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March 4 2012 New York Times quote on Falling Man poster

Hoorah for Rita Lasar's NYTimes words about the Mad Men's Falling Man poster, “I am so worn out by you guys coming to us in order to create a kerfuffle where none exists,” wrote Rita Lasar, whose brother was Abraham J. Zelmanowitz [killed on 9/11]. “You may think you are being sensitive to our feelings, but in reality you are just using us so you can write a story that refers only to your own feelings.”

The media these days seems focused only on the sensational. When they can't find it they try to drum it up themselves. It reminds me of when a Mosque was proposed in the Ground Zero neighborhood. I got an email from the New York Post. It said that if I was opposed to the mosque, as a family member who lost Mitch Wallace on 9/11, they would be intersted in my comment.

Now they are poking around for anti-advert comments. For what? To stir up a bit of dust...to blind us to the real issues that face us.

Where are the stories about the people who toil in non-violent ways to move this world to more peaceful tomorrows...like Fatma Benli. Have you heard of her? Why not?

 

Feb 28 2012 Mad Men: The Falling Man and 9/11

So this reporter asks me, under the guise of "I do not want to start a controversy where none exists," how I, one who lost someone on 9/11,  feel about the poster.

The first time I saw one of these posters it made me sick to my stomach..a little.

There was a day, that day, a crisp morning, when I stood beneath the towers taking photos on 9/11. I stopped when I realized I had just captured the image of a woman in a white dress, twisting down, down...I own that image in a way I detest. This was all before we knew that my nephew, Supreme Court Officer Mitch Wallace, was at the site; moments before the South Tower collapsed upon him and so many others.

I also, less frequently now, get nauseous when a low flying jet passes overhead. Living under a Brooklyn flyway lets me deal with this quite often.

If an advertising campaign (which I am now, I guess, a part of) evokes images of a horrid day, then so be it. I cannot stop the jets from flying low. I cannot stop images that remind me of 9/11 from being created.

I refuse to spend my entire existance looking through the lens of 9/11. There is more to me than grief and anger. I can only do my little bit to make for more peaceful tomorrows.

 

Feb 14 2012 Syria: The shame and the blame

It's Valentine's Day. This wonderfully commercialized holiday is RED. Red covers everything: boxes of chocolate and jewelry, Hallmark cards, and bouquets of roses.

The streets of Syria are red, too, but there are no flowers. Over 7,000 have died so far and there is no end in site. Indiscriminate bombing of Homs and other civilian centers intensifies; fighting dances around the edges of Damascus; arms and fighters flow in and the rich and/or lucky flow out.

The blame of it: It depends upon which media you read. It depends upon which pundit you revere. It depends upon which house you were born into.

We already hear the echoes of Iraqi voices in such statements as, "Yes, it was bad before, but I could go to the store and not fear for my life," and "Sure, we hated him, but it is NATO we really hate now."

I don't have any answers. Syria is internally split and the opposition is also internally split. They have no leader and the various anti-government forces are creating their own militias. Rumors of Al Qaeda, Iranian influence are increasing. The old "Syria-to-Iraq" path of arms and fighters has evidently been reversed.

The shame of it all is bigger than Syria. It is the shame of a human race that thinks it cannot resist the tyrannies of power that are so willing to use violence to keep themselves on top. Truth be told, the peace activist (just the activists, mind you, not the vast majority of peace-loving people) outnumber the leaders and operators of The Machine by at least a million to one.

The Machine depends upon our cooperation. Our taxes pay for the bombs. Our bodies are the soldiers. Our munitions manufacturers (and those that work for the military industrial complex; not just the owners) are critical to the oppression of freedom loving peoples.

The peace activists, if working together, could, in the manner of Gandhi and King, refuse to participate in large enough numbers so that we could halt The Machine.

The shame of it: We are as splintered as the militias of Iraq were; as the militias of Syria are; as [insert clever metaphor here]...

Happy Valentine's Day.

Nov 28 2011 Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative-a defense against Western domination.

As a measure of the growing maturity of the Iraqis who are engaged in the non-violentm Iraqi-led transformation of Iraq we note the presence of an Iraqi delegation at the South Asian Social Forum. No longer are progressive Iraqis thinking of themselves as isolated and powerless. Their resistance to the domination of of Iraq by corporations and capital is laudable.

Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative - مبادرة تضامن المجتمع

A message to all members of Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative - مبادرة تضامن المجتمع

28th November 2011 Press Release by the Iraqi delegation at the South Asian Social Forum Dhaka, Bangladesh, 24th November 2011 An Iraqi delegation composed by eight members of the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (www.iraqicivilsociety.org) took part in the South Asian Social Forum (Dhaka, 18-22 November 2011, www.wsfsouthasiabd.org) meeting local representatives of social movements, unions, professional organizations and political parties of Bangladesh. South-South coordination proved to be fundamental to break the isolation of Iraqi civil society. On November 23rd in Dhaka a meeting was held between the Iraqi delegation and seven local political parties and union members, aimed at creating direct links with Iraqi social movements, not mediated by Iraqi governmental forces.  Activists from Brazil, Belgium, Germany, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, India, Italy, France, Pakistan, Canada, and Turkey’s Kurdistan participated in the meeting as well. Iraqis spoke about the need of creating direct links with the people of South Asia and its social movements. Due to Iraq's isolation for decades form its geographical surroundings and from the world social movements, political life has been controlled by parties and Iraqi communities didn't have opportunities to discuss about regional and global issues. The Iraqi delegation stressed that such an absence from the global civil society must end: Iraqi social movements, unions and NGOs must take initiative to join international struggles for freedom and social justice. Participants in the meeting stressed on the urgency to re-establish an Iraqi cultural and political role in the region and the world, wishing the complete withdrawal of US troops. Turning the page of war and occupation is essential to develop a new scenario where social and civic action re-builds on new bases what was destroyed by war. The Iraqi delegation finally took part in the International Council of the World Social Forum, where the plan to organize in 2012 the Maghreb-Mashreq Social Forum (Tunis) and in 2013 an Iraqi Social Forum (Baghdad) was discussed and approved. The second will be an open space for independent movements and networks operating in Iraq, with a clear position against the project of New-Liberalism that western powers tried to implement through the war, which aims at full transition to the market economy and domination of Iraq by corporations and capital. Iraqi people hold human rights, national sovereignty and social justice higher than economic profit, and will resists foreign grab of their resources. The Iraqi group was composed by representatives of the Engineering Professional Union (Electricity section), Al Masalla Organization for Human Resources Development, Iraqi Women Network, Tamouz Organization for Social Development, Information Centre for Research and Development, Basrah Civil Forum, Iraqi Centre for Research and Studies, in addition to the Italian NGO Un ponte per... (www.unponteper.it) who facilitated coordination through the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative. Active support of the network Alternatives International (www.alterinter.org) and financial help by Karibu عربي

Visit Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative - مبادرة تضامن المجتمع at: http://icssi08.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

Oct 30 2011 Sanjiv Bhatt, Martin Luther King Jr.m and OWS - Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Struggles against injustice, like the new civil society movements in Iraq and our own OWS movement, exist everywhere. In our world of information profusion  we cannot follow it all, but here is a case that came to our attention with a poem.

EXCERPT FROM A LETTER BY SANJIV BHATT TO NARENDRA MODI

IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who has accused Chief Minister Narendra Modi of complicity in the 2002 communal riots. This resulted in his arrest...case pending.

In the words of Martin Luther King Jr. - Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. The spirit of the hapless victims who have been struggling for justice in Gujarat may occasionally flag but it will not be suppressed by any amount of false Goebbelsian propaganda. The struggle for justice is never easy anywhere in the world...it calls for everlasting patience and unfailing perseverance at all times. The spirit of the crusaders for truth and justice in Gujarat is epitomized in this poem by Bhuchung Sonam, an alumnus of M.S. University, Baroda.

I have principle and no power
You have power and no principle
You being you
And I being I
Compromise is out of the question
So let the battle begin...

I have truth and no force
You have force and no truth
You being you
And I being I
Compromise is out of the question
So let the battle begin...

You may club my skull
I will fight
You may crush my bones
I will fight
You may bury me alive
I will fight
With truth running through me
I will fight
With every ounce of my strength
I will fight
With my last dying breath
I will fight...
I will fight till the
Castle that you built with your lies
Comes tumbling down
Till the devil you worshipped with your lies
Kneels down before my angel of truth.

Oct 288 2011 Hope in the Ruins: Two faces of Iraq

As we begin our work in support of Iraq's newly emergent NGOs we find ourselves looking at two Iraqs at once. There are over 150 NGOs connected by the ICSSI, and they are doing marvelous work as leaders in a civil society movement that is helping more and more people each day. Scores of international peace workers are now working to help them, mintoring, guiding, training, and most of all listening to them delineate their needs. This is the hopeful face of a new Iraq.

