Punishment by killing – a view from Afghanistan
October 30, 2011 by
Filed under Journey Updates
The stoning of Suraya
Are we nearer to freeing ourselves from systemic subjugation to the 1%, and living beyond pleasing others and pursuing THINGS?
Is love revolutionizing?
15 year old Afghan student Abdulai was watching the Iranian movie ‘The Stoning of Suraya’.
When the deceived villagers were praising God’s greatness and demanding Suraya’s death for an adultery she didn’t commit, Abdulai remarked,
‘My heart is tearing apart.
People are like sheep.’
One by one, Suraya’s father, then her husband, then her two sons, then the village mayor and the religious leader, they stoned her.
Suraya had said she was frightened, ‘not of death, but the dying, the stones…’
As her aunt combed Suraya’s funereal hair while singing to her, Suraya cried.
She cried to let go of her children and the belief that justice would always be stronger.
With dignity, she walked to the execution pit. She did not avoid the gaze of the people, especially the haughty shame of the pompous and powerful.
You could hardly tell that she was shaking beneath her suffering shawl, though she wasn’t shaking out of fear or sorrow.
Her bones were shivering out of disappointment.
She spied through her bloodied eyes a dying vision : everyone in the establishment insisted they were right.
And the sheep followed.
The slaughter.
Just as it has been with the deaths of untold individuals.
While 139 countries have already banned capital punishment, in 2010, the countries with the highest public executions rates in the world were China, Iran, North Korea, Yemen and the USA.
Will we finally see war as en-masse capital punishment, mostly of people not directly involved in the dispute?
It is estimated that 2 million Afghans have been killed over the past 40 years, from schemes imposed by locals and foreigners alike.
Not enough?
Killing is effective?
Suraya’s aunt had recounted the madness to a journalist. The story was not meant as news, or a distant distraction, which would change nothing. She said, ‘I want you to take my voice with you.’
What do we do with another voice not our own, especially a dead voice?
I glanced at Abdulai and didn’t know if I could tell him that in terrible incongruence, the world is comfortable with trends, not truths.
The world is comfortable with classifying humans, not understanding them.
We’re comfortable with exterminating those of us deemed ‘incorrigible’, not reforming ourselves.
Though the stoners sensed the hypocrisy, they chose personal safety and social dictates, and blended with the herd use of stones.
That’s why, like Suraya rejecting every throw, Abdulai’s heart was tearing apart.
One killing, or 2 million, robs love of public meaning.
Y Not make music?
August 20, 2011 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Y Not make music?
Y Not have a conversation with the ‘demonized’?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwUWKeXTm6o
Below are events coming up for you to make a connection with or find out more about the ‘demonized’ people of Afghanistan and other conflict areas.
Global Days of Listening – 21st of August 2011 Sunday
Location : From your Skype account anywhere or from your cell phone anywhere in the world
Date : 21st of August 2011 Sunday, from 6.30 p.m. Afghanistan time ( please check your local times )
Connection : Go to http://globaldaysoflistening.org and send your Skype address or cell number to globaldaysoflistening@gmail.com
broken mountain
Talk by Dr Hakim on ‘Taliban or us’ – an unequal humanity has come here
Location : Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Date : 25th of August 2011 Thursday, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Free Admission. To register, please visit http://www.mei.nus.edu.sg/upcoming-events.
broken families
International Day of Peace 21st of September 2011 Global Days of Listening ( 24 hour event )
Location : From your Skype account anywhere or from your cell phone anywhere in the world
Date : International Day of Peace, 21st of September 2011 Wednesday
Connection : Speak with an Afghan/Palestinian/Iraqi/Egyptian and other youth for just one minute by going to http://globaldaysoflistening.org and sending your Skype address or cell number to globaldaysoflistening@gmail.com
broken hope
broken method
broken Kabul palace
broken wall
broken freedom
Y Not make music?
American and Afghan Slavery Will Soon Be Signed
August 10, 2011 by
Filed under Journey Updates
American and Afghan slavery will soon be signed
a statement issued by the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers
August 9, 2011
‘The world doesn’t have to choose between the Taliban and the US government.
All the beauty of the world—literature, music, art—lies between these two fundamentalist poles.’
War Is Peace, by Arundhati Roy, October 18, 2001
We need clarity
The Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers reject the US-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Declaration.
We reject such declarations made by politicians who do not know us, nor care for us.
We want the freedom to solve our own problems.
In case you haven’t heard of the US-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Declaration, here is how it is being described in the international press.
