Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 01:19:32 -0500 (EST)
From: Orpheus <cw_duff-AT-alcor.concordia.ca>
Subject: 45.htm /with Links



For anyone interested at the bottom of this page are the links to
the group  Voices in the Wilderness -- working to end the sanctions
against the Iraqui people. 

   EXPLORE THE NONVIOLENCE WEB 
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   Voices in the Wilderness
   A Campaign to End the Economic Sanctions Against the People of Iraq
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   News Release from Baghdad - December 20, 1998
   For Immediate Release
   December 20, 1998
   Contact Kathy Kelly
   Baghdad - Al Fanar Hotel: 001-964-1-7188007
   Members of the 19th Voices in the Wilderness delegation, who arrived
   in Baghdad on December 19, welcome the news that President Clinton has
   ceased the bombing of Iraq. Yet we know that the silent warfare will
   continue through economic sanctions, and that the destruction caused
   by this most recent bombardment will result in ongoing suffering and
   death.
   Our itinerary will be as follows:
   December 22: Ministry of Trade building.
   We will hold a press conference at the Ministry of Trade to announce
   that we continue to publicly defy U.S. laws regarding the embargo. In
   18 previous delegations, we have broken the embargo by traveling to
   Iraq and bringing medicines to children and families. On December 3,
   Voices in the Wilderness received a letter from the U.S. Treasury
   Department proposing a $163,000 fine for delivering "medicines and
   toys" to children in Iraq. We will show samples of medicines and toys
   which we will be bringing to the children we plan to visit in Iraqi
   hospitals this week.
   We will explain our refusal to pay any penalties, as all donations to
   our campaign are intended for the purchase of medicines and to assist
   with efforts to end the embargo against Iraq.
   We will invite members of the U.S. Government and other governments to
   join us in our effort to alleviate the suffering by ending the
   embargo. The U.S. and UK governments unilaterally chose to bomb Iraq.
   They acted without the support of the UN. The time has come for people
   throughout the world and governments of the world to act in spite of
   the U.S. veto in the UN Security Council, and to begin free trade and
   travel with Iraq. The time has come for the world to resume buying
   Iraq's oil so that Iraqi families can feed themselves and care for
   their urgent physical and medical needs.
   We will symbolically declare an end to the embargo by purchasing a
   small amount of Iraqi oil, which will be used to light a small lamp.
   This act will demonstrate our determination to "shed light" on the
   suffering caused by the embargo, and our continued commitment to work
   with others worldwide to avoid
   further destruction and to reinstate free trade and travel with Iraq.
   23 December:
   Voices in the Wilderness members will visit students at a primary and
   secondary school in Baghdad.
   We will display a large banner bearing our logo of a woman crouching
   over her child to protect the infant from a weapon labeled
   "sanctions." Students will be asked what this image means to them. We
   will ask the students to help us understand what they have experienced
   this past week.
   24 December: Christmas Eve Vigil.
   At 12 noon, we will hold a press conference in the maternity ward of a
   hospital damaged by the recent bombing. In the U.S., people will be
   preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus, an infant born into
   wretched
   poverty and revered as the Prince of Peace. We will erect a nativity
   scene by setting up a tent and a Star of Bethlehem at the site where
   children were born into the world under bombardment. Doctors will be
   invited to speak as the "wise men" or magi, and new mothers, expectant
   mothers and children will be invited to join us. Various
   representatives of NGOs working in Baghdad, along with religious
   leaders, will also be welcome.
   19th Delegation Members: Kathy Kelly, Chicago IL. Anne Montgomery,
   NYC, NY.
   Alan Pogue, Austin TX. Brad Simpson, Chicago IL.
   Voices in the Wilderness
       A Campaign to End the US/UN Economic Sanctions Against the People
   of Iraq
   1460 West Carmen Ave.
   Chicago, IL 60640
   ph:773-784-8065; fax: 773-784-8837
   email: kkelly-AT-igc.apc.org
   website: http://www.nonviolence.org/vitw
   
   [Voices in the Wilderness]
   ========================   Voices in the Wilderness
   A Campaign to End the Economic Sanctions Against the People of Iraq
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   [LINK]
   Maintained by The Nonviolence Web:nvweb-AT-nonviolence.org
   Page created December 20, 1998. NVWeb, Philadelphia USA