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Letter from Baghdad
j. - 24.03.2003 14:05
Misschien is iemand verbaast maar de Human Shields hebben niet opgegeven. Op dit moment zijn ongeveer honderd shields in Bagdad actief, de onafhankelijke journalisten, schrijvers en andere vredesactivisten uitgezonderd.
Vanuit Amman zal ik proberen om iedereen op de hoogte te houden van wat hier in Jordanie gebeurd. Noem het de Amman Daily Journal.
Er zijn felle protesten op de universteit van Amman. Voor de duidelijkheid, het is verboden om te demonstreren in Jordanie, de mannen gaan linea recta naar de gevangenis voor langere tijd, voor vrouwen is dat iets anders. De jordaanse overheid weet daar eigenlijk niet goed raad mee. Wel worden bijvoorbeeld hun computers inbeslag genomen en onderzocht, daarna valt een uitnodiging op het politieburo te verwachten.
Buitenlanders worden in dit geval simpelweg gedeporteerd.
De politie is in ieder geval niet welkom op het terrein. Het is nog niet helemaal duidelijk of de studenten de universiteit hebben bezet, morgen meer....
Een paar human shields zijn sinds vrijdag over de weg van Bagdad naar Amman gekomen. Verschillende bruggen waren gebombadeerd evenals 2-3 autobussen en een aantal nissan 4-wd's (in gebruik bij iraki leger?) Er waren geen lichamen meer aanwezig, er zijn foto's gemaakt maar deze zijn nog niet ontwikkeld en afgedrukt.
Dan nog een vreemd verhaal over veel dode kamelen op de route, het vermoeden bestaat hier dat ze zijn afgemaakt omdat de US en UK hebben bedacht dat ze als wandelende zelfmoord dieren kunnen worden gebruikt.
Geen idee waar zoiets op is gebaseerd....
Hieronder een bericht van Antoinette McCormick als human shield in Bagdad
Many of us here in Baghdad whom I know have connections to Yorkshire. I am one – my parents live in York, and are retired there. I had intended to become a human shield here, and intended this since I heard of the movement, Truth Justice Peace, and since the inception of the organization I worked with as the movement organized, Human Shield Action.
I was funded mostly by Quakers. For this reason, and because I feared my own mental illness (which can be exacerbated by stress, though treated easily by medication) might make me a liability – when I learned all the sites we were meant to go to were connected, by coincidence of interest, to the military, I decided not to be a shield, myself, but instead to support human shields, who wished to remain in or go to Baghdad. To this end, I organized in London, flew to Amman, Jordan, and helped run an office there, and now have entered Baghdad, where I have lived at the Palestine hotel – an office is here for human shields, but I came in on the 16th, on a tourist visa. Our movement is not successful insofar as we did not achieve a mass migration, that we hoped would stop a war, but we inspired many, many others to come as shields on their own. To my mind, the hope was, that ‘the people for the people’ would succeed, to prevent rapacious government abusing power. In this, maybe we were disappointed – I am a realist. Still, we have hopes – hopes to be amongst the innocent civilians, to stand in solidarity against US and UK aggression, to share the suffering under the bombs.
We originally hoped to deploy to hospitals, to schools, even to stay in tents. Indeed, though, shields who remain have freedom to chose their sites between 8 UN endorsed sites, have free movement all day – and visit hospitals, and visit civilians, travel freely. I had always wanted to deploy to strategic non-military sites, like water purification, food silos, electricity plants, even oil refineries – vital to civilian life. The past two months have brought out strength in me I never knew I had. I learned recently some sites have no military connection. I therefore volunteered yesterday to change my visa status to human shield. Last night I deployed to an electrical plant. There was heavy bombing, and I was frightened when I woke, but I prayed and went back to sleep. The Iraqis are fighting hard and well, as you know. I support those peace volunteers who remain, and those who have come out – for many did leave, though many, of many groups, remain: all have great ideals and have been very brave, are the most beautiful people I’ve ever met, and all follow their own consciences. It is a dangerous time. Rockets and missiles have fallen for days. Residences and people as well as palaces and infrastructure have been blown up. I do not know the cost yet to civilians, but these people suffer – they are brave, steady, and frightened. The hotel rocks. Smoke plumes rise everywhere. From the hotel, on the roof till we were kicked off, I have seen all over town tremendous blasts shaking the city, lighting the night sky, and anti-aircraft and sirens keep us keyed up. But no shields have yet been killed: my job, as I see it, is to help as I can, witness, go to hospitals, share my attentions with all, and survive if I can. The road out are very unsafe – bombed buses and dead bodies are strewn on the road to Jordan, where I worked till a few days ago. It is wrong to run now, and stupid. I thought it was wrong, for me, to stay in safety in this hotel, where we have our office. I hear we may be under siege soon. I doubt it will be an easy victory – these people re proud. I do not know though if it will be a long war – I am glad I will be here throughout. Blair and Bush know where we are deployed. It is not I who am crazy, it’s they. We can only pray. Our love for these people, our human family, is embraced and we are loved so much, all of us who come in peace, it shames us. Those of us from the West in Baghdad now hope perhaps we can help in some small way stop the birth of new hatred and terrorism, born of US and UK aggression. I love my country, the USA, I am a proud veteran of the US Navy and Gulf War Veteran, but then, Saddam was aggressor. I did volunteer for the war, but excused myself as I went to a hospital ship. But we sailed away without any humanitarian aid to our victims. Now, it my country and my parents’ country who are enemy. I will continue to visit bomb sites and hospitals by day. I’ll say goodbye from me, and introduce the names of those who have family in Yorkshire.
