Kathy Kelly: a courageous activist for peace
By DAN ONORATO

Pacifist Kathy Kelly’s manner may be gentle and unimposing, but her spirit is steadfast and bold. "I don't want to be an armchair spectator," she told audiences at Cal State Stanislaus, Christ Unity Baptist Church, and the Modesto Church of the Brethren in her recent visit. "I want to put my body on the line."

She's been doing that for years as part of Chicago’s Catholic Worker Movement serving the poor and as co-founder of Voices in the Wilderness protesting economic sanctions against Iraq. For years she and others in Voices have risked U.S. government fines and jail to bring humanitarian aid to suffering Iraqi people. She just returned from five months in Baghdad as part of the Iraq Peace Team organized by Voices. Amid stories of pain and hope, she reiterated a central message: "The best way to prevent the next war is to tell the truth about this one."

The primary truth, she reminded her audiences, is that truth is the first casualty of war. In 1991 the Kuwaiti government used Hill and Knowlton, a public relations firm, to market the first Gulf War by fabricating the story that Iraqi troops had ripped babies from their incubators in Kuwaiti hospitals. Though the media did not explore her identity at the time, the key player who dramatically lied to a congressional commission was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the U.S. The first Bush administration exploited this story to gain Senate approval for the war. Similarly, Kelly asserted, the current Bush administration justified its war on what now also appear to be spurious, unsubstantiated claims; that Iraq threatened the world with weapons of mass destruction and was working with Al Qaeda.

Another misrepresentation is the oversimplified image that Iraqis were jubilant over the American defeat of Saddam Hussein's regime. Yes, she said, initially there was a sense of release from an oppressive dictatorship and frightening system of police surveillance and brutality. But, Kathy quickly added, this euphoria was neither universal nor long lasting. Many were grieving the loss or injury of loved ones or of their destroyed homes. In addition, the reality of American military occupation and imminent corporate exploitation of Iraq soon set in. "Never did I think this occupation would happen to my country," an Iraqi mother told her, "and it is very sad. Never will I lose this sadness."

When widespread looting began, Iraqis noted that the occupying forces surrounded the oil ministry and oil installations but did not protect other ministries or hospitals, despite repeated Iraqi requests. A number of Kathy's Iraqi friends told her, "Maybe the only thing we've been liberated from is the notion the U.S. wanted to save us in the first place."

To counter American self-interest in Iraq, Kathy would like to see a commission made up of third parties to provide security, help organize humanitarian assistance, and monitor who benefits from oil sales and development.

Despite the U.S. government's resort to massive violence in a pre-emptive war that was illegal, immoral, and unnecessary, and may prove counter-productive, Kathy remains strong in her faith in nonviolence. The Iraqi Peace Team will remain in Iraq, and Voices is considering an "Iraqi Summer" based on the Civil Rights Era "Mississippi Summer," in which hundreds of volunteers from all over the country kept knocking on doors to end segregation and gain the right to vote. Voices also plans a large education campaign about other possible targets of U.S. pre-emptive policy, such as Iran, North Korea, and Syria.

Despite experiencing the war first hand, Kathy seems tireless. "We have so much to learn from the Iraqi people about enduring," she said after recounting a story about Ashan and Magit who run the Baghdad Center for Folk Music and Dance. On her first visit to the center she viewed a children's art exhibit. When she saw a drawing of the Twin Towers being attacked, she asked the young artist what was on his mind. "I wanted Americans to understand how other people feel when America does that to them." Later to the children and the directors, she sang John Sebellius's "This is My Song." The lyrics speak of humanity's common dream there will be no more war. Ashan and Magit loved it and began transliterating her taped version into Arabic. Two days later the children sang it enthusiastically to Kathy and other visitors, and Ashan and Magit decided it would be featured in their spring concert. But when the looting started, the school, with all its sheet music and instruments, was completely ransacked and destroyed. Before she returned to the U.S., Ashan and Magit reassured her they would go ahead with the concert. "Madame Kathy," they said resolutely, "people must hear that song." Kathy halted after telling the story, choking back emotion, then sang the song in Arabic to an enrapt audience at the Church of the Brethren. "Every group I visit, I sing that song," she told us. "I cannot not have hope."

