The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
Views expressed in this archived message are those of the author, not of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
[Main archive index/search] [List information] [Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq Homepage]
Friends,
Milan Rai, Kathy Kelly, and others from Voices in the Wilderness are scheduled to depart soon for Iraq -- a courageous act in the best of times, even more heroic now.
So it seemed a good omen this weekend as I stumbled across Milan's book ("Chomsky's Politics", Verso 1995) prominently shelved at one of the larger chain bookstores in Minneapolis. It's still out there, Milan. Godspeed to you and the delegation.
Other literary notes:
Martin Amis <http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4259170,00.html>
"It will also be horribly difficult and painful for Americans to absorb the fact that they are hated, and hated intelligibly. How many of them know, for example, that their government has destroyed at least 5% of the Iraqi population?"
Salmon Rushdie <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55876-2001Oct1.html>
"Better judgment will be required on all sides in future. No more Sudanese aspirin factories to be bombed, please. And now that wise American heads appear to have understood that it would be wrong to bomb the impoverished, oppressed Afghan people in retaliation for their tyrannous masters' misdeeds, they might apply that wisdom, retrospectively, to what was done to the impoverished, oppressed people of Iraq. It's time to stop making enemies and start making friends."
Arundhati Roy <http://www.southendpress.org/books/iraq.shtml>
"For ordinary citizens sanctions are just another kind of dictatorship. Remote-controlled, seemingly civilized, they actually, literally, squeeze the very breath from babies' bodies."
Regards,
Drew Hamre
-----Original Message-----
From: Milan Rai [mailto:milanrai@btinternet.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001 6:05 PM
To: Aftermath
Cc: Announce; CASI list
Subject: GROUND ZERO TO BAGHDAD: Milan Rai goes to Europe, New York, Iraq
Dear friends,
This is to let you know that I am about to undertake another delegation to Iraq for Voices in the Wilderness UK in a month's time. Voices UK campaigns for the immediate and unconditional lifting of economic sanctions on Iraq. I am a founder and joint coordinator.
Tomorrow, I will be embarking on a three-week solidarity tour of European anti-sanctions and anti-war groups - in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, and France.
Then, at the beginning of December, I will be travelling to New York to join Voices US and my fellow Voices UK delegate Matt Barr (interviewed in the latest issue of the Voices newsletter) for an anti-war protest at the site of the September 11 atrocities. Matt will have been on a Walk for Healing and Peace from Washington DC to New
York.
Days later, Matt and I will travel together to Iraq with Kathy Kelly and other friends from Voices US. This will not be an ordinary 'sanctions-breaking' delegation (though we will be breaking the sanctions), because of the threat of military action while we are in Iraq.
<snip>
Matt and I would be grateful for any contributions you can make towards our joint delegation, and for the work of voices uk. If you can help, please make your cheque out to <Voices in the Wilderness UK> (however large or small the amount!) and send it to 16B Cherwell St, Oxford OX4 1BG.
We will try to keep this list updated on events, and we will post material on the ARROW website also -
<http://www.justicenotvengeance.org>
With warmest wishes,
Milan Rai
Milan Rai
Joint Coordinator, Voices in the Wilderness UK
PS Please feel free to forward this email, or to release it publicly wherever you feel is appropriate.
Email while away: gensing29road@yahoo.co.uk
Regular email: milanrai@btinternet.com
Voices website http://www.viwuk.freeserve.co.uk