CPTnet
9 May 2005
IRAQ: CPTers and MPTers help Sunnis clean up Fallujah
On 6 May 2005 a group of Shi'a Muslims from the Muslim Peacemaker Team (MPT)
traveled to the Sunni-dominated city of Fallujah from as far away as Kerbala
and Najaf to help clean up rubble from the U.S. assault on the city.
Members of MPT sought to counter the growing reports of Sunni/Shi'a
sectarian violence and to demonstrate unity in a tense time.
"Muslim Peacemaker Teams from Karbala and Najaf is pleased to be in Fallujah
in order to assist in the ongoing clean-up efforts. We are among our
brothers and sisters in the city of Fallujah to recognize our solidarity
with you," read the leaflet passed out by members of the MPT and Christian
Peacemaker Teams (CPT.)
Fifteen MPTers and three CPTers joined with employees from the Department of
Public Works department to clean a street outside one of the largest mosques
in the city. Following the cleanup, the MPTers joined Sunnis in Friday
prayers.
A civic leader asked MPT and CPT members why the United States military felt
it had to attack and destroy a city of 300,000 in order to capture one man
and his small band of terrorists. One person noted that when Al Capone and
his gangsters were controlling Chicago in the 1920's, the FBI didn't come in
and level the city in order to eliminate them.
Citizens communicated their concerns to MPT and CPT members that the Iraqi
National Guard (ING) guards are poorly trained and show little respect for
lives or property as they cruise the streets of Fallujah waving automatic
weapons from the back of their pick-up trucks. In addition, the massive
backups created by ING checkpoints have caused prices for building supplies
and foodstuffs to rise two to three times above prices in the surrounding
areas. Wholesalers create the price increases to compensate for their lost
time and increased wages caused by the two to six hours they spend waiting
at checkpoints before entering the city.
The city is also suffering from poor sanitation, because of the damage
caused by military assaults on sewage lines and other utilities that promote
public hygiene. The Multinational Forces (MNF) evicted the Department of
Public Works from their building; it has had to set up temporary offices in
the Fallujah public library. The chief of the department said, "We only
have seven working garbage trucks and three dump trucks for the entire city.
We have been promised funds for our department from the MNF for months but
so far nothing has happened." A cleric told MPTers, "It will take fifty
years at this rate to return Fallujah to the condition it was in before the
U.S. attacked us."
Muslim Peacemaker Teams has been in existence for three months and plans to
retain a connection with the citizens of Fallujah. Christian Peacemaker
Teams in Iraq has made working with MPT a priority for the team at this
time.
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