"The real treasure here is the beauty of the land, not the oil beneath it"
In Australia there is continuously growing concern over mining. We talk about losing farm land, homes, traditional sites, polluting water ways, endangered species and climate change. The other day Latif shared with us the story of his village's fight against Exxon Mobil. It is a part of the Kurdish story that i can relate to an Australian context and in a weird way that is exciting for me. It is just that we so often portray the Kurdish people as either silent victims or terrorists but hearing this story completely dispels that and crosses contexts and cultures. Latif is from a small Kurdish village's called Gulan. In 2013 Exxon Mobil moved into his rural farming community to begin drilling for oil. Most of the time people think the can do nothing to stop these massive oil companies but this village was organised and they knew that they did not want an oil company here destroying their land, polluting their waterways and leaving them destitute. Latif said, 'we were sleeping on a sea of oil and freezing to death'. They had seen what oil companies had done in other towns and would not let it happen to them. So Latif and some friends formed a council and began organising demonstrations and informing the people and media what we happening. At first it was very peaceful, they visited the company and the government and tried to negotiate. But the companies knew they had government support which meant military and police. What could these villagers do? Working on the drilling site continued so the newly formed council organised a demonstration. They called the media and people. They made signs with statements such as, 'Don't destroy our country for bosses pockets!' and, 'We won't exchange water for oil!'. The police were called to show the government's might, but the demonstrations just grew. The people brought logs and created a road block to the drilling site. Latif told how the drivers were shocked, this was the first time that a struggle like this had grown out of the people. They made sure everyone knew that they were peaceful, but they would, 'struggle with anyone who destroys our country'. If you visited Gulan you would understand their passion. It is beautiful. A friend described it as the Garden of Eden and imagining it being lost under the machinery of international corporations is enough to bring you to tears. The whole of Kurdistan was like that, heart-wrenchingly beautiful. We would be driving along dusty roads then, wham, another view of endless golden hills, rocky cliffs, hidden gardens, secret waterfalls, grazing goat herds, enchanting stone walls and elegant mosques. The phrase God's Country, kept flitting through my mind. Then you hear these peoples stories of war and suffering and it is so frustrating. Doesn't the world know that this place should be treasured not ripped apart by human greed and arrogance? We visited another town, Hadji Ahmed, where Miro, a farmer, told us of the complications their area has faced because of oil drilling. When CPT first visited him he could barely access his fields because of the checkpoints set up by Exxon Mobil. They had opened a gas and oil drilling site in between his house and his fields and were forcing him to show ID every time he wanted to pass and limiting the times he was allowed to do so. Currently because of the bad economic situation work on the site has been capped, but not before they had cleared the land and dug a 3000 meter deep well. A few weeks ago Miro saw more workers from the Natural Resources ministry scouting the area for potential drilling sites. What will happen to his family, to his walnut trees, to his village, to the remaining natural water sources, if they do find something? According to KRG natural resources laws you cannot just go and drill for oil without following certain procedures in emotional and material compensation and environmental measures. These laws are barely followed or acknowledged. The Natural Resources minister is KDP and if KDP wants to drill for oil they will drill. Renas, who is also from the town, said, 'They (politicians) use oil to stay in power. They bring international companies in because they want support from world powers'. And it works. A friend pointed out that Obama has shifted from referring to protecting USA people to protecting their overseas interests. It is in the open, The United States will go to war for oil, and lets be realistic, so will Australia. Oil in Kurdistan is mostly a curse. Currently in the KRG their are demonstrations happening over months of unpaid wages of those in the public sector, particularly teachers but also pensioners. One reason for the cuts is a dispute between the Iraqi Central Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government over the sale of oil. Yes another oil fight creating problems for people who were always unlikely to benefit economically from it. It is time for all of us to take inspiration from Gulan. We will not sell our neighbour's right to live in peace. In their final meeting with the Exxon Mobil Latif's friends brought a rose from his garden. He kissed it and showed it to the business men, 'I love my country,' he said, 'and I would not exchange this rose for the entire welth of Exxon Mobil'. Latif tells me that after that the men from these oil companies finally understood and said they would not come back. One of my co-delegates wrote the following piece and i felt it was so moving and summed up my experience so well that i asked him if i could share it so here it is: In the USA, the numbers "9/11" represent a "terrorist attack on American soul". In Iraqi Kurdistan the date "March 16, 1988" also calls to mind a terrorist attack. Chemical weapons were used against the town of Halabja not far