We need to listen
“The United States should maintain a long-term military presence in Afghanistan as a ‘tenant’ on bases jointly occupied with Afghan forces, rather than on permanent U.S. bases, after its combat mission ends, according to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates……the administration is negotiating a strategic partnership agreement with the Kabul government for the longer term.” –U.S. wants ‘joint bases’ in Afghanistan, Gates says, Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, 8th June 2011
‘The Iranian interior minister made a rushed visit to Kabul, followed shortly by the national security advisers of India and Russia. The Russians, though generally supportive of NATO’s role in Afghanistan, were alarmed at the prospect of a long-term Western presence. “The Russian side supports the development of Afghanistan by its own forces in all areas — security, economic, political — only by its own forces, especially after 2014,” said Stepan Anikeev, a political adviser at the Russian Embassy here. “How is transition possible with these bases?”’ Talks on U.S. Presence in Afghanistan after Pullout Unnerve Region, Rod Nordland, New York Times, 18th April 2011.
‘Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani…bluntly told Afghan President Hamid Karzai that the Americans had failed them both…Mr. Karzai should “forget about allowing a long-term U.S. military presence in his country…,” Mr. Gilani said. Pakistan is lobbying Afghanistan’s president against building a long-term strategic partnership with the U.S., urging him instead to look to Pakistan—and its Chinese ally.’ Karzai Told to Dump U.S., Matthew Rosenberg, Wall Street Journal, 27th April 2011.
‘The US has been bankrolling the effort with up to $100bn (£61bn) a year and is negotiating a new strategic partnership with President Hamid Karzai. “December [2014] is not a campaign end date but a waypoint – a point at which the coalition security posture changes from one that is in the lead to one that is mentoring and advising, but is still here.” General James Bucknall, 2nd in command of International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF).’ Nick Hopkins, The Guardian, 10th May 2011.
‘Because of deep concerns over militant groups in the region, (U.S. officials) want some kind of launching area … to go after individuals and training camps. They see few other basing options in the region. So, the U.S. government will push hard for this.’ Caroline Wadhams, a security expert at the Center for American Progress, 3rd June 2011.
‘The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit ( SCO, a mutual-security organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan ) adopted a statement calling for an “independent, neutral” Afghanistan (read: free of foreign occupation). Nurusultan Nazarbayev, president of Kazakhstan, who hosted Karzai, put it on record, “It is possible that the SCO will assume responsibility for many issues in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of coalition forces in 2014.”’ Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service, Asia Times Online, 21st June 2011.
‘In a statement, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Party of Hezb-e-Islami described establishment of permanent US military bases in Afghanistan as an eternal occupation of the country. The statement said establishment of permanent US bases in Afghanistan would mean the war never ends.’ Tolo News Afghanistan, 19th July 2011.
What is described is the framework for Great Game 3.0, demonstrating the world’s militarized inability to resolve distrust and human conflict in a sensible manner, and the ineffectual silence of the international community and the United Nations.
We need to ask questions
Our leaders, the Afghan and American elite, don’t want us to be concerned about the US-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Declaration. They want us to be appropriately upset by news of suicide bombings and I.E.D.s, and sufficiently curious about the Taliban, the 2014 drawdown, and peace.
What’s more, the ‘debt crisis doom’ will not allow us to look at the big picture, which is the consistent abuse of the people’s interests by global governments determined to maintain the status quo of Power-and-Wealth-dictated inequalities.
Yet, the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers are committed to recovering their values. This is difficult because such values have been de-humanized, as we ourselves have become disconnected from other human beings and distracted by material OBJECTS. This happens to us and it happens more so to ordinary Americans who face even greater distractions and may not want to bother with this ‘agreement.’ After all, Americans have enough troubles of their own.
Or can we expect her citizens to break out of their cold, lonely bubbles?
We need an urgent global debate about this.
The US-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Declaration will perpetuate ‘terrorism’ and bring it to everyone’s doorsteps.
The ‘partnership’ will allow permanent joint US-Afghanistan military bases to launch and project hard power. The ‘extreme’ Taliban would conveniently ‘use’ these bases as a stand-alone reason for their ‘holy jihad.’ We cannot forget that one of Osama Bin Laden’s reasons for attacking the US on September 11th was the presence of US military bases in Saudi Arabia.
This Strategic Partnership Declaration would kill any chance for our madness to slow down and our violence to calm down.
It will doom ordinary Americans and Afghans to permanent terrorism.
