Shi'a Muslims Join Sunni in Fullujuh Cleanup

http://electroniciraq.net/news/1951.shtml
FALLUJAH, IRAQ - On May 6, 2005 a group of Shi'a Muslims called Muslim Peacemaker Team (MPT) traveled to the Sunni-dominated city of Fallujah from as far away as Kerbala and Najaf to help their Sunni counterparts clean up rubble from the previous U.S. assault on the city. In a symbolic act of solidarity, members of MPT sought to counter the growing reports of Sunni-Shi'a sectarian violence and to demonstrate unity in a tense time. "Muslim Peacemaker Teams from Karbala and Najaf is pleased to be in Fallujah in order to assist in the ongoing clean-up efforts. We are among our brothers and sisters in the city of Fallujah to recognize our solidarity with you," read the leaflet passed out by members of the MPT and Christian Peacemaker Teams. Fifteen MPTers and three CPTers joined with workers of the Public Works department to clean a street outside one of the major mosques in the city. Following the cleanup, the MPTers joined in Friday prayers with their Sunni counterparts. Later, they toured areas devastated by the U.S. assault on the city and met families who are still living in tents with no electricity. A civic leader asked MPT and CPT members why the United States military felt it had to attack and destroy a city of 300,000 in order to capture one man and his small band of terrorists. One person noted that when Al Capone and his gangsters were controlling Chicago in the 1920's, the FBI didn't come in and level the city in order to eliminate them. Citizens communicated their concerns to MPT and CPT members that the Iraqi National Guard (ING) guards are poorly trained and show little respect for lives or property as they cruise the streets of Fallujah with automatic weapons waving in the air from the back of their pick- up trucks. In addition, the massive backups created by ING checkpoints have caused prices for building supplies and foodstuffs to rise two to three times above prices in the surrounding areas. Wholesalers create the price increases to compensate for their lost time and increased wages caused by the two to six hours they spend waiting at checkpoints before entering the city.The city is also facing a crisis because of poor sanitation systems damaged by the military assaults. The department of public works has been evicted from their building by the Multi National Forces and has had to set up temporary offices in the Fallujah public library. The chief of the department said, "We only have seven working garbage trucks and three dump trucks for the entire city. We have been promised funds for our department from the MNF for months but so far nothing has happened." A cleric told MPTers that; "It will take fifty years at this rate to return Fallujah to the condition it was in before the U.S. attacked us."Muslim Peacemaker Teams has been in existence for three months and it is their plan to continue to retain a connection with the citizens of Fallujah through direct action. Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq has made working with MPT the number one priority for the team at this time. Both groups are committed to continuing to work to foster nonviolent alternatives to militarization for a free and independent Iraq.