John Richardson lives in Batley, West Yorkshire, and he arrived here on the 18th of February. Since then, he has been deployed at the oil refinery Al-Daura, with 23 human shields from different parts of the world, including Spain, Argentina, Iceland, Germany, and Australia. He says, “We all arrived here with one common purpose: to stop this abomination, which the Bush and Blair administration are calling ‘War’. This is not a war, it is an inhuman and unjust act on an already vulnerable and beleaguered innocent civilian population, who have already endured 12 years of sanctions. The Gulf War has never truly stopped. We have visited hospitals, and seen the effects of sanctions, with children dying daily of leukemia and other forms of cancer with little or no medicines to help them. The people of Iraq, in my experience, are courgeous and hospitable and have welcomed all the human shields – I’m sure they realize that we have come to fulfill an important role here. Our first objective was to stop any military aggression against these people, and although we have apparently failed, as Bush and Blair have still gone ahead and ignored the majority of world opinion, and begun a bombing campaign which will have devastating and unknown humanitarian consequences. We do not consider our efforts so far to be a failure as we still feel have an important role to play. We will take to the outside world our first-hand experiences of the true nature of the Iraqi people, and the suffering they bravely endured.
On a personal note, I hope to return to England having fulfilled my original purpose in coming out here, which was to witness, and report, to Britain and to the rest of the world, that violence is never the answer, and diplomacy always works in the end. Like many other human shields here, I have never considered myself to be heroic, and I certainly do not want to die here. But, I feel the cause that originally impelled me to come here is still as important as ever.”
Uzma Bashir has been organizing from London, and I’ve known her since I first left York to work to arrange flights from Heathrow to Amman. She is 32 years old, born and raised in Bradford, now living Hertfordshire. She is a prime mover of this action, very very strong, a lovely woman, and a close friend of mine. She is deploying daily and nightly to the Daura Electrical Plant, which 30 % of Baghdad’s electricity, where I too will go. She says, “I feel honored to be in Baghdad right now, and grateful to see and speak to Iraqi people and find out their true feelings about this US/UK invasion. From my discussions, it is quite clear to me that Iraqis are Extremely generous, intelligent people, who feel they will solve any internal problems themselves, and do not need the US or UK to liberate them. To my amazement, there are shields arriving into Baghdad even now, into a warzone: a group of Portuguese, South Africans, Europeans arrived only yesterday. People are empowering themselves, and standing up with their beliefs, because they feel let down by their governments. I thank everyone world-wide who is fighting for peace.”
Rory McEwan, originally from Ripon, North Yorkshire, arrived with the 16th of March, on the 17 hour journey from Amman. He too has become a shield. He says, “I am not a pacifist, I am socialist. As a socialist, I believe I have the right to self-defense, and a responsibility to defend my class. By joining the human shield movement, I give up self-defense, and fulfill my responsibility to defend my class by placing myself between my Iraqi brothers and sisters and the aggression of my country. When the war is over or when we are forced to leave, I intend to employ the same tactics in Palestine.”
Karl Dallas is from Bradford, a 72 year old poet and songwriter who has been entertaining the children all over, and in demonstations and in hospitals and wherever he could. He has returned to the UK, to arrange charity concerts for the Iraqi children, and though we miss him, for he is still working very, very hard for the peace. He is the truest soul many of us have ever met – it is an honor to know him, and I hope to see him soon.
Robin Banks, London resident and music journalist, has a daughter in York.