On the other hand, yesterday, Baghdad saw 5 bombings and an assassination attempt. 33 people died , and 84 people were wounded. [IraqToday] The rest of the country was still wrapped in newly resurgent rounds of violence as 9 adults and one child were killed, and 4 wounded were recorded.

Mosul has become a particular region of concern. Long after the 2008 top-secret cables revealed the extent to which the Coalition Forces ignored repeated random attacks on Sunnis in the area,  the problem not only persists, but has been on the rise in recent months, peaking just days ago.

Captured Libyan documents indicate Gaddafi supported a number of Baathists who were intending to overthrow the Iraqi government. This has led to mass arrests in Mosul, and surrounding areas of Ninewa Province, of suspected Baathists.

While Maliki's State of law Coalition and followers of radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr praised the actions, the people of Mosul were planning mass protests against what they see as a politically motivated campaign against Sunnis in the area. Security forces announced that the arrest campaign was directed against Baath Party elements who were planning to sabotage the country.

The government responded to the planned protests with a curfew. They denied that the curfew was intended to stifle the protesters, instead claiming it was in the interests of safety.

All this while Iraqi-led organizations, small land large, (e.g.,  Iraqi Children and Women, Women's Freedom, Kids and Environment, Save the Children-Iraq, Women for Peace, , LaOnf-Noviolence,  ... [the list goes on and on since there are now hundreds of such NGOs in the country]) are changing the mind-set of Iraqis young and old. At the same time that they deliver direct aid (monetary, physical, and psychological), they are also teaching.

Their overall lesson: Iraq can be changed by Iraqis, and this change can happen without violence, if Iraqis are committed to working together across all the ethnic/religious/political divides that hinder progress.

Oct 25 2011 Phyllis Bennis Speaks, Brooklyn for Peace Listens, will you?

It was a stunning display of Phyllis Bennis'  intimate knowledge of Middle East machinations, aspirations, and failed American efforts to get it right. A darn good performance, considering that she'd already spoken at two events earlier in the day. 

I felt at home in the  audience, organized by Brooklyn for Peace, as a grey-haired, over 60, liberal activist. I suspect there were more than a couple of old-line socialists in the crowd...a few lefty, commie, pinko keepers of the flame. About 50 of us sat in front room of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, across from Prospect Park. 

She focused mainly on how past US Middle East policy (create stability by support for dictators, control the oil and water, unflinching support for Israel) is now empty since 'the people' have thrown the dictators out, or are in the process of doing so. She did not describe a detailed US policy going forward, but concentrated instead on the importance of US civil society keeping the pressure on politicians to steer away from the 'problem, therefore use force'  mentality.

She did, however prescribe a broad conceptualization of future policy that would help guide the world to more peaceful tomorrows: end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and stop the military support of Israel which come to some US$3 billion/year. She called for US civil society to demand, and US government to admit,  the discourse has changed. We must move from the militaristic, simplistic "support the dictators at all cost" mode of thinking. It just doesn't work.

Some point that caught my attention:

• Although Obama takes credit for pulling the troops ouf of Iraq the American civil society movement had more to do with it, and the Iraqi people are the most responsible. Maliki found almost no internal support for keeping troops there, although he would dearly love the occupation, and it's tacit support for his regime, to stay... "after all, Gaddafi was our guy."

• Obama's "we stand with the fruit sellers" is a painful distortion, given that we supported/continue to support so many dictators in the Middle East; those same powers that led to the self-immolation of a fruit seller in his misery of oppression.

• Even if we remove all Department of Defense troops from Iraq by the end of the year, as the SOFA demands, the State Department has already signed contracts that will put 5-10,000 mercenaries on the ground, not under DoD control. Many contracts are right now being moved from Dod to the State Department to avoid counting the troops uner the SOFA agreement.

• Afghanistan is now holding about a quarter of a million occupation forces: 100 thousand US military, 100,000 US mercenaries, and the rest from NATO countries.

One of my favorite moments was her acknowledgement (I love people who validate my own ideas) that U.S. media, in fact most Western media outlets ignore the facts of peace movements in the Middle East. Palestinians have been peacefully active for at least 10 years. Their Palestine Spring had no positive media attention. The first intifada was, in fact, a peace movement. There are many Budrus-like activities that take place in Palestine each and every day.

