Report One, Part 2: Lessons of War

 

FOR's Peacemaking Delegation to Iran: March 2007

 

 

Heather Robertshaw: Survivors of War (March 3)

Our delegation made the first official visit of our trip on Saturday morning. We drove to the Society for Chemical Weapons Victims Support in northern Tehran. The center had set up a wonderful program for us. There were other visitors present besides our delegation, including a British Iranian woman, a German couple, and a Japanese student.

A representative of the center introduced us to the basic facts and consequences of the chemical attacks on Iranian soldiers during the Iran-Iraq war, which he described as the longest conventional war in the 20th century. He provided us with statistics on the number of attacks, amount and nature of chemicals used, the extent of contamination, and the treatment available for victims. Casualty estimates vary widely. The Society reported 220,000 killed and over 500,000 wounded, but we have heard estimates as high as a 1,000,000 killed. Monica Bernardo, co-leader of the delegation, reports that the inability to confirm casualty numbers is a common feature of conflict. Of course, any number is a tragedy.

The presenter made two interesting comments toward the end of his talk. First, he mentioned that these chemical attacks were not included in Saddam Hussein’s trial. This is hard for the Iranian people to accept, considering the enormous amount of suffering their country experienced between 1980 and 1988. Second, he said that it is important to continually show the “black” side of war. Therefore, a delegation from Hiroshima comes to Iran every year to remember the victims of chemical warfare.

After the center’s introduction, a member of our group, Dr. Thomasson, introduced us. Later, other members of the delegation had a chance to ask questions of the various speakers.

We heard from a second survivor of the Iran-Iraq war. He described his condition and the suffering of his family. His belief is that he is only alive because of God’s intervention. “As I believe in God, only God could save me. I was injured in a way that I did not have much hope.” He had no hope at the time of his injury in part because the doctors had so little experience with injuries caused by chemical weapons.

Next, a group of young boys from an elementary school in Tehran spoke a short word of welcome. Their black-veiled teacher led two of the blue-uniformed, tan-shirted schoolboys slowly around the room, giving each delegate a rose and an information packet. The boys, one perhaps eight or nine years old and the taller one perhaps 11 or 12, were formal and dignified. They were careful with each rose and each hand-off, and moved solemnly through us. Several of the boys spoke to us in Farsi, while others translated. They were very polite and stood at the side of the room during the following speakers. When they started to fidget, their teachers immediately removed them, but we met up with them later downstairs.

We heard another survivor speak: he had lost both his eyes and arms to a landmine when he was 15 years old. He has since earned a masters degree and teaches computer skills.

Several other people spoke to us, and then we went downstairs to view a display that included children’s peace artwork and photographs/artifacts from the war. During this time we had the opportunity to speak with the different people and hear more about their lives and experiences.

On Saturday afternoon, the delegations spent some time in Jamshideh Park, once owned by the royal family. The park is a beautiful area of the steep Alborz Mountains on the northern edge of Tehran. Leftover snow streaked the shadows of the park’s rocky terrain. We explored the steep, stone-paved walks and cultural teahouses perched high on the rocky slope. We ended the day with a traditional dinner at a beautiful restaurant cut into the rocks on the side of the mountain. We saw a man on a donkey gallop up the steep narrow road that twisted past the restaurant and up the steep chaotic slopes. The saddlebag and the man’s legs bounced chaotically off the side of the surging animal. This was another opportunity to soak in Iranian culture and also to get to know each other within the delegation.

 

Pat Hostetter Martin: “All Human Bodies Come From One Body” (March 4)

The delegation spent several hours this morning (Sunday) at a long-term care facility for men with spinal cord injuries from the Iran-Iraq war. We met and talked with perhaps a dozen men and heard one message repeatedly:

“We love the American people. They are like brothers and sisters to us.But we do not like the American government.”

And in their own words and from their own perspectives each of them explained why.

One man was 21 years of age when he was injured at the front in 1984. He is 70% paralyzed but has been able to finish university with a degree in history. He finds it hard to understand why the U.S. government is so distrustful of Iran. “In the past 200 years, Iran has never attacked another country offensively.”

