Between visits to Roppongi Hills, Harajuku, and
Tokyo Disneyland, the busy schedule of Ansam Salih and Ghufran Saba this past
February could have been that of any other tourists in Tokyo. In reality,
however, the pair — both doctors of pediatric medicine — were visiting Japan’s
capital to tell the agonizing
story of the reality befalling the people of their hometown in Basra, Iraq.
Ansam
and Ghufran — Iraqi tradition dictates that people are referred to by their
first names — spent a six-month stint at a hospital in Sapporo between
September 2006 and March 2007 at the joint invitation of Save the Iraq Children
Sapporo and Soroptimist International. The purpose of their visit was to hone
their medical and technical skills in order to continue providing
the best care possible for the tiniest members of their community — whom both
assert as bearing the heaviest cost of the succession of wars that have plagued
their city and country over the past several decades.
Unimaginable suffering
Both
Ansam and Ghufran were the featured speakers at an event titled “Iraq Today: A
Conversation with Two Iraqi Women Doctors,” held at a community hall in Tokyo’s
Bunkyo Ward during their visit to the metropolis. The doctors began by giving
an historical overview of their country, including the rich cultural and
literary traditions that developed in the civilizational cradle of the Mesopotamian
rivers. They then described,
from a humanitarian perspective, the tumultuous events occurring more recently
in their country, beginning with the Iran-Iraq war in the early 1980s. Neither
doctor minced any words in describing the unimaginable suffering that has
continued to befall their fellow citizens since that time.
“Iraq’s
infrastructure was nearly completely destroyed during the first Gulf War,”
explained Ghufran in a tone conveying both subtle grace and fierce conviction.
“Conditions then deteriorated even further during the sanctions that followed,
as both medicines and hospital equipment were barred for import under the
allegation that they could be used for chemical weapons and other military
purposes.”
Both
doctors agreed that the most recent war and its ensuing occupation have brought
Iraq to its lowest point yet. It is widely thought that more than 2,000 tons of
depleted uranium (DU) have been leaked into Iraq’s environment since the war
was launched in 2003, on top of the several hundred tons that were used in the
country during the first Gulf War. This DU has been linked to a steady rise in
the rate of cancers — particularly in children — as well as babies born with
severe malformations. The doctors estimated that birth defects have increased
by two to six times since 1991, and that three to twelve times as many children
have developed cancer and leukemia.
The
continuation of sanctions, however, has meant that hospitals remain unable to
provide proper treatment. In addition to short supplies of lifesaving medicines
and equipment, regularly occurring electricity power outages and shortages of
clean water are literally spelling death for sick babies and children. The
doctors explained that 80 percent of children with leukemia and other cancers
throughout the country are now dying — an exact reversal from prewar days, when
80 percent recovered. In the two doctors’ hospital in Basra alone, an average
of five to ten children are losing the battle with their diseases every day.
“The devastating damage all this DU
will do to the health and fertility of the people of Iraq now, and for
generations to come, is beyond imagining,” commented Ansam. Vivacious and
outgoing by nature, she turned somber and forceful when speaking of the
situation in Iraq today. “Poverty in Iraq has worsened acutely during the
invasion and occupation, and those who were already surviving on the margins
due to years of deprivation have sunk even further,” Ansam continued. “The
suffering is enormous, even for adults. For children, it is simply
unimaginable.”
She
added, “While we don’t hate Americans, I don’t recall Iraq ever inviting them
to bring their troops into our country. Honestly, the kind of military invasion
that we have seen in Iraq is totally unbefitting of the 21st
century. It truly feels as if we have gone backwards in time.”
Iraq Hope Network
Iraq Hope Network
Ansam and Ghufran’s presentation in Tokyo was
sponsored by the Iraq Hope Network, a Japan-based
consortium of NGOs, aid-workers, journalists, lawyers, university professors
and volunteers who together sponsor projects in Iraq focused on humanitarian
aid, reconstruction and human rights. The event
was also co-sponsored by the Japan-Iraq Medical Network (JIM-Net) and Peace On,
both of which are member organizations of the network that are involved in a
variety of interesting initiatives aimed at providing support and services to
people in Iraq.
JIM-Net’s
work has consisted of spearheading a number of fundraising and educational
projects aimed at bringing relief to children in Iraq suffering from leukemia
and other cancers. For the past two years, the group has sold Valentine’s Day
packages that include chocolate-covered almonds and a picture drawn by a young sick
Iraqi — each of which funds the cost of one day’s treatment for a child. Over
the two years, they were able to raise a total of thirteen million yen (US$115,000)
through this initiative. Other network activities include exhibitions of Iraqi
children’s art, a blog on JIM-Net’s website detailing conditions in Iraqi
cities and providing medical updates on the young Iraqi children with whom it
has worked, and the publication of a book in Japanese aimed at younger
audiences that provides basic explanations of war and weaponry, as well as depleted
uranium and its connection to illnesses such as cancer.
“One
of our aims in exhibiting Iraqi children’s artwork is to dispel the misguided
notion that these young people are somehow the terrorists of the future, since
one look at their artwork makes it clear that they are simply kids, doing what
kids everywhere do,” explained JIM-Net founder Sato Maki. “Hundreds of
thousands of Iraqis have lost their lives, and this artwork also helps to bring
home the point that every single one of them was a precious individual human
being.”
