121 Contact

Dec 11 2009 The Parents Circle, Palestine, Israel, Iraq and the USA

Remember The Parents Circle?

They are still working hard at reconciliation. Last night I went out in the dropping temperature to see their exhibit, "Cartoons in Conflict" and got to hear Robi Damlen (Israeli) and Marzan Faraj (Palestinian) speak of transforming the pain of losing their loved ones into works for peace. Their new focus on getting into classrooms and reaching out to young Palestinian/Israeli children is obviously dear to my heart.

I heard them speak through their tiredness, coming off a flight from London, I think. The calendars they are selling make excellent holiday gifts and all of the monies collected go to their youth education initiative. At only twenty bucks a pop it's a nice way to send a gift in two directions at once.

How long will it be before reconciliation comes? to Palestine/Israel, to Iraq's population, to the many factions that split our world into fragments of discord? 

The exhibit will run Thursday to Sunday, 12pm – 7pm December 10 through Dec 23, 2009

6 West 26th Street
New York 
NY  

Please support the efforts of The Parents Circle. Visit the exhibit and let them know they are not alone.

In loving kindness,
Bruce and Noor

Nov 13 2009 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Marwa in NYC

NYC is soon to host the trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) and 4 others accused (Khalid actually boasts of his work) of a crime that reshaped our world. One of his victims is heading for NYC this week. It's a long chain of events that led from KSM's planning to Marwa losing her leg, but the steps are clearly connected.

KSM planned, the killers acted, the U.S. was attacked, the Bushmen lied, and we invaded and occupied an innocent nation, terrorizing its innocent civilian population and delivering devastating violence that destroyed lives, limbs, and the cultural fabric of Iraq.

Marwa lost her right leg in a US bombing raid that killed her sister Azra. She was 16 years old.  

Like many Iraqi children, Marwa no longer goes to school. She was flown to Germany where she received her first prosthesis, paid for by Jürgen Todenhöfer using proceeds from his book "Why do you kill, Zaid?"

On the recommendation of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Todenhöfer provided Marwa with some money to enable her to open a small grocery shop. Because Sadr-City is controlled by the Mahdi Army, an Iraqi paramilitary force created by the Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, fixtures and fittings for the shop had to be smuggled to Marwa’s house in the back of an ambulance.

She needs a new prosthesis, having outgrown the original. The best are in the U.S. and Todenhöfer and the IOM are flying her to New York City so she can receive the best device, and the best medical and rehabilitative care available.

She'll be staying in Brooklyn, at the house of a generous soul who has opened her doors and extended her family for the duration of Marwa's stay here. Some of New York City's growing Muslim/Iraqi population have volunteered to provide transportation, translation, and much deserved entertainment.

If  you would like to help, make a check out to Bruce Wallace, mail it to:

Bruce Wallace
121Contact
523 72nd Street
Brooklyn NY 11209

and we'll see that 100% of your gift is delivered directly to Marwa.

Aug 27 2009 Iraq, Brooklyn: a return to the stories of Baghdad under occupation.

Well, the truth is we have been on vacation, and we love it!

It is sad to say that not much has changed in Iraq these past few months. N's neighborhood has, in fact, gotten more dangerous, and has less electricity and fuel than before.

We are starting the fall round of lectures and look forward to speaking with American students about the realities of life under occupation in Iraq.

If you know of any venues that might be interested in hearing us speak please let us know.
Peace to you and yours,
b and n

Apr 9 2009 Iraq’s War Widows: Help, NOW!

 Baghdad Widows: Almost everywhere you go in Baghdad, you see them begging at traffic lights, outside mosques, dressed from head to toe in black. Oxfam has discovered that less than a quarter or the 720,000 get government support.  [Oxfam's report] The innocent Iraqi civilians bear the tragic consequences of our decision to occupy their country. Help: make a check out to Bruce Wallace and send your gift to:                121Contact, 523 72nd Street, Brooklyn NY 11209
                   We will put 100% of your gift into the hands of needy Baghdad widows.

Mar 13 2009 Let American students know how you feel.

Are you a student in Iraq: Do you know students?

WRITE TO US AND WE WILL READ YOUR WORDS TO AMERICAN STUDENTS In the next 3 weeks we will speak at 3 New York City Colleges about “Reality of Life Under U.S. Occupation.”

Is now better than under Sadaam?

