From the Archive
Fast for Justice 2013: Day 6
*small disclaimer: it is late/early, and six days into the fast. please forgive our fasting brains if we do not make complete sentences… or sense!
Dear Friends,
Chantal, Jerica and Amy brought folks together this morning with a rousing version of “Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom.” We gathered today to prepare to mark the eleventh anniversary of the Guantánamo Bay detention center. Our mood was both somber and ready – there was much work to do: speeches, a long procession, the risk of arrest at the White House. And to gather courage for a long day ahead, we reflected on the following words of Fr. Daniel Berrigan:
“There must be a better way. In the midst of dead ends, moral detours, there must be a way of living humanly, of obeying one’s faith, of remaining sensitive and firm, thoughtful and courageous, of healing and being healed, of standing somewhere, in the honored phrase.”
We hope that we lived up to these words today — embodied this definition of love. And we write tonight, greatly encouraged by our collective presence in Washington, DC today, the many who have participated in this fast around the country, and the over fifty demonstrations worldwide on January 11 calling for the closure of Guantánamo.
Tomorrow we head to the CIA for an (almost) final vigil, to be followed by a meal to break our fast. The planning for the fast break is bittersweet, as it means our time together here in DC is coming to a close. As we enter these final days, we appreciate all of the support and encouragement that has been offered, and look forward to continuing the conversation in this community and beyond, about how to Close Guantanamo.
In peace and solidarity,
Witness Against Torture
*for a good photo of our White House Banner Hanging and Ribbon Tying, click here.
In This Update
1) Jeremy Varon’s Comments From the White House
2) January 11 Day of Action and Group Reflection, compiled by Amy and Ted Nee Walker
3) Letters of Support
Link:
4) “Photos: Guantanamo Protest on Capital Hill” Mercury News
5) “Obama, Keep Your Vow to Close Gitmo” CNN
6) “Fayez al Kandari,Guantanamo Detainee, Awaits Justice on 11th Anniversary” Chantal Valery for Huffington Post
7) “Death of a Prisoner” by Laura Poitras for NY Times
8) “’Guantanamo Creates Deep Wounds’ – former detainees” Russian Times
Jeremy Varon’s Comments From the White House
January 11, 2013
We have turned this barren field at Washington, D.C.’s ellipse into a circle of compassion, filled by the good words we have heard today and the commitment each of us brings to our shared mission to close Guantanamo and end torture.
I want to talk briefly about the building behind us, the White House. The White House is of course where the reprehensible torture policies originated in the offices of Bush and Cheney, aided by hack lawyers like David Addington. And it is the White House where these policies must end through the fulfillment of the failed promises made by our current president.
But before I address that failure, I want to talk about who the president is and what the White House means, in terms symbolic, historic, and moral.
It is a special institution, the US presidency. The American president is the most powerful political leader in the annals of world, not just because of the military he commands, or America’s great wealth, or even the imperial projection of its interests and culture around the globe. If this kind of raw power were the only measure of the office, Hitler or Stalin may indeed hold the claim to supremacy. Rather, the power of the president lies, in part, in the power of the American idea he represents, the idea of democracy itself — which is really the world’s idea, developed by countless societies in accord with their own histories and culture, if also famously by our own.
Special in its character, the American president is uniquely capable of doing both enormous harm and great good, and through America’s history the office has been used to do both. Presidents have been the architects of the cleansing and slaughter of native peoples, helped for decades to perpetuate slavery, lead terrible overt and covert wars in
places like Vietnam and El Salvador.
But it was also a president who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, erected the institutions of the New Deal, led the American struggle against fascism and communist totalitarianism, and championed the rights of gays and lesbians. And in the person of President Obama himself, America has seen great advance in the fulfillment of its creed
of equality.
Whatever the promise of the office, for the last 11 years we have seen the profound violation of those holding it to their solemn oath to the US Constitution; to the principles of due process and equality under the law contained within it; and to the prospect that the United States might inspire or even instruct some in the world in the meaning of democracy and
human rights.
Two presidents now, Bush and Obama, have worked to seal America’s identity as a torture nation, based in nearly incomprehensible hypocrisy and delusional commitment to the myth of America’s essential and unerring virtue.
They have each brought shame on their office and on America. Of course, Muslim men in Guantanamo, Bagram, and other torture sites have suffered the worst dimensions of that shame, and it is they we hold most deeply in our hearts today.
