Saad, at a tiny restaurant that serves kebabs and tea on a small side-street in Amman’s city center (photo: Cathy Breen)

by Kathy Kelly
February 25, 2005

Yesterday, sitting in a tiny restaurant that serves kebabs and tea on a small side-street in Amman’s city center, I was suddenly reminded of children playing “Migra!” in a Chicago Hispanic neighborhood. “Migra!” screams one child, and the others squeal and scatter. These children grew up watching “illegal” adults hide from U.S. immigration authorities.

Saad, who serves tea at the restaurant, had spotted a Jordanian police van passing the nearby intersection. The police vans frequently raid shops, restaurants and factories, in search of Iraqis who haven’t been granted temporary residence or who violate the labor laws by working for wages. In no time, my companion and I were alone in the restaurant. Across the way, a barber shop emptied. For about five minutes, the street was deserted, and then, just as suddenly, it came back to life. Observers on another street reported that the police van was already packed. Iraqi men returning to the restaurant chuckled; but the well-practiced routine is no laughing matter. If detained, Jordanian police might deport them to the Iraq side of the Iraq/Jordan border.

By Allan Slater
Christian Peacemaker Teams

“The use of deadly force authorized beyond this point.” This is the best translation I have for the sign in Arabic beside the military checkpoint outside the city of Fallujah. Hundreds of cars and thousands of people line up to pass that sign on their way to their homes in the city. As we pass by Fallujah we can see the nearest subdivisions from the highway. The homes are deserted. Half of them have collapsed roofs because of the U.S. bombing. All the standing walls are pockmarked with bullet holes and huge holes from tank fire. Fallujah was an industrial center. Now one of the few industries in operation is the cement plant.

It is February 24th. We are on our way to the village of Amoriya about 25 kilometers south west of Fallujah. Hundreds of refugees from Fallujah now live in Amoriya. There are five of us in the car. Our driver has relatives in Fallujah. This connection to Fallujah is essential for security reasons. We asked to go along with an Iraqi human rights activist who was collecting stories and evidence of the suffering of the people from Fallujah. With her is an Iraqi pharmacist taking medical supplies to the refugees. Sheila Provencher and I are observers from the CPT team here in Iraq.

By Peggy Gish
Christian Peacemaker Teams
February 26, 2005

Three CPTers and three delegates, along with an Iraqi driver, translator, and journalist approached the entrance of Camp Samawah, the Japanese military base in southern Iraq. We had the impression that the Japanese were avoiding many of the negative ways other international forces have had of operating and had better relationships with the Iraqi people around them. We made the four- hour trip to Samawah to talk to Japanese soldiers and learn about their experience and presence here.

At the first checkpoint, a guard told us that we couldn’t talk to any officials because we didn’t have an advance appointment. We persisted, “Are there any lower rank officers or any common soldier we could talk to?” We started chatting with the guards. One said they were mostly engineers and here to help with reconstruction. We noticed everyone carried guns.

Meanwhile the Iraqi journalist with us had found out that there was a public relations department, and asked if we could meet their staff. The guards finally relented, and soldiers took us to another gate.

By Cliff Kindy
Christian Peacemaker Teams
February 24, 2004

Said Salah is a farmer with his father and uncles in a rural area outside of Kerbala. During the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 soldiers attacked and bombed this farm. Sixteen family members died in the attack and another nine were injured. The house was demolished and furniture and belongings were destroyed. In addition, the attack killed 75 sheep. Shepherding is one of the ways he makes his living.

Four days after the war he went to Iraqi Human Rights Watch, in Kerbala, to document the tragedy. Media from around the world carried stories of the event. Then Human Rights Watch International visited his farm. Human rights workers found unexploded ordnance on the farm and he was able to report to them that he knew the locations of six mass graves from the 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein.