Seattle Fast for the People of Iraq 2002 

First Journal Entry --

Fasting really focuses me. Usually I go about life living it quite haphazardly. I see a snack I don't need and stuff it into my face without tasting it. I read the paper about a deep situation in the world and then rush to the sports section. My hope for this second year of fasting is to be more mindful. What do I put in my stomach? What do I put in my head? How can I live life more intentionally, more purposefully? How can I really live in my heart? Fasting helps me to focus on these questions.

Brian Mack

--What we think and what we eat make what we are physically and mentally.
Edgar Cayce
 

Monday, August 05, 2002 Day three of this year's Fast for the People of Iraq. The true shame is that we have to do this again. Some 50,000 more children --"excess deaths" --have perished since we fasted last year. In today's newspapers Congressional leaders are saying that war with Iraq is inevitable. How many more thousand innocents will die if that comes to pass? Haven't we killed enough babies yet? I just finished reading Jonathan Kozol's book Amazing Grace. He compares the fetal death rate in two sections of New York City. The infant mortality rate in Carnegie Hill, where the average income is over $300,000, is about seven per 1,000; just north across the railroad tracks in Central Harlem the rate is 28 per 1,000. As horrendous as these numbers are the rate in Iraq because of the sanctions is four times the rate in Harlem.

The response from the people we have talked to down at Steinbrueck Park has been for the most part quite positive. With as many people who say they agree with what we are doing it makes me wonder who the pollsters who come up with the numbers who supposedly support the government's position are talking to. There is a lot of love and compassion out there. We need to help focus these positive forces. There are apparently a number of groups fasting in cities across the country. A Voices in the Wilderness group held a one day fast at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad. Join us in prayer to support all these efforts.

Larry Kerschner

--The world shall never know peace while one man will look at another and pass judgement on him, for this is the seed of war. Metropolitan
Anthony Bloom

Tuesday, August 06, 2002 Day four of this years fast...57th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and the 12th anniversary of the sanctions against the people of Iraq...both examples of how deadly Weapons of Mass Destruction can be. The effects of both continue in Japan and Iraq....and the effects of both continue here in America in our culture, attitudes and hearts. We can only change the culture, attitudes and hearts of our neighbors by changing our own hearts. The Kingdom of God must be found within each of us, welcomed, nurtured and then shared. Prayer, meditation and occasional fasting are the tools we have and a careful look at history shows that violence always eventually fails and non-violence always eventually prevails. In the short term this may not seem so but I believe it to be true.

It amazes me that the people in this country are not just shocked by the arrogance of our current administration. We have pulled out of so many international agreements. We have fought an international court (or we can accept one if it doesn't apply to us). We have changed the government of Afghanistan. We are demanding the change of government of Iraq and the Palestinians. We've stated we want to see the governments of North Korea, Cuba, Syrian and Iran to change and today in the paper they have reported a briefing in the Pentagon where we say if the Saudi Arabians don't do what we want we will just go in and take their oil fields. The hubris is monumental!

The gathering at Greenlake to remember Hiroshima was well attended as usual. Brian and I got to talk to Congressman Jim McDermott. We asked him why there were no voices speaking out against the upcoming war and he said that they were discussing it in the Democratic Caucus and that they will see that there is public discussion before there is a war. I told him that he could say anything to the public and still be re-elected but he just brushed that off.

As far as the fasting goes it seems a little harder this year than last. By the fourth day last year I was no longer hungry but my stomach growled as we walked by a restaurant today and even though I'm a vegetarian I notice the smell of barbecue on the wind by the Pike Place Market. We had a good service at Steinbrueck Park today with a reading from Martin Luther King, Jr. I got sunburned yesterday but it was overcast and pleasantly cool today (by a NorthWesterner's standard--I think Bert thought it was cold).

Larry Kerschner

Ignorance is the cause of all quarrel and strife in the world. Ignorance is not a crime. It does not deserve to be condemned, but it has to be removed. And by the power of your love, you can remove ignorance. Swami Ramdas
 

Strange as it is, the 12th anniversary of the Iraq sanctions fall on the same day we dropped the bomb on the civilian Japanese town of Hiroshima. As I attended the anniversary celebration here in Seattle marking the event I remember the world saying, "Never Again", never again to nuclear war, never again to genocide. The world has said several times that never again would we or could we sacrifice so many innocent people for war. Have we forgotten? When we have an enemy can we justify genocide? Have we looked the other way again?

