Writings by Cathy Breen

Letter from Cathy Breen: "How can the walls ever come down?"

Cathy Breen — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:40:45 -0500

Short Information Teaser

An Iraqi friend told me recently that the lack of electricity and jobs continue to fan the fires of anger and resistance. "Violence would decrease 50%" he said "if there were electricity."

Excerpt

Amman, Jordan
Aug 10, 2008

Dear Friends,

“How can the walls ever come down?” was the question I put to three Iraqi friends. Late yesterday afternoon I went next door to ask a neighbor if we could watch Iraqi TV news together. Would he mind translating for me? This young friend often helps me with Arabic, and I had brought my notebook along. We were joined by his brother and another Iraqi friend who will be returning to Baghdad soon. Moslem and Christians, we sat together. The walls I was referring to are the concrete barricades which have been constructed by the coalition forces throughout all of Baghdad. These walls seal off and separate entire communities.

Body

Amman, Jordan
Aug 10, 2008

Dear Friends,

One evening last week, I met with two journalist friends from the U.S. who had just returned from a month-long trip to Iraq. As I listened to them, I was heartened and sickened at the same time. I was amazed at the freedom of movement they described, not only for themselves as foreigners, but for Iraqis. Of course they are seasoned reporters with long-time experience and contacts; they know how to proceed with caution and prudence. While the atmosphere remains tense and explosions continue, they reported, people have begun to feel safer in the last couple of months. They are venturing out more. The economy is a mess with high inflation, but crime is down.

Nevertheless, I was sick at heart to hear that almost all of the neighborhoods in Baghdad have been walled off, each with a single entrance and exit point. In order to enter one must negotiate with the particular militia/entity protecting that neighborhood. The Iraqi army is out in strength and better equipped and trained than they were three years ago. They now have, for example, some armed humvees.

An Iraqi friend told me recently that the lack of electricity and jobs continue to fan the fires of anger and resistance. “Violence would decrease 50%” he said “if there were electricity.”

Just recently I got to see the son of a family from Baghdad, a family whom we’ve known for years. When I lived in Baghdad their twelve year old daughter used to teach me Arabic. She is now seventeen. What a joy it was to meet with him and get an update on each member of the family. As we visited I couldn’t help remembering him as a lanky 18 year old with a lopsided smile going off to fight in Saddam’s army. This was right before the invasion, and he had no choice. Five years later he is working as a bodyguard in Baghdad. He was able to come to Amman because he is accompanying an Iraqi minister here for meetings. He told me that the only work available in Baghdad is as a bodyguard, a soldier or a policeman. His younger brother works as a soldier in the Iraq army. Their dear mother is unwell; no wonder given the worry she must face at the safety of her sons. This son told us of a recent bomb attack against the minister he is paid to protect. Three of his fellow bodyguards were killed. He has survived, so far. He was able to take a handwritten letter from me back to his family, along with a picture I took of us together.

The above mentioned journalist friends said “Everyone is waiting to see how the elections will turn out.” They patiently tried to walk me through the complex myriad of sectarian groupings, parties, militias, army and police. Yet despite their attempts at clarification, I was left feeling confused and overwhelmed. I liken it to a chess game where there are too many players and no rules. Elite Shi’a groups like the Dowa party and the Supreme Islam Council, Moqtada Al Sadr with his Mehdi army, The Awakening or SaHwa, primarily Sunni, the list seems endless. “Everyone at the ground level wants the Americans out,” they said. An uneasy balance of power, it is clear there will be no winners even after the elections in Iraq take place.

And so we sat together yesterday, Moslem and Christian Iraqis. Both from Baghdad, they met here in Amman. No one can deny that the experience of Christian Iraqis is different from that of Moslem Iraqis. The Christians in Iraq have been targeted not only as “infidels” by radical Islamic extremists, but they have been caught in the middle of sectarian violence, a fact born out by our Moslem friend. But they both share in common the unspeakable suffering unleashed by this war. They have both lost family and friends in the killing and violence. Both have lost homes and homeland. Families are separated, and their futures uncertain. As I sat and listened to their heated discussion in Arabic, I was struck by the respectful tone. How can the walls come down? I asked again.

One of the young men responded thoughtfully “It will take time….everything takes time.” Another said smiling “We thought the same of Saddam Hussein’s pictures. They were everywhere, even in the bathrooms!” These men give me hope that maybe some day the walls, like Saddam’s pictures, will come down.

Cathy Breen

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Letter from Cathy Breen

voices — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:01:39 -0500

Short Information Teaser

"Despite the Iraqi government’s current campaign to get Iraqis to return to their country, no Iraqi here that I’ve spoken with is willing to return."

Excerpt

Amman, Jordan
July 30, 2008

Dear Friends,

Yesterday I received the following message from friends in Baghdad.

“Our Prime Minister visited the pope a few days ago and invited him to visit Iraq and persuade Christian Iraqis to return back to Iraq…. though Iraq is still a hotbed of crime and conspiracy. Many Iraqis in Syria and Jordan have returned either because their savings were depleted or they were not lucky enough to be picked by the UNHCR. Until now I cannot understand the criteria they are using to select the refugees. The conditions here are still bad, with no services at all. We even boil the drinking water to make sure it is safe while we heard that in the Green zone they import distilled water from Kuwait to use for washing and showers.”

Body

Amman, Jordan
July 30, 2008

Dear Friends,

Yesterday I received the following message from friends in Baghdad.

Stating that the security situation has improved inside of Iraq, there is a push on the part of the Iraqi government for the return of Iraqi refugees. Monthly financial incentives are being offered to returning Iraqis as well as to people inside of Iraq who have taken up residence, for instance, in other peoples’ homes. On a recent trip to Europe, Prime Minister Nouri Malaki asked Germany to review its position on refugees as Berlin has led a campaign to allow several thousand Iraqi refugees to resettle in the European Union. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the press “I think we should back plans to see the greatest number return home, with necessary encouragements.” (The Jordan Times 7.24.08) The pope himself, distressed at the mass exodus of Iraqi Christians from the region, is encouraging them to return. But is he, or anyone else for that matter, asking Iraqis what they want?