Why can’t we quiet our nerves, look deep inside humanity, and begin healing?
The reality is that Afghans are not only very angry but also tired, while US/NATO citizens are essentially unaware, so are neither concerned, nor angry.
We need options
As Arundhati Roy said, Afghans don’t have to choose between the Taliban and the US-Afghan Government…these two fundamentalist poles.
Just like Americans don’t have to choose between ‘feeding’ the rich or ‘feeding’ the rich.
We can choose normal, decent lives, based on respect for life, on valuing life.
We can connect our aspirations with those of human beings elsewhere:
‘When people decide to live, destiny shall obey, and one day … the slavery chains must be broken.’ Tunisian poet Abu Al-Qasem Al-Shabi (Schebbi)
‘Hurriya! Hurriya! Hurriya! - Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!’ Egyptian Tahrir Square protesters
‘We are not merchandise in the hands of politicians and bankers! We are not slaves!’ Spanish Indignados, Real Democracy Now
‘The world is no longer dignified enough for words… This is my last poem, I cannot write more poetry. Poetry no longer exists inside me. No more blood!’ Mexican poet Javier Sicilia and the Caravan of Solace
‘The people demand social justice. This is Egypt.’ About 300,000 Israelis marching through the streets in central Tel Aviv
‘Tell the world not to send their money,’ says Abdulai, a 15 year old Afghan boy. ‘I don’t need their money. I need to live without wars.’
At a Press Briefing in Kabul on the 5th of June 2011, President Karzai addressed Robert Gates as ‘His Excellency’ and gave him a medal, which Gates self-proclaimed as ‘an award’ presented to him ‘on behalf of the Afghan people.’
If the Afghan public knew that Karzai had given Gates an award on their behalf, they may have fumed. But then, most rural Afghans don’t even know who Gates is.
This proud and exceptional self-praise by the rich and powerful is ugly; the People of the world should expose and disempower this imposition of values.
There ARE other options, especially since there ARE other deeper values.
We need an equal conversation
No Power today represents the people. Today, ordinary Afghans are denied the basic human dignities, living in a country that Save the Children said was the most dangerous place on earth for mothers, and that UNICEF said was the worst place on earth to be born in, and to be a child.
Moreover, the country that is pushing to sign this Strategic Partnership Declaration with Afghanistan, namely the US, has neither ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women nor the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
These indicate the ‘human regress’ which the Afghan government/Taliban/US/NATO have been responsible for.
We mustn’t ‘just watch and do nothing’ about our glaring socio-economic inequalities; 20% of the earth’s population is hoarding more than 70% of the total income.
It is an unsustainable inhumanity.
Why not listen, as human beings are capable of doing?
Why not grieve?
Why not have decent and equal conversations?
Have we all become incapable of perceiving the ‘beauty of the world – literature, music, art…?’
For the sake of Abdulai and billions of ordinary people like him, why not join the rising masses across the Middle East & Africa, Europe, South & Central America and more, under the same blue sky, to end our slavery to the status quo values?
We need to at least have conversations about the US-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Declaration, before it is signed in betrayal of ordinary Americans, Afghans and global citizens.
Y Not? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPySr8sHA0k
We have little left to lose anyway.
The Powers have been laughing at us, right from the very beginning.
The US coalition was dropping 26,000 bombs on an already destroyed Afghanistan from October 2001 to March 2002, when these words were recorded: ‘By the second day of the air strikes, US pilots were returning to their bases without dropping their assigned payload of bombs. As one pilot put it, Afghanistan is “not a target-rich environment.” At a press briefing at the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld, US defense secretary, was asked if America had run out of targets. “First we’re going to re-hit targets,” he said, “and second, we’re not running out of targets, Afghanistan is…” This was greeted with gales of laughter in the Briefing Room.’
Gandhi had said, ‘Our slavery is complete when we begin to hug it.’
When the Strategic Partnership is signed, peace groups will still be working hard to demand complete withdrawal. Unawares, the rest of the world will be repulsed by but still admiring how ‘intelligent’ politicians are ‘Mafia-ing’ the economic crisis. But, there will then be at least 5 permanent US military bases in Afghanistan, and ‘gales of laughter in the Briefing Room.’ Brutality Smeared in Peanut Butter, Arundhati Roy, The Guardian, October 23, 2001
Next the statesman will invent cheap lies, putting the blame on the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception…
Mark Twain.
Y Not?