Brian Mack

But I, when they were ill, put on sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting and pored forth prayers within my bosom. As though it were a friend of mine, a brother, I went about...
Psalm 35

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Wednesday, August 07, 2002 Day 5 of this year's fast for the people of Iraq. The people of Iraq --each individual person there has the same hopes and dreams as we do. Our government has done a good job of de-humanizing them into a mass known as Saddam Hussein but it is important for them and for us to keep reminding ourselves that these are real individuals and families -- mothers, fathers and children. We need to re-humanize them in our thoughts. Think of 10% of our children dying before they reach their first birthday. Think of the agony of wasting away literally as the strength and energy flows from your body -- our body -- with the diarrhea. The drum rolls of war are getting louder as our government prepares to kill our brothers and sisters and children in the euphemistic name of "regime change". If your neighbors don't care about this from a human(itarian) view tell them of the cost to the economy when another $60-80 billion dollars flow to the arms merchants and the price of oil rises. We need another rendition of an old sign "It's more than the economy, stupid!"

As far as the fast goes today I started strong but faded in the stretch.

Lay hold of goodness, not justice. Have clemency, not zeal, with respect to evil.

--St. Isaac of Syria

Larry Kerschner
 

I am amazed at people! As I stand in the park for 2 hours a day vigiling and handing out flyers on our fast and the situation in Iraq I get a long chance to observe people. How different we are and how alike we are. There are three types of people that walk by. One that says, "I say we bomb them." "It is good that these children die." Another set is the curious. "What are you guys doing here?" Then you also have the sympathetic. "Yes, I have heard of the situation there, thank you for what you are doing."

It is wonderful to be exchanging ideas! To interact with everyday people about an important topic. Where has public debate gone? Has it vanished from our society? From our houses? From our dinner tables? From our Congressional leaders? Where is the media in all this? Has rational debate on deep issues been co-opted by sitcoms and reality shows? I hope people can enjoy the reality show that is the people around them. I hope people can really dialogue. I know at some times I do not dialogue enough with people. I pass them by. People are what matters. Let's take time to think and learn from people, even if they're on the other side of the globe.

Brian Mack

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Thursday, August 08, 2002 Day 6---I see that moderate politicians in Great Britain are bringing great pressure to bear on Tony Blair to not support this foolish war of George Bush. Too bad we don't have politicians here with any intestinal fortitude. The French and Germans are clearly against it. Saudi Arabia has publicly stated that they will not allow any base on their land be used to attack Iraq. Egyptian newspapers are calling it a "whim" of GWB. Maybe we can still stop this monstrosity. We had a wonderful service today at noon led by Jamal Rahman with wisdom and songs from the Koran. As far as handing out flyers I would guess that 45% take them and many tell us they support what we are doing; 55% won't take them and about 1% tell us to get stuffed or words less loving. How anyone can look at Brian's All-American enthusiastic joy and call him a unkind name is beyond me. My blood sugar today was 79 so I have enough glucose going to the brain but not a lot of reserve energy. Thanks for all your prayers.

Anger is a king over kings,
but anger once bridled may serve -Jelaluddin Rumi

Larry Kerschner
 

I am undertaking this fast as a spiritual venture! The only reason I became aware of the situation in Iraq is because of a friend of mine Randall Mullins talked to me about it. Why don't we know about the humanitarian disaster in Iraq? What will it take for us to wake up? I have been on a slow road of discovery over the last 5 years. At first I heard about the tragedy in Iraq, then I researched the issue on my own, I joined a local Seattle group, started writing letters and calling Congress. I was lucky enough to travel to Iraq in 2000 and it was then that it really hit me! I saw the suffering face to face, not enemies but little babies and grandmothers and yes, Iraqi soldiers. Such needless suffering I had never seen before, I had to act. People often ask if I am going back to Iraq. I tell them that I have already seen, now it's my job to help them see.

