Christmas Gifts for Falluja

The day after Christmas, on December 26, a group of folks left airports around the United States bound for Jordan, carrying humanitarian supplies for the people of Falluja, Iraq, a city that was almost completely destroyed in the U.S.-Iraq war last November.

What makes this delegation unique among the various groups of U.S. citizens who work to make peace with Iraq, is that the group is made up of families who lost a member as a soldier in this war, or in the unrelated attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. (A link between Iraq and the terrorists who attacked the United States in 2001 has never been proven, although 9/11 has been used as a justification for the Iraq war.)

"This delegation is a way for me to express my sympathy and support for the Iraqi people," Rosa Suarez of Escondido, California told the organizers at CODEPINK, a women's peace group that is one of the sponsors of the trip. (Learn more at www.codepinkalert.org/Press_Room_delegation.shtml). "The Iraq war took away my son's life, and it's taken away the lives of so many innocent Iraqis. It's time to stop the killing and to help the children of Iraq." Rosa's son Jesus was a marine who died in Iraq on March 27, 2003.

Other sponsors of the trip are the groups Global Exchange, the Middle East Children's Alliance, Peace Action, and Voices in the Wilderness, which has a Chicago office and was begun by Chicagoans, including Kathy Kelly. Other members of the delegation are Amalia Avila, whose son, Lance Cpl. Victor Gonzalez, died in Iraq on October 13, 2004; Nadia McCaffrey, whose son, Army Spc. Patrick McCaffrey, died in Iraq on June 22, 2004; and Adele Welty, whose son, New York City firefighter Tim Welty, died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

The military families began an Internet appeal in November for money to buy construction materials, portable generators, over-the-counter medicines and other medical supplies to help those whose homes were destroyed and those who were forced to flee Falluja. They raised $100,000. When the Middle East Children's Alliance heard about the families' efforts, they contributed $500,000 worth of medical supplies.



Catholic Connections

"The teaching of Christ even requires that we forgive injuries, and extends the law of love to include every enemy, according to the command of the New Law: 'You have heard it said "You shall love your friend and hate your enemy." But I say to you, love your enemy and do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute you.' (Matthew 5:43-44)
-- Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 1965.

Reflection Questions

What other bold examples of such direct reconciliation between former enemies do you know about?

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