from the Iranian border. Saddam Hussein claimed that Iran was behind the attack. In fact, Saddam's cousin, "Chemical Ali" was behind the attack. Between 3,200 and 5,000 people died in the attack, mostly civilians. Many had expected to be shelled by conventional bombs and hid in their basements. But the basement is the worst place to be during a chemical attack. There is an iconic scene that represents the horror. A man has fallen, and is covering a child, as they die together From September 10-24, I participated in a Christian Peacemaker Team delegation to Iraqi Kurdistan. September 17 was the day the delegation traveled from Sulaimania to Halabja to visit the memorial and the cemetery and the mass graves. I was expecting a heavy, sober day. But, on the bus ride to Halabja, Joshua "with a beard" from Ohio was playing a guitar that was missing a string and singing a song. Despite where we were going, there was clapping and dancing and celebrating among the delegates from the USA, Canada, Poland, Australia, Norway, Kurdistan, and Baghdad. I experienced exuberance. And I wanted to "capture the moment" I take Josh's photo, singing and playing the guitar Then, I ask my friend Ann, an American living in Sulaimania and who works for an NGO, to tap our friend Latif from on the shoulder so I can take his picture and "capture the moment" when he turned around. My "perfect plan" worked better than I had dreamed. Not only did I capture Latif's "beautiful soul face," but he spontaneously said to me, "I love you, Tim." It just came out with any plotting or planning. Ann whispered to me and touched her heart, "Did you hear that? What an incredible moment, oh!" An hour later, after this moment of humanity, we are in Halabja, the site of atrocity. Our tour guide, himself a survivor of the attack, describes the day, leads us through a photo gallery (including objects from the day). He answers our questions. We drive to the mass graves. I am numbed by the scenes and the statistics. Latif's words were a gift, carrying me through. And I face the Truth: horror and humanity side by side. Life is never all one or the other On the bus ride home it was quiet. No songs. No guitar. No dancing. I was thinking about both "September 11" and "March 16". And I was haunted by the words I heard prior to my going on the delegation from family and friends and faith community: "Keep your head down" and... "Be safe" and... "Watch your back" and... "Bring a gun" and... "We will be praying for you." And I realize that Latif has interpreted these words for me. What folks at home had really been saying to me was, "We love you, Tim" A few days later, we are in the town of Amedy. They have a castle. It was near sunset. Once again, I "capture the moment" with my camera. But then, the other delegates begin to sit on the edge of the ledge, looking down into the gorgeous valley below. Now, I hate this! It's dangerous. Someone might fall. My anxiety skyrockets. So I walk back to the street. I sit on a curb by the bus. And children are playing in the street-- chasing each other, laughing, running, shrieking with delight. And I "capture the moment" in my memory. I cannot understand their language or their game, but I treasure their humanity Meanwhile, I am haunted again-- this time with American voices that I've heard since "9/11": "We should turn Iraq into a Parking Lot" bomb the entire land into rubble) and... "We must carpet bomb them, even their families" and... "Those people have been fighting each other for thousands of years" (=they are not human like us) and... "The Quran is a violent book portraying a violent God who orders to faithful to execute infidels...so Islam is not a religion of peace" (hello! have these folks ever read the Bible or studied church history? Do I not hear people from my religion depict God as having an anger management problem requiring a prescription of blood to dissipate the wrath and rage?!?) So I begin to think about •these kids• being bombed. And I know the words spoken in my homeland come from fear. Yes, there is ISIS. Yes, evil is real and must be resisted. And, yet I keep thinking of Mohammad and Julie and Latif and Rosemary and Rezhjar, the CPT team in Iraqi Kurdistan, all the amazing peacemakers they have introduced to us, all the love we have experienced, the dances we have danced. What I experienced in Iraqi Kurdistan was love. Villages after describing cross border bombings by Turkey, treated us to feasts. I gained five pounds in two weeks! What was my impression of Kurdistan? Certainly, I saw plenty of guns and passed through more checkpoints in ten days than I had my previous 57 years. And... I saw the Face of God in the people I met here. Even those who did not share either my piety or religion, I experienced divine love through them. My other friend, Josh from Alabama with the shorter beard gave this benediction-- for the road before us and behind us, the friends beside us, and the holy love between us, we give thanks! Amen! P.S. Loved people, love people. So I love you Kurdistan! I love you delegation! I miss you all! Thanks for loving "that delegate" named Tim! Here ends the article, Tim This is a video made by Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraqi Kurdistan on one of the villages they visited in 2012. The children of Sunneh share the stories of what happened to them and their families.
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The BeginingThis started when a friend began speaking to me about his experience with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Palestine. So far, a couple of years later, it has got me to this point where I am sitting at a chair in Iraqi Kurdistan, beginning my own delegation with that group. Archives
November 2016
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