[Iraq has a fast-growing civil society that embraces non-violence. All the Arab and non-Arab nations of the Middle East have withing them non-violent movements that are pressuring their governments to transform into more democratic regimes, even Saudi Arabia! b]

Now what? The moral equations have failed to move the American public to pressure the US government to alter policy. Dead children, collateral damage, the destruction of Iraq, ... none of this has led to widespread moral outrage. What is moving people today? It's the economy.

Civil society in America must hammer home the relationship between the costs of war and the failure of the US economy to recover quickly. The US$10 billion/month that feeds the war machine could go a long way to helping create jobs, increase technical education, decrease class-size (by hiring more teachers), and repair our failing infrastructure (creating more jobs in the process). The list is longer, but the aim is clear. Make the economic facts known.

In the Q/A session that followed her talk she was asked if she was worried about the Islamists taking over the Egyptian government. Her response was a succinct, "I am not afraid of the Islamists. I am concerned that the people of Egypt  get what they want." We may not like their chosen path, but if it is democratically chosen then let us support it, deal with it, and move forward.

Bennis closed by saying, "US civil society has to speak up, and keep speaking. I know it is frustrating...but the discourse must change. You can't give up. Let them know, "We are not going away."

 

 

 

Oct 18 2011 Obama to Pull “All” Troops from Iraq: NOT.

Obama to Pull “All” Troops from Iraq: NOT

October 18, 2011 by Bruce Wallace, 121Contact

And I am getting sick of his lies. The State Department alone has over 5,500 mercenaries signed to 5 year future contracts at a cost of a little less than US$3 Billion. Yes, billions, folks. And that accounts for the troops we know of. What the CIA has on the ground, and plans to have in the future, remains a dark secret. 

Is Hilary the 'Commander in Chief'? Spencer Ackerman noted in his Wired article that this is State Department force, not directed by experienced military hands.  He asked, “How many State Department contracting officials will oversee how many hired guns? What are the rules of engagement for the guards? What’s the system for reporting a security danger, and for directing the guards’ response?” Good questions, all, especially since the protection from oversight by Iraq's government is a muddy mess with old occupation rules in conflict with new standards yet to be voted on by Maliki's weak 'rule of law' government.

The State Departments plans for two branch embassies in Kirkuk and Mosul come with a “startup cost of building and sustaining two embassy branch offices… and of hiring security contractors, buying new equipment and setting up two consulates in Basra and Erbil is about $1 billion. It will cost another $500 million or so to make the two consulates permanent.” It is not clear if these additional troops are included in the 5,500 estimate given above.  The expenditures are not astronomical, but they sure are wastefully high. [“The pay for an experienced corporal of three years of service is $19,980 a year. The U.S. government pays private firms between $500 and $1,500 a day for the experienced military personnel they supply in Iraq. That works out to mercenaries who often earn between $150,000 and $250,000 a year, ” wrote Huck Gutman, University of Vermont.]

And Obama will take credit for the troop withdrawal. And the American Peace Movement will take credit for the withdrawal. And all will overlook two facts:

a)  the withdrawal of uniformed troops is an Iraqi accomplishment, driven by internal pressures on Maliki’s  government; not an American accomplishment, and

b) the ‘withdrawal’ is a farce that ignores the thousands of mercenaries who will be on the ground. 

The American Fall began on Wall Street, and gained traction around the country and around the world. It may spread more widely, awakening the silent majority to action as the lies pile up and the people become more aware of how deeply their government has betrayed their trust, repeatedly lied to them, and spent their money in secret, illogical, and wasteful ways. 

Are you getting sick of the lies?

Oct 12 2011 Iraq, the ICSSI and more peaceful tomorrows

Oh, sure. He laughed at me and made a few jokes about me to my newly met colleagues. But how was I to know the cops don't even carry guns here? Erbil,like most of Iraqi Kurdistan, is peaceful. I did see a couple of the police officers with sidearms but that's about it. The only soldiers I saw were at the entrances to the many, many ministries and at Erbil International Airport. I'm thinking there's probably a Ministry of Ministries.

My emails to Ali, in Samawah, certainly contained more than a hint of my nervousness about my first trip to Iraq. The first hours of deciding were filled with mental videos of me; in a cross-fire (but not wounded); near to an exploding car (but far enough away to not be injured); and, of course, me as a kidnapping victim. I'd heard that Erbil was safe and the few I knew how had been there told me not to worry. Ali promised to meet me at the airport. So I worried anyway, and decided to go.

