Supporting Iraq, one student/veteran/door at a time

IVAW Denver march 8/27/08: Photo: Rocky Mountain NewsSeptember is just hours away. The new school year is just around the corner (or has already begun, for some), and the attention of the country is turned to the presidential race, during this brief weekend "respite" between the Democratic and Republican national conventions. So let's take a moment to address something overlooked by most of the media: on Wednesday in Denver, more than a hundred military veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan led at least 3,000 protesters in a march to call on our country's political leadership to end the wars. Their courageous presence, organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War, makes is an appropriate moment to share news about three great ways to support peacemaking in Iraq.

First: the Iraqi Student Project (ISP) is a brand-new initiative to help support young Iraqis who are trying to continue their higher education. Inspired by the Bosnian Student Project, a program organized in 1993 by the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Jerrahi Order of America during the peak of the war in Bosnia, ISP is launching this month by bringing 16 young Iraqis to the United States for the coming school year.

Earlier this summer, I met Gabe Huck and Theresa Kubasak, the two U.S. retirees who decided to move to Syria to work with Iraqi refugees, and who founded ISP. We met, ironically, in a town called Pleasantville, about a half-hour from FOR's national office, at the headquarters of WESPAC, the progressive organizing coalition in Westchester County. They screened a short documentary DVD about ISP produced by local filmmakers Andrew Courtney and Emily Perry, and spoke afterward about the emerging project.

These young Iraqis are arriving now in a dozen communities around the U.S., and you can help support their first year of school here -- and develop plans to host the second group a year from now. Learn more about how you can play a part, including hosting an Iraqi student in the 2009-10 school year, by clicking here. (Also, the Christian Science Monitor recently published a great article about the creation of the ISP.)

Second: on September 20th, several national peace coalitions, including United for Peace and Justice, True Majority, and Win Without War, are sponsoring a Million Doors for Peace. FOR is supporting this effort to get people across our country to visit their neighbors and build pressure on our Congress for a one-year pledge to end the occupation of Iraq. Join us in this important initiative, taking place on the weekend of the International Day of Peace. 

Third, but by no means last: as FOR has been promoting throughout this month, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows is organizing around the nation to support the upcoming third annual Iraqi Week of Nonviolence. Peaceful Tomorrows is supporting a growing community of Iraqi organizations who are committed to nonviolent resistance to the U.S.-led occupation and the war. These groups have coalesced under the title LaOnf, which roughly translates to "no to violence" in Arabic. FOR is strongly encouraging our local chapters and members to gather people together to screen a video about LaOnf that Peaceful Tomorrows is offering free of charge. Please click here to learn more and to join us in this very important campaign in support of Iraqis working for nonviolent change in their own land.