CPTnet
23 July 2008
IRAQ: Choosing nonviolent and healing paths

by Peggy Gish

On the third day of the nonviolence training, we began to focus on reconciliation between the ethnic groups that are in tension in Iraqi society. Fifteen people representing independent Kurdish human rights organizations had been participating. In the group were women and men working to combat violence against women, individuals speaking out publicly about government corruption and abuse of prisoners, and leaders of youth clubs or cultural centers. All were members of grassroots citizen's groups that have chosen to work for change nonviolently and are independent of the two main Kurdish political parties.

The earlier sessions had dealt with dynamics of violence and nonviolence. The next step would be more difficult. In small groups, the trainees listed the strengths of the Kurdish people and the hurts they have suffered. Listing the same for their Arab neighbors, the ethnic group under whom they suffered most, was harder.

Next was a role-play using a current problem in Iraq involving different ethnic groups: the situation of Kirkuk. A northern Iraqi city rich in oil, Kirkuk had been a pivotal center for Saddam's oppression of the Kurdish people for over three decades. Over 300,000 Kurdish residents had been killed or forced to leave their homes and relocate in other parts of Iraq. Hussein's government moved Arab Iraqi families in to replace them.

Divided into three groups, participants took the role of one of the three major ethnic groups in Kirkuk: Kurd, Arab, or Turkmen, who want different outcomes for the future of the city and province. Kurdish participants in two groups put themselves in the role of the Turkmen or the Arabs living in that city, framed their point of view on the major issues and articulated what their group needed from the others to solve this complex and volatile problem.

At the group's prompting, we recounted stories of the nonviolence campaigns in South Africa. Though still plagued by serious economic and social problems, the nonviolent movements in South Africa were instrumental in the overturn of apartheid and the prevention of all-out bloodbath during and following the intense struggle. The room was silent when we talked about the nonviolent methods the South Africans used, about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We spoke of families of victims receiving healing when those who had tortured or killed a person told the truth about what they did, or in a few cases when they met face to face with the families of their victim.

No quick or easy solutions came out of this workshop experience. The participants had experienced oppression and persecution. They knew that standing with those hurt and oppressed in their society and nonviolently working for change was difficult work. They knew that to oppose oppression by internal or external forces could be risky. They are, however, developing powerful tools for doing this work and choosing paths toward healing.