdad, CPT colleagues are going there now to see them).
CIRCUMSTANCES: Maj.Gen Lynch said that the operation was based on information from a man captured by U.S. forces only three hours earlier. (this doesn't seem to match Jack Straw's statement that the operation was weeks in the planning). No kidnappers were present when the troops broke into a house in western Baghdad. The captives' hands were tied,there was no one else present in the house when troops arrived, and therefore no shot was fired.
COMMENTTS: Some people's reactions on BBC news. I was interviewed on BBC World but haven't got a link to that.

I echo CPT's statement
Our hearts filled with joy today as we heard that Harmeet Singh Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember have been safely released in Baghdad. Christian Peacemaker Teams rejoices with their families and friends at the expectation of their return to their loved ones and community. Together we have endured uncertainty, hope, fear, grief and now joy during the four months since they were abducted in Baghdad.
We rejoice in the return of Harmeet Sooden. He has been willing to put his life on the line to promote justice in Iraq and Palestine as a young man newly committed to active peacemaking.
We rejoice in the return of Jim Loney. He has cared for the marginalized and oppressed since childhood, and his gentle, passionate spirit has been an inspiration to people near and far.
We rejoice in the return of Norman Kember. He is a faithful man, an elder and mentor to many in his 50 years of peacemaking, a man prepared to pay the cost.
We remember with tears Tom Fox, whose body was found in Baghdad on March 9, 2006, after three months of captivity with his fellow peacemakers. We had longed for the day when all four men would be released together. Our gladness today is made bittersweet by the fact that Tom is not alive to join in the celebration. However, we are confident that his spirit is very much present in each reunion.
Harmeet, Jim and Norman and Tom were in Iraq to learn of the struggles facing the people in that country. They went, motivated by a passion for justice and peace to live out a nonviolent alternative in a nation wracked by armed conflict. They knew that their only protection was in the power of the love of God and of their Iraqi and international co-workers. We believe that the illegal occupation of Iraq by Multinational Forces is the root cause of the insecurity which led to this kidnapping and so much pain and suffering in Iraq. The occupation must end.
Today, in the face of this joyful news, our faith compels us to love our enemies even when they have committed acts which caused great hardship to our friends and sorrow to their families. In the spirit of the prophetic nonviolence that motivated Jim, Norman, Harmeet and Tom to go to Iraq, we refuse to yield to a spirit of vengeance. We give thanks for the compassionate God who granted our friends courage and who sustained their spirits over the past months. We pray for strength and courage for ourselves so that, together, we can continue the nonviolent struggle for justice and peace.
Throughout these difficult months, we have been heartened by messages of concern for our four colleagues from all over the world. We have been especially moved by the gracious outpouring of support from Muslim brothers and sisters in the Middle East, Europe, and North America. That support continues to come to us day after day. We pray that Christians throughout the world will, in the same spirit, call for justice and for respect for the human rights of the thousands of Iraqis who are being detained illegally by the U.S. and British forces occupying Iraq.
During these past months, we have tasted of the pain that has been the daily bread of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Why have our loved ones been taken? Where are they being held? Under what conditions? How are they? Will they be released? When?
With Tom’s death, we felt the grief of losing a beloved friend. Today, we rejoice in the release of our friends Harmeet, Jim and Norman. We continue to pray for a swift and joyful homecoming for the many Iraqis and internationals who long to be reunited with their families. We renew our commitment to work for an end to the war and the occupation of Iraq as a way to continue the witness of Tom Fox. We trust in God’s compassionate love to show us the way.
Living through the many emotions of this day, we remain committed to the words of Jim Loney, who wrote: "With God’s abiding kindness, we will love even our enemies. With the love of Christ, we will resist all evil. With God’s unending faithfulness, we will work to build the beloved community."

Goodbye my friend

I will always remember Tom Fox as a dear friend and the truest model of Christ-like nonviolence that I am likely to meet, and whom I aspire to emulate. Amidst the chaos, confusion and stress of Iraq, Tom managed to maintain a steady calm, a consistent faith and a gentle sense of humour. When my heart was rushing at 100 beats a minute in fear, worry or anger about something going on around us in Iraq, talking to Tom was like bathing in a cool pond and gradually exhaling all the anxiety.

