Gary Storm of Urbana on hearing from community members
from Iraq
November 11, 2005
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AWARE, an anti-war
anti-racism effort in Urbana-Champaign, is creating
opportunities to widen the audience that hears about the
effects on individuals and families of current U. S.
foreign policy and the war in Iraq. It is doing so by
calling the public's attention to Anthony Shadid's
extraordinary book "Night Draws Near: Iraqi People in
the Shadow of America's War (Henry Holt, 2005)and by
having community members who have family in Iraq and/or
who have recently visited there and others tell their
stories in local venues.
Anthony Shadid is
the Islamic Affairs correspondent for the Washington
Post based in the Middle East. Among the awards he has
received is the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in International
Reporting. He is an American of Lebanese descent who
speaks and reads Arabic and who first traveled to Iraq
as a reporter in 1998. AWARE is arranging interviews
with Shadid that will be printed and/or aired locally in
the months ahead and hopes, with the aid of several
academic units at the University of Illinois and other
community organizations, to bring him to
Urbana-Champaign in 2006. His own interviews with Iraqi
citizens at various stages of U. S. involvement with the
current war ("Before", "The American Invasion",
"Aftermath", "The Occupation" and "The Insurgency")
paint a vivid and powerful human face on the conflict.
During November,
AWARE has scheduled two panel presentations by local
community members from Iraq and a member of Christian
Peacemakers, all of whom have personal experiences in
Iraq to share. Each presentation will set aside time for
questions and comments from the audience. Attendees are
encouraged to come a little early to enjoy Middle
Eastern refreshments and to browse through books and
other materials on Middle Eastern history, culture,
politics, etc.
The first
presentation is scheduled from 7:00-8:45 PM at the
Urbana Free Library on Wednesday, November 16, and the
second from 7:00-8:45 PM at the Community United Church
of Christ on Tuesday, November 29. Both are free of
charge andmembers of the public are encouraged to
attend.
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