What is your day like?

What are your hopes?

What do you want American students to know about your life?

Let American students know how you feel.

If you are a student in Iraq or you know a student in Iraq:

Send your words now:  mail@121Contact.org and we’ll read them to New York City students, and then let you know what the students thought.

 

Please write soon so we can have time to prepare the presentations.

Shukran gazeelan,

Bruce (NY Peace Worker)  and Noor (Baghdadi School Teacher)

Nov 14 2008 Iraq Water Treatment Plants

Hi,

121Contact is looking for help in supporting a few Iraqi engineering students to investigate the feasibility of creating a water treatment company.

 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Project-Defined Needs: clean water and jobs.

Some 40%-50% of Iraqis are drinking water that is dangerously untreated. Cholera is on the rise. Unemployment varies from 40-60% (when curfews are not in effect).

 

SOLUTION:

Create a non-profit water treatment company that provides jobs and provides more Iraqis with clean water.

 

CURRENT THINKING:

Product: small, cheap, replicable water treatment systems with ‘neighborhood/village’ capacity.

Business model: non-profit, keeping the sale price of the water low while covering costs.

[One option is to procure the plants outside Iraq and concentrate on distribution and maintenance.]

 

CURRENT STAGE:

Feasibility studies.

-support the Iraqi engineers with contacts, research, and eventually grant procurements.

-communicate people who have done this before

 

If you would like to help please let us know:

bruce@121Contact.org

917 721-0743

 

 

In loving kindness,

Bruce and Noor

 

www.121Contact.typepad.com <- have you been to the blog lately?

Oct 22, 2008 American Students Rally to Help Support Iraqi Families

Just as the economy here tightens and more people turn inward we are warmed to find another group forming a responsibility ring. Up at UMass there's a group of students getting together to sponsor a Baghdad widow and her children for the coming winter.

It's not hard to do. Each person only has to contribute a little. When it gets added together in the check at the end of the month it means an awful lot to a Baghdad family in distress.



Here's a look at typical expenses valid at the end of the summer. Things will get more expensive in the winter and clothing will be an issue also. We stopped shipping goods when we realized reliable shipping is not yet cost-effective. Cash will buy what the families decide they need, cheaper than we can ship it. And we can't ship food and lodging, the basic necessities.

Rent: for 2 rooms: $400. This depends upon the neighborhood, and lodging in safe neighborhoods is considerably higher.

Food: $300 will buy minimally nutritious food for a month. One pound of  chicken is about $2.20. A jar of jam is about a dollar. Tomatoes, a main ingredient in Iraqi cooking, cost about a dollar a pound. These prices are about three times what they used to be. Fruit is harder and harder to get and so the prices have soared. Bananas are about $1.50 a pound. 

Of course these prices fluctuate wildly. A curfew can cause a 100% increase overnight.

Diesel Fuel for Generators by the liter for home use: You can generate 5 amperes per month of electricity for approximately $150. However, 5 amperes are barely enough to power the fans, lights and some other simple household appliances. It is certainly not enough for turning on the water heater or air conditioner. The price is also dependent on the availability of diesel. By the barrel for neighborhood use: One barrel of diesel that contains 200 liters costs approximately $200 and during a crisis or shortage, it could reach $400 and this is enough to fuel the neighborhood generators for only three days.

You can turn your compassion into action. Make your check out to Bruce Wallace and send it to 523 72nd Street Brooklyn NY 11209 and we'll see that 100% gets put into the hands of a needy Baghdad widow.

 

Oct 14 2008 Continuing to help families in Baghdad

While the media reports good news from Iraq we continue to support families who have been devastated by the results of our occupation. Arguments about ‘who should pay for Iraq reconstruction’ don’t help the poor families struggling to survive while the U.S. and Iraq debate levels of responsibility.    

Please help by making your check payable to Bruce Wallace and mail it to:
Bruce Wallace
121Contact
523 72^nd Street
Brooklyn NY 11209

100% of your gift will be delivered directly to the hands of needy families in Baghdad.

We are not a charity, so your gift is not tax-deductible. We are just a small group of people dedicated to helping those directly affected by our occupation of Iraq.

 “Our country, our government, our occupation; our responsibility to help.”

In loving kindness,
Bruce and Noor        

1. We add a family to our support list

Abida is a widow living in a rented house with her four children, supported by the good will of others. 
Her husband, a taxi driver, was kidnapped and killed.   