Updates :
1. More Lost by the Second in Afghanistan by Kathy Kelly
http://truth-out.org/more-lost-second/1313095976
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/12
2. The Signing will be soon, before the December 2011 Bonn Conference
Excerpt :
Andrey Avetisyan, Russian ambassador to Kabul, said: “Afghanistan needs many other things apart from the permanent military presence of some countries. It needs economic help and it needs peace. Military bases are not a tool for peace.
“I don’t understand why such bases are needed. If the job is done, if terrorism is defeated and peace and stability is brought back, then why would you need bases?
“If the job is not done, then several thousand troops, even special forces, will not be able to do the job that 150,000 troops couldn’t do. It is not possible.”
3. Common Sense in a Coma by Robert C. Koehler
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/25
4. Taliban ridicule Us’s peace talks by Mk Bhadrakumar
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2011/08/23/taliban-ridicule-uss-peace-talks/
Excerpt :
ZM reiterated that Taliban will oppose the US’ so-called ’strategic agreement’ with President Hamid Karzai on permanent American military bases in Afghanistan. Clearly, the US peace track – and Karzai’s peace track – has floundered. Pakistan has driven home the point, namely, that there can be no peace track that is not meeting with its concurrence and not accommodating its leadership. Worse still, the ‘Afghan hands’ in Washington, DC who fancied they knew all the needed to be known about the Pashtuns have been reduced to despair. Put simply, they don’t know anymore who is a Taliban — and who is not. What a predicament!
5. Troops stuck in Afghanistan until 2024 by Tom Engelhardt
http://www.alternet.org/world/152146/the_new_date_for_victory_in_afghanistan:_2024?page
6. War, Too Big to Fail by William Rivers Pit Truth Out
http://www.truth-out.org/war-too-big-fail/1314198655
7. Afghanistan returning to the brink by Khalid Iqbal
Excerpt
The window of opportunity that propped up after the NATO and ISAF started handing over district wise control to the Afghan security forces appears to be shutting off fast by the reports about a dubious Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which the US is trying to impose on Afghanistan. It is aimed at allowing the US military presence in Afghanistan until 2024. An effort to secure six to eight military bases is also on, but in a hush hush manner. As a result, Afghanistan is back to the brink of disaster.
8. Talks on new US-Afghan pact strains relations by AP
9. From ‘War on Terror’ to ‘New Silk Road’ By Parag Khanna Special to CNN
Our comment : The title should be BOTH ‘War on Terror’ AND ‘New Silk Road’ ( BOTH Power AND Money )
10. Afghan Traditional Council Lays out 76 point resolution for the US By Afghanistan Times
http://www.afghanistantimes.af/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1591&Itemid=54
Our comment : Resolution Article 32 is the only clearly pro-people resolution, and is similar to the condition which Iraqis recently used to deny a ‘full-blown’ permanent American presence in Iraq. All the other resolutions support the Americans or provide sufficient loopholes.
11. Bargaining US Hails Afghan View on Presence By YAROSLAV TROFIMOV of Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203710704577050000162177144.html
12. An economic reprieve? By Anne Jolis of Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204531404577054213615305178.html
13. Iran demands NATO pull-out from Afghanistan after 2014 By Farsi News
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9007276335
14. New Silk Route Euphemism for the New Great Game By Fahad Rehman of Fault Lines
http://www.thefaultlines.com/new-silk-route-euphemism-for-the-new-great-game/
15. Bargaining over US bases : Will they stay or will they go? By Kate Clark of Afghanistan Analyst Network
http://aan-afghanistan.com/index.asp?id=2341
Sometimes, we may hurt like the Afghan dove
July 5, 2011 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Dear friends in an antagonistic world,
In the face of a broken Afghan dove, what can the people ask for?
Sometimes, we may hurt like the Afghan dove http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y8bRK5-dM0
In the face of possible ‘doom’, what can we ask for?
Y Not listen? Y Not Converse?
Have conversations between the People and world leaders become so impossible in these ‘democratic’ days?
Love,
Hakim and the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers
http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog
http://globaldaysoflistening.org
PS We are working towards human solidarity especially among the ‘Y generation’ seeking change across the Middle East, Mexico, Spain and others, to request for a global conversation between the People of the world and world leaders, through an upcoming, blue-scarf effort to organize ‘Y Not Converse?’.
Faiz beside our hurt Afghan dove
Sometimes, we may hurt like the Afghan dove
Dear XXX ( current high-ranking staff with the UN in Afghanistan ),
Forgive this email.
We felt we could share with you our burdens without incurring your anger or pity.