 Baghdad 2005 and Mosul 2011 were on my mind. What the hell happened to Mosul anyway. This past year has been a horrendous slide. Hanna'a tells me of her folks not letting her go out of the house except for school, or maybe shopping, but never alone. Long boring hours listening to the same music over and over, cleaning the already clean house, and staring at the walls. Tears threaten to run from her eyes as she drops back into the details of her uncle's kidnapping, still fresh after only 10 days. There were desperate calls from him as other prisoners of this gang were shot and killed, had hands amputated, had heads cut off as he was forced to watch. "We sold everything. All the family sold. They let him go, but his is ruined," she sobbed...

where was I? Oh, yeah,

I'd been invited to take part in the 2nd ICSSI conference in Erbil, Iraq. Some 150 Iraqis activists, and peace and social workers, along with about 100 'internationals' of various organizations (from huge, like the UN, to tiny like 121Contact) attended. We were there to assist the Iraqi NGOs as they planned campaigns for the coming year.

The sessions of large and small groups ran incredibly smoothly and you could hardly feel the Kurdistan/Iraq tension. The Iraq/USA tension was another matter. We were only three Americans at the conference and a couple of times the anti-USA anger came out sideways at us. But we can take it, and the difference between the US government and its people, and the American peace workers was quickly pointed out by our Iraqi defenders.

Don't get me wrong. The Iraqi/Kurdish divide exists, and there are some private comments attested to this; some more agitated than others. 

"Look," a man from the southern city of Basra said, "When you land in Erbil there's no Arabic. Only Kurdish and English. Look, here on every Iraqi passport...look! Arabic, English, and Kurdish." His voice keeps rising as he nearly shouts, "Why should I carry Kurdish with me everywhere?" I'm glad we're down the road, out of earshot.

Security was tight at the conference, but not so tight that someone wasn't able to walk off with my Nikon. Yes, I left it alone on a ledge as we all rushed in from our tea break to watch a marvelous performance by young Iraqi actors. They were great. I couldn't understand more than a stray word, here and there, but I got it! Or so the producers told me as I recapped the themes. I hope they weren't just being polite.

On the other side I met a few Iraqi Kurds who once were happy to accept the intellectual capital fleeing from the South but are now resentful of the competition in jobs,housing, and attention. In my narrow focus I said to greg, "They'll have to deal with this." He answered, "Maybe not." And then recited a list of "peaceful separatism regions" where mild anti-other-snobbishness takes the place of bullets and bombs...Catalonia, Extreme Northern Italy, Sardinia, Quebec, ...

I learned a lot this trip. I watched experienced hands in Global civil Society movements, some part of the WSF, gently (sometimes not so gently) nudge the leaders of Iraq's NGOs to take charge of their own projects, recognize that they are part of a struggle larger than Iraq, and work together on common causes even though they don't agree on everything.

If I wasn't so tired I'd say more about the Iraqi youth at the conference. They are a movement unto themselves. Facebook and twittered and music'd into a world their folks don't have a clue about. They've opened channels among young Iraqis in all parts of Iraq.

"OK. OK," Mohammed said to the UN guy. "We don't need more of your surveys and your statistics. If you want to know the problems facing Iraqi youth just ask me. Let us have some input into what is decided. You can spend some of your money helping instead of collecting more informations." These young people who are activists hold onto hope. They see change that others are unaware of. They have crossed divides of political violence, and they intend to continue to build the new Iraq in a non-violent way.

Iraq may not get there tomorrow. There will be serious setbacks, but lookout! They will get there. Inshallah.

 

 

 

Oct 4 2011 Listening to Iraqis at ICSSI

As we head to Iraq to attend the 3rd annual ICSSI conference we repeat to ourselves a mantra: "Listen, listen, listen."  We go to understand what the peace workers of Iraq are doing, are dreaming, are needing. We do not go to impose our understanding of what they need.

David Brin: "sanctimony can be as physically addictive as any recreational drug, and as destabilizing. A relentless addiction to indignation may be one of the chief drivers of obstinate dogmatism."

The Peace Movement is overloaded with people whose self interest drives their work. With 'god on their side' they are as dogmatic as the enemies of peace they battle.

We are weary and leary of those around us who profess to 'know' the way to peace as if there was but one true way.