The International Action Centers (IAC) Fourth Iraq Sanctions Challenge headed by former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark arrived in Baghdad recently, being among the first US delegations to fly to Iraq since the imposition of sanctions in 1990. They were greeted at the airport by enthusiastic applause and cheering, and joined Iraqis in chanting "US and UN end the sanctions now." The delegation is taking a political stance in opposition to the ten years old sanctions and bombing that have killed nearly two million people, holding this to be a Crime Against Humanity and a War Crime.

At a press conference at the airport Ramsey Clark declared, "The US must end the genocidal sanctions against Iraq." The whole world demands that the sanctions be lifted completely and immediately.

This is the fourth Iraq Sanctions Challenge to travel to Iraq and the first to have done so by air. In the past, they have been required to travel overland by bus from Amman, Jordan. to Baghdad, a 20 hour trip, because of the U.S. and British imposed no-fly zone, which prohibits flights over two thirds of Iraq. The Challenge is part of the growing opposition to the sanctions, which is taking a strong foothold worldwide. More than 100 flights have entered Iraq in the last five months.

The delegation brings together people from fifteen US states and seven countries. It includes students, teachers, long time activists, social workers, lawyers, and others committed to peace. As part of their efforts to understand the consequences and defy the sanctions, the delegation plans to visit the Association of Peace, Friendship, and Solidarity. On Jan. 16th, the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the Gulf War, they participated in a demonstration in Baghdad.

The Sanctions Challenge delegation delivered over $1.5 million worth of medicine and school supplies - basic necessities that have been denied. As delegate and IAC co-coordinator Deirdre Sinnott points out, "This medical aid is a gift to the Iraqi people, but we know that this token from the United States does not bring back their bustling economy. Before the embargo, Iraq was one of the most prosperous nations in the region, and now the sanctions prevent the Iraqi government from meeting the basic needs of its population. We demand a complete end to the sanctions."

ACTION: For more information, please contact the International Action Center, 39 West 14th Street, Room 206, New York, NY 10011 email: iacenter@iacenter.org

Two peoples, frozen in terror
By HERBERT W. CHILSTROM
The Star Tribune

I could feel the anger welling up. We were standing in the ravaged fields of Abu Houli, a Palestinian farmer near the city of Gaza. Just a few days earlier Israeli troops had uprooted his olive and orange orchards and had crushed one of his greenhouses. Near midnight the next day they came again with a loud pounding on the door. This time, they said, his house must be razed. With but minutes to evacuate their home, Abu Houli and his wife gathered up their children and fled in the night to a nearby relative.

We could see the tracks of the bulldozer as we walked across the soft, fertile fields. Pressed into the ground were the shattered remains of children’s toys and books, chairs, kitchen utensils, clothing, windows, curtains, beds. Nearby we came upon the toppled remains of a giant sycamore tree, its bare and broken roots thrust into the evening sky like the fingers of a corpse.

"Our family sat under that tree for many generations," said Abu. "Why did they do this?" we asked. They only told him it was for security reasons. Though he and his family had never been involved in clashes with the Israelis, the army cleared his land and destroyed his home along the highway to make certain snipers could not fire on their personnel. We were reminded of the ancient Arab proverb: You raise a tree like you raise your child. Later we were to learn that since the end of September the Israeli Army has uprooted nearly 10,000 trees on Palestinian lands.

I looked across the mangled fields to the Israeli Army post a mile in the distance. I felt intense hatred for those who had done what I saw as a completely senseless act.

As we left the Houli farm, the children came to say goodbye to us. They smiled and waved. But there was sadness in their eyes. How long before their sadness turns to rage? I wondered. If I were a boy growing up in that family, how long would it be before I started hurling stones at tanks and bulldozers? I prayed for them, especially the boys.

As we traveled through the checkpoint on our way out of the Gaza area we met Israeli soldiers face to face. I wanted to shout out my anger at them. But I knew it would do no good.