Despite the Iraqi government’s current campaign to get Iraqis to return to their country, no Iraqi here that I’ve spoken with is willing to return. Moreover, the UNHCR is not promoting or encouraging Iraqis to return until they can do so safely and with dignity. As part of an internal study the UNHCR asked Iraqis in Jordan if they would return to Iraq: 90% said not at all, 5% said at some point, and 5% were undecided. The results were similar in Syria.

Beginning in mid-February of this year the Jordan government announced its own three-month campaign to encourage Iraqis to return home. This was in the form of a “waiver of fines” for Iraqi nationalists who had overstayed their visas, while those who wished to stay would have their fines cut in half and then receive a three-month visa. Jordan’s Minister of Interior described the number of Iraqis who benefited from the exemption as disappointing, compared with the total number of Iraqis in the country which stands at half a million. “Only 3,000 Iraqis have left the country while 12,000 stayed and benefited from the exemption decision.” (The Jordan Times, July 20,2008)

The other night I made myself look at the gruesome pictures on the TV news, pictures of bodies ripped apart by explosions in Turkey. Two consecutive suicide bombings were carried out in a crowded shopping area, the second as rescue attempts were going on. Seventeen innocent people dead. In Baghdad and Kirkuk at least 58 people died in suicide bombings the same day.

About 5 months ago an Iraqi couple and their two year old son were allowed to enter Jordan for medical reasons. Their little boy was near death and in need of an emergency operation. The operation was successful, thank God, and the parents will be returning to Iraq soon. This precious child has captured my heart, as well as his mother who is expecting their fourth child. The father shared with me how he saw a mother, beside herself with grief, frantically racing with part of her son to a hospital after such an explosion. Holding only his legs in her arms, she was screaming “Sew him together, sew my son back together! While no one disputes that the number of deaths and attacks have declined since the “surge,” the ongoing violence and carnage continue in alarming proportions compared to other parts of the region. It seems somehow obscene to even think in terms of numbers, doesn’t it? But I fear we have simply become immune to the numbers….and the images are tragically withheld from us.

Cathy Breen

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Letter from Cathy Breen

Cathy Breen — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:02:30 -0500

Short Information Teaser

What would you do if your child was kidnapped?

Excerpt

July 27,2008
Amman, Jordan

Dear Friends,

“Think about it for a second. What would you do if your child was kidnapped? If you were in a war-torn country where the police couldn’t help you? To many, if not most parents, the answer of course would be—anything, anything. Including paying ransom to those who were holding their child even if the kidnappers were terrorists. Over the past five years for many Iraqis, that choice has been a very grim reality.” (Dan Rather Reports on ‘The High Price of Ransom,” HDNet TV, July 1, 2008)

Last week in a meeting at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Amman, I was asked if I had seen the above program. I had not, but was later able to get a printout of the text. I have it before me as I write you. Why is it that I am not surprised to read that one in every four Iraqis seeking help from the UNHCR has had a family member kidnapped? And yet seeing this number in print creates a knot in my stomach, and a feeling of nausea. One in four, imagine. One in four.

Body

July 27,2008
Amman, Jordan

Dear Friends,

A day or so after the meeting at the UNHCR—I had gone to get an update on their activities over the last 7 months and to learn of their current position—I was sitting with a Jordanian woman in a public square not far from where I am living. An Iraqi man I know quite well saw us and approached asking if I could meet with a father whose little daughter is ill. What could I say? How could I refuse? The timing was providential as the Jordanian woman agreed to translate for us.

About 1/2 hour later, the father arrived and showed me a medical report of his 4 year old daughter. She has suffered from seizures since birth, and Caritas is no longer able to provide the needed medications. His own savings have run out. They had four children, but a year ago one of their daughters died of cancer. She was just seven.

This family fled to Jordan about two years ago, after their then seven year old boy was kidnapped in Baghdad. The child was held for three weeks. The father explained that the family paid $8,000 of a $10,000 ransom for their son’s release. They sought help with the UNHCR in Amman and, after arduous and lengthy processing, were granted refugee status and qualified for resettlement. Last October they had the one deciding interview with someone from the U.S. Homeland Security team. The officer asked this father “Why did you pay a ransom and support the terrorists?” The father showed me the form letter of rejection with the box “credibility” checked. The letter did not even have a date on it.

As the time drew near to take leave of one another, I remembered that I had an envelope in my bag from friends in the U.S. for just such a family in need. Together with the money was a handwritten message from them, and I am sorry now that I didn’t think to copy it. Just two sentences as I recall, but words that conveyed the deep longing and desire that one day we would live in peace together. The simple words seemed to encircle and embrace us, and it was enough to just sit silently together for some moments.

Cathy Breen

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Letter from Cathy Breen

Jeff Leys — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:32:11 -0500

Short Information Teaser

Cathy Breen will return to Amman in July

Excerpt

May 25, 2008

Dear Friends,

Affectionate greetings to you. It is a beautiful sunny Sunday here in New York City. Since my return to the states in early December of 2007, the time has been filled primarily with the activities of community life. We have had several deaths of beloved folks at the Catholic Worker, but we also await with great anticipation the birth of a new baby any day now! There have been visits to the Philadelphia area to see my own family, three trips to Washington, D.C. for meetings, and speaking engagements mostly in the northeast.