Much has happened to the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers since we met with you for a wonderful hour in Kabul.
Like it is with 30 million other Afghans, our mounting challenges are ‘intolerable and untenable’, and in some instances, rather severe on our souls.
It is improbable that we will see any fruit in our lifetimes.
Peace has become a broken ideal. It is a joke derided over tea.
We’re not being negative ; our endeavor to love means that we remain realistically positive, even if love seems to have broken.
But the world is being untrue in ignoring the perpetual breaking of Afghan mothers as peace is torn apart like a goat in the Powers’ ‘buzkashi’ game ; the humanitarian statistics and our visual witness prove that this shattering is borne on the backs of the people.
The chiseled Herati-stone sculptured dove which we enthusiastically raised funds to purchase from an Afghan artist, sits silently at Bamiyan Peace Park, inviting visitors to dignity.
One its wings was recently broken off and taken away, as if to break us.
We are no longer shocked.
The energies of local and international communities have been twisted to destruction in Afghanistan for at least 3 decades.
Why?
Why is the media, and the political climate, so antagonistically and obstinately breaking peace?
How much time do we have left to change ourselves, in hope of changing a global predicament?
XXX, the people know that the strategy in Afghanistan is failing. They are paying for it with their lives.
We wish there would be a study like the Global Commission on Drug Policy, in which ex-Presidents and the ex-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan declared clearly a failed ‘war against drugs’.
Like in Mexico where 40,000 Mexicans have died violently since 2007, Afghans need a Caravan of Solace to grieve together. So, in the past few days, we had telephone conversations with Julian LeBaron and Emilio Alvarez from Javier Sicilia’s people’s movement, to think together about how ‘poems die’, and how beautiful things are ignored, laughed at and then criminalized.
We are sorry that in the Commission’s report, Afghanistan, the top producer of heroin and marijuana, is not mentioned. It is as if in thinking about water, we ignore the oceans. It is as if Afghans do not exist.
But in it lies a practical way to live again. It’s found on Page 10 of the report, as its very first recommendation: “Break the taboo. Pursue an open debate……… Political leaders and public figures should have the courage to articulate publicly what many of them acknowledge privately.”
After Kai Eide had resigned ( and we wish he had declared this BEFORE he left his post as Afghanistan’s UN Envoy ), he declared in a preface of a book he wrote, that he had increasingly disagreed with Washington’s strategy in Afghanistan, saying it put too much emphasis on military operations over civilian reconstruction efforts. ‘In my opinion it was a strategy being doomed to fail.’ He said U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry had also warned against an imbalance between military and civilian efforts. ‘But none of us gained support for our views,’ Eide wrote.
Afghans and internationals like myself have a shared responsibility to stop being subjects and slaves.
So, we will ask for a conversation.
Y Not converse? The Y Generation across the Middle East, Africa and Europe are already rising up in dignity, to listen and to be heard.
More important than it is for leaders to benefit from listening to and conversing with the people, people who are unconscionably dying by the day need to be affirmed as equal human beings. They need to see democracy being practiced.
The youth volunteers have experienced harassment for their peace activism, but we realize we should not be defeated by this culture of impunity where the victims are cast as culprits, by the Afghan system of ‘justice’ funded and trained by a complicit world.
The Afghan authorities are stealing from the people while abusing them.
The US/NATO coalition wants a ‘victory’ that would match their strategic national and client-state interests.
The ‘insurgents’ will naturally resist. For those who live here, it is their land and freedom. Other ‘simple folk’ are ‘ideologically or emotionally attracted to’ the fight like bees to nectar.
ALL these groups feel comfortable and justified in using violent means. Everybody distrusts everybody. A thousand fatal schemes are being hatched and changed daily. Hate reigns.
Unfortunately, the world is either unaware, mis-informed, too busy or just passively spectating.
It needs to stop.
Otherwise, a negotiated political settlement ( which the youngest among us knows is NOT a settlement to benefit the people but to please the Powers ) will be reached, perhaps somewhat like the Treaty of Versailles, setting the stage for future mass conflicts, not inconceivably a regional World War III.
Otherwise, a US/Afghan strategic partnership agreement would be ‘successfully’ signed, nurturing the grounds for continued ‘terrorism’ throughout the average 43-year life span of the Afghan human being.
Faiz said in one of our ‘global days of listening’ telephone conversations that he believed that a ‘peace movement’ has already begun in the heart of every Afghan citizen, because the people are so fatigued by loss, and desire a reasonable life.