Two hours later we were back in Jerusalem at the Notre Dame Center, where our ecumenical delegation was staying during our early December visit to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. We had come, 26 church leaders from 15 U.S. denominations. We were Roman Catholic, Episcopalian, Methodist, Quaker, Lutheran, Mennonite, Presbyterian, Armenian Apostolic, Greek Orthodox, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ. On our schedule for the evening was a meeting with representatives from the Israeli community.

I took a seat in the circle next to a man who introduced himself as Rabbi Levi Welman-Kelman, an activist in the peace movement. Yes, I felt anger toward him, too, as I reflected on our experience in Gaza.

It was not long, however, until I began to realize the profound insight of Archbishop Desmond Tutu as he led his South African brothers and sisters toward freedom. The one with power, said Tutu, is in prison as much as those who are oppressed.

As the Israelis described what life was like for them, we began to see that they are indeed as imprisoned in fear as their Palestinian neighbors. Every time we board a bus we wonder if we will make it to our destination, said one. And then Levi shared his most profound fear. His daughter Zophar, he said, is doing her mandatory military service. Several times a week she drives to her duties at a military outpost on the Egyptian border.

Each time she leaves our home, he said with strong feeling, I wonder, Will this be the last time Ill see my daughter? Will she be killed by a sniper as she drives through the Gaza area? As I said goodbye to him at the end of the meeting I assured him that Zophar would be in my prayers. He was choked with emotion as he thanked me.

These two vignettes tell the story. Two peoples, frozen in terror, cannot seem to find a way to live together peacefully. I have been to the Middle East several times in the past 35 years. On every visit I’ve felt the tension between the Palestinians and the Israelis. But never like this.

Christians, along with Jews and Muslims, feel a special link to this place. We all call it The Holy Land because the history of our religions is so intimately tied to it.

Everyone we talked to, from Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat to Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, longs for a settlement. But hopes are dim. The great fear is that unless a resolution comes soon the conflict could easily mushroom into a Middle East war. Inevitably, that would bring the United States and other nations into direct involvement.

There is broad agreement on the issues that need to be resolved:

• Israel must end the use of disproportionate force against Palestinians in violation of international laws.
• Israelis and Palestinians must cease all acts of violence and return to the negotiating table.
• Israel must be guaranteed its security.
• The Palestinians must be free to achieve statehood with their capital in east Jerusalem and the pre-1967 borders reestablished.
• The Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory must either be dismantled or come under some form of Palestinian jurisdiction that assures their security.
•  Jerusalem must be a place where pilgrims from all three faith traditions are free to come for worship at the holy sites.
• Palestinian refugees scattered around the world must be given freedom to return to their homeland and awarded reparations for confiscated property.

Can a peaceful settlement be achieved? Each of these elements looms like an impregnable mountain.

Landau, an Israeli peace activist, gave us his sober prediction of things to come: "We'll make peace after many, many more graves are dug."

Indeed, the prospects for a peaceful settlement seem remote as all three faith traditions celebrate holy days. But is it possible that this is exactly the moment when people of faith from all of these streams: Islam, Judaism and Christianity should affirm what they hold in common? All believe that there is only one God. And if we believe that this God is still involved in the affairs of this world, is it possible that we can all pray for and work for peace in that place we all hold sacred?

The Rev. H. George Anderson, my successor as presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has called our church to pray for the Middle East. He has suggested a prayer vigil for peace to continue until there is a peace accord between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Other Christian churches have picked up on this initiative, and the call to prayer is spreading around the world. We know that the faithful among the followers of Judaism and Islam are also praying.

Followers of Judaism and Christianity share a common treasure: the Old Testament. In Psalm 122 we are all urged to Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. This year, more than ever, let us all light a candle for peace, asking that God will bless Israeli and Palestinian alike, followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, praying that peace may finally come to the place we all hold in reverence.

An editorial from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, published Sunday, December 24, 2000. Copyright 2000 Star Tribune. Republished here with the permission of the Star Tribune. No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the express approval of the Star Tribune."