As I write you, a great portion of the floor in my room is covered with bags of used clothing, clothing which will hopefully find its way to needy Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria. Yes, their situation has become so desperate that they have no money to pay rent let alone buy clothing. I have tried to raise money at some of the speaking events to wire to Iraqis in Jordan so that they won’t have to return to Iraq. The plight of Iraqi refugees has worsened as increasing numbers have reached the end of their funds and with no legal residency are unable to work.

Body

May 25, 2008

Dear Friends,

I wanted to let you know by way of this letter that I plan to return to the Middle East on July 1st for a 3 to 4 month period. If you would want to send money to Iraqis in Jordan and Syria, I would personally deliver it to those in need. It is one way, albeit small, to begin to pay reparations. Moreover, I would encourage you to write a message, however brief, to accompany any contribution, something you would want to say to the person or family.

About two months ago I had the opportunity to speak with a 6th grade class at a school in Brooklyn. Never having spoken with a group so young, I was very mindful of how impressionable I was myself at that age. How to bring the reality of Iraqi children to them? I asked myself. I passed pictures of children their age around, Iraqi children living in Iraq as well as Iraqi children living in Syria and Jordan. I carry an ID piece of a cluster bomb around with me in my change purse which reads “MADE IN THE USA.” As I was speaking it occurred to me to take it out to show the children. This particular cluster bomb exploded in the air on the afternoon of March 31, 2003 during the “Shock and Awe” bombing campaign. It hit 7 homes and killed three boys aged 18, 13 and 7 years of age. I visited the bombing site the next day and, as I walked through the homes of the modest residential area holding ugly twisted metal parts in my hand and speaking with some of the wounded, I had to listen to the keening and wailing of grieving family members. The sound of their mourning stayed with me for months and months.

When I returned home from the school I heard on the radio news that in a neighborhood of Baghdad where I had lived under the occupation, two suicide bombs had gone off killing 68 persons and wounding over 100. Equally tragic, but unknown to many, is the fact that more Iraqis are killed on a daily basis by U.S. air strikes than by suicide bombs and mortar attacks. A close Iraqi woman friend here in the city—but whose family is in Baghdad—recently asked me with tear filled eyes “Why are they bombing us?” Her 13 year old daughter followed up on her mother’s question, “And is it true they are using planes [drones] that have no pilots!”

A couple of days after my visit to the Brooklyn school class the 6th grade teacher, a friend of ours, brought me letters written by her students. Here are a couple of excerpts from those letters which moved me deeply.

“Since the war has been going on for years, I have kind of forgotten about it. It just didn’t seem that important anymore until you came. I had no idea how bad it is and I wish I can do something about it. It seems so unfair.”

“Most interesting fact that you told us was the bomb that let out little pieces that said ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ I find that very interesting because it shows that we too can be the bad people or maybe in Iraqis’ eyes a terrorist, not only the people we are against.”

“I think the war should end. We are fighting for a silly reason. We don’t need to kill people and their friends and family.”

“I was sad when you said 3 boys died of a bomb that was made in the United States….Another scary picture was where the girl was walking from school and there was blood all over the steps.”

“Something that I found pretty overwhelming is when you were passing around the piece of the bomb. It was hard for me to comprehend that this had cut short 3 boys lives, that it had caused great sadness to 3 families…3 innocent families. Another thing that’s hard for me to think about is what growing up there must be like. Especially for a child that was born at or during the war. This would mean that violence would be all they have ever known, they’ve never known peace. My younger sister is 5 years old. The war has been going on for 5 years. This makes me realize how different her life would be if we lived there.”

This morning I read a recent interview of Fr. Daniel Berrigan by Chris Hedges. (The Nation, May 21,2008) In the article Dan says “This is the worst time of my long life. I have never had such meager expectations of the system. I find those expectations verified in the paucity and shallowness every day I live.” Dan goes on to say, Hedges relates, that all empires rise and fall. It is the religious and moral values of compassion, simplicity and justice that endure and alone demand fealty. “…the tragedy across the globe is that we are pulling down so many others. We are not falling gracefully. Many, many people are paying with their lives for this. The fall of the towers [on 9/11] was symbolic as well as actual. We are bringing ourselves down by a willful blindness that is astonishing.”

Dan argues, says Hedges, that those who seek a just society, who seek to defy war and violence, who decry the assault of globalization and degradation of the environment, who care about the plight of the poor, should stop worrying about the practical, short-term effects of their resistance.

“The good,” Dan says, “is to be done because it is good, not because it goes somewhere. I believe if it is done in that spirit it will go somewhere, but I don’t know where. I don’t think the Bible grants us to know where goodness goes, what direction, what force. I have never been seriously interested in the outcome. I was interested in trying to do it humanly and carefully and nonviolently and let it go.” I take comfort from these words, and it is in this spirit that I write to you, dear friends, who have supported me throughout the last dark years of war.

Hoping to hear from you before I depart, for now I greet you with gratitude and prayers for peace.

Cathy Breen

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Reflections on Iraq - February 2008

Jeff Leys — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:07:02 -0600

Short Information Teaser

Cathy Breen writes on the war in Iraq.

Excerpt

February 28, 2008

Dear Friends,

I began this letter the other day on a bus returning from a two-day trip to D.C. where Maryknoll’s Social Concerns office had set up meetings with various groups to address the Iraqi refugee crisis. This was the third trip to D.C. since my return to the states in early December, part of an ongoing strategizing with Maryknoll colleagues as to how we might make real the desperate situation of Iraqi refugees. We’ve been able to convey concrete concerns and questions to a Congressperson with an entry to Homeland Security, to the Congressional Progressive Caucus, to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and others.

On this particular trip I was not traveling alone. I was accompanied by a dear Iraqi friend who was also going to D.C., and it was wonderful to have so many hours to catch up with each other. While on the bus a member of his family in Baghdad called on his cell phone, bringing their reality there close to us. Security has improved we heard due to the fact that the city is divided up with countless checkpoints and barriers. “It is like being in prison” he said.