Another man was 18 years old. He was farming in his village along the border with Iraq when he was shot in the back, paralyzing him from the waist down. From his wheelchair, with a face so gentle and eager that he could have been my own son, he explained how much he still loves farming, but more than anything else, he wants to serve his people. He earned a B.A. in agriculture and has a wife and 13-year-old daughter.

Some of us were ushered into a private room to meet a balding, middle-aged man completely paralyzed from the neck down. His voice was weak and he had to stop often to take small breaths. His mind, however, was sharp and he seemed to want some explanations from us. He first of all expressed his appreciation for our coming to visit them as victims of war.

“We believe that the American people are mostly ignorant about what is happening in the world. They are influenced by their media that doesn’t give them the whole truth.

“The Iranian people are educated. We study and look at the details. We believe that the American government would like to keep us poor and uneducated so they can control us.

“In the past, we saw that many Americans were against the war in Iraq. No one should be dying for the imperial cause – not Americans, not Iraqis, not Iranians.

“Please tell others in your delegation that we know you are followers of Jesus. I pray you will be among those who really follow the Jesus we know about from our Koran.” [Ed.: The FOR delegation is an interfaith delegation, including several Christians but also followers of other religious traditions and spiritual paths.]

In a room used for arts and crafts and recreational activities, we met a couple of artists who have overcome great odds to create exquisite paintings that were hung on the walls of the room. One man with no hands painted by holding the paintbrush between his two mangled forearms. After our conversation with them, one of the artists asked us to choose one of the paintings from the wall. They wanted to give it to us as a gift. With tears in our eyes at this simple gesture of friendship, we chose a mountain landscape with a path going up and down the mountain. As it was being lifted off the wall and handed to us, he said, “My hope is that one day, Americans can come to Iran easily and Iranians can visit your country as well.” Later, on the bus, we took up a collection and will offer it as a gift to the hospital, perhaps to buy more art supplies. We will bring the painting back to hang in FOR’s headquarters.

Before we left the center, we were invited to sit at a long table for tea, an Iranian hospitality we have enjoyed everywhere we have visited. As we tasted Persian sweets and sipped black tea through sugar cubes melting in our mouths, Iranian style, we were introduced to a distinguished looking man in glasses and he quietly began to tell us his story.

He was only 14 years old when the village he was in was attacked with chemical weapons. He watched children died instantly as they took their first breath of the chemical, and he too experienced burns over 70 % of his body. In addition, his lungs and eyes were burned. Even today, after more than 20 years, he experiences pain all the time – burning sensations on his skin. Sometimes in the morning when he wakes up, his eyes are so painful he sometimes wants to take them out. But he worries most for his seven-year-old son who was born without a thyroid gland and whose speech is like that of a two-year-old. At this he began to cry, and his friends standing behind him quickly put comforting hands on his shoulders.

But he continued:

“Sometimes, you cannot prevent war, but my hope is that in my life, there will not be another war. I hope that people like you can help so that no chemical weapons, no nuclear weapons will ever be used again. I am ready to come to your country to talk with people there about our experiences.

”We Iranians felt so sorry for the American people after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. That should not happen to anyone. We felt for the pain of the American people because we too were victims of a war perpetrated against us. Iran was the only Muslim country that held a candlelight vigil for your country. The painful part for us is that the U.S. and other countries stayed quiet and didn’t say anything after Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against the Iranian people. That is not human!

“We have researched and know that German companies, in particular, supplied Saddam Hussein with the chemicals he used in the weapons. But because we had no experience with treating such chemical burns, the Iranian government had to get medicines for treatment from the Germans as well.”

When asked what brought him hope and joy today, he replied: “Sitting here talking to people who care is hope for me! We have a saying that all human bodies come from one body and when one body gets hurt, the rest hurt as well.” A reference, perhaps, to a poem of Iranian poet, Sa’di, who lived from 1184-1283. This poem used to grace the entrance to the Hall of Nations of the U.N. building in New York:

           Of one Essence is the human race,

            Thus has Creation put the Base;

            One Limb impacted is sufficient,

            For all others to feel the Mace.

 

Go to Part 3 of the First Report

©2005 Fellowship of Reconciliation