I wanted to tell Faiz that I was burdened by the poverty of human empathy, that the peace movement he envisions may be buried before its birth because the world will stare as long as it itself is not acutely hurting, and because it’s hard to find human commitment.
We can’t even find a conversation.
I wanted to tell Faiz that we may have to hurt like the dove.
But I didn’t tell him.
He understands already.
We sincerely hope to visit with you again.
Love,
Hakim and the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers
http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog
http://globaldaysoflistening.org
Why not converse?
Why not love?
Afghanistan and the world needs a different tree
March 25, 2011 by
Filed under Journey Updates
On 19th March, the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers, with an international team of 24 peace activists, planted 55 trees at a school in Kabul, Afghanistan. They did this to usher in the Afghan New Year, in hope for a new way of living, a non-violent way of rebuilding the country.
Please watch the tree planting here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzcw9rA1mrc
the world needs a different tree
We need a different tree
For seekers of roots, life has ample proof
that Power and Privilege consistently oppress the People.
This Power and Privilege is perfected in war,
& accepted universally like any other conventional tree.
And then,
its shade kills the People.
Why would an Afghan mother want a tree that kills?
Why would scholars promote it?
Why would the few rich and powerful insist on it?
Why would the People want it?
War is NOT what we wish to plant on any day, & certainly not today.
We wish to plant a tree rooted in Love,
a Love which says,’I live and love, so I shall not kill.’
If we wish to live without wars,
we need to plant a different tree.
planting differently for non violent options in Afghanistan
the garderner starts pruning immediately
Afghan ‘talk of peace’ must walk
March 19, 2011 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Dear friends,
Please watch Afghan dignity walking with the Afghan police in Kabul!
Afghan ‘talk of peace’ must walk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uedQzWck7xc
We would love to talk to you and friends in Egypt, Iraq, Gaza and others, on our Sunday the 20th of March, for our 24-hour Global Day of Listening to ‘live without wars’. Please email globaldayoflistening@gmail.com to arrange.
Love,
Hakim and the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers
http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog
http://globaldayoflistening.org
Afghan dreams of peace must WALK!
Text of video
We want to live without wars!
The citizens of Afghanistan say NO to war.
Today we make a resolute stand for a peaceful tomorrow.
Peace is a prerequisite for all progress.
No to war!
We don’t want any more war…
We are so tired of war!
We can be friends.
The citizens of Afghanistan say NO to war.
The peace volunteers clearly understand with human and civic responsibility….
…that peace is necessary for life.
We’ve endeavored to bring peace & friendship to all corners of Afghanistan.
Afghan ‘talk of peace’ must walk.
‘I feel very happy!’
The small protest against war today can the origin of a wave in Afghanistan!
Warmongers, do not turn our houses into war bastions!
Today we make a resolute stand for a peaceful tomorrow.
Oh, how we wish to live without wars!
Thank you ( to the police ) !
And be alive and well !
We really are so happy that our friends have stood beside us!
Oh, how we wish to live without wars!
We can be friends!
Come, the Afghan spring is here!
March 16, 2011 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Here’s updating our Afghan New Year’s wish to live without wars.
Come, the Afghan spring is here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Kwwod1xhc
Ghulamai & Abdulai play ‘shot put’ before setting off…
The mulberry tree ushers in their spring wish to live without wars
for a way to meet friends in peace…
but in Kabul…look at the river’s condition, filled with plastic & everything you can speak of…
Our difficulty is : we stand here every morning, hoping for someone to ‘take us away’ for daily labor at US$4 to US$5…there’s no work…we appeal to the government to find work…
We cannot endure the lack of work
Our friends are coming here because of love & truth…
Your coming from a modern country to an insecure place is a sign of love…
Your coming brings hope…
…strengthens our souls
…makes us happy
Peace like rain will shower over Afg & the world
Your coming, like spring, refreshes us like the greens…
Why wouldn’t People wish to live without wars?
We wish to live without wars
‘An Afghan boy can’t wait to speak with Elisa, and you!’
March 13, 2011 by
Filed under Journey Updates
‘An Afghan boy can’t wait to speak with Elisa, and you!’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0r2FOC9uug
Elisa ( email-friend from the USA ),
I want to drink tea with you.
I cannot wait to speak with you!
I cannot wait to speak with you!