Body

February 28, 2008

Dear Friends,

A recent communication from another Iraqi friend in Baghdad spoke of improved security in recent months, but that all the streets are blocked. “Though this has helped stabilize the security, it has put a burden on people. It used to take me 10 minutes to get to work….now I spend around 60-90 minutes to do the same.” The friend continued “It is as if we were living in a nightmare to awaken and find that we have a country with no systems, something very difficult to understand. You can do anything you want with money or threats, but you can’t do anything if you walk in a correct and honest way. There is a complete collapse of most governmental institutions and no hope to improve things as long as political issues control the VIP positions….The people who control the Ministries (apart from the very few honest ones) are not eligible to be in this position or any other position because most of the honest people have been killed or threatened. Those who remain are those who can protect themselves by being in one of the groups or parties. They are the same. …We feel desperate and hurt from what is going on, as if we don’t belong to this society.”

In the stack of papers I’d brought with me on the bus were two articles I would refer to those of you who are stout-hearted enough to bear more bad news. On is of an interview of Dahr Jamail by Jeremy Scahill for the Nation. The other is “Iraq’s Tidal Wave of Misery, The first history of the planet’s worst refugee crisis” by Michael Schwartz. Though hesitant to burden my Iraqi friend with the heavy content in these pieces, I was also anxious for his opinion. I wish time and space would allow me to share some of his comments but he shared, for the most part, in the viewpoints of both articles.

One thing that struck me in some of the meetings I had in D.C. was the marked lack of Iraqi perspective and input. What are they experiencing, sensing, wanting? What is their advice in the face of the chaos and suffering that seems to have no end? In the years since the war and occupation, I often recall the words of an Iraqi to me when I was in Baghdad (about ten months into the US-led occupation) “You Americans took the cotton out of our mouths that Saddam had placed there, but you put it in your ears!” To quote Michael Schwartz (professor of sociology at Stony Brook Univ.

“Most horror stories come to an end, but the most horrible part of this horror story is its never-ending quality….From the vast out-migration and internal migrations of its desperate citizens comes damage to society as a whole that is almost impossible to estimate. The displacement of people carries with it the destruction of human capital. The destruction of human capital deprives Iraq of its most precious resource for repairing the damage of war and occupation, condemning it to further infrastructural decline. This tide of infrastructural decline is the surest guarantee of another wave of displacement, of future floods of refugees.”

I see the smiling face of a ten year old Iraqi boy in Amman before me. Not in school, he is working in a carpenter’s shop for 1 Jordanian Dinar a day (approx. $1.40). The father faces immediate deportation back to Iraq should he be caught working. Once this family owned a home and two cars in Baghdad, but they had to flee because of sectarian violence. He is Sunni and his wife is Shi’a. Their money has run out and they have been reduced to a beggarly status. I met the mother and the youngest of their four children as we got off a bus to walk the remaining blocks to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). We struck up a conversation, albeit haltingly on my part, in Arabic. I was going to attend a meeting; she was going to beg assistance. I later visited the family in their dismal rented apartment and was able to leave a gift of money for them from donors in the states.

This letter is becoming quite lengthy and so I will try and bring it to an end. What now? What do we do in the face of such calamity? It is clear that everybody must be doing something. For myself, I am aware that I’ve taken great advantage of my community in being absent for such long periods of time over the last years. I was gone for six months in 2006 and for another six months in 2007. Mindful that the war goes on, the needs around me are also great. We have an eight-month old baby in the house and another baby due in early June, and I find that I am needed here for the next months. But we are blessed indeed! I can’t tell you what joy the children are to all of us. .

My own thought is to return to the Middle East in July and to stay on for a three to four month period. En Shallah. God willing. In the meantime, we are aware of Iraqis in Jordan and Syria who face an imminent return to Iraq as their money has run out. They can no longer pay for rent, electricity, gas, water and food. Due to contributions of friends here in the states who hear of their desperate situation, we have been able, on occasion, to wire money to some individuals and families so they can remain in Jordan and Syria. It seems like such a drop in the bucket, but then every drop counts. I will close now sending you my love and gratitude. It is your constant friendship, prayers and support that help me realize we are all part of one family wherever we might be.

Cathy Breen

(Cathy is a Catholic Worker at Mary House in New York City who lived in Iraq prior to the U.S. invasion in 2003 and during the occupation. When not at Mary House, Cathy is most often in Amman, Jordan living amongst Iraqis forced to flee their homes by the war. She expects to return to Amman this summer).

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Cathy Breen: "It's always too soon to go home."

Cathy Breen — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 04:06:30 -0600

Short Information Teaser

Cathy Breen writes from Amman, Jordan

Excerpt

Amman, Jordan
November 25, 2007

Recent media reports depict large numbers of Iraqis returning to their country. “Thousands of Iraqis living in Syria have headed back home in the past weeks.” (Jordan Times, Feb. 23,2007) Some reports attribute this to improved security in Iraq. While the death rate and incidence of suicide bombs has decreased in recent weeks and months—most welcomed news—it seems that necessity is what is driving Iraqis home. As has long been the case in Jordan, visas for Iraqis in Syria are not being renewed and their money has run out. Returning Iraqis have also said they would prefer to die with dignity in their own country, rather than face the contempt and humiliation they feel in Jordan and Syria.

Body

Amman, Jordan
November 25, 2007

I spoke with an Iraqi family last night on the phone. If they were agreeable, I wanted to take a Jesuit priest, from Detroit but living in Nicaragua for many years, to visit them. The father could not mask his despair over the phone, nor his reluctance to see us. “Will your visit have any result on our situation?” he asked me. “Cathy” he said “You are like our sister. Our door is always open to you. But what good does it do to tell our story to people from the states? I feel, I feel”…he struggled for the words in English…. “Like we are….in the circus [on show].” He explained that just a half hour before I telephoned he was speaking with his wife about returning to Baghdad to find work. “Our money has run out” he said “and I cannot beg. I just cannot beg.”

