Friday, October 28, 2005

Bells ring for Iraqi civilian deaths

Detroit peace activists join national program to commemorate thousands of innocent war victims.

By Kim Kozlowski / The Detroit News

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Outside Central United Methodist Church in Detroit on Thursday, Patricia Lent rang a bell, then Patricia Lay-Dorsey read the name of one of the Iraqis who died in the U.S.-Iraq war.

"Noor Rameem Yswif," said Lay-Dorsey, a Grosse Pointe Farms resident. "A 12-year-old boy killed by a missile."

The two peace activists were part of a national campaign to commemorate thousands of Iraqis who have died since the war began in 2003. The campaign, led by the Voices for Creative Nonviolence in more than 100 cities, began Thursday morning at the Detroit church on Woodward Avenue and was to continue today. It is aiming to ring the bell and read one name per minute, ultimately tolling the bell 100,000 times to commemorate the number of innocent civilians believed to have died in the war. Volunteers were taking turns ringing the bell.

It followed several other vigils earlier this week to commemorate the 2,000 American soldiers who have died in the war.

"Most of this country is not recognizing the casualty rate in Iraq," said Royal Oak resident Lent, who also attended a vigil for American soldiers this week. "They don't understand the cost they're paying in addition to what we are paying."

Nabil Roumayah, a Southfield resident who was born in Iraq, was pleased to hear about the memorial.

"It's about time someone remembered the Iraqis," said Roumayah, 53. "They've given their lives, too."

The two women had only rung the bill for less than an hour, and said they read four pages of names from one day in March.

In the list, they read the names of an infant, a 6-year-old and a school full of children and adults.

The list was compiled by Marla Ruzicka, a San Francisco human rights organizer who began a door-to-door survey of civilian casualties in Iraq the day after Saddam's statue fell. She died earlier this year in Baghdad, at the age of 28, in a suicide bombing. A film starring actress Kirsten Dunst is being made about her life.

Across town in Dearborn, Imam Husham Al-Husainy said he supported the campaign. "We want the war to stop," said Al-Husainy, a native of Iraq. "It's not war. It's a disaster."

You can reach Kim Kozlowski at (313) 222-2024 or kkozlowski@detnews.com.