Spirits are high. We are determined. Personally, I may go to jail if I return to the States. That is fine with me. I will be very sure to fight for the right to stand up against the aggressors and the government that claims to be democratic, and is nothing like that – Gore is our president, not George W. Bush – and that is true. I will then move out of my country, and not return. I am proud to say my friends the Arabs are my friends. I feel betrayed by my people in US, who claim to be good people. Let the Iraqis determine their own government. I stand with most of the world in damning this war. Best wishes – Antoinette
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| Read more about: vrijheid, repressie & mensenrechten | | supplements | | | enkele corporate-press link | wilting - 24.03.2003 21:46
Three South African "human shields" will return home from Iraq by Wednesday while four others have moved to a refugee camp on the Jordan-Iraq
 http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,6119,2-7-1442_1337663,00.html
Human shields are on their own: Downer
http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-23mar2003-128.htm
aerial intelligence photographs of Baghdad in recent days
have showed the words "human shields" written on several buildings
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/5470143.htm
AUSTRALIANS acting as human shields around Baghdad will remain until rescued or evacuated, according to one of the humanitarians
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6174701%255E25778,00.html
Westerners, opposed to the US-led war on Iraq, are acting as human shields at a power plant which provides some six million people in Baghdad with electricity
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=79&art_id=qw1048256462708B262&set_id=1
The Swedish math and physics teacher was among at least 12 "human shields" pledging to remain at a potential airstrike target: the Al-Douri power plant.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--war-humanshields0321mar21,0,435955.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire
Bombing cuts human shields link
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6169912%255E1702,00.html
Despite continuous attempts at persuasion by the Foreign Ministry, seven Japanese nationals in Iraq campaigning against war as "human shields" showed no sign of leaving the country on Friday.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20030322wo03.htm
Australian human shields say Americans will not be welcomed in Baghdad
http://www.spacewar.com/2003/030322020203.a134840u.html
Human shields undaunted by war
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/National/story_46905.asp
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/03/18/MN183497.DTL
Fippinger, a 52-year-old retired schoolteacher is one of about 90 "human shields" who are putting their bodies on the line in front of potential US bombing
| | 'Bekeerde' Human Shields | labrat - 26.03.2003 00:24
UPI.com bericht over Human Shields die na hun bezoek aan Irak de zaak in een ander daglicht bekeken. De gebruikelijke verhalen over ziekelijk sadistische handelingen van het regime deden de vredesactivisten inzien dat de weerstand tegen dictator Hoessein groot is, aldus UPI.
A group of American anti-war demonstrators who came to Iraq with Japanese human shield volunteers made it across the border today with 14 hours of uncensored video, all shot without Iraqi government minders present. Kenneth Joseph, a young American pastor with the Assyrian Church of the East, told UPI the trip "had shocked me back to reality." Some of the Iraqis he interviewed on camera "told me they would commit suicide if American bombing didn't start. They were willing to see their homes demolished to gain their freedom from Saddam's bloody tyranny. They convinced me that Saddam was a monster the likes of which the world had not seen since Stalin and Hitler. He and his sons are sick sadists. Their tales of slow torture and killing made me ill, such as people put in a huge shredder for plastic products, feet first so they could hear their screams as bodies got chewed up from foot to head."
Zie voor het hele artikel http://www.upi.com/print.cfm?StoryID=20030321-023627-5923r
| | letter from Jordan | johan - 26.03.2003 01:29
Yeah right, ik wilde het niet geloven, er zijn 1600 journalisten in Amman, dat is waar.
Het middenoosten is in het geheel niet afhankelijk van het westen wat nieuwsvoorziening betreft, het vertekende beeld dat CNN van deze oorlog brengt is alleen bestemd voor interne (westerse) consumptie. Satellietstations als Al Jazeera brengen regelmatig nieuws dat in eerste instantie door het Pentagon wordt ontkend en 6 uur later alsnog bevestigd. Er is ook geen reden om feiten te verdraaien,
de VS en UK zijn op grote schaal bezig onschuldige mensen te vermoorden, ik kan daar geen andere woorden voor vinden.
Maar als je de amerikaanse media gelooft "we try to free the iraki and they try to shoot us, we don't understand but we will revenge. Zo maak je vrienden, de grote demonstratie's in o.a Beiroet en de reaktie's van iraakse burgers op de eenzijdige oorlog krijgt Amerika waarschijnlijk niet te zien.
Wat de studentendemonstratie op de universiteiten van Amman betreft, afgelopen zaterdag hebben ongeveer 1000 zwaar bewapende agenten met traangas voorkomen dat 5000 studenten -40% van de inwoners van Amman is Palestijn- de campus verlieten om buiten de toegangspoort te demonsteren. De wind stond ongunstig waardoor het gas zich zelfs tot in de gebouwen door is gedrongen. Het was een gespannen situatie die een doorlopend karakter heeft gekregen, de studenten waren woedend, hamas hamas...
Vandaag was er een demonstratie van de palestijnse jeugdbeweging waar ook human shields aanwezig zijn geweest, geheel geweldloos, met de politie op grote afstand en zonder problemen.
Het aantal "human shields" in Irak is vandaag vastgesteld op 135 personen. Op het internet gaat het verhaal dat Elizabeth Cheney, dochter van Dick Cheny in Amman is om als shield naar Irak te gaan. Yeah right, ik ga naar bed, welterusten J.
Rachel Corrie: Detailed eyewitness account, remembrance, and thoughts about the future
Joseph Smith, writing from Rafah, Gaza Strip
21 March 2003 http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article1284.shtml
| | | johan - 27.03.2003 20:27
Mijn bericht is helaas verloren gegaan toen ik wilde verzenden, moeilijk om het nu te herschrijven
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