| For months, Munaf Yassiri has been part of Calgary’s peace movement – he has attended rallies, spoken at high schools and helped organize protests in a bid to avert America’s invasion of Iraq.
Now, however, the Iraqi-born engineer says he spends much of his time watching television news and worrying about his family.
Calgary peace activists are vowing to keep up their work, even though the worldwide peace movement has been ignored by the U.S. government, but Yassiri’s thoughts are with his family these days, most of whom remain in Iraq. He hasn’t been able to speak to them since U.S. president George W. Bush placed an ultimatum on the country and set a deadline for invasion.
"The writing was on the wall, but when you don’t know what’s happening... and there’s nothing you can do, it’s terrible," Yassiri says.
"Eighty per cent of the world’s population is against this war. What can you do?"
Despite his worry, Yassiri still says it’s important to speak out against the invasion (which, depending on when you read this, may have already commenced). His comments echo what activists have been saying for months –the Iraqi people are caught between dictator Saddam Hussein and Bush – but they have more urgency now.
"This is a tragedy for the Iraqi people. Saddam doesn’t care how many people die – he doesn’t care for numbers – and the other side is so determined. The American says we are getting in there no matter the price," he says. "The Iraqi people are caught in the middle."
Concern for the Iraqi people during a war remains a motivator for Calgary’s peace movement. Julie Hrdlicka of the Canadian Network to End Sanctions in Iraq, which has helped organize many of the peace rallies in Calgary over the past few months, says she has already heard some harrowing stories from local Iraqis.
Rallies are planned at noon and 5 p.m. on March 20 at Olympic Plaza, and another will take place March 22 at 2 p.m.
Yassiri acknowledges that opinions on the looming war are divided within the expatriate Iraqi community – many think the invasion will benefit the people of Iraq by bringing down Saddam and introducing democracy– but Yassiri remains skeptical that war will have any benefits.
"Have they brought democracy to Afghanistan? Have they brought democracy to Kuwait? If that’s the democracy they bring into Iraq, it’s not much of a democracy," he says.
"How can we believe? I’m very skeptical. I think many Iraqis are skeptical too." |
Copyright ©2003 FFWD. All rights reserved.