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Sunday, June 25, 2006
Severe Thunderstorm Warning
Last night a thunderstorm blew through. Hail, both large and small, pelted everything. I stood at the window, watching as my garden was pummeled. I watched two big lettuce plants literally torn to shreds in front of my eyes. For some reason, the tomato plants weren't destroyed, but everything else was. Oh, and I'm sure the weeds that I hadn't gotten to yet are not only doing fine, but thriving.
If I didn't have a Wild Oats within five miles of here, if I didn't have a car and gas and money, if, if, if... if I wasn't a middle class American with resources (at least today), I would've thrown my body across that garden to save it from that hail. But my life doesn't depend on food from my garden.
Today I heard Dr. Dahlia Wasfi speak. Her father is Iraqi and her mother is Jewish. She lived in Basra during her early childhood, moving back to the states in 1977, when she was six. She has visited her extended family in Basra and Baghdad twice since the war began - in early 2004, and then again late 2005 - early 2006. She gives a very different view of what reconstruction in Iraq looks like (there is very little). Kids go to school, when they can, in bombed out buildings. She did see a set of new stoplights, but they don't work, due to the inconsistent availability of electricity. In May of 2006, a (very) few members of congress held a forum on Iraq. Dahlia gave powerful testimony, which you can read at the Brussels Tribunal.
At the end of her testimony, she quotes Hassan Juma’a Awad, president of the Basrah Oil Workers' Union. His article, Leave Our Country Now was published in The Guardian/UK.
His words:
"We lived through dark days under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship. When the regime fell, people wanted a new life: a life without shackles and terror; a life where we could rebuild our country and enjoy its natural wealth. Instead, our communities have been attacked with chemicals and cluster bombs, and our people tortured, raped and killed in our homes.
Saddam's secret police used to creep over the roofs into our homes at night; occupation troops now break down our doors in broad daylight. The media do not show even a fraction of the devastation that has engulfed Iraq. Journalists who dare to report the truth of what is happening have been kidnapped by terrorists. This serves the agenda of the occupation, which aims to eliminate witnesses to its crimes. "
Life is feeling very dark to me right now. It seems that the politicians of our country are baseball sized hail, shredding the life out of the planet and all who live on it. We need to throw our bodies, minds and spirits down to protect the sanctity of life and to realize REAL freedom for all to live with their needs met in dignity and respect. Our lives, and many others, DO depend on it.
posted by Carol at 3:03 PM
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