Tuesday, March 08, 2011

"I wish to live without wars"

This came from an email from the Afghan Peace workers:

Dear friends of all People,
‘I wish to live without wars’
Day of the People’s Peace
Afghan News Year’s Day on 21st of March 2011

Abdulai, 15 year old Afghan student and farmer, says to watch this video.


I see the unchanging System of the Rich and Powerful
in which my world is Violently collapsing,
and human hope for a decent life leaves my heart.
So, in solidarity with the People of Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Gaza,
the Middle East, North & South America, Europe, Africa and Asia,
& with the People of the world,
I will walk for peace
I will light my candles
& I will plant my trees

We need your solidarity as we struggle to organize for the Day of the People’s Peace on the Afghan New Year’s Day, the 21st of March 2011.

19th of March : Walk of peace and tree-planting in Kabul by multi-ethnic Afghan youth
20th of March : Global Day of Listening - Skype-athon with youth in Iraq, Gaza, Egypt, Yemen etc about the People’s wish to live without wars.
21st of March : Candle Vigil for all the youth and People of Afghanistan and the world who have been killed in conflict and in wars.
9th of April : United National AntiWar Committee  solidarity action with peace-loving People in the USA and in Canada.

I returned to the Afghan mountains today.
I returned to the Afghan mountains today.
I saw heavy-spirited paths trodden out from muddy snow ;
I thought of the shaking mother or child
needing help home after losing loved ones,
like the 60 plus at Kunar*.
It may be true that mountains cannot reach mountains
that only Man can reach Man,
but we understand each other so meagerly
that Man deliberately hurts Man,
like Life rejecting Life, us rejecting every mother’s prayer.
I smiled at 60 year old Nazuko welcoming me in peace
and put my hand on my heart to greet in return…
Relearning why we need to walk this path of the People,
I entered my village hut already cleaned and waiting, and cried.

*An investigating Afghan government group has concluded that 64 Afghan civilians were killed by NATO forces in Kunar province

The Afghan youth and I had an uplifting week speaking with my Egyptian teacher-friend Shereef about the ‘miracle’ erupting before him and his family of a widowed mother, wife & 2 daughters.  He couldn’t believe that the ‘system of absolute power had begun to change in his lifetime’.  He couldn’t believe that Egyptians had gathered voice and action against unequal money and power.  Shereef had always felt ‘trapped’, like the ‘thousand-year mummified animals’ of the Egyptian museum.  So Shereef took to the streets, to join the People he described as are ‘so peaceful, non-violent and beautiful.’

We ask you to do something different to change our world by becoming involved with Abdulai’s ‘wish to live without wars’. This wish is the prayer of every Afghan mother’s heart.  We are part of the human family, so we refuse the insult of a world which complies with domination by a few rich and militarized Powers, whether ‘Talibanic’ or ‘democratic’.  We reject the imposed ‘norms’ that we the People are ‘bad’, ‘ignorant’ and ‘shallow’, and must suffer.  It is the Powers, all Powers,  that need to be re-directed away from their selfish and collapsing lust.

Yes, we accept that this struggle may not bear fruit in a world where People are just now waking up from watching a childish play of ‘elected’ powers ‘electing’ themselves to eventually ‘shoot’ the
People, where we won’t stop to grieve for others until we’re the ones being shot at.  But if we fail in our struggle for Love, what would we lose?

Our lives?

We wish so badly to live without wars.
We wish so badly to have equally decent livelihoods.
We wish so badly to walk freely, for spring is here!
Love,
Hakim and the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers
http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog
http://www.livewithoutwars.org/
http://www.thepeoplesjourney.org/

Below are the actions we request you to participate in, to walk
freely with us!

To support Abdulai and the People of Afghanistan :

1. Facebook ‘I wish to live without wars’ rally support through all means, person by person.

2. Twitter @livewithoutwars

3. Sign our Petition ‘I wish to live without wars’

4. Help organize support for ‘I wish to live without wars’ by emailing  LiveWithoutWars@gmail.com.

5. Arrange for a Skype conversation for the Global Day of Listening to ‘I wish to live without wars’ on the 20th of March 2011 with Abdulai and his friends from Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, Egypt and others by emailing GlobalDayofListening@gmail.com.

6. Follow or subscribe to our News Feed at http://www.livewithoutwars.org/ , which will include regular You Tube videos of the campaign.

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