Global Day of Listening
to ‘live without wars’
20th March Afghanistan
http://globaldayoflistening.org
Arrange to speak with all by writing to globaldayoflistening@gmail.com
The human-face story
2 years ago, 14 year old American girl Elisa and 13 year old Afghan boy Abdulai began their email friendship after Elisa saw a You Tube video of Abdulai describing his wish in life, to find love and truth http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_IVOgXAGL0 . Elisa wrote that ‘on our news channels they never show any of Afghanistan’s children speaking. This is the first time I have heard voices of the Afghan people and seen the beauty of Afghanistan’.
Their friendship grew sporadically over the past 2 years as Abdulai sought to find peace in war and Elisa sought to do well in school, all the while hoping that one day, they’ll be able to drink tea together.
Come 20th of March 2011, on the Global Day of Listening, Elisa will speak via Skype to Abdulai for the first time. Abdulai can’t wait.
Please join them!
Below are some excerpts of the wisdom these 2 ordinary friends have.
‘I can’t wait to speak with you!’
Abdulai and the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers
Excerpts of some emails between Elisa and Abdulai
Dear Abdulai,
I really enjoyed your video and all the videos from Our Journey To Smile. I am 14 years old from the United States and on our news channels they never show any of Afghanistan’s children speaking. This is the first time I have heard voices of the Afghan people and seen the beauty of Afghanistan. Someday, I wish I can travel to Bamiyan to see the beautiful place in these videos. Please keep smiling and never give up your hope, because all youth are the future of the world.
Peace be with you.
Elisa
Dear Elisa,
I was very happy to receive your letter.
Thank you for enjoying the video.
I am about 13 years old. Afghan children, like myself, don’t know their dates of birth.
I hope that you will come to visit me in Bamiyan. I will serve you some black tea. J
Take care and God bless you.
Abdulai
Dear Abdulai,
I know you must be busy, thank you for taking the time to reply to me. I’m really glad to hear from you.
Life in Afghanistan must be very different from life here in the United States. What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time I like to draw pictures or spend time with my mother.
Young people in the U.S. and in Afghanistan may have different lives, but I believe we can all be friends.
Thank you for your hospitality and God bless you.
Elisa
Dear Elisa,
I have an exam now.
I do not have a computer or internet. We only have 3 to 4 hours of electricity every night. Hakim helps me to send my emails.
I don’t do much in my free time.
Life is different but I think that humans everywhere are the same. I also believe that everyone can be friends.
Which grade are you in? I am in the 6th grade.
What do you want to be in the future?
I am very happy to have found a friend. Please keep in touch. Your friendship is important to me.
Say hello to your mother and all in your family!
Peace!
Abdulai
Abdulai, never think that you can’t do something. Hold on to your dreams.
Elisa
It is very cold in the mountains in winter.
Life in Afghanistan is difficult now. There is war and corruption. Bamiyan is still good and beautiful.
War is bad. I do not like war. I hope that the war will end.
Abdulai
I also do not like war. War can ruin a lot of good things.
Even if differences or fights divide people, there are still people who just want friendship and peace.
Elisa
The situation in Afghanistan is bad now. It is not easy to find peace and friendship here.
Our government is corrupt. The people do not trust the government. The people do not trust foreigners too.
Abdulai
I feel very sad about Afghanistan’s situation now.
Many people here do not want soldiers to be in Afghanistan.
I am praying for peace too. I pray that the people who want to make conflict in the world will change their minds and open their hearts.
Now, I’ll my best to teach my family and friends about how important friendship and understanding is on Earth.
With all my heart, I hope people in Afghanistan will be able to trust again.
Elisa
Tea is my favorite, I saw some videos of you and other Peace volunteers drinking tea.
My friend, it is a terrible feeling when you are trying to speak and no one can hear.
We are children, our voices are so small.
Sometimes students in my class talk about war. They see it on Television.
They do not know the message of peace that you and your friends try to spread.
Every time they speak about war- I try to spread your message of peace.
I will continue it, I know I am just one person, but I want to help you because you are my friend.
We are human, we must try our best. Don’t let go of your hope.
Take care 
Your Friend,
Elisa
Latest email from Elisa on March 11th 2011
Dear Abdulai,
I am also very grateful for your friendship.
You are very kind and intelligent!
You are welcome, friends are there to support our friends.
I also can’t wait to speak with you on the 20th.
I am a little bit shy, I hope I will know what to say at that time!
Try your best to let go of discouragement.
Remember, if you are sad, there are people who care for you.
And I am proud to say that I am one of them, my friend!
We all want to see your smile.
I hope for peace and happiness to be in your life every day.
