Disappearing Wars

"Stop the War" Rally

Defend the People of Palestine and Lebanon
Join a National Day of Action

Saturday, August 12, 2006
10:30 am

Denver City & County Building
1437 Bannonck St., Denver

10 am sign making (BYO supplies), 10:30 speakers, 11:00 am March
We will march down the 16th Street Mall and back to the City & County Building
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In coordination with the National Emergency March in Washington DC
Initiated by ANSWER, National Council of Arab Americans (NCA), Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
Local Organizer: Front Range Coalition


Monday, August 7, 2006 I went to a meeting concerning the rally advertised above. Once in the meeting I felt I must have entered a time warp in which a marvelous thing occurred. Apparently the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have ended! If you look above you’ll notice only the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the continued occupation of Palestine are on the “Stop the War” flyer.
Since it was my first meeting with this particular group, I decided to remain quiet and just observe and listen to the proceedings. There was much talk about the situation in Lebanon and Palestine as well as the logistics of the upcoming rally. There was discussion about bringing flags to the rally; including the Israeli flag.
Several members of the Muslim and Arab communities objected to the Israeli flag being present at the rally. Members who weren’t associated with the Muslim and Arab community felt it wouldn’t be inappropriate to bring both American and Israeli flags.
One man in an emotional outburst wanted to know if he wasn’t allowed to bring the flag of his country if he’d be allowed to bring “his God”. I’m not sure exactly who “his God” is but hopefully his God isn’t swayed by the flag of any nation.
I found it a little disturbing when a young brother from the Muslim/Arab American community wanted some discussion about the issue of having the Israeli flag as part of the rally but was told the discussion had already taken place in a sub-committee. I kept wondering if the young brother had been African-American instead of Arab-American if he’d have been dismissed as he was by the facilitators of the meeting.
Later, thinking back on the scene, I wonder if the flag in question was a Confederate flag and the event was a civil rights rally and march whether a complete discussion could have been held? Or if any discussion would have been necessary?
I’m hopeful the facilitators and the mostly white group understood the inflammatory meaning of the Israeli flag for most Muslims and people of Middle East background. Somehow it didn’t seem they placed much importance on the objection of the brother to this flag. A friend whispered apparently the Nazi flag will be allowed at the next holocaust commemoration if this particular group was in charge.
I continued to find myself uncomfortable at the meeting without knowing exactly the reason so my writing is merely a gut reaction. Middle aged white men seemed to be in charge and the traditional hierarchy system implemented.
There was a particular interaction between one of the white men in charge telling one of the elders from the Muslim/Arab American community the “disappointment” he had because of some email exchanges initiated by this elder. When the elder attempted to rebut the white male’s remarks he was interrupted and told to hold his remarks until after the meeting.
I guess the dismissive attitude I witnessed twice in less than an hour toward Arab Americans is perceived differently for someone new. Perhaps if I’d been a consistent participant I could understand it. I couldn’t imagine I would feel different but the interaction seemed acceptable to the larger group.
And anyway, I’m writing this to celebrate the disappearance of Iraq and Afghanistan from the rolls of nations in need of help against wars perpetrated by the American government. Iraq was mentioned only once during the 1 ½ hours I was at the meeting. A local Imam from Iraq was mentioned as being a speaker at the August 12th rally.
Sadly, the next war, which is apparently going to be in Iran, was brought up. A campaign called “Don’t Do It” was mentioned a few times. This group seems convinced the U.S. will begin bombing Iran in the very near future. A military scholar named Stan Goff (The Feral Scholar; http://stangoff.com/) recently dismissed this idea as a ploy and diversion. I guess we’ll have to see how things work out and hope Stan’s better informed.
After attending this meeting and coming home to find email with the flyer above, I was confused. I tried calling my friends at Iraq Veterans Against the War. I couldn’t get through. My hopes soared. They must have disbanded now that the war has been resolved.