This photo is from January 2005, when I first met Tom during my CPT training in Chicago. We were in Iraq together for much of the year. He was with me on April 20 when I learnt that there was a specific and imminent death threat against me, and prayed and talked with me as I discerned what to do. His support was critical during that most frightening time. (14 March - Reflecting on Tom's death, it seems unfair that I should have escaped through a tip-off, whereas Tom - who was far more deserving, has children and could have contributed so much to Iraq - did not).

His death is a loss to us all but I know that he would not consider it a waste. He was well aware of the dangers because his first stay in Iraq was in the frightening days of Autumn 2004 after an intense spate of kidnappings including many friends of CPT. Tom would hope that his death would focus attention not on himself but on the suffering of 25 million Iraqis trapped in the chaos which has been created by the Occupation. I hope that he will be an inspiration to thousands to chose the path of nonviolence, costly though it can be.

The reports are saying that there is evidence that Tom was beaten and tortured. I suspect that amidst his pain he would have cried out, like Jesus, for forgiveness for his oppressors. The people who killed Tom must have dehumanized him, seeing him as "an American" or "a hostage" but nonetheless Tom valued them as precious children of God. He shared his perspective in a poignant reflection "Why are we here?", written on 25 November, the day before his kidnapping:

"As I survey the landscape here in Iraq, dehumanization seems to be the operative means of relating to each other. U.S. forces in their quest to hunt down and kill "terrorists" are, as a result of this dehumanizing word, not only killing "terrorists," but also killing innocent Iraqis: men, women and children in the various towns and villages. It seems as if the first step down the road to violence is taken when I dehumanize a person... As soon as I rob a fellow human being of his or her humanity by sticking a dehumanizing label on them, I begin the process that can have, as an end result, torture, injury and death. "Why are we here?" We are here to root out all aspects of dehumanization that exist within us. We are here to stand with those being dehumanized by oppressors and stand firm against that dehumanization. We are here to stop people, including ourselves, from dehumanizing any of God's children, no matter how much they dehumanize their own souls."

For me the defining picture of Tom was taken in May 2005 when he dressed in an orange jumpsuit and joined with Iraqi Shia colleagues from Muslim Peacemaker Teams to sweep streets in the devestated Sunni city of Fallujah. Here was Tom engaging in a humble act of physical service in support of Iraqi colleagues seeking reconciliation between communities and a restoration of the destruction wrought by the Occupation.

CPT statement on Tom's death

Sheila Provencher (CPT team mate)

Excerpts from Tom's blog

Electronic Iraq's memorial

Charles Sullivan constrasting Tom's Christianity with Bush.

New video of CPTers

A new video was released yestarday on al-Jazeera. It showed 3 of my colleagues from CPT who were kidnapped and, at a time when hope could have been dwindling, it is reassuring to see them alive. My closest freind amongst the group, Tom Fox, did not feature in this video. I echo the statement CPT has released:

"We do not know what to make of Tom Fox's absence from this video. However we do know what motivated Tom and his colleagues to go to Iraq. Tom wrote on the day before he was taken, "We are here to take part in the creation of the Peaceable Realm of God... How we take part in the creation of this realm is to love God with all our heart, our mind and our strength, and to love our neighbors and enemies as we love God and ourselves." Many Iraqi friends and human rights workers welcome CPT as a nonviolent, independent presence. Iraqis have asked us to tell their stories in our home communities, to share with them our own experiences of peacemaking, to assist them in building nonviolent institutions in Iraq, and to accompany them as they seek justice for detainees and others suffering from the oppression of Iraq. We seek to promote what is human in all of us and so to offer a glimpse of hope in a dark time. This hope springs from our own faith tradition. We have witnessed a similar hope within the faith traditions of the people of Iraq. We believe that the root cause of the abduction of our colleagues is the U.S. and British-led invasion and occupation of Iraq. Many in Iraq have experienced this long war as terrorism. The occupation must end."

Tim Nafzinger, who will be Best Man at my wedding in June, speaks about the new video and particularly about Norman Kember on Democracy Now.

On the theme of detainees here's an excellent interview by my friend Jane with Moazzam Begg, one of the Brits eventually released from Guantánamo Bay.

Iraqis in South Africa

So I'm rushing around South Africa with 10 Iraqis. We flew in from Dubai on Sunday night and in 5 days are going Joburg > Cape Town > Joburg > Durban > Cape Town > Joburg! We met today with Archbishop Desmond Tutu who still has the humility and childlike humour I remember from back in 1994 when I heard him talk at St.Aldates Church in Oxford, although he is visibly frailer. We're meeting with President Mbeki tomorrow but unfortunately Mandela is off on holiday so we won't be seeing him.