JIM-Net
has also worked with other organizations, including the Campaign for Abolition
of Depleted Uranium Japan, to put pressure on the Japanese government to comply
with international initiatives aimed at putting an end to violent tactics of
war. Sato laments the fact, however, that the Japanese government still refuses
to admit the dangers of depleted uranium — a bitter irony given its status as
the only hibaku (atomic bomb victim)
nation in the world — and instead continues to parrot the United States in
insisting that more DU research needs to be conducted. “Whether we are talking
about depleted uranium or cluster bombs, the Japanese government has repeatedly
prioritized the maintenance of its relationship with the United States,” Sato commented.
“As a result, Japan is not signing on to these agreements.”
Peace
On is another member organization of the Iraq Hope Network that has sponsored a number of projects aimed at bringing
relief to war-weary Iraqis. It has provided support to displaced populations
within Iraq, as well as Iraqis who now reside in neighboring Jordan and Syria.
The group has also directed its efforts toward other vulnerable populations in
Iraq, such as organizing specially chartered school buses for disabled children
in Baghdad who were unable to travel to school due to the deteriorating
security situation.
Peace
On director Aizawa “Yatch” (Yasuyuki) is a musician who traveled to Iraq in
2003 to serve as a human shield during the “Shock and Awe” bombing campaign
that was carried out by the U.S. military. Following this experience, he
returned to Japan to found the organization as a way to encourage
grassroots-level interactions between people in Japan and Iraq. “Living
together with Iraqis during the beginning of the war allowed me to experience
their terror, as well as learn about their zest for life,” explained Aizawa.
“Every time I traveled to Iraq, I came away having learned so much from the
resilience of its people. Particularly striking was my meeting with different
Iraqi artists, whose distinctive personalities made me feel as if I was truly
witnessing light amongst the chaos.”
Like
JIM-Net, Peace On has also used art as a means by which to raise awareness of
deeper issues underlying the matters of war and violence. Aizawa’s experience
inspired him to organize and sponsor the visit of a team of Iraqi artists to
Japan in order to showcase their work for the Japanese public. Aptly titled
“Light From Chaos,” the annual exhibit has run for the past four years at various
venues throughout the country. While some of the pieces focus upon themes
connected to the war and occupation, they also offer windows into other aspects
of Iraq such as modern everyday life and the country’s rich cultural history —
thereby providing Japanese audiences with a human face to Iraq that they would otherwise
be unable to encounter.
Is the
World Truly Safer Now?
In addition to fundraising initiatives, the Iraq
Hope Network has sponsored a number of additional projects aimed at raising
awareness regarding the war and occupation in Iraq. One such action was an
international petition drive aimed at getting the U.S. military to stop its
violent tactics in Ramadi, a city near Fallujah where many network members have
cherished friends and colleagues. Ramadi suffered heavily from strong-handed
military action, such as checkpoints, nighttime home searches, and random
civilian killings. While the petition was obviously not in a position to end the
war, it did gather around 5500 signatures from people in 42 countries and was
read by people back in Iraq, whom network members reported as taking comfort
from the many thoughtful, heartfelt comments.
The
network has also brought several other Iraqis to Japan to speak of their
plight. One such visitor was Mr. Kasim Turki, a humanitarian aid worker from
Ramadi who has provided jobs and support to refugees and other displaced people
in Iraq. A former soldier in the Iraqi army, Kasim once considered joining the
resistance movement against U.S. troops, but was swayed by his contact with
Japanese aid workers including former hostage Takato Nahoko, who encouraged him
to turn his energies toward rebuilding instead of retaliation. While visiting Japan
this past April, Kasim went on a speaking tour around Japan to tell his story
and raise funds for his work. “My brother bled to death in his car after he had
been injured in a traffic accident and the U.S. military refused to let him
pass through their checkpoint to proceed to a hospital,” Kasim explained in a
voice fraught with pain. “While I once would have wanted to take revenge, I am
now planning to build an emergency medical clinic in Ramadi to help others,
which will also stand as a tribute to my brother and what happened to him.”
As
part of its mission to continue educating people in Japan about the lives of
ordinary Iraqis and all that they have continued to endure, the Iraq Hope
Network issues an e-mail bulletin with various news items of interest. At the
end of these transmissions, the group periodically poses the following
question: “Has the attack upon Iraq truly made the world a safer place?” It is
a question that continues to resound with meaning, and one that members of the
network will likely continue to pose until peace is restored to Iraq and the
human rights of health and safety returned to its citizens.
Antiwar Resources:
Japan
* Iraq Hope Network: http://www.iraq-hope.net/english.htm
Peace Not War Japan: http://www.pnwj.org
*Peace On: http://npopeaceon.org/whats/english.htm
World Peace Now: www.worldpeacenow.jp/
U.S.
A.N.S.W.E.R: http://www.internationalanswer.org/
Code Pink: www.codepink4peace.org/
Education for Peace in Iraq Center: www.epic-usa.org/
United for Peace and Justice: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
Voices for Creative Nonviolence: www.vcnv.org/
Iraq-Related Blogs:
Alive in Baghdad: http://aliveinbaghdad.org/
Baghdad Burning: http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/
**Iraq Hope Diary (Takato Nahoko’s blog)
http://iraqhope.exblog.jp/
Iraq Mail — The Voice from Ramadi: http://iraqmail.blogspot.com/
* Limited English content
** Japanese only
--Kimberly Hughes
(originally published in Kyoto Journal magazine #68. November, 2007)