Kathy Kelly had gone earlier in the evening to the airport to meet this friend, the Jesuit. As it happened, they missed one another. Returning to the city bus, she sat next to an Iraqi businessman who had just come from Baghdad. He related to her that his wife and children had gone to Syria but returned to Baghdad because life there was too expensive. He told her how in Baghdad there are at least five different groups ready to kill you if you step out of your house. “Everything shuts down at 2pm.”

You might have read the article I shared recently about the famous pet market (Al Ghazi) in Baghdad; how people flock to the market on Fridays to purchase a bird or pet to keep them company as they are home-bound and lonely. Just four days after sending out the letter, a bomb hidden in a box of pigeons exploded in the same market killing 15 people. A local store owner about 150 yards from the blast sight said “Today the view of many young men coming with pets, colorful fish in aquariums and dogs was very encouraging and cheerful. There were teenagers selling sandwiches and tea in wheeled carts giving the impression that life is back to normal again.” The shopkeeper described the scene as one “of chaos with birds flying through smoke as the bodies of young men who had been killed and wounded lay on the ground.” (ASP, Bushra Juhi, Feb. 23,07) How unspeakably sad it was to see those same images here on TV.

In about a week I will be returning to the states. “It’s always too soon to go home.” These words are in a little book called “Hope in the Dark” by Rebecca Solnit that Kathy Kelly passed on to me the other day. Today I hope to visit the family I had wanted to take our Jesuit friend to. I will go alone. I will take the last of the money given to me by so many friends in the states. It will perhaps pay the family’s rent, but I know they will feel the humiliation of receiving “charity.” There are so many families and groups in the states who would be eager to assist Iraqis on an ongoing basis so they would not have to return to Baghdad. But how to connect them? I try to tell myself that we do what we can. But somehow our efforts seem so insignificant in light of the needs.

Rebecca Solnit writes that tragedy is seductive. She speaks of the nature of adversarial activism where “the only story many radicals know how to tell is the one that is the underside of the dominant culture’s story…They [the radicals] conceive of the truth as pure bad news, appoint themselves deliverers of it, and keep telling it over and over.” This can lead, she points out, to obsession with the enemy. How well I know this. But she also writes that “doors demand passage,” and that “hopefulness is risky, since it is after all a form of trust, trust in the unknown and the possible.”

If you don’t hear from me again before my return to the states, I want to thank you for reading my letters, the stories I have told over and over. I want to thank you for making this trip possible. I have passed through many doors this time around; you have all gone through them with me. I am very grateful.

Cathy Breen

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Cathy Breen: Political Cartoonist, Emad Hajjaj

Cathy Breen — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 04:20:44 -0600

Short Information Teaser

Cathy Breen writes from Amman, Jordan about Political Cartoonist, Emad Hajjaj

Excerpt

Amman, Jordan
November 21, 2007

Kathy Kelly will be joining me for the last stretch of my stay in Jordan, and I have been puttering around trying to ready the apartment for her coming. This morning, in an attempt to straighten up the piles of papers and files which have accumulated over the last three months, I’ve been going through newspaper clippings. I am also awaiting a telephone call today to give an interview, so the task serves as a helpful review of events deemed newsworthy here in the Middle East. What are the recurring themes and opinions coming out in their news? What messages and words from the region would we do well to heed in the U.S.?

Body

Amman, Jordan
November 21, 2007

In a few minutes I will head out to meet with a gifted political cartoonist, Emad Hajjaj. He crafts a cartoon a day for one of Amman’s Arabic newspapers, and I am eager to see his recent artwork. I wonder if his depictions will reinforce some of the issues on the newsprint before me. Here now are a couple pieces of his extraordinary art. I will let you judge for yourselves what message they convey.

“Solutions for the region can be found without the West’s intervention. As long as the Iranians keep to themselves, do not meddle with Arab issues or interfere in internal affairs of the neighbors, the region does not have a problem with them. The unmistakable conclusion is that the U.S. was and is directly and indirectly responsible for the emergence of Iran as a strong force seeking regional domination. Therefore it is ironic to hear the U.S. president talk about the need for U.S. military to stay on in Iraq if only to check the Iranians.” (The Jordan Times,Sept.7,2007, M.Keilani)

“The neoconservative camp in Washington is clamoring for military action against Iran….The region should be alert since any uncalculated adventure would trigger a chain reaction of repercussions in Iraq, Lebanon, the Gulf and throughout the rest of the region.” (Jordan Times, Sept.30,2007, M. Keilani)

“New U.S. sanctions have upped the stakes in a standoff with Iran.”(Jordan Times,Oct. 28,2007)

George Bush says Iran’s acquisition of a nuclear bomb would mean a 3rd world war.” (The Editors, Jordan Times, Oct. 29, 2007)

Pres. Bush appeared on Al Jazeera English TV news this morning, sending out invitations for the Arab-Israel peace talks to be held in Annapolis, Maryland next week. Above is one of Emad’s pieces depicting this event.

