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On March 8, St. Joan of Arc was privileged to host Sami Rasouli, an Iraqi-American and dear friend to the parish community. The evening began with a musical performance by the “Peace Sisters,” two women who met during a frigid outdoor peace vigil. Singing together became their way of keeping warm and soon they developed a signature style. They change the lyrics of well-known songs to express their vision for peace, and then add guitar, percussion, and beautiful harmonies. Following their stirring rendition of “How Can We Keep From Singing,” Sami Rasouli addressed the audience of 250.
Born and raised in Najaf, Sami left Iraq in the late 1970s and eventually moved to Minnesota in 1987 to seek medical attention for his son. He opened Sinbad’s, a Middle Eastern restaurant on Nicollet Ave. Sami lived in Minneapolis for 17 years and was widely credited with helping introduce Arab culture to the Twin Cities area.
In 2004, Sami decided to return to Iraq to help rebuild his homeland. Against the advice of those worried for his safety, Sami has spent much of the last three years working with the Muslim Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. Dedicated to the principles of nonviolence, the teams provide humanitarian aid to refugees, document human rights abuses, and clean up war-torn areas. Sami returns to the Twin Cities once a year to provide insight about the role of the U.S. military, the resistance, the current political and social conditions, as well as the perspectives of ordinary Iraqis.
Sami opened with the following quote from Luke's Gospel: “Do not judge and you will not be judged.” Then he shared this quote from the Koran: “Do not wrong and you will not be wronged.” Beautifully demonstrating the similarities between Christianity and Islam, Sami warned, “We cannot allow a few fanatics to highjack our faith. We must go to the source for wisdom”
Sami described the MPT in Iraq as a light in the midst of a violent darkness. Indeed, the courage Sami has shown in the face of danger and tragedy is truly remarkable. Last year his dear friend, Tom Fox of the Christian Peacemaker Team, was kidnapped in Baghdad and later executed. Two months ago, a close friend from the MPT, was shot and killed. Yet Sami remains dedicated to his mission in Iraq. He has four sisters and 40 nieces and nephews in Najaf, and recently married a woman from Iraq.
“The honeymoon was wonderful," said Sami. “We stayed in a hotel where the prime minister happened to be staying and we actually had warm water and electricity.” The vast majority of Iraqis do not enjoy such luxuries. Their lives are marred by unemployment, disease, ruined neighborhoods, frightening checkpoints, and devastating violence. “The typical Iraqi anticipates a blind date with a brutal death,” said Sami. “There is no law enforcement and no security. Every day the occupation continues, the situation gets worse.” Seven million Iraqis have fled the country, two million are displaced within Iraq, and 4.5 million are currently malnourished.
During his stay in Iraq, Sami travels the country, talking to people about their daily experiences. He has a collection of letters written by Iraqis, addressed to Americans. “I would like to offer my friendship and be an ambassador for peace,” wrote Mohammed, age 9. “The Americans should know that we don’t want to hear tanks and guns outside. We want to hear birds and music.” Sami hopes some of the letters will be printed in local newspapers to increase cultural understanding between Americans and Iraqis.
Frequently, Americans assume that Sunni and Shiite Arabs are embattled in a long-standing feud and that the U.S. military is needed to keep Iraqis from killing each other. Sami addressed this misconception, explaining that “Sunnis and Shiites have lived together in peace for centuries.” Rather than calming sectarian conflict, the occupation inflames it by forcing Iraqis to choose whether or not they are on the side of the occupiers. An imposed culture of violence leads to more violence. As Iraqis watch their loved ones die, the urge for revenge is often too much to overcome. As Iraqis descend further into poverty and desperation, some consider violence their only method of survival.
Many Americans are concerned about what will happen if and when U.S. troops leave Iraq. Even those who oppose to the war feel that the U.S. has a responsibility to right what’s wrong in Iraq and not “abandon” the people. Sami agrees that the U.S. is obligated to pay reparations for what has been destroyed, but insists that American troops must leave now. “They are not on a peacekeeping mission,” he said. “The occupiers must go. They have failed. There is no reconstruction. The U.S.-installed Iraqi government is riddled with corruption. Women and children are suffering the most. Only the Iraqi people, if left alone, can form a sovereign country with a unified government. Troops from the Arab League should be deployed to help with the transition, but the U.S. military cannot play a successful role in this. The American people said no to war on November 7. Only they can end this war by pressuring Congress to cut off funding.”
Sami explained that many Arabs perceive the occupation of Iraq and the “War on Terror” as a war on Islam. He maintains that the heart of Islam is nonviolent and that “the peace of God within” allows him to return to Iraq with courage. “God is one, the message is one, we are all one,” he said with a smile.
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