“We are surrounded by hostile neighbors.” “ They want to destroy everything that we build.” These are two sentiments we frequently hear expressed in the Kurdish Region of northern Iraq.

This weekend, the Team went to Azadi Park, a spot of beauty in the heart of the city, all the more remarkable because it has been reclaimed (can land/space be resurrected? Redeemed, certainly) by the Kurds. It was previously a Ba'athist-only holding adjacent to one of Saddam Hussein's prisons where Kurds were routinely tortured. The prison is now a museum.

Join CPT's first delegation to the Kurdish north of Iraq. Hear first-hand stories of a people subjected to decades of violence and oppression by the Western-backed regime of Saddam Hussein, international economic sanctions, and the U.S.-led invasion, occupation and betrayal.

I rest my hand to where my heart is and then raise it to the sky, saying, "Choni? Bashi? ( How are you? Good?)" With this gesture, I send my best and warm regards to you, my dear friends. This greeting is what the team in Northern Iraq-Kurdistan has been receiving everyday from the Kurdish people.

The team arrived together in Sulimaniya on 9 April, entering the KRG (Kurdish Regional Government) area with little difficulty. We have obtained our thirty-day visas (a big deal) and are in the process of collecting information to support of our renewed NGO application.