“Israel kills 12 Palestinians in less than 24 hours.” (Jordan Times, Sept.28-29, 2007)

“It seems clear that Israel bombed a target in Syria. As such where is the international censure? Has international law become obsolete?” (Jordan Times, Sept. 30,2007)

“Syrian President Bashar Assad all but ruled out participating in the U.S. sponsored Middle East peace conference. Top allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia have not said whether they will attend.” (Jordan Times, Oct. 12-13,2007)

“Israel declares Gaza Strip as hostile enemy.” (Jordan Times, Oct. 24, 2007)

“Israel begins cuts in fuel supplies to Gaza strip.” (Jordan Times, Oct. 29,2007)

“The conference will likely be a media spectacle in which participants will reaffirm their commitment to peace, Israel’s security, condemnation of Palestinian terrorism and so forth. Truly dangerous is the fact that a peace conference which delivers nothing but empty promises is likely to actually precipitate violence. Palestinians, humiliated and besieged might exhibit their anger in a myriad of ways for which they will only receive further condemnation.” (Jordan Times, R. Baroud, Nov. 14,2007)

“US military said it has brought a new weapon into the fight in Iraq, announcing Army’s first ever use of a drone aircraft to kill enemy fighters in the country.” (Jordan Times, Sept. 9, 2007)

“U.N. recent Human Rights report: at least 88 civilians killed in U.S. air strikes from April 1st to June 30th.” (Jordan Times, Oct. 24,2007)

“Eight million Iraqis are in absolute poverty and in need of emergency assistance…. According to U.N.69% of displaced since Feb. 2006 are from Baghdad.” (Jordan Times, Oct. 2007)

“Wars had specific beginnings and specific ends. This catastrophe had a beginning indeed, but there are no signs of its end. It set in motion a chain of events which continue to spread turmoil, instability and violence worldwide, with more innocent victims falling every day.” (Jordan Times, H. Abu Nimah, Sept. 12,2007)

With more innocent victims falling every day….

Cathy Breen

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Cathy Breen: "I must tell you of the beautiful things that fill my days here"

Cathy Breen — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:41:48 -0600

Short Information Teaser

Cathy Breen writes from Amman, Jordan

Excerpt

Amman, Jordan
November 19, 2008

Iraqis teach me many things. One is to laugh in spite of myself. I chuckled the other day as I sent a newspaper clipping off to my dear friend Cynthia in Vernon, N.Y. I knew she would enjoy the story “Lonely in Baghdad? Chat up a Bird.” The article speaks of dozens of Baghdadis ignoring the threat to their lives as they flock on Fridays to the animal market Al Ghari. “I don’t go out of my home because of the danger” says one customer. “I decided to buy a parrot who can entertain me.” The son of a prominent seller of exotic animals at the market said “Our situation at the time of Saddam was much better.” He explained that during the former regime pet lovers from Iran and Russia used to regularly visit Al Ghari. “Today we have local customers who like to have birds in their homes, as these people do not step out. But times have changed” he says. As he points a finger to a group of animals, suddenly an African Grey parrot—a new arrival—shouts out: “Down with Bush!” (The Jordan Times, Nov. 15, 2007)

Body

Amman, Jordan
November 19, 2008

I know how doom and gloom my letters often sound, but I must tell you of the beautiful things that fill my days here. First and foremost of course are the people who welcome me into their lives and how my encounters with them lift me up. But then there is the ceramic cup I hold each morning in my hand and admire as I savor the taste of that first cup of coffee. It was a purchase I allowed myself a couple of months back, and it has given me much pleasure. I often wondered who crafted it, and yesterday to my delight I met the artist, a young woman a couple of blocks away who together with her sister creates such beautiful pottery.

And recently I was able to realize a special wish I’d been harboring. We know a dear woman who has an olive grove on the outskirts of Amman. This friend takes great pleasure in sharing the fruit of her family’s orchard harvest with others. I have been the recipient of a bottle of virgin olive oil made from their olives last Spring. This friend did not forget me when this year’s harvest began! So it was that I got to pick olives for the first time in my life, albeit for only a half hour! Although the visit was much too short, I still carry the beauty of the landscape and the feel of the fleshy black olives between my fingers. I will include a photo I took that day of the rich Jordan valley. If you look closely you can see the Dead Sea hovering between mountains and sky like a white rising sun.

Some beauty however remains beyond my reach, like a distant dream. The Arabic language to be more specific. Only rarely do I experience a moment of recognition and understanding. A source of constant frustration, I sometimes ask myself why I keep plugging along. Twice a week I take classes up the hill at a language center which offers classes in spoken (colloquial) Arabic. We are learning verbs, but I seem completely incapable of remembering even the most simple ones. After spending an hour or so early this morning trying to drill one or two verbs into my head, I picked up the book I am reading called “The Desert Queen.” It is a biography about Gertrude Bell. Able to converse comfortably in French, Italian, German, Persian and even Turkish, Ms. Bell confesses of Arabic “I find it awfully difficult…The worst I think is a very much aspirated H. I can only say it by holding down my tongue with one finger, but then one can’t carry on a conversation with your finger down your throat can you?” I find a measure of comfort in her words, as I feel exactly the same! Iraqi friends have all but given up trying to teach me to pronounce this correctly.

As my time draws to a close here in the Middle East—only a couple of weeks remain until I travel back to the states—I find myself in the “cross over” phase between the reality here and the reality in my own country. Perhaps the struggle to reconcile the two, of wanting to embrace them equally, need not be so cumbersome. In the end it is like having family here and having family there. Where one leaves off, the other begins. We are all one family.

Cathy Breen

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Cathy Breen: Letter from Amman Jordan

Cathy Breen — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 07:41:48 -0600

Short Information Teaser

Cathy Breen writes from Amman, Jordan

Excerpt

Amman, Jordan
November 13, 2007

As media attention around the world has shifted to a U.S. military attack against Iran, there are glaring incongruities with respect to the Iraq war that we are failing to address.

Body

Amman, Jordan
November 13, 2007

As media attention around the world has shifted to a U.S. military attack against Iran, there are glaring incongruities with respect to the Iraq war that we are failing to address.