Your friend,
Elisa
I wish to live without wars, an Afghan boy
February 20, 2011 by
Filed under Journey Updates
‘I wish to live without wars’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7C74hlQ5w4
Day of the People’s Peace
Afghan News Year’s Day
on 21st of March 2011
an Afghan Boy asks the youth, mothers and People of the world
for their solidarity on the Afghan New Year’s Day of the People’s Peace
Abdulai, 15 year old Afghan student and farmer, says :
Please watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7C74hlQ5w4
I see the unchanging System of the Rich and Powerful
in which my world is Violently collapsing,
and human hope for a decent life leaves my heart.
So, in solidarity with the People of Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Gaza,
the Middle East, North & South America, Europe, Africa and Asia,
& with the People of the world,
I will walk for peace
I will light my candles
& I will plant my trees
On the 19th of March 2011, 50 ordinary Afghan youth from all ethnicities will celebrate the People of Afghanistan’s wish to live without wars. This is the wish of every Afghan person, especially the youth and mothers of Afghanistan. They will celebrate a Day of the People’s Peace by walking hand-in-hand through the streets of Kabul to a garden plot where they would plant trees of peace.
On the 20th of March, they would be participating in the Global Day of Listening to ‘I wish to live without wars’ Skype-athon, speaking and resounding with youth in Iraq, Gaza, Egypt, Yemen and other places about the People’s wish to live without wars.
21st of March is the Afghan New Year’s Day and also the first day of spring. On the evening of that day, they will light fiery candles of grief for all the youth and children of Afghanistan and the world who have been killed in conflict and in wars.
On the 9th of April, they hope to stand against war, in solidarity with the protests of peace-loving People in the USA and in Canada, organized by the United National AntiWar Committee
CALL TO ACTION
“I wish to live without wars”
an Afghan Boy asks for world solidarity for the
Day of the People’s Peace
on March 21st 2011, the Afghan News Year’s Day
Everywhere and anywhere, individually or in groups,
walk, plant trees or light candles in loving support of
Abdulai & the mothers, youth and people of Afghanistan,
as they walk, plant trees, and light candles
to declare the peaceful wish of the People of Afghanistan
to live without wars
Abdulai’s mother and all Afghan mothers have been grieving and praying for their children to have a chance to live without wars. Your individual or group support for this peaceful wish of the people of Afghanistan becomes the indispensable and direct answer to every Afghan mother’s prayer.
The walks we take, the trees we plant and the candles we light are founded in humanity’s Love which says, ‘I live & love, so I shall not kill.’ This Love is the deep wish and yearning of all human beings to live together in freedom and peace, with decent livelihoods, and without wars. It is an indomitable love.
In 2011, Abdulai and the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers, wish for Afghan and international Powers and the People of the world to hear their wish to live without wars.
This would include a proposal of ‘Non-Violent Options for Afghanistan’ (a plan of viable non-killing options to end the Afghan war, address humanitarian needs, and rebuild Afghanistan).
Our effort is not political, not religious & not for profit; it is our wish to live in non-violence.
The international Gaza flotilla brought to world attention the life situation of ordinary Israelis and Palestinians caught in the conflict among the Powers. We hope that your support would form the international ‘Afghan flotilla,’ to interest the world in Abdulai, and the other 30 million human beings who survive and die in Afghanistan.
For centuries, the Powers of the world have jointly organized for wealth and war. Now, the People of the world need to jointly organize for Peace.
Walk freely, for spring is here!
To support Abdulai and the People of Afghanistan :
- Facebook ‘I wish to live without wars’ : rally support through all means, person by person
- Twitter @livewithoutwars
- Sign our Petition ‘I wish to live without wars’
- Help organize support for ‘I wish to live without wars’ by emailing LiveWithoutWars@gmail.com
- Arrange for a Skype conversation for the Global Day of Listening to ‘I wish to live without wars’ on the 20th of March 2011 with Abdulai and his friends from Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, Egypt and others by emailing GlobalDayofListening@gmail.com
- Follow or subscribe to our News Feed at http://www.livewithoutwars.org/ , which will include regular You Tube videos of the campaign
Why not listen to peace?
November 1, 2010 by
Filed under Journey Updates
Please listen to ‘Why not listen to peace?’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o3fqkAgdnk
And read http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/10/31-4
‘Without Peace, Life is Impossible’: What an Afghan Boy Knows that US Forces Don’t
Text of video
We invite the world,
in the noise of hate,
to listen.
Why not listen?
LISTEN
Why not listen?
Peace!
Why not listen to peace?