LONDON - 14 February 2008 - 350 words
London: call for remembrance, prayer and action for Iraq
A call for a day of remembrance, prayer
and action on 19 March, the eve of the anniversary of the war
with Iraq is one of the responses that came from an ecumenical
seminar held in London on Tuesday entitled 'Iraq War - five years
on : A continuing challenge to Christians'.
Representatives from Justice and Peace and social responsibility
networks gathered to discuss ways in which might Christians might
respond to the war and on-going occupation of Iraq.
Speaker Paul Rogers, professor of Peace Studies at the University
of Bradford described how the UK Government has been drawn into
an almost endless war in the region, beginning with Afghanistan,
spreading to Iraq and possibly beyond which has resulted in hundreds
of thousands of deaths and detentions without trial. He went on
to say that the military path is not working. The resistance that
we see in the Middle East cannot be controlled by what he called
'lid-ism', the use force and militarism. State centred security
models need to be turned to human security models addressing the
real insecurity threats to our world - the rich-poor divide, climate
change and the expansion of military technology.
Milan Rai, co-founder of Justice not Vengeance and editor of Peace
News outlined the decision making process that had taken us into
war and the role that public opinion had played delaying this
decision. While some feel that anti-war actions of Spring 2003
did not stop the UK from becoming a key partner in the war they
did force the Blair government to make accommodations at the time,
and he believes, have helped prevent the escalation of a military
response to the situation in Iran. Public opinion now stands two
to one in opposition to the on-going occupation and a deep sense
of responsibility for the suffering of the people of Iraq. This
means that a way must be found of withdrawing the US and UK troops
while offering support and protection to the people of Iraq, perhaps
by a replacement peacekeeping force acceptable to the Iraqi people.
Suha Rassam, an Iraqi and former professor of medicine at the
University of Baghdad spoke of the particular plight of the ancient
Christian communi y of Iraq which now fears extinction. She spoke
of the gradual displacement of the Christian community during
the Iraq -Iran war, during the first Gulf War and the period of
sanctions now exacerbated by this 5 years of war. 44% of Iraqi
refugees in Syria are from the Christian community. Christian
churches and church personnel have been especially targeted in
recent months. Suha spoke of the need to challenge both Muslim
and Christian fundamentalism and to create ways for people to
recognise their need of each other in building peace in Iraq.
At the seminar, the organisers, Pax Christi and the Fellowship
of Reconciliation, launched their Christian Peace Witness for
Iraq on 19 March, urging churches and communities to hold vigils
or prayer services in town centres on 19th March to remind local
communities of the 5th anniversary of the war with Iraq. There
will be a national gathering in central London in the early evening
of 19 March. At the same time, they ask that church communities
write to local MPs about the plight of Iraqi refugees and detainees
and to urge that the UK Government work at non-military ways of
bringing justice and sustained peace to the people of Iraq. They
also urge Christians to support Muslim and Christian agencies
working with displaced people.
A full text of the Christian Peace Witness for Iraq can be found
at: www.paxchristi.org.uk/ME.HTML
© Independent Catholic News 2008
Contact Independent
Catholic News tel/fax:
+44 (0)20 7267 3616 or email
Chaplain • Latest news • Archive • Listings • Pictures •