Global Intifada

Here’s a copy of the speech I delivered at the Abeer Hamza vigil. InshaAllah, if someone took video of it, I’ll post it online as well.

I. Introduction

Good afternoon. I greet you with the greeting of peace, Assalamu alaikum. My name is ****** and I am one of the organizers for the Abeer Hamza vigils that are being held world-wide in cities such as this one, in Baltimore, Greensboro North Carolina, and London, UK. We are here today to commemorate the birth, life, and tragic death of an innocent child from half way across the world in a gruesome war. Some might ask, why are we here today and who is this child that deserves to have her memory preserved? Out of all the people in the world to commemorate on this day, why pick Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi?
Let us begin, with a simple premise. Warfare necessitates the depiction of one’s opponent as being sub-human in order to take away their human rights. In previous wars, racial or religious characterizations were common place of our nation’s enemies. Today, the propaganda machine is more subtle. Instead of simply stereotyping the “enemy”, the victims of the war are not even heard of. While every minute we get an update on how many American troops have been injured or killed, there is very scant information being released concerning Iraqis or the atrocities being committed against them. 665,000 nameless and faceless Iraqis have died since the beginning of the war. Few of them have had the fortune that our own soldiers have had of being honored with parades and neat biographical sketches in the media every time one of them dies. The purpose of this vigil and others like it is to give a face to the unnamed, uncared for, forgotten souls, such as Abeer Hamza, that have perished in the debacle that has become Iraq.

II. Who is Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi?

Abeer Hamza was a young girl that was gang-raped and murdered by five soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division. These five animals were Sergeant Paul Cortez, Specialist James Barker, Private Jesse Spielman, Private Bryan Howard and Sergeant Anthony Yribe.

Like Hyenas, they would make advances on Abeer as she traveled through a checkpoint which she had to pass through almost daily in her village in the south-central city of Mahmudiyyah in order to perform various errands for her family. She complained over and over again to her mother about the soldiers and their comments that her mother asked her brother-in-law if Abeer could spend the night with his family. But before Abeer could be moved, the soldiers struck.

While they were on checkpoint duty, playing cards and drinking, these animals decided that they wanted to rape Abeer and kill her family. The men changed into black clothing and donned ski masks. They instructed Howard to stand look-out. Abeer and her father were standing outside a house. The soldiers dragged them inside and pushed him, his wife and younger daughter into a side room where Green stood guard over them. Cortez pushed the girl to the floor and tore off her clothes as Barker held her down. She held her knees together and struggled as Cortez tried to rape her. A gun shot came from the side room as the men switched places to take turns. More shots were heard from the side room and Green emerged with an AK-47. He allegedly said, “They’re all dead,” before raping the girl and shooting her several times. Then they set her body on fire while Green opened house’s propane tank to set it on fire. They destroyed the remaining evidence by burning their clothes, throwing their guns into a canal. Then they went back to the checkpoint and celebrated their heinous deeds by grilling chicken wings, as if they had come back from a successful hunt.
May God have mercy on the soul of Abeer Hamza and her family and bring justice to them by punishing her perpetrators. Ameen.

<moment of silence>

III. The Gruesome Death of Abeer Hamza and Her Family is a Symbol of all of the Oppression that is Ocuring in Iraq

Abeer Hamza’s death is more than just a crime against humanity, her death represents everything wrong with the war on Iraq. In the beginning, the military denied the incident altogether claiming that these were mere allegations from terrorists and couldn’t be trusted. However, when the soldiers confessed to their counselors after some of their co-criminals were killed by al-Qaeda, the army went into damage control. At first, they said she was 25 years old and claimed that it was her father and son that were killed, not her mother, father, or 7 year old sister. The military and its propaganda networks then spun the story to say that she was 24 years old, then they changed her age to 19. Thus, instead of focusing on the crime itself, a media circus erupted over how old Abeer was. As if it made any difference whether she was 25 years old or 24 or 19 or any other age. It wasn’t until Abeer’s uncle produced her passport and displayed it on al-Jazeera that her actual age was clearly and irrefutably established. Abeer Hamza was only 14 years old when these inhumane crimes were committed against her and her family.

Now, some would say, such misinformation was accidental. However, just like the premises for the war itself were based on such information, so too, was the misinformation spread regarding Abeer Hamza. Remember how they said that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction? Turned out to be completely false. Remember how they said that Iraq was linked to 9/11 through Al-Qaeda? That turned out to be false. They said that they wanted to bring democracy, but all that they’ve brought to the Iraqi people is misery. They try to blame it on this ghost called ‘terrorism’. They pretend like there is no local resistance to the occupation in Iraq, just like they denied that their soldiers had raped and murdered the Hamza family. However, the facts speak for themselves. This is not a defensive campaign, it is an invasion and the only way such an occupation can sustain itself is through lies and propaganda. Ask yourself, had the big bad terrorists not killed the perpetrators of this crime, would the other criminals have confessed? If they hadn’t confessed, then how would we have known about the incident at all? We would have had to rely blindly upon the military’s claim that no such incident had occurred. The events that unfolded in Mahmudiyyah would pique the curiosity of even the most ardent supporter of the war: if the military was willing to cover up the rape of Abeer Hamza and the murder of her and her family, then what else are they covering up?