Brian Mack

"Just watch. Everything...everything."
George Bush, in response to press enquiry if US enforcement of sanctions would include food and essentials, August 14th 1990

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Friday, August 09, 2002 Day 7.....a Native American man obviously a street person was berating us loudly this morning when a Native American woman who also was apparently a street person told him to "Leave them alone...they're doing this for the children. Children are children no matter where they are." This touched me. Instead of a reflection today I want to share with you a poem that I wrote several months ago. It is called:

we should be the good guys

we must look at ourselves and
take our own measure by what we say we are
and by what our heart says we should be

we must urge our fellow citizens
to be that America
Langston Hughes asked for

let it be the dream Abraham Lincoln called us to
before they killed him
let it be the dream John Kennedy called us to
before they killed him
let it be the dream Martin King called us to
before they killed him

don't be fooled
by that other American Dream
John Wayne was a liar and
Walt Disney was a con man

let it be the dream it use to be
when we were young

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each person's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. - Longfellow

Larry Kerschner
 

As I was handing out flyers about our fast today I had a guy ask me, "Where do you get your enthusiasm?" I told him that after seeing the abysmal state of suffering in Iraq that I had to act, that I couldn't be silent. In my approach to people this week I realize that I need an in. Going up to someone and saying, "I want to tell you about a nation full of sick and dying kids.", does not work too well. Instead I try to engage people in a real and meaningful way. Many people respond. My hope is that I will open them up enough to be informed..

Brian Mack

"If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war." ~Pentagon official explaining why the U.S. military censored graphic footage from the Gulf War

"The efficiency of the truly national leader consists mainly of preventing the people's attention from becoming divided, and of always concentrating it on a single enemy."
Adolf Hitler, 'Mein Kampf', published 1924

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Saturday, August 10, 2002 Day 8

"It is a very hard decision but on the whole we think the price is worth it." Madeleine Albright

"No one cares for children more than I do." Colin Powell

"When we went to war, our objective was to reduce Iraq's capability to be strategic. In order to make that happen, the last thing you want is to focus your efforts solely on the military -- that is where you get the least results." Col. John Warden

Victory creates hatred,
defeat creates suffering,
Those who are wise strive
for neither victory nor defeat. Mahaghosananda

Larry Kerschner
 

Saturday

It is tiring, very tiring, doing a water only fast. Overall, my muscles feel debilitated and run down, they twitch and tremble as I walk or sit. My energy levels are low. I have lost some weight and am down to my last belt notch. Every time my heart beats I can feel it in my whole body but especially in my stomach. It is as if all the blood vessels in my stomach are echoing the emptiness. My body seems to be slowing shutting down. What keeps me going? What keeps my hopes alive in the midst of this wasting away? My answer is the same as that of the Iraqi people I met, God. What does God want for us? Freedom. Justice. Connection. Wholeness. That is what we hope for. My faith in God leads me to trust in this outcome.

Brian Mack

"I'm delighted that I've been invited out here today to salute you, who, in my view, are doing the Lord's work."
Former US President George Bush Sr., addressing US air crews who conduct over flights and bombing missions on Iraq.

Description of the Prayer at the beginning of the Gulf War-

The war room door swung open. "Gentlemen," someone announced, "the commander-in-chief." Schwarzkopf entered, jaw set, eyes bright with emotion. Waller and the other officers came to their feet. As the men fell silent, the CINC moved to the front of the room and nodded to the chaplain, Colonel David Peterson. Heads were bowed, eyes pinched shut.

"Our Father," Peterson began, "on this awesome and humbling occasion we are grateful for the privilege of turning to you, our sovereign and almighty God. We believe that, in accordance with the teaching of your word and revelation, we are on a just and righteous mission."

Drawing from the psalmists, the chaplain prayed for the souls of those about to die, then asked "for a quick and decisive victory. Your word informs us that men prepare for battle, and we have. But victory rests with the Lord. Therefore, we commit our ways to you and wait upon the Lord. In the name of the Prince of Peace we pray. Amen."

Amen, the officers echoed, many with a catch in their voices.

"They know we own their country. We own their airspace... We dictate the way they live and talk. And that's what's great about America right now. It's a good thing, especially when there is a lot of oil out there we need."
Air Force Brigadier General William Looney, head of the US Central Command's Airborne Expeditionary Force, quoted in US Defense Week, November 1998

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Sunday, August 11th

I started day nine of our fast by offering a flyer to the first man who walked by. He responded with "We should nuke 'em all!" That reminded me of the mother, several days earlier, who walked by with her child in hand and said to me "We should drop a big bomb on them."

Most people who take the time to respond have been positive, perhaps by a 3 or 4 to 1 margin. Still, the large majority of people just walk by. It's as if we were trying to interest them in some obscure and unimportant issue, one with no relevance to them at all.

I have been most struck -- over and over in these days -- by how ignorant and misinformed almost all of the Americans passing by are. And this is about the most momentous decision our government is considering taking: going to war with Iraq.