The purpose of the delegation is to share some of South Africa's experiences as an extremely diverse state (with 11 official languages!) which has sucessfully transitioned from represive minority rule. Given that I was still a kid and not politically engaged when Apartheid ended it's been a revelation learning just how risky the transition was and that the country only just avoided a civil war that could have been as bloody as Iraq's (Even so, as I heard today from Dave Stewart, De Klerk's Chief of Staff in the early 90s, 22,000 people were killed in the decade running up to Mandela's election). Learning about South Africa's journey may give the Iraqis some hope along with ideas and inspiration to work for reconciliation. At the same time most of the people we've met have admitted the differences, South Africa for example was able to transition on its own timescale without interference from foreign troops and neighbouring countries, a luxury Iraq has been denied.

Here's an interview with Fink Haysom (my boss, to my right on the photo) about the delegation. And here's another.

Cartoon contoversy

I'll write up a full reflection tomorrow, but for now here's me at a demonstration here in Amman, Jordan about the Danish cartoons. My sign says "Show respect to muslims and their Prophet"
 

Kidnapped by Iraqis... then by Americans

My friend Phil Sands, a British journalist, was kidnapped on Boxing Day but freed by US soldiers who stumbled across him accidently during a house raid on New Years Eve (as an independent journalist, no one had realised he was missing - see his accounts in the Scotsman and San Francisco Chronicle).

It is good news that Phil is free, however his translator Salam, who is one of my closest Iraqi friends and was my translator back in 2003, was immediately detained by the Americans and is still been held by them. They did not even allow him to call his family who only learnt what had happened when we managed to contact them via a mutual friend. Translators and drivers are routinely suspected of being involved in kidnappings - it took weeks to release our CPT translators and drivers who were detained after the kidnapping in November - which is a great disservice to these Iraqis who put themselves at great risk to protect us and enable us to work. Phil is convinced that Salam had nothing whatsoever to do with his kidnapping, and I support him 100%.

Back in the Middle East

Eid Mubarrak. As the whole Muslim world commemorates Ibraham's willingness to obey God through sacrifice I pray that people will be convicted by the story of Eid al-Adha that while God asks for obedience he never wills the death of innocents.

Apologies for my silence over the last month. I've been waiting for something positive to say about my abducted friends from CPT, but unfortunately there is nothing to report yet. Things seem to have gone stagnant and we only have rumours and theorising to go on. What we know for sure is that CPT's work is appreciated by a great number of Iraqis, Palestinians and Muslims around the world with whom we'd had no contact prior to the incident, and I am grateful and humbled by the depth of this support. In Palestine some friends of the team actually lost their jobs because they dropped everything to work full time on the case. I met two particularly brave people, Anas from Britain and Ehab from Canada, who travelled to Iraq to lobby for their release.

For my part I'm embarrassed to admit that since 20 December I've been on holiday. There did not seem to be anything much I could add to what others were doing by being in the region and so I stuck to my plans to spend Christmas in America with my fiance trying to plan our wedding (unfortunately we eventually ruled out Baghdad as a venue! It's likely to happen in the summer in two parts, one in the US and one in the UK, possibly with some follow up celebrations in the Middle East) and then New Year in England seeing many family and friends for the first time in many months.

Of course I've been glued to email and the phone through this period and continually aware that somewhere in Iraq those four wonderful people are now entering the 7th week of their ordeal. And many others besides including some kidnapped Iraqis I'm trying to help and one of my first and closest Iraqi friend who is being detaineed by US soldiers. I just heard about Jill Carroll's abduction. She was one of Marla Ruzicka's dear friends and I was moved by her words at Marla's memorial service in Baghdad last April. Jill has written consistently insightful articles in the CSM over the last few years. Tragically her translator Alan (a friend of Riverbend) was killed in the abduction. It is frustrating that so much time and energy is being drained from those reporting the truth in Iraq through the kidnapping of people like the CPTers and Jill.

Anyhow I'm back in the region now and I value all of your prayers for my friends and all those suffering in Iraq. May 2006 be the year when the tide turns against occupation and sectarian violence and the country begins to move towards peace, justice and prosperity. Inshallah.