A fatherless Afghan boy remembers Iraq Memorial to Life
March 8, 2010 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Abdulai the Afghan boy remembers those killed in Iraq, just as he remembers his father
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F647Zn4iqY8
Abdulai at his father’s and grandfather’s grave
My dad & grand-dad were killed & this morning I went to their graves to remember them
We the people of the world should restore the sacred value of life
We should revive true spirituality & recover our love
I grieve for every person killed in the Iraq war because that grief has also broken my heart
To our friends of Iraq Memorial to Life, our hearts are with you
Iraq Memorial to Life
Iraq Memorial to Life www.iraqmemorialtolife.org will have their New York Central Park Dedication Ceremony starting this Sunday the 14th of March 2010
Below are some of the event’s highlights.
Iraq Memorial to Life Announcement
March 19, 2010 marks the seventh year since the US-led invasion of Iraq exploded into the lives of most everyone on earth. The hopes of nearly 20 million people demonstrating around the globe on February 15, 2003 where shattered; they’d tried and stop the madness before it started. To date, 4,380 US soldiers have been killed (icasualties.org, 3/4/10).
By some accounts over 1,300,000 Iraqi civilians are believed dead as a result (justforeignpolicy.org).
The Iraq Memorial to Life (IMtL) remembers the lives of these civilians. This year it will first be installed in Central Park, New York City, on March 14th. It will then be placed on The National Mall, Washington D.C., at the base of the Washington Monument facing the White House on the seventh anniversary, March 19, 2010. The traveling Arlington Midwest Memorial remembering the US service women and men killed will be set up near by.
Help build this memorial from your home. Please make as many markers as you can.
Visiting the memorial website marker page http://www.oly-wa.us/iraqmemorial/Markers.php you will see the list of markers yet to be made for individuals and for incidents (data from IraqBodyCount.org). It takes about 5 minutes to choose and make a marker. We will keep making markers until it is over; until it stops and reparations begin in earnest.
Send markers as soon as possible to: IMTL – Peace of the Action, PO Box 21591, Washington DC 20009.
Please help fund the memorial. It does cost us to laminate these – please give even a small amount; anything helps!
Checks may be made out to Fellowship of Reconciliation (“IMtL” on the memo line), 521 N. Broadway, Nyack, NY 10960. You may also donate online at the website www.iraqmemorialtolife.org.
Help build this memorial on site. Arrive at the memorial site early to help set it up. Please be one of the volunteers that help set up the memorials in Central Park, NYC, or at the Washington Monument in Washington DC.
CAN WE COUNT ON YOU TO HELP? KINDLY LET US KNOW: mailto:douglas.mackey@iraqmemorialtolife.org
NYC Central Park, Sunday March 14, 2010: Arrive as early as you can, between 5 and 7 am, at 72nd Street and 5th Avenue entrance of Central Park; signs will direct you to memorial set up leaders wearing white arm bands.
The Central Park Dedication Ceremony will be held at 12:00 pm at the IMtL Banner in Rumsey Playfield area.
(If you are making markers – and you know you can get them to NY by March 13th please send them to: IMtL – Lynne Mackey Studio, 261 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001-1902 (212) 352-0668.)
Washington DC, Washington Monument (north), Thursday & Friday March 18 & 19, 2010:
3/18: 10am – 3pm Memorial organizers will lead a learn-about (teach-in) about the memorial at north side of the Washington Monument, site of the memorial, markers will be made and the memorial will be laid out on the ground for final installation. Join volunteers at 6:30pm V-St. Busboys & Poets to hear Dahr Jamail and Sam Husseini present: Remember Iraq – 7 Years and Counting. 3/19: 8am – 11pm Placing the Memorials.
Visit the Iraq Memorial to Life, 2010.
Central Park, Rumsey Playfield & Strawberry Fields ~ Rowand Suleiman’s marker, 1 yr old girl. NYC, Sunday March 14:
72nd Street entrances of Central Park (E or W); signs will direct you to the memorial. Dedication Ceremony will be held at 12:00pm with Douglas Mackey, Salam Hassan, Mark Johnson, and others.
Washington DC, Washington Monument (north), Open daily from March 19 – March 22, Sunrise to Sunset
3/19: 9:30pm Candlelight Procession; 10:30pm Silent Observance concurrent in several US locations.
3/20: 10:00 am Dedication Ceremony with Josh Stieber, Salam Hassan, Dahr Jamail, Mark Johnson, Cindy Sheehan, and others. Dedication closes with Path of Understanding ceremony.
3/22: 10:00 am (tentative) Closing Ceremony – A reading from the people of Iraq. Help take down the memorial and pack it for the future.
For more information, contact:
Douglas Mackey, IMtL Coordinator (360) 485-3764
mailto:douglas.mackey@iraqmemorialtolife.org
Iraq Memorial to Life, Traditions Fair Trade, 300 5th Ave. SW, Olympia, WA 98503
