http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6260189/
Anti-war activists sending photos to Iraqis
Pictures are meant to show 'what Americans are really like'
Jennifer Hyman, left, and Hossein Alizadeh sort through photos that
will be used in the organization's 'Iraq Photo Project', in Nyack,
N.Y.
The Associated Press
Updated: 10:32 a.m. ET Oct. 16, 2004
NYACK, N.Y. - More than 2,000 people opposing the war in Iraq,
including the father of an American beheaded by terrorists, are
sending Iraqis personal photos with protest messages to show “what
Americans are really like.”
The pictures, from all around the country, are meant to be a
counterpoint to the infamous images of Americans abusing Iraqi
prisoners. Each photo shows at least one sign, usually handmade. Some
specifically criticize U.S. actions in the war while others simply
extend sympathy to Iraqi civilians.
“With deep shame, we apologize for the suffering our country has
brought to the people of Iraq,” says a banner in a photo showing 11
people in Vancouver, Wash. Three elderly people in Minneapolis
declare, “All our children long for a new day.”
Michael Berg, whose son Nicholas was executed last spring by an
al-Qaida-affiliated group, holds a sign in his photo that says, “I am
sorry and ashamed for the tremendous loss my government has caused the
Iraqi people.”
“I truly feel that what the United States government has done to the
once-sovereign nation of Iraq is atrocious and shameful,” he said in a
phone interview. Berg, whose opposition to the war predates his son’s
execution, will be in Washington on Wednesday when the project is
formally unveiled by the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Undercutting U.S. troops?
The peace group, which organized the project, said it wants Iraqis to
know that most Americans were shocked by the photos of U.S. soldiers
abusing Iraqis prisoners and many regret a war being waged in their
name.
A veterans’ group, however, believes the project undercuts U.S.
soldiers.
Jerry Newberry, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said,
“This type of thing only serves to undermine the effort and the
sacrifice of our military in Iraq. These people on the face of it seem
to have a political agenda. ... It implies that what we’re attempting
to do in Iraq is shameful.”
The White House had no comment, spokesman Ken Lisaius said.
The project was sparked by Kaia Svien, a 57-year-old Minneapolis
teacher, who said she was “just dumbstruck” when she saw the Abu
Ghraib prison photos.
“It was the power of the photographs that brought home the message,”
Svien said. “So I thought, ’Can’t we use photos in another way to
respond to this and hope they will be as powerful? Maybe we can show
them what Americans are really like.”’
She took the idea to the Nyack-based Fellowship, a 90-year-old group
with a history of pacifism and activism. Staffer Hossein Alizadeh made
it a national project, asking local peace groups to spread the word.
Speaking as 'ordinary Americans'
About 400 pictures came in from more than 100 cities and towns. Half
of them are being burned onto CDs for distribution Wednesday to news
media that reach Iraqis, said Fellowship spokeswoman Jennifer Hyman.
“We thought it would be great if we could speak as ordinary Americans
to ordinary Iraqis,” said Alizadeh. “Since the United States went in
there, the Iraqis have seen nothing but violence, so they have a very
negative opinion of Americans. We hope that after they see these
photographs, they will pause for a second and think, ’At least we have
a few friends, there are people who care about what’s happening.”’
He said that despite the signs in the pictures, the project is “not
about condemning any government.” Hyman said the peace group wants to
stop the deaths of U.S. soldiers as well as Iraqis.
There is no official figure for the number of Iraqis killed, but some
non-governmental estimates range from 10,000 to 30,000. As of Friday,
1,086 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of
the Iraq war in March 2003, according to the Defense Department.
'We're not their enemies'
Bruce Hawkins of Northampton, Mass., a retired physics professor who
sent in a photo of 16 people in a Quaker meeting house, said, “The
intent was to send a friendly message to people. We’re not their
enemies and they’re not ours.”
The sign in his photo says, in part: “We pray for the humane treatment
of all prisoners and the continuing healing of human hearts.”
A group of 27 people stood for their portrait on the steps of St.
Francis Xavier College Church in St. Louis after their weekly anti-war
vigil. One of their signs says, in Arabic, “Our hearts are full of
pain and sorrow for the Iraqi prisoners.”
William Quick, a lawyer from Lincoln Heights, Mo., who took the
picture, said the church was used as the background to show that
“being Christian does not mean being anti-Muslim.”
Mimi Pukuma, 29, of Philadelphia, posed with three friends and a sign
that says, “We apologize from our hearts for the suffering our
government is causing innocent Iraqi people.”
“I’ve been writing letters to the government, going to anti-war vigils
and so on but that’s impersonal in many ways,” she said. “This seemed
like I could in some small way express my sadness to Iraqi citizens.”
© 2004 The Associated Press.
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Vote for Bush. Why vote for the lesser of two evils?
No matter the candidates the superstition industry wins.
'Jesus' is a sock-puppet Christians utilize to add 'authority' to
whatever action they intend on taking. -Stoney
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