Andy (Paradigm Shift 4ZZZ fm 102.1 Fridays at Noon) is in Iraqi Kurdistan and is learning about the political situation there – the conflict situation with neighboring countries, Iran and Turkey, and what people are doing to fight for peace and freedom. He is speaking with Kamaran Osman, who has been involved in activism for a long time in Kurdistan.
There is a long history of people from the Peace movement in Australia going to Iraq and other countries in the region to try to prevent various wars. The first group to Iraq went as human shields during the Gulf War in 1991/92 . They had to be rescued in the desert because they ran out of water.
So, while the Hawke Labor government was sending naval ships to help invade Kuwait, peace activists from Australia were trying to stop American missiles from destroying crucial infrastructure inside Iraq.
During the infamous American war in Iraq in 2003 a number of peace activists repeated this method of becoming human shields.
Donna Mulhearn, a journalist and peace activist from Sydney, wrote a book Ordinary Courage recounting her experience in Iraq during the invasion.
Andy and Bek are currently assisting a Peace NGO in northern Iraq trying to minimise the damage caused by conflict between the Kurdish Communist Party (PKK) and the Turkish military. Ironically, this NGO, called Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), is funded by a Christian organisation in the United States. It is an interesting outcome that in a country so entirely grounded in Islam that a Christian group would take sides with the Kurds.
In 2003 Donna Mulhearn and her team took up position at a water treatment plant, where they endured night after night of harrowing missile attacks, while during the day, in a show of support and solidarity, they visited hospitals and areas that had been bombed.
In 2005, the presence of Community Peacemaker Teams in Iraq during the US occupation (2003-2011) gave rise to a hostage crisis. One of the peace activists, Tom Fox, was executed by an Iraqi group that had demanded the release of all Iraqi prisoners held by the United States government. This was refused. The remaining hostages were freed by US military action in concert with other countries taking part in the occupation (2003-2011) of Iraq. The US occupation 9along with Australia and other coalition partners, will go down as one of the worst decisions of the 21st-century. It resulted in the destruction of an entire society and the people that led it are war criminals.
– Ian Curr, Ed., 20 May 2023.
Summary and timing
Intro to the paradigm shift. (0:00) Learn more about Iraqi Kurdistan on the show. The Kurdish spring of 2011. Turkey is going back to a re-vote. Introduction to Kamaran Osman and CPT community peacemaker teams. Why Iraq needs CPT The political situation in Iraqi Kurdistan. The long-term conflict with the Turkish government. Two main political parties in Iraq-Kurdistan. Supporting human rights defenders. (12:57) Documenting cross-border military operations and supporting human rights defenders. Documenting violence against journalists and activists. Change movement in Iraqi Kurdistan, turning point in political history. Change movement joining government. Challenging the government in a peaceful way. CPT’s role in documenting cross-border bombings. (19:12) Documenting cross-border bombings and defending civil society in Iraqi Kurdistan. Protecting the sovereignty of iraq. Turk and Iran military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan. Turkey has 64 military bases inside Iran. Turks and Iran military bases are randomly killing civilians. Drones are targeting civilians. Supporting civil society activists and journalists. (28:52) The paradigm shift on Kurdish music. The project supporting civil society activists and journalists. Supporting human rights defenders and journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan. Freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Kurdish activists in Iraqi Kurdistan. What the situation is like in Iraqi Kurdistan is. The future of Iraqi Kurdistan. What the future looks like for Iraq Kurds Kamaran Mustafa by. (38:14) Kamaran from community peacemaker teams in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Iraqi Kurdistan movement. Songs from the 2011 Kurdish spring. Big year for protests in the middle east. What did the protests look like in 2011? (45:09) Protests against corruption in iraqi Kurdistan in 2011. Protests ended up in violence. Demonstrations in Middle East countries. Inspiration from the Arab spring. The influence of social media in Kurdish protests. Impact of protests on the revolution. (51:44) The impact of the protests 12 years ago. The Kurdish spring Human rights and peace in Iraq and Kurdistan. Social movements in Iran and Rajavi. Big protests for women’s rights in Iran and Kurdistan.