The gulf war has faded from the front pages–and even the memories of many Americans–but it is not over for the Iraqi people or for a handful of local activists. One year ago the Persian Gulf was on everyone’s mind, and thousands of people took to the streets to protest the mobilization of American troops. But shortly after the bombing of Baghdad began, the Bush administration managed to convey the idea that their protest was somehow un-American.
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In late 1990 Chicago was one of the few cities to boast a coalition of organizations working to oppose American intervention in the gulf. The Emergency Coalition for Peace in the Middle East, which united members of close to 50 local groups, no longer formally exists, but several organizations from it have expanded their own efforts to include the Middle East. This small but committed group of Chicagoans remained active after the war, pushing to lift sanctions and deliver desperately needed food and medical supplies to Iraq, and publicizing the effects of U. S. policies on ordinary Iraqi citizens.
In May Brooks traveled to 14 cities, from LA to New York, with the Caravan of Solidarity, which was organized by the National Assembly of Religious Women. They collected medicine and money for medical aid for Iraq, which Brooks then helped deliver. “We met a lot of ordinary Iraqis who kept asking ‘Why did you bomb us?’ They think of the U.S. as a place of justice, opportunity. Many of them have relatives here. And when our foreign policy hit them, they didn’t understand.