"We have to go on inventing nonviolence," she asserted. "Violent solutions are like a staggering drunk. Nonviolent efforts are like a two year old. I'll bet on the two year old."

For her, nonviolence requires simplifying lifestyles. “We in the U.S.,” she said, “are 6% of the world's population using nearly 35% of its resources. The greatest terrorism is what we're doing to our planet."

Two other essential elements of nonviolence are service to others and nonviolent resistance. About the latter, she remarked, "With the millions opposed to the war in this country and around the world, we almost reached critical mass. We were almost there. We need massive resistance, but this requires taking commensurate risks."

That challenge was stated in the large banner she and others held as American forces entered Baghdad: "Courage for peace, not for war."

Like Gandhi and King, Kathy embodies that courage and invites us to embrace it.

A closing comment from Tom Paine sums up her large vision: "My country is the world. My religion is to do good."

From Tikkun: Eight things you could do to advance peace in the Middle East

1. BECOME WELL INFORMED. Don't say, "I don't know enough" — because we can help you get the information you need:

a. A daily up-date with the news you don't read in American media: Email: TIKKUN-ISRAEL-Open-heartedness-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

b. Subscribe to Tikkun Magazine. Send $29 to Tikkun, 2107 Van Ness Ave, Suite 302, SF, CA 94109 or subscribe from www.tikkun.org

c. Read Healing Israel/Palestine: Overcoming Tribalism and a Path to Compassion by Rabbi Michael Lerner—or  read Avi Shlaim's The Iron Wall. Create a local Tikkun Community branch, meet, study, deepen your understanding (use the articles on "current thinking" on the Tikkun web-site. If you want to form a local branch, we will help you get started.

d. Inquire about our activist training.

2. Join our MEDIA CRITIQUE group--and challenge the daily distortions in the media. Every day we post articles or summaries of media reports that ought to be challenged. Contact Samantha: ashreynu@aol.com

3. Visit publicly elected officials. Ask them to endorse our Middle East peace initiative.

4. TIKKUN CAMPUS NETWORK for college students and faculty. More info: campus@tikkun.org or marisa@tikkun.org

5. Check www.tikkun.org every few days for our latest media critiques and calendar postings.

6. Help us fundraise to make possible these activities. Show a video tape (we have 3 topics: a. Israel/Palestine b. The State of the Spirit c. Jewish Renewal). Then, see if you can get people invited to either join The Tikkun Community or donate to support our work.

7. Help us with volunteer work.

8. Don't let others tell you that opposing the policies of Israel today is anti-Semitic or "self-hating." Insist that they expose themselves to this other perspective—because we firmly believe that the best way to be pro-Israel at the moment is to give Israel some "tough love" and push her to get out of the West Bank and Gaza, help organize reparations for the Palestinian refugees, and take steps to generate a two-sided dynamic of repentance and atonement for all the unnecessary killings, maimings, pain and fear that each side has caused the other. And don't let them tell you that you have to choose sides—this is precisely the moment to be BOTH pro-Israel and pro-Palestine.

Links: News and information websites regarding war and the Middle East 

Stressed by war and violence?
By KEN SCHROEDER

Many of us have been deeply affected by the Iraqi people’s suffering, by anxiety for loved ones in the military and by the consequences of the war at home. The following suggestions may help.

• Take action. Attend a peace vigil. Write a letter. Speak up. Do what fits for you.

• Seek out the support of family and friends. Don’t let yourself become isolated.

• Take care of yourself. Exercise.

• Calm yourself with meditation, prayer, relaxation exercises, yoga or tai chi.

• When discussing the war, strive for dialogue and understanding.