To be sure, however, I decided to discuss the meeting and flyer with my friend, “The Iraqi Woman”. I can’t identify her to protect her identity….but since she was once identified by a local investigative reporter as “the Iraqi woman”, I’ll use that.
We began the discussion with me reviewing her background:
“So, let me get this straight …..You’re Iraqi, correct?”
“No. You know I was born in America. My father is Iraqi.””
“So, you’re Muslim?”
“No! My father is Muslim and my mother is Jewish.”
“Ok, then you are Jewish?”
“No! You know I’m not Jewish”.
“Yeah, right…So if your father is Muslim and your mom is Jewish, you must be Protestant.”
“Smart ass”.
“Let me ask you about that meeting last night. Since Iraq wasn’t mentioned as part of the rally and the flyer doesn’t mention Iraq; is the war over?”
“No! I called my family yesterday and the war is far from over. It’s worse now than either time I’ve been back since the war started.”
“I don’t get it. No one mentioned the war in Iraq or Afghanistan last night. When I got home I had this nice flyer about stopping the war but Iraq and Afghanistan weren’t mentioned. I thought some miracle occurred and all that vanished. I mean there was a room full of activists we both know in that room last night and not once did they mention Iraq. Except when they mentioned the Imam as a speaker”
“I know but the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are still raging. In fact, its worse there right now than ever before. More people are getting killed than in Lebanon or Palestine.”
“No way! I’ve seen nothing but the tragedy of Lebanon’s civilians getting killed by American munitions to protect Israel’s homeland. Where did Iraq go?”
“You’re not listening! Iraq is totally destabilized and occupied by the U.S. and allies, including Britain. A conservative estimate of civilian dead since 2003 is 100,000. And that doesn’t account for the years of the sanction from 1991 until 2003.”
“Yeah, I heard about sanctions but no one here seemed to think it was a problem.”
“That’s part of the problem. The sanctions didn’t harm Saddam they harmed the civilian population of Iraq. The population at the time of the sanctions was 50% children. Some humanitarian groups estimate 2 million kids died during those years because of the sanctions. Most of the deaths could have been prevented with proper water and medical equipment.”
“So, how do you know so much?”
“I’ve been there twice”
“Iraq? You’re telling me you’ve been to Iraq twice?”
“Yes. I went once right after the war began and again this past Christmas. I just returned in the spring. I talk with my family there every week. There’s still rolling blackouts, gas lines and no potable water for most Iraqis.”
“Damn! Then I really can’t understand why Iraq is not mentioned in this upcoming rally’s flyer. Don’t we need to link the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan with the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the continued occupation of Palestine?”
“One would think so. We know AIPAC, the Israeli lobby in Congress, has great influence on the Bush Administration. In fact Bush has four members of his Administration now or in the past that were also cabinet members of the Israeli premier.
“Israeli troops have helped train Kurds in the North of Iraq. Israeli’s have helped train American interrogators in Iraq. Israel buys or is given American weapons that are used in Palestine and Lebanon. The occupation of Iraq by the U.S. is in the best interest of the Israeli government. The tactics and the plan of occupation in Iraq is very much a carbon copy of Palestine”.
“There are obvious links between what happens in Lebanon and Palestine and what happens in Iraq and Afghanistan. To have a rally without acknowledging and including Iraq and Afghanistan diverts attention from the atrocities that continue to occur and puts the focus on the actions of Israel. And truthfully….most Americans are sympathetic to the Zionists of the Israeli government.”
“But the American peace movement has never wanted to link the actions of the U.S. and Israel. Scott Ritter recently put out a piece saying there needs to be a singular focus on ending the Iraq war by the peace movement. Like Americans are too stupid to understand the tax dollars aren’t just going to Iraq and Afghanistan to bomb; they’re going to Israel to use in Lebanon and Gaza.”
“Yeah, I’m not an “expert” in the Middle East policies but I did see combat in Vietnam when I was 18 and 19. And I knew early on the war was wrong and there was a link between Vietnam and Laos and Cambodia. It was all one policy. “
