Invest in Peace

On the last day of a recent trip to Jordan, only a few hours before I had to leave for the airport to fly back to the US, I had the opportunity to visit Walid, an Iraqi man who has cancer. One of my DAI colleagues accompanied me and translated for me. The purpose of our visit was to introduce ourselves to Walid and to assess his medical needs. But a surprise waited for me at Walid’s apartment, one that I hadn’t imagined, one that feeds my hope.

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In Iraq, Abu Naseer was a mechanical engineer, working in the oil industry in the south of the country. After the US invasion of Iraq and overthrow of its government, as criminality and lawlessness spread, kidnapping became a business in Iraq. In 2005, Abu Naseer’s three year old son, Ali, was kidnapped. 

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Dear Friends of Direct Aid Iraq,

I hope you’re reading this because you, like all of us at DAI, believe that we have a responsibility to continue to support a future of peace for Iraqis, even though Iraq has faded from the headlines. A quick look at the posts on this website in recent days illustrates the courage and determination of the Iraqi friends and colleagues with whom we work, and the urgency of the needs we – Iraqis and American involved in Direct Aid Iraq – are working to meet on a daily basis.

I’m writing because we need your help, now more than ever. [Read more →]

 Very recently, when Direct Aid Iraq met Abu Omar, we knew only that he had been tortured in detention centers in Iraq. He welcomed us into his small apartment in Amman, gave us tea and juice, and for nearly three hours told us the story of his arrest, torture, release, and escape to Jordan. He spoke with remarkable dignity and humility, and when he was finished he invited us to stay for dinner. “You haven’t eaten,” he said, “and this is the Iraqi way of hospitality.” To read his story, told in his own words, click “read more.”

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In 1999, while at his shop in a busy commercial district of Baghdad, Abu Walid witnessed the murder of a neighboring shop owner and helped subdue the murderer. His courage that day and at the trial resulted in death threats that forced him and his family to flee, first their home, and then Iraq.

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In December of 2003, a few months before photographs revealing torture at Abu Ghraib detention center shocked the world, American soldiers were fired upon in a rural farming community in Iraq. Unable to apprehend the attackers, the Americans went door-to-door, arresting men in neighboring houses. One of these men was Abu Hassan, and the arrest led to nineteen months of imprisonment and torture at US detention camps in Iraq, including Abu Ghraib. 

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When Noah Baker Merril and I were in Jordan recently, we had a long-awaited opportunity to visit with Moustafa, six years to the day that he was thrown off his roof by the concussion of a US missile, breaking his back. And Moustafa had a surprise for us.

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Award-winning photographer and filmmaker Tomiko Jones has posted a series of powerful black-and-white images taken during time spent accompanying the Direct Aid Iraq team in Amman, Jordan earlier this year.

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Writing from his experience working with DAI’s team in Amman, Jordan, DAI’s David Smith-Ferri tells the story of a man who embodies many of the struggles and the hopes of the people we have met in this work.

AMMAN, Jordan – On the first Saturday in May, at Churchill Downs, the underdog, come-from-behind, runaway victory of Mine That Bird in the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby thrilled people across the world. Racehorse victories are attributed to team efforts: credit the jockey and the trainer for winning. And the trainer in this case – Bennie Woolley – was as much an underdog as Mine That Bird was a long shot, having never previously run a horse in a stakes race before Saturday.

If this appeals to something in you, if you are cheered and comforted and strengthened by examples of people overcoming adversity and succeeding against the odds, not on the basis of privilege, but on talent and determination, then come with me to the Middle East, where an Iraqi horse trainer named Balasem is fashioning a kind of comeback that is far more remarkable and instructive than the one Mine That Bird and his team produced last week.

The first thing I learned when I spoke with Balasem is that he loves and respects horses. Practically as a greeting, he said to me, “Never hit a horse. Treat him kindly, and he will remember you as a friend.” There isn’t anything he’d rather talk about.

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On Sunday the 19^th of  April  2009, three Mandaean  jewelers  were massacred by gunmen  in their jewellery  shops in the Altobechi  area of  Baghdad, Iraq. This occurred during the mid-morning hours. The assailants used pistols with silencers.  Three others were badly injured in this attack and are still in serious condition.  

Mandaeans, whose  religion and culture are indigenous to Iraq, trace their religious ancestry back thousands of years. We at Direct Aid Iraq are concerned not only that the killing of Mandaeans is systematic, but also that  it has become a silent genocide: the future of Iraqi Mandaeans and their culture is imperiled, and the world is unaware. We urge everyone concerned with human rights to help raise consciousness about this very real threat, to condemn it, and to advocate for international protections. Please read on to learn more about the threats facing Mandaeans in Iraq and the urgent recommendations and appeal for help that follows.

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