We will help by providing a little extra money so that she can survive until she finds a job to support herself and her children.

2. We happily take a family off our support list

Remember the shopkeeper, Ali? Ali and his brother were put in an American jail for about a year.  His brother died there.

When he was released he began the long road of recovery. He has amassed enough money and now the shop is open again.

       

He says his first priority is to repay the loans of his generous supporters. We have happily taken his family off our support list. 

July 26 2008 U.S. expands Iraqi visa program: Human Rights First tries, and tries...

Dear All,
While we applaud Human Rights First efforts to "educate the next
administration about the need to put in place a comprehensive plan for
addressing the needs of the many Iraqi men, women and children who have
been displaced from their homes and are at risk of persecution..."

we must remind you that you can actually help these people now!

Send a donation to us and we will see that 100% gets into the hands of
needy families, widows and thier children, in Baghad who have been
displaced from their homes.

Make the check payable to Bruce Wallace and mail it to:
121Contact
523 72nd Street
Brooklyn NY 11209

This donation is not tax-deductable. We are just a small set of people who
have figured out how to give immediate aid to people in dire need.

In loving kindness,
Bruce and Noor
mail@121Contact.org

P.S. If you live in NYC we can connect you with Iraqis who recently arrived here and
need your help with language, resumes, jobs, and general assistance in
navigating the complex support systems.
Write us at mail@121Contact.org and we'll make the connections.

Here's the Human Righs First mass-mailing that promted our response:
>
>
> Dear Friend,
>
>  I am writing to share with you an important development in our effort to
> protect Iraqi refugees.
>
>  As the New York Times reported today in a front page article, the U.S.
> embassy in Baghdad has just announced that it is expanding tenfold its
> program for helping Iraqis who are in danger because of their work for
> the United States government.  The US will make 5,000 visas available
> each year for these individuals at risk, with additional numbers
> available for their spouses and children.
>
>  We have been pressing for this visa program to get off the ground in
> Baghdad since it was established by law in Washington this January thanks
> to the leadership of Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR).
>   Human Rights First, working with Iraq veterans, Iraqi refugees and a
> bi-partisan coalition of faith-based and refugee advocacy groups, has
> played a leading role in shining a light on the plight of these and other
> at-risk Iraqi refugees and in securing passage of this important
> legislation.
>
>  This new development is encouraging and will give hope to many Iraqis
> whose lives are in danger.  But, as Human Rights First's Amelia Templeton
> points out in today's New York Times article, we have to keep the
> pressure on.  Our Lifeline for Iraqi Refugees team is working to ensure
> that the administration lives up to its promises.  And we are preparing
> to educate the next administration about the need to put in place a
> comprehensive plan for addressing the needs of the many Iraqi men, women
> and children who have been displaced from their homes and are at risk of
> persecution.
>
>  We look forward to keeping you informed of our progress.  Thank you for
> your continued support of this vital work.
>
>  Best,
>
> Elisa Massimino
>
> Washington Director
>
> Human Rights First
>
>
>She has based her letter on the NYTimes story:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/world/middleeast/25visa.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
>
>             July 25, 2008
>
> U.S. Expands Visa Program for Iraqis
>

July 19 2008 Iraqi Refugees in Baghdad. U.S. paid for their displacement.

Of the 5 million Iraqi refugees in and out of the country about 4,000 families live in a Chikook, a mostly Shi'a refugee neighborhood on the north side of Baghdad. It is still growing as families who had been renting houses in other neighborhoods run out of money and are forced to move there.   
(The full story source: Pulitzer Center blog)

It is interesting to note that many of these refugees were forced from their homes by  the Sahwa, a U.S. paid Sunni militia. Of course the resentment filters through to the U.S. because our involvement in their losing their homes and belongings is well known to the Iraqis.

So we have paid for the displacement of innocent civilians. The villages and neighborhoods that have been
'cleansed' are now declared sites of victory and proof of the value of the surge. The people who died, the survivors who fled, and the families affected are forgotten, rarely mentioned, and persist as a festering center of resentment against the United States of America.

You can help mend the wounds our government has inflicted. Send your donations now to ease the pain of displaced Iraqis now residing in Baghdad. 100% of your donation will be placed in cash into the hands of a needy displaced Baghdad family.
b