I had a five-minute talk with one man. He said, "Yeh, I know about the situation." I asked him why the children were dying. He said it must be ethnic cleansing of one Iraq tribe against another. I told him that the New England Journal of Medicine said that it's water-borne diseases caused by our surgical bombing of Iraq's civilian infrastructure.

He had no idea. I'm sure 95 out of 100 people passing by have no idea.

Yet, the question is less "Do Americans know?" than "Do Americans want to know?"

By and large the answer seems to be that many Americans simply don't want to know.

Flyering over these nine days, drives home to me the extent to which most Americans live in the deep fantasy world of American mainstream media news. But that's like Andersen accounting in relation to Enron. Finally, the truth of things does and will get out. With a price to pay.

My most interesting discussions have been with foreigners. Yesterday I spent 15 minutes with an Israeli man. At first he was simply saying "We've got to take Saddam out!". After he expressed his concern with Muslim militancy, I said that the last time the US did "regime change" in that area we put in the Shah of Iran! He was honest and admitted how much that contributed to Muslim militancy. Yet who talks of that here?!

When we got done talking, he thanked me, and I thought he was genuine. The American I spoke with earlier said to me, "Well, you've made a good point." But with him I felt it was as if this were a debating contest and he countered his great ignorance of the subject with a moment of appreciation for my skill at argumentation. For him, the deaths of half a million children, I felt, was more a debating point than a reality.

Spending several hours a day flyering and talking to folks passing by has been "eye opening." It's like coming back to the country after a long time away and going through "culture shock." The shock is about how misinformed and uninterested so many Americans can be.

At our noontime prayer gatherings, we are always speaking about peace. My deep desire is to make peace with this American reality. Then I can be most effective in working to prevent the consequences of this situation -- not only for the Iraqis, but for us Americans too.

Bert Sacks
 

Monday August 12, 2002. Day 10 of this year's fast for the people of Iraq. Again this year if you would like to continue the spirit of the fast I invite you to join me in fasting on the 6th day of each month until this madness ends and we quit killing children. The insights I've gained this year have to do with personal violence. If I were to take drugs or smoke tobacco I would be doing violence to myself. If I were to drink alcohol to excess I would be doing violence to myself. If I watch television indiscriminately I am doing violence to myself. If I eat too much I am doing violence to myself. If I don't get proper exercise I am doing violence to myself. We must root out all violence both within and without in order to live the life God calls us to live. God bless you all. Peace.

You have heard it was said: 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy'. But I tell you: 'Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you'. -- Jesus Christ

Larry Kerschner
 

Body of Christ

I chose to end my fast this year the same as I did last year by breaking my fast with Eucharist. For me as a Catholic when we consecrate the bread and wine at church it becomes the body and blood of Jesus. For me God's body is in everyone, every person on the earth. We are all one and connected, bound in a holy bond, all sacred. When I eat the Eucharist today. (Eucharist means thanksgiving) I say to myself and the world. I am fed by you! I am fed by God and God alone. My true sustenance comes from God and the unity that God is and that I receive from every living being.

I want to thank so many people for enabling this second annual fast to go on. As one Iraqi told me when I was in Iraq. The people of Iraq only have hope to live on, when we get news of you speaking out in the USA about lifting Iraqi sanctions or doing a symbolic action it is like gold to us! It lifts our spirits and keeps us going. Thank you Interfaith Network of Concern for the People of Iraq (INOC), as a grassroots grouping of everyday concerned people about Iraq you are a constant sign of hope in a world in need of it. Thank you also for the prayers, visits, e-mails etc. Let us go out and continue to spread hope and connection.

Brian Mack

"Killing the innocent does not defeat terror; it feeds terror. You are making new enemies when what you need are friends."
Madeleine Albright, in a stunning display of hypocrisy, addressing leaders of the American Muslim community at a special 'Iftaar' Dinner, New York, 21st December 1999

"America goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own." John Quincy Adams

Some may ask: Why act now? Why not wait? The answer is clear: The world could wait no longer. Sanctions, though having some effect, showed no signs of accomplishing their objective. Sanctions were tried for well over 5 months, and we and our allies concluded that sanctions alone would not force Saddam from Kuwait. President Bush, addressing the nation on the start of the Gulf War 1991

"The most superficial look at history shows that no social advance rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated individuals."
- Martin Luther King Jr.

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