08/08/06 "Information
Clearing House" -- -- A year ago today, about 100 of us
marched down Prairie Chapel Road in the awful Texas heat into
history. Today, with very short notice, dozens of us marched
down the same road, with the same results: no meeting with the
cowardly cowboy wanna-be in chief.
Since we began Camp Casey last August, I have traveled
thousands of miles all over the world. I have been to 11
countries and over one half of our states. I have met with heads
of states and other parliamentarians and I have given hundreds
of speeches and marched with hundreds of thousands of peaceniks
all over the world. I have received keys to cities, awards,
Congressional Commendations, and a nomination for the Nobel
Peace Prize.
I capped off my year with a visit to Amman, Jordan the other
day to meet with elected officials from Iraq and some human
rights' activists who told us about their country and their
demands for peace.
Every single Iraqi that we met with has been dreadfully
affected by the American invasion and occupation of Iraq. One
Sheik that we met with had his door broken down and he was
beaten and dragged off to prison while the soldiers abused his
wife. All of this while his teen-age son watched. The Sheik was
tortured extensively and has still not recovered from his
injuries. I apologized to him on behalf of human beings who
abhor torture and abuse by one human to another and he told us a
harrowing story: his son's dream is to buy a high powered rifle
and shoot every American he can before he is killed. After
speaking to us, he is sure that he can talk his son out of it,
because he will assure him that there are Americans who care. I
think if my son saw his dad being tortured and his mom sexually
abused by an occupying force, he would probably have the same
reaction. After meeting with the Iraqis and talking to other
people from the Middle East, trust me, we are not winning hearts
and minds!
When I was heading to the Queen Alia airport in Amman for my
20 hour trip home to Crawford, Texas, I rode in Abu Salem's
taxi. Abu Salem (Father of Abu) is a Palestinian who has been in
Amman for over 20 years. He is also a human rights' activist.
Abu Salem's people in Palestine have been oppressed by Israel
for decades and his family was fortunate enough to be able to
flee to Jordan where over one million Palestinians are now
living. Abu Salem had tears in his eyes when he told me that he
missed Palestine. It is his home, after all. I understand. I
miss my home, too.
Abu Salem and I talked about how we are all the same on the
inside no matter what color, religion, language we speak, or
what artificial border line we were accidentally born within. We
all have the same hearts. Our hearts are all connected. When I
reluctantly admitted to Abu Salem that even George Bush's heart
was connected to ours, I thought he was going to crash the taxi.
He yelled; "F**king, Bush. He has no heart he is a demon!" I
softly replied to Abu Salem as I had my own epiphany: "No Abu
Salem, his heart is connected to ours, his heart just forgot
that."
No matter how much I struggle with this fact: George Bush is
a human being, too. No matter how far he has strayed from his
humanity and no matter how he seems to revel in the callous
killing of innocent human beings and the destruction of a
country that was no threat to ours, the same Universal Creator
who created us, created him. The same Creator who created the
babies in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel,
created George. The same Creator that made my darling, faithful,
and sweet boy, Casey, created George! It is an abhorrent fact,
but fundamentally true.
This is the mission of Camp Casey this year: To remind George
and the rest of his heart disconnected administration that their
hearts are connected to ours and the innocent people of the
world who their thoughtless greed are killing. It is also our
mission to remind the people of the USA who still support the
carnage that their hearts are connected to the babies and
children that are wantonly being killed. I have realized from
the start of Shocking and Awful that George was killing people
who are connected to my heart. I realize that he is killing my
brothers and sisters of the heart and that is not acceptable to
me.
The people of Iraq want the Americans to leave. I will be
writing a report about what the Iraqis want as I sit in front of
George's ranch at the checkpoint tomorrow reminding him that he
killed a large part of my heart and his on 04/04/04 and that he
is killing more of our children everyday. George is carving his
heart into dangerously small pieces. I know I wouldn't want to
face my Creator with so many needless deaths on my heart!
I will stand or sit all month to demand that George stop
killing my heart family. That he and his administration truly
get to the work of peace and not killing to justify more
killing.
It is hot here. But it is hotter in Iraq. I am hungry. But I
have the option of stopping my fast any minute, while the people
of Iraq can be blown up just going to the market. I miss Casey
terribly, but there are people who have had their entire
families killed and their homes destroyed. The conditions can be
hostile here in Crawford (One of my new neighbors has a sign on
their lawn that says: "Fast, Why? Starve!" I don't think that's
very neighborly, do you?), but they are more hostile in the
Middle East.
Peace is not for wimps.
Strength through peace.
Join us for peace.
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