Our perception of this war is tragically formed by the continuous reports we read of the number of US troops who have been killed. DEATH TOLL: 2007 DEADLIEST FOR US TROOPS IN IRAQ was the headline of an article which appeared in the newspaper here about a week ago. There was no mention whatsoever in the article of a single Iraqi having been killed. Official data shows that at least 887 Iraqis were killed in October, a number slightly higher than September which saw a total of 840 people killed (Jordan Times 11/2-3/07), and these are “official” numbers known to be deceivingly low.

“The Iraq war represents the end of the media as a major actor in war” says Madeleine Bunting in a recent article in “The Guardian.” (11.5.07)

“…in this great age of communications and saturation media this is perhaps the most important war to become nigh on impossible to report on… Without the images on our screens of those caught up in the awful maelstrom of this imploded country….without the human stories that bring people and their suffering so vividly to life….there is little chance of public opinion reengaging with the biggest political calamity of our time.”

Last week a top military officer and spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, Brigadier General Qassim Ata, was quoted as saying “Around 46,000 Iraqis who had fled abroad to escape brutal violence returned last month on the back of improving security in the war-ravaged country.” (The Jordan Times Nov.8.07) The article mentions that the General’s claim came just two days after the Iraqi Red Crescent said in a report “that local residents continued to flee their homes in large numbers in September.” That Iraqis are reportedly returning because of “improved security” couldn’t be farther from the truth. Perhaps the following account will help illustrate this.

One day this past August police entered a city bus here in Amman and one by one checked the IDs of the passengers. A young Iraqi man was on the bus. I will call him Ali. Although Ali was carrying a document from UNHCR identifying him as an asylum seeker, he was detained overnight and his passport was taken from him. It is being held by the police until he either leaves the country or is resettled. He was not caught working, which is illegal for Iraqis without residency; he was just taking a bus. Where is he supposed to go? Back to Iraq, the place from which he fled? Other countries are closed to him. Even Syria is no longer an option for Iraqis seeking refuge.

Ali’s situation is not uncommon. I have heard numerous accounts from Iraqis whose passports are similarly being held by Jordanian authorities until they leave the country.

It appears that the situation of Iraqi refugees is perceived by the International community as getting better. While it is true that some Iraqis are being resettled, the numbers are pitifully low in relation to the alarmingly high number of those displaced within Iraq and the vast numbers of refugees in Iraq’s neighboring countries. All other indicators point to the fact that their plight is worsening.

Iraqis are returning to Iraq not because of improved security, but out of desperation. Their money has run out, their visas have not been renewed or, as in the case of someone like Ali, they find themselves facing deportation. One of the sons of an Iraqi family here in Amman recently returned to Baghdad in order to continue his university studies. He couldn’t face the idleness and inability to study or work here in Amman. He said he preferred to risk his life rather than to waste it. His sister is thinking of leaving her family here to join him in Baghdad for the same reasons.

US Asst. Sect.of Consular Affairs, Maura Harty was here in Amman last week. In a meeting with the press she was eager to “dispel misconceptions regarding entry into the United States and encourage Jordanians to visit America….for any ‘legitimate’ reason such as education, business, tourism or medical.” If they do not receive a visa it is “because they failed to demonstrate that they have reasons to return to their home country.” If this is the policy for Jordanians, who are from an ally country of the U.S., where does this leave the over 4 million Iraqis who are desperately seeking a safe haven (over 2 million internally displaced and over 2 million in neighboring countries)?

How is it that after suffering years of U.S. backed economic sanctions, Iraqi academics, scientists, students and artists now face far greater and more rigid restrictions than ever on the part of DHS in obtaining a student or travel visa to the U.S.? Like Jordanians, they must prove that they have reason to return to their home country. But their situation is dramatically different from that of Jordanians, as their country is imploding.

How is it possible that we spend 2 million dollars a day on the Iraq war and still there are only one or two machines in Baghdad cranking out the new “G” passports? There is a four month backup there in the processing of passports.

How is it possible that Iraqis are asked by the Department of Homeland Security in their interviews for resettlement why they paid a ransom for the release of their loved one? As if they had a choice! Even a child understands how bizarre such a question is.

When will we realize we are asking the wrong questions? The question we should be asking is how can we help Iraqis? Their country is ablaze and people are desperately trying to escape the violence and killing. Their situation calls for immediate and concrete relief. Why, I asked the Dept. of State and US Embassy representatives in a meeting last week, can’t we in the U.S. create a type of “temporary residency” for Iraqis? A five-year residency lets say. At least Iraqis with family or friends in the states who are ready, willing and able to sponsor and receive them, could do so. This single gesture would relieve in some measure the pain and suffering of so many.

This past summer Rice and Gates came to the region with a 50 billion dollar “arms package” for specific countries in the Middle East; 30 billion was earmarked for Israel. This was our gesture to make the region more secure and stable. A well known columnist in Jordan, Hasan Abu Nimah, wrote at that time “This may look like an excellent business deal for the arms industry, but it is, contrarily, a certain prescription for destructive wars to come.” (The Jordan Times, 8.1.07). Is it any wonder that the rest of the world looks on us with disdain and indignation! Rather than “winning the hearts and minds” of Iraqis and others in the Middle East, we are perceived as arrogant and reckless “cowboys” charging ahead to our next misadventure. Tragically it is the people here in the Middle East who are paying dearly with life and limb for our failed policies.

Cathy Breen

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Letter from Cathy Breen - Amman, Jordan, November 27: Refugee Resettlement Program

Cathy Breen — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:40:17 -0600

Short Information Teaser

Cathy Breen writes from Amman, Jordan

Excerpt

November 5, 2007
Amman, Jordan

Yesterday I visited a family whose 10 year old son is working for 8JD a week, that is about $10. A sweet faced slip of a child, he smiled as I took a picture of him at his work place. His father meanwhile suffers the humiliation of idleness and the inability to support his wife and other children. Beset by death threats, they fled to Amman about ten months ago; their home in Baghdad is now occupied by militia. I felt embarrassed as I offered them a small gift of money, money from a family in the states who wants to help Iraqis stuck here. The family is in need of basic foodstuffs, furniture, blankets and a heater as winter approaches. They once had work, a car and their own home. I met the wife and mother with her smallest child in tow on a bus last week. We were both making our way to the UNHCR. She to beg assistance.

