Raising South Voices

To the People of the World who profit from our tears
To the People of the World who care not of our tears
To the People of the World who know not of our tears
To the People of the World who live also with our tears

We speak to you, in whispers and in screams; in despair and in hope; in defeat and in struggle; to reclaim our humanity.

With the violated people of Iraq, we stand in solidarity, our arms joined in this bridge across tears.

We learn everyday of the killing, plunder, destruction and humiliation that takes place in Iraq.

We have heard the tired justifications of Power many times over – security, freedom, democracy, reconstruction – these are words that are not alien to us; they haunt us everyday as we tread upon our earths.

100,000 lives, of children, women and men, in Iraq have been the latest price to be paid for the betterment of civilisation.

Innocence is no protection. We know.

For each one of the 100,000 lives sacrificed at the altar of Power, united in death rests the remains of 100,000 more of our sisters and brothers of many names upon that same altar.

The tanks, the bullets, the airstrikes, the depleted uranium, the torture, the collective punishments, these that have been the weapons of vengeance against the people of Iraq, are all kin to the hunger, the destitution, the ‘structural adjustment programmes’, the poisoned rivers and lands, the suffocating clouds of ‘progress’, the police truncheon, the barbed wires, that have been and are our scourge.

We name all as violation.

As we shed our tears for our losses, our tears fall also on the lands of Iraq.

Though Power seeks to blind us with their lies, our eyes remain ablaze with the fire of life that we carry of all our dead.

And we denounce Power with its many faces of violence.

For theirs is not a ‘Security’ in which we are secure.

Theirs is not a ‘Freedom’ in which we are free.

Theirs is not a ‘Civilisation’ in which we are dignified as humans.

This we say as we build a Bridge Across Tears:

To Power:

We notify you that we, the peoples of the global south, stand together with the people of Iraq in resisting your cruelty. Be aware.

We demand of the US-UK led ‘Coalition’ the cessation of violence against the people of Iraq, the withdrawal of all the occupying forces from Iraqi lands, and the restoration of the will of the Iraqi people for genuine self-determination.

We demand that those who call themselves leaders of nations act as leaders in halting the impunity of the Occupation in Iraq by mobilising themselves against the US-UK led ‘Coalition’ in Iraq.

We demand of the United Nations immediate action to withdraw support for the on-going Occupation of Iraq, and to initiate an international process of judgement against the illegal and criminal use of force against the people of Iraq.

We affirm our common humanity in struggle, with the people of Iraq against the invading forces, and with sisters and brothers everywhere against the invasions upon their lives, livelihoods and dignity.

We pledge that ours is a common struggle for peace, justice and humanity.

To the People of the World,

We call on you to be a Bridge Across Tears so that Humanity may prevail over the cruelties of Power.

Signed:

Jayan Nayar – (Malaysia) Peoples’ Law Programme, Lelio Basso International Foundation, Rome.
Diep – (Pakistan) Anti-war activist
Colleen Sumarah – (Canada) Retired teacher
Saeed Baloch – (Pakistan) Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum
Syed Imtiaz Ahmad – (Pakistan/Canada) Doctor
Pauline E. Tangiora – (New Zealand) P.E.T Southern Star Associates
Farman Ali – (Pakistan), Daly Dawn
June Hedlund – (India), Home-maker
Ganesh S. Durgadas – (USA), In Our Own Voices
Ronald Rebello – (India) Human Rights Activist
Cassandra Balchin – (UK/Pakistan), Activist
Leila Tahir – (France), Translator
Aminah Sharief Goling, (Mindanao), Peace Activist
Corinne Kumar – (India), El Taller International, Tunis
Junaid S. Ahmad – (South Africa), Center for Progressive Islam, Cape Town
Asad Farooq – (Pakistan), Lok Sath.
Judy A. Pasimio - (Thailand) Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and
Development
Qamar Agha – (India), Activist-Journalist
Sally Bland – (Jordan), Teacher
Ayse Berktay - (Turkey), Translator / Peace Initiative of Turkey
Cholpon Akmatova - (Kyrgyzstan) APWLD
Rubina Saigol - (Pakistan), Activist, researcher, writer
Walter Musco – (Italy), Activist
Herbert Docena – (Philippines), Focus on the Global South
Nancy Lovejoy – (USA), Homemaker
Ward Morehouse – (USA), Center for International and Public Affairs
To sign this statement of solidarity, please reply to this email at
wti-...@libero.it including your name, country and occupation/organisation. May the voices of humanity raise itself and declare, we exist, and we refuse to be silent or
silenced.

Please circulate widely and campaign with this statement as you see
possible.

Thank you