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Front Page » Archive » Vol
2 No 57 » here
In conversation with a human shield
by Bruce Alexander
The Republic
"Human shields" are people from
North America and Western Europe who are finding ways to
get to Iraq, where they will
go to known target areas, like electric power generating
plants, and hope their presence deters the US bombing. They
have been scarcely covered by the mainstream media.
Stefa Shaler, a Vancouver woman and former social worker,
is planning to join the human shields.
Republic: Stefa, you and I have been friends for 25 years,
so I know some of what you will lose here if you are killed
in Iraq. Can you tell me what you might gain by going?
Stefa Shaler: I have long felt something was terribly wrong
with society, and now I feel I must be much more politically
active. I can't be on this side of the war.
R: What do you mean by "this side of the war?"
S: I mean Canada's side. Canada will join in the attack
on Iraq if the US can persuade or bribe the Security Council
to approve. To me, this makes Canada a moral jellyfish. If
I were living in a morally impressive country, I wouldn't
need to risk my life to save innocent people. Forty-six percent
of the Iraqi population are children! Our government and
everybody else knows that this impending slaughter is simply
an attempt by the United States to increase its wealth and
power.
R: Do you believe that having a few Western people in Iraq
will dissuade the US from bombing?
S: Yes, I do.
R: But nobody can be certain of that. Perhaps this is a
way of committing suicide for you.
S: To me, turning away from the war would be suicide. Sitting
here, accepting the morally dead reality of the Canadian
and American governments is suicide. And it isn't just the
war. Life here has become unbearably callous. People sit
around talking about how to juggle their investments to maximize
their "personal net worth" while the war starts. In Vancouver
we grow used to passing homeless people on the street, without
thinking what it means to be homeless. Our bureaucracies
hide behind rules in order to avoid lawsuits, rather than
really helping people, especially children. I can give endless
examples, and so can you, if you think about it. Accepting
a soul-destroying reality is the real suicide.
R: Have you met any other potential human shields?
S: Yes, there are thousands of us. One group I have been
in contact with, "Voices in the Wilderness," has sponsored
Westerners in Iraq for over 10 years, protesting the embargo.
They have 40 people there right now. And now that the bombing
threat has expanded, they are overwhelmed with volunteers.
Of course volunteers have to raise their own expenses, and
some may not be able to do that. But four people from Vancouver
have already gone to Iraq under the auspices of this one
group. And there are many other groups. Two of them are called "Become
the Change" and "The Universal Kinship Society." A group
called simply "Human Shields" has already sent busloads of
people from London, and more busloads and flights are due
to leave on February 17 and 21, with more to follow. I expect
to be on one of their busses or flights, if I can collect
enough money to go.
R: What support do you need?
S: I've got $1,000 of my own money and about $1,000 from
friends so far. That covers travel expenses to Baghdad. I
think I need another $3,000 although I am not sure. A part
of the money is to bring things Iraqis need. They desperately
need medicine and food--and I think they need toys for
the children. Another major part is a contingency fund to
provide a variety of possible ways to get out of Iraq when
the crisis is past, if I am OK. I want to come home again.
If people support me, I will of course return any money that
I don't use.
R: How would people give you support?
S: Any way they want. If they e-mail me, we can discuss
it. My e-mail is sshaler@sfu.ca. In East Vancouver, "A Community
Aware" will accept donations for me. They can be mailed to
A Community Aware, Stefa Shaler Support Fund, 2529 William
St, Vancouver, V5K 2Y3. I will be one of the speakers at
the A Community Aware meeting on February 25 at WISE Hall
(7:30 PM), unless I have collected enough money before that
time. But I don't just need money. I also need people to
sign a list of supporters who will go with me "in spirit." This
is to keep my courage up.
R: I didn't know you were afraid of anything, Stefa.
S: I'm afraid of dying. I'm afraid of losing my courage.
I'm afraid of surviving but being mutilated, or catching
cancer from the depleted uranium residue that is already
contaminating Iraq. I'm afraid that if the bombs begin to
fall, the Iraqi people will lash out at any foreigner they
see. I'm afraid of not finding a way to come home again.
I'm afraid of the world the children will grow up in if we
don't succeed in ending this nightmare.
But in the end I know I will go. I know it is essential
to my spiritual survival.
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