Body

November 5, 2007
Amman, Jordan

Over the last weeks and months many Iraqis here in Amman have asked me if, as a U.S. citizen, I could help them get information as to where their “cases” stand, or if I know how the process works once they have registered at the UNHC and are referred to IOM for resettlement. Their daily bread seems to be waiting. They are discouraged and disheartened. Are their “cases” in a stack of files forgotten in a back room somewhere? Some have worked as translators for U.S. forces, others have been waiting months, even years, to immigrate to relatives in the states. Others are hoping to qualify for resettlement. Their money has run out, they can’t work, they are here illegally.

A few days ago I had a long-sought-after meeting with someone from the US Embassy-Amman and a representative from the State Department who deals with our Refugee Resettlement program in the region. Preparing for the meeting was a daunting task. There are so many questions, questions we find no answers to on the official US websites we are referred to. Though the meeting was brief, just over 1/2 hour, I found the two women across and alongside of me attentive and respectful. I hoped to learn what Iraqis can realistically expect from the U.S.? What hope can we give them? While I was grateful to be fit into their busy schedules, the time did not allow me to cover many of the issues I had hoped to address.

In recent weeks I have heard numerous accounts from Iraqis who have been rejected resettlement after being interviewed by an officer from the Homeland Security team. After going through laborious and time consuming sessions (interviews which can span over months) with UNHCR and their partner organization, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), their cases had finally been referred to the Department of Homeland Security (DOH).

You can imagine, I am sure, how their hopes had been raised over time, as they have made their way up the ladder so to speak. They had finally reached the top, the interview with an officer from Homeland Security! This could mean resettlement to the U.S.; at last a safe place for them! Time and time again these folks have had to relive their pain in the retelling of their stories. Each time I listen to their accounts of this decisive interview with DHS, I am reminded of a court room. It is as if they were on trial, having to defend their cases before a grand jury.

I have seen their form letters of rejection. The box most often checked on the form letter seems to be the one labeled “credibility.”

I was able to learn at the meeting that the US target goal for the fiscal year 2008 (beginning Oct. 2007) for Iraqi refugees is 12,000. If we consider the two million Iraqis in Jordan and Syria alone, 12,000 would constitute .006%. In any case, it seems obvious that the bulk of “cases” being considered for US resettlement will have to be rejected. Although I asked what the rejection rate was, this information could not be shared. I wasn’t surprised by this.

Just a week ago two dear friends, both “veterans” as it were in the US peace movement, Tom G.and Johana B., came though Amman en route to Syria. They were in Jordan for less than 24 hours, but we were still able to visit with an Iraqi family in their apartment.

The family father had been kidnapped and tortured in Baghdad. I will not go into details about his treatment during captivity as it is a source of extreme embarrassment and humiliation for him. Suffice it to say, he survived the ordeal. He was released for a reduced ransom. During the interview with Homeland Security, the wife was asked by the interviewer “Why did you pay a ransom? Why did you support terrorists?’ . This family is awaiting a decision for resettlement from Homeland Security. The wife was told today by someone from IOM that it could take another year or two for a decision to be reached.

On more than one occasion I have spoken with Iraqis who have been rejected by DOH, to find that someone in their family had been kidnapped and that a ransom had been paid to secure the release of their loved one. Although the box “credibility” had been checked on their rejection forms, the type of questions put to them by the interviewer led us to believe that paying a ransom might well have been the reason for their rejection. I welcomed the opportunity to put this question to the US Embassy and Dept. of State representatives. Is paying a ransom an automatic cause for rejection? I was told that there are times when exemptions are made in cases where a ransom is paid, but that one has to look at this from a security perspective. It is the determination of the DHS. It is the law, and it is applied universally.

Iraqis are safer than other refugee populations I was told. They are in fact being given preference over other refugee populations, taking slots from others who are vulnerable. There was something of a self-congratulatory tone when speaking about the praiseworthy resettlement program that has been created in such a short period of time, or of the millions of dollars the U.S. has given in aid for Iraqis. I replied that Iraqis are in fact deserving of special attention from our country because WE created the refugee crisis they are facing. I was politely advised that this was a political topic. It did not seem open for discussion.

Over the last days I have been reflecting in the early morning hours on the words of Jeremiah. The vivid imagery and powerful text is unsettling, and gives me pause. “My tent is destroyed; all its ropes are snapped, My sons are gone from me and are no more; no one is left to pitch my tent or set up my shelter.” Another passage “We hoped for peace but no good has come, for a time of healing but there is only terror.”

I sometimes ask myself why I should be surprised by the fixed hard stares directed at me as I walk the streets of Amman, or that one after another taxi passes me by. I am so obviously an “American.”

“Threat against Iran Real” was the title of an article in yesterday’s newspaper. Columnist Musa Keilani, a frequent contributor to The Jordan Times, wrote “The drums of war are being beaten with growing pitch in Washington. It is almost certain that the Bush administration will order military action against Iran soon.” Mr. Musa believes “military action against Iran cannot and will not be confined to a barrage of missiles against key Iranian targets” but that the U.S. “will resort to the use of nuclear power aimed at depriving the Iranians of the means to retaliate.” He believes that Iran will be “stunned as heavily as Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.” George Bush’s warning of World War III “does not come out of a vacuum,” and the only unanswered question, Mr. Musa predicts, is “when it will happen.”

The drum beats of war might well be sounding in the U.S., but the reverberations are being felt throughout the Middle East.

Cathy Breen

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen