Peacemaking in Fallujah
The first project for these Shia Muslims was to reach out
to their fellow Iraqis, the Sunni Muslims in the devastated
city of Fallujah, where 30,000 homes were damaged, 5,000 were
destroyed, 50 mosques were burned, 10,000-15,000 people were
killed and countless were injured, detained or became refugees.
An initial visit to Fallujah was to bring a carload of medical
supplies bought with money raised by two brothers of Jarrar's
family, Raed and Khalid and purchased in Jordan where one of
them lives. The MPT members then met with Sheik Abdul Hameed
Al Jumaily of Al Furqan Mosque, where Sami was introduced as
the MPT representative. While discussing how they could work
with the residents of Fallujah, a member of the public works
department suggested they have a general clean up project since
there had been no trash collection for several months. It was
agreed that they would meet Friday morning, May 6, at the At
Furqan Mosque.
A day before the planned clean up, the MPT got
a phone call from the sheik, warning them not to come because
of the lack of security. The 15 Shia from Karbala and the 3
Christians from the U.S. declared that we are coming no matter
what. We are one people and if we don't come now, we won't
ever come. We feel that if we are serious and truthful, we
should share your agony and happiness. The sheik cried and
then said, God bless you. We will be waiting for you at the
entrance of Fallujah.
Sami says, at first the residents thought
the MPT was there to take pictures, but then were surprised
by our seriousness. We put on the orange jumpsuits of the public
works workers and cleaned up the streets around the mosque.
They cried and kissed us and asked us to stop to pray with
them. It was Shias and Sunnis and Christians working together
in peace.
At the prayer service, the sheik changed his sermon
to speak about the unity of Iraq. The Sunni worshipers sought
out the Shias to greet them and to welcome them. When the service
ended, the visitors from Karbala lined up at the door to hug
and kiss the Fallujans as they left. We expressed our love
for each other and our eagerness to be in solidarity, says
Sami. Learning to trust each other is essential to preventing
a civil war.
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