CPTnet
August 19, 2003
IRAQ:These Bones Shall Rise Again

by Peggy Gish

". . . I felt the Lord's power take control of me and his Spirit
carried me to a valley full of bones . . . He said, 'Ezekiel, son of man,
can these bones come back to
life?'"
Ezekiel 37:1-3

CPTers joined with local farmers and officials on August 15, 2003 in a
religious ceremony, remembering thousands of Iraqis slain in 1991.
We walked quietly and soberly through the field, among the small mounds of
dug-up clothing and mementos of the people buried at this mass gravesite.
We saw a man's headband, clumps of hair, red prayer beads, a pair of old
shoes, and the black abaya (full covering) of a woman who was buried with
her one and a half year-old baby. Each belonged to a man, woman, or child
who had once walked this valley of Al Malhaweel, near Hilla and Babylon in
central Iraq. According to local officials, the victims were among 3,000
who had been slaughtered or buried alive by Saddam Hussein's forces
during an uprising encouraged by the U.S. at the end of the Gulf War in
1991. According to local officials, 1600 buried remains have now been
identified; about 1350 have not.
Anne Montgomery, Gene Stolzfus, and I had traveled down to this site from
Baghdad, on this 120 F degree August day, for a Muslim-Christian prayer
vigil. Local Islamic groups had set up a long canopy tent, lined with
chairs for this memorial service. Gathered together were the Assistant
Governor of the Babylon governate, the Mayor of the Al Mahaweel, members of
the Al Dawa (Islamic) Party, a team from the Arafedain Society for Human
Rights based in Hilla, the farmer who discovered the graves on property
adjoining his farm, and other Islamic leaders and local people.
A religious Sheik began by welcoming all of us and then chanting from the
Koran. Then the whole group of approximately thirty people walked out to
the closest field where the graves had been and we continued our prayers.We
shared some thoughts and a series of short readings from Psalm 22, the
Beatitudes and the Prayer of St. Francis which were translated into Arabic.
The main text, however, was from Eziekel 37, about the vision of the valley
of dry bones and the question, "Can these bones live?" Gene suggested that
these bones shall rise again as those present and people around the world
take a stand for justice, for truth, and for peace.
During the readings, several Iraqis emphasized our common desire for peace
and acknowledged that such mass killings have not only taken place here,
but in many other places in the world. At the close of the formal
gathering, local residents led us into the field of graves, where we
honored the victims and their families with prayers and silence. Later
local farmers provided the team a feast in a house made of reeds that grow
in the marshes of southern Iraq.
The hour-long service of remembrance, under the hot Iraqi sun, brought
together Christian and Muslims, Iraqis and Americans, in a recommitment to
work for a world without mass-graves.