“My dad was in WWII and Americans were able to follow there were two fronts of the war…..the Pacific and the European fronts.”
“Of course WWII was when the death camps occurred and the holocaust took place. That seemed to create the state of Israel. I read David Ben-Gurion actually said the holocaust was beneficial to the Zionist movement in the Palestine territories.”
“Right. And the Jewish faith is not Zionism. People need to keep that in mind. There’s a strong peace and justice movement in Israel we never hear about and in the American Jewish community. Remember the media is controlled in large part in both of these alleged model “democracies”. That is a powerful tool to use to have Americans exposed to only one side of things. The Zionist side.”
“We also have to understand there’s a mind set an American or Israeli death is exponentially ten times that of an Iraqi or Palestinian. To Americans and Israeli leaders a dead Iraqi child is no different than a dead Lebanese child. And that’s true but they see children dead and apologize that the deaths are part of war and quickly turn to their dead soldiers to compare.”
“Approximately 10% of the dead in Lebanon are combatants while the majority of Israeli dead are soldiers. This has been true in Iraq and Afghanistan. The governments of both countries will say the numbers are skewed because they only have soldiers in these places. They won’t say the ratio of the dead is 10:1 or more with 80% civilian casualties in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine. “
“And they won’t tell the public most of the deaths are caused by tactics in direct violation of the Geneva Convention and the Nuremberg agreements. Population centers are bombed and barraged with artillery. The munitions used often contain depleted uranium.”
“White phosphorous, a new generation of napalm and cluster bombs are all in violation of agreements mentioned but they are used daily by both Americans and Israelis.”
“We’re told we have to fight terror off our shores to protect our homeland. The Israelis are told “never again” and that all Muslim nations want to kill Jews. So, they too must protect their homeland. Only problem is both countries have committed the greatest acts of theft imaginable. They both took a land away from indigenous peoples and made it appear they were the victims when the indigenous people fought for their land.”
“They depersonalized the indigenous people to make it easier to slaughter them. When they succeeded in taking the land they created “reservations” and “territories” for the remaining indigenous people.”
“How can we exclude American policy in Iraq from Israeli policy in Palestine when we call for a rally and march against “the war”? Again, it just seems to divert attention away from the continued killing in Iraq and put it on the war in Lebanon and Palestine which is favorably viewed by most Americans.
I just have to think we’re playing into the neo-con plan at a time when national elections are coming up.”
“Well, what I know is my family is still under the guns of American occupation and they are at more risk than when Saddam was in power. I know I can’t tell the difference between the dead child under the rubble caused by American made bombs in Fallujah and American made bombs in Beirut.”
“I can only see true terrorists wearing American and Israeli uniforms carrying out the policies of white men seeking to rule the world. Which is more terrifying; a bomb dropped on a hospital or school or an IED on a road? Which is more terrifying; large armed men knocking down the door of a home with children and brutally throwing parents to the floor or rockets fired at military targets?”
“The American peace movement is so splintered and in denial they can never be effective.”
“I agree. So the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq haven’t disappeared except in the planning of some American peace groups. I don’t suppose we can ever get them to include the costs of war to the domestic needs of their own country. That, apparently, would be too much information and people might get upset.”
“I guess I’ll pass on the August 12th rally because I’m so outraged I feel like using the profanity of the Vietnam era peace movement. I don’t know at what point we quit worrying about upsetting people and authorities. When do we say,” enough!”? When do we show people they should be upset and outraged?”
“Good question but it seems the quest to always be “civil” and not upsetting takes precedence over the emotion of outrage.”

Many thanks to "Iraqi Woman" - her expert knowledge of the current situation has allowed me to see the human side of things. And if we're going to send our young out to hunt and kill other humans; we need them to know the human side. Maybe we should practice it more.