Voices and Views from Iraqi Kurdistan

 

CPT Iraqi Kurdistan team -- https://cptik.org/

By Weldon D. Nisly -- nislyweldon@gmail.com  (shared with permission)

November 20, 2021

 

I am grateful to be on the CPT IK team again in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, after a 20-month covid pandemic absence. The team has had a full schedule for the 8 weeks that I have been here, with only 3 weeks before I leave on Dec 12. This rooftop view of our neighborhood looks down on the markets, bakeries, and shops that provide most of our food and household needs.

Opinion piece: Drone Whistleblower Thrown in Pen with Terrorists

 

Is society safer with Daniel Hale, who exposed U.S. drone civilian killings, being housed with some of the most dangerous prisoners in America?

By John Kiriakou; reprinted with permission; First published with Consortium News Fri., Oct. 22, 2021 publicized by Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space

Drone whistleblower Daniel Hale was sent on Sunday to the notorious Communications Management Unit (CMU) at the maximum-security U.S. Penitentiary (USP) at Marion, Illinois to serve a 45-month sentence, rather than to the low-security prison at Butner, North Carolina, where federal Judge Liam O’Grady had recommended he go.

IPN Signs Letter to Biden on Diplomacy in Iran

Iowa Peace Network recently (Thursday, October 28) signed a letter to President Biden along with several other organizations, asking Biden to consider some actions in Iran.  This letter was written by and we were asked by NIAC (National Iranian American Council) to sign.  We are in their network. See below. 

November 2, 2021
 President Joseph R. Biden 
The White House 
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. 
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Biden, 

Our organizations write with growing concern regarding the stalled negotiations aimed at restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or Iran nuclear deal.

The Traumatic Legacy of Indigenous Boarding Schools

 

By Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe

Used with permission from the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church,  October 7, 2021

I serve on a team for the Pilgrimage of Justice and Peace of the World Council of Churches.  For more than six years, this international multifaith team has traveled to different parts of the world, listening and learning from people and communities whose voices are often marginalized and ignored.

Rev. MLK Jr: Beyond “I Have a Dream”

 

By Kathleen McQuillen, Anti-Racism Task Force Member, First United Methodist Church, Des Moines, IA.  Reprinted with permission; first published in The Light, First Church newsletter, June 2021

Is there (anyone) who is not familiar with Rev. Martin Luther King’s I have a dream speech? Just to refresh your memory, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” 

Afghanistan: Five Success Stories; an excerpt

 

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, August 27, 2021, reprinted with permission

Presented Friday, August 27, 2021, to the Northern Colorado Alliance for a Livable Future;  To see the full powerpoint presentation: https://worldbeyondwar.org/afghanistan-five-success-stories/

1.        The Peace Movement.

The people who spent 20 years largely excluded from the corporate media, lobbying Congress Members well paid not to listen to them, marching and protesting and holding teach-ins, making art, traveling across the globe or staying put on the same street corner for decades

Just Peace Outreach Group Meets near Oxford, IA; Welcome Climate Riders

 By Verna Zook and Roger Farmer; reprinted with permission; first published for JPOG email list

On Wednesday, July 7, 2021, fifteen JPOG’ers and around sixteen climate riders enjoyed watching a presentation of VANG, a drama about immigrant farmers, cosponsored by JPOG and the Land Alliance Folk School at Dave and Anna Geyer’s farm near Oxford, Iowa.

Systemic Racism

By the First United Methodist Church Anti-Racism Task Force, Des Moines, IA; reprinted with permission, first published in the May 2021 issue of The LIGHT, the First UMC newsletter

One of the most difficult things we face as we try to confront and end racism, as individuals and as a community of faith is the fact that it’s so deeply embedded in our systems that we often don’t recognize it. Because it's built into the very foundation of American society, systemic racism occurs in some of our most fundamental structures. 

Here Come the Migrants

 

By Ed Fallon, written 8/5/2021; reprinted with permission; first published for the Fallon Forum -  http://fallonforum.com/here-come-the-migrants/

The highlight of my week occurs every Thursday at 8:00 a.m. Sadly, it’s not a good highlight.

That’s when the National Drought Mitigation Center releases its update about conditions across the US. Sure, I study the map of the Midwest, where things have improved in some areas. But I spend more time analyzing the map of the US West, where drought conditions continue to worsen each week.

Observance of Hiroshima Nagasaki bombings being held August 6 and 8

 

By Christine Sheller, Coordinator IPN

Peace organizations are planning a 2021 observance for the anniversary of the nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 76 years ago.  As described below, Des Moines has held an observance of this for four decades.  Thanks to Jeffrey Weiss for writing the press release below.