Kathy Kelly

An Iraqi friend whom I’ve known for 10 years looked worn and very weary yesterday when he came to visit me at my apartment in Amman, Jordan. He hadn’t slept the night before because he’d been on the phone with his wife, who throughout the night was terrified by crossfire taking place over the Iraqi … Continue reading “A Death Threat Wrapped Around a Bullet”

Upon arrival in Beirut in early August 2006, Michael Birmingham met Abu Mustafa. Michael is an Irish citizen who has worked with Voices campaigns for several years. Abu Mustafa is a kindly Lebanese cab driver. Having fled his home in the Dahiya neighborhood, which was being heavily bombed, Abu Mustafa was living in his car. … Continue reading “A Proportionate Response”

"Where you stand determines what you see, and how you live." That’s how Voices in the Wilderness members began our statement explaining why we’d decided to stay in Baghdad during the 2003 Shock and Awe bombing of Iraq. During the long war of the economic sanctions, we had stood at the bedsides of numerous mothers … Continue reading “Where You Stand Determines What You See”

In the summer of 1994, I was part of a four-person Christian Peacemaker Team dedicated to filing reports on human rights conditions in Jeremie, located in the southern finger of Haiti. When I arrived, I spent one day in Port au Prince, waiting to travel by ferry to the tiny coastal town of St. Helene. … Continue reading “Burying Water, Hiding Truth”

Shortly before sunrise this morning, a small band of us gathered at a busy Chicago intersection and unfurled vinyl banners bearing enlarged pictures of Iraqi children. One banner called for an end to U.S. warfare in Iraq. On my banner was Johan, smiling wanly, a 14-year-old child who weighed 75 pounds shortly before she died … Continue reading “Child Sacrifice in Iraq”

I‘ve always liked the restful quiet of an empty classroom. Maybe this is why the large room where we wait to start mealtime duties, here at Pekin Federal Prison, feels comfortably familiar. During breaks, in the dining area, I’ve spent many hours reading, writing, studying Arabic, and staring out the window. Today, looking out the … Continue reading “Requiem for a Son Killed in Iraq”

On June 4, 2004, lawyers for Voices in the Wilderness (VitW) will argue, in federal court, that a judge should allow further “discovery” to help establish why VitW travelers believed they had a duty to challenge economic sanctions against Iraq. The U.S. government charges us with the “crime” of delivering donated medicines to Iraq, without … Continue reading “Social Security”

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing. -Arundhati Roy Porto Alegre, Brazil, World Social Forum, January 27, 2003 “Kathleen Kelly, report to Admin.” I was routinely cleaning toilets in my dorm at Pekin Federal Prison Camp when the loudspeaker summoned me to … Continue reading “Change Agents”

It’s Saturday morning, May 1, 2004, and women here at Pekin Federal Prison Camp who watched CNN news feel indignant about the way Iraqi prisoners have been treated by US military guards. "Did you see those pictures?" Ruth asked. What in the world is going on over there?" The news coverage they watched had photo-ops … Continue reading “US Prison Labor: Another Cog in the War Machine”

Six years ago, in February 1998, I traveled to Iraq with a British Voices in the Wilderness team. The US was threatening another massive bombardment. We decided to go to Fallujah in hopes of better understanding the perspective of people whose marketplace had been bombed, in 1991, by a smart bomb that went astray. The … Continue reading “Pacification: Worth the Price?”