A reasonable person that was examining this conflict at both the microscopic and macroscopic level would conclude that when such atrocities and lies are being conducted on a systematic and repeatable basis, then such events are anything but accidental; they are deliberate. Whether it is Abeer Hamza’s death or the war itself, the American people have been fed lies and misinformation. If the Iraqis resisted this illegal occupation of their land, it is their human right to do so, as recognized by even Western liberal thinkers such as John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and our own founding fathers.

IV. The Nature of the Beast

Now that we are on the topic of the founding fathers, it is important at this juncture to put forth a simple inquiry: What would the founding fathers have thought of America after their deaths? Would they be shocked about the occupation of Iraq or would they have supported it? In essence, the question we must ask is “What does it mean to be an American?”

This nation has had a schizophrenia of morals. On the one hand, it has brought forth some of the greatest contributions to human civilization and on the other hand, it has brought some of the greatest evil into existence. America began as a white-settle colony from Britain as a center of what was known as the Transatlantic slave trade. A trade that is estimated to have costed $77.7 trillion in stolen lives, labor, and materials from Africa. Yet even while such a trade occurred, voices of dissent erupted and eventually it was abolished. While the injustice and oppression has resounding effects even today in the capitalist market system, its most evil aspects were put to an end. America progressed as an expansionist state after receiving independence and engaged in military conflict for every year of its existence since then except for 20 years and even then, it engaged in small military conflicts. The past 200 years have done little to change the imperialist nature of American foreign policy.

The current United States military budget is larger than the military budgets of the next fourteen biggest spenders combined and over eight times larger than the official military budget of China. The US and its allies are responsible for approximately two-thirds of all military spending on Earth. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, in 2003 the US spent approximately 47% of the world’s total military spending of $910.6 billion.The recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan are funded outside the Federal Budget through supplementary spending bills. In fact, the US has 700 military bases in over 36 countries.
Does this sound like a country which wants peace in Iraq, the Middle East or anywhere else in the world or does it sound like a power-hungry demon driven to conquer and subdue all of human civilization? So when we ask “What does it mean to be an American?” Does it mean that one must support this drive for conquest, hegemony, and acquisition of the land and resources of other peoples? Or does being an American mean something else?

As I said moments ago, America has a dual identity; a schizophrenia and its imperialism is only one aspect of that identity. The other aspect is its democracy. Yes its true that America has engaged in many covert and over actions suppressing democracy, especially in the 20th century, but it has done much good in this area as well. What makes truly makes America a great country is not its power or wealth, but its ability to engage in a process of self-correction. For every crime this government has committed, there have always been a group of people who have opposed it. You can be a part of that group

The only way that the injustices that occurring in Iraq and other places by this government and its military is if you, the people, take it upon yourself to make it your life long mission to resist these fanatical imperialistic tendencies and bring this nation back to the course of a healthy democratic state. The purpose of this vigil is to serve as a catalyst for this movement. If you feel weary or hopeless or apathetic to the cause, then remember our sister, Abeer Hamza!

V. Stand for Justice!

Imagine if you were Abeer Hamza’s father or mother and you had survived this horrific ordeal. What would you do? Where would you go? Whose help would you seek? The police, the Iraqi government? What can these people do? They are merely stooges for the people who committed this crime against your daughter. Wouldn’t you feel powerless? Who would speak for you? Who would stand for you?

God forbid, had this crime happened to any of you, you would do more than hold a few vigils, you would get angry and would want the heads of those who took away the lives of your wife and daughters. You would want the whole world to stand up with you, wouldn’t you?

So today, I ask you: will you stand for Abeer Hamza? If you do not stand for the worth of your women or the blood of your brothers, then what would you stand for? If there is ever a wrong that requires amending, is it not this one? If you do not stand against injustice then you inevitably stand with it. Stand up and stop the war!

Today I ask you, will you stand for Abeer Hamza? If you do not stand for her and others like her, then who will? The traitorous Iraqi government? The military occupiers themselves? Who else in the world will stand if not you? Is there anyone else who can stop this war other than the American people? Stand up and stop the war!

Today I ask you, will you stand for Abeer Hamza? If you do not stand for her and others like her now, then when will you? When the war is over? What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for more atrocities to happen? Are you waiting for another country to be invaded and bombed under the guise of this war on terror which is in reality a war of terror against all of humanity. The time has come to put a stop to this madness and that time is now and the place is here, the belly of the beast. Stand up and stop the war!

Do not be afraid of the consequences. Above every power and oppressor that boasts of his strength, recall that their is the one true universal superpower who has more strength. Many nations have come in the past that have walked the earth arrogantly, but they have all been lost in the dust of history. Be patient and remember that the assistance of the Creator is closer to you than your jugular veins.

What is the worst that they can do? Arrest you? Ship you down to GITMO? Torture you? Kill you? Compared to what happened to your sister Abeer, what is the worst thing that they can do to you over here? Do not be afraid of them. Fear is what makes them powerful. Fear is what allows them to commit the evil deeds that they commit. Do not be afraid, but stare the beast in its eyes and stand up in defiance.

Jazakallah khairun. Assalamu alaikum.

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