But they have also brought a whole nation into complicity with a great crime — led Americans in doing great moral injury against ourselves.
Which means that today, this shameful anniversary, marks also a time to begin healing. Yes, because that moral injury — for most of us abstract but also very real — has grown to many of us unbearable. And it degrades all of us, whether we see it or not, like a soul rotting behind a pretty mirage one sees in the mirror. Even more so: because the physical
and psychological damage to the victims of the misbegotten and misnamed “war on terror” remains completely unacceptable.
To heal demands, above all, that we change — not that we forgive ourselves and forget,conceal the truth about torture with obfuscation, lies, secrecy laws, flim-flam immunity, the fig leafs of “pragmatism,” the noise of politics, and the distraction of entertainments that bend history with the skill of cunning propagandists.
Specifically, we must close Guantanamo, reject the Military Commissions, and do all those things argue for today with such precision and eloquence.
More profoundly, we must make the coming inauguration, just ten days away, mean that we inaugurate justice, in a real and honest way. That we free the innocent. That we make the law a means of justice, not Kafkaesque torment.
Only this way can we begin to heal our sickness, and redeem our fallen times.
Jeremy Varon – Editor
The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics, and Culture
January 11 Day of Action and Group Reflection
compiled by Amy and Ted Nee Walker
A few times throughout the fast, Matt reminded us of the emotional toll this can take, along with the physical. “There is always one day during the fast that I can’t stop laughing, and there is always one day that everything makes me cry.” During tonight’s circle, many people began their reflection on the days activities saying, “this was my crying day.” It was a day of great exertion, emotion, and contemplation for most everyone in the circle.
Our public presence began as we gathered at the Supreme Court. Before the program began, we enjoyed the hospitality of the United Methodist Church, who offered us hot coffee, bathrooms, and a cozy reception room where we were able to greet with joy dear friends and family who had come from New York for the day.
At the Supreme Court, Witness Against Torture joined with Amnesty International (AIUSA), the Center for Constitutional Rights(CCR), the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT), and others. Followoing short speeches Julie Southwell of AIUSA, Terry Rockefeller with Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Pardiss Kebriaei with CCR, and Jim Winkler (NRCAT), Matt D. took the mic and prepared us to march. A “silent march” of those in hoods and jumpsuits was formed and a raucous line of those who preferred to chant and sing fell in behind it. This long procession wound through the city — past the US Capitol building and the Federal Courthouse to the ellipse side of the White House.
There, Luke N. recited his moving poem “There is a Man Under That Hood,” with which we are now so familiar and yet so continually, deeply moved. Andy Worthington, a journalist and friend who is arguably the most important source of information regarding the men in Guantanamo spoke, followed by another key friend and ally, Debra Sweet with World Can’t Wait. Colonel Morris Davis, the former Chief Military Commission Prosecutor at Gitmo was next, followed by Jeremy Varon with WAT (see his comments above), Ramzi Kassem, an attorney for detained men and Professor at CUNY School of Law, and Leili Kashani with CCR. Each spoke beautifully, testifying to the legal and political implications of the existence of Gitmo, as well as to the humanity of the man under the hood, and how our own humanity is restored as we acknowledge and respond to that awareness.
From there, WAT continued with an unpermitted demonstration, conceived by our indefatigable, creative action-planning team. Walking to the White House gates, those willing to risk arrest tied a sign that read, “Inaugurate Justice, Close Guantanamo” to the White House fence, three held a banner with the words, “Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading,” and those with free hands tied orange ribbons to the bars. 166 ribbons were tied, representing each man still detained behind bars at Guantanamo. The police maintained their distance, watching as the action unfolded, and standing by as we solemnly moved on, singing the song that has become our continuous refrain over the course of this week, “Courage, Muslim brothers, you do not walk alone. We will, walk with you, and sing, your spirit home.”
The evening reflection — intended to be a ‘go-around’ inviting responses to the days action evolved into a rich time of sharing which we share highlights of below:
Luke N. – Vivid images today, and I think the closeness I felt to the men at Guantanamo was because of the closeness I felt with you all… I was thinking of a phrase a friend told me, that humanity has so much pent up compassion. We need a key to open this lock, this compassion, like the beloved community. It is hard to think whether we have done enough, or could have done more… but it reminds me how precious life is, and that is why every step, every action, every planning meeting protects that life.
John – In Gandhi’s autobiography, he writes that “full effort equals full victory.” Today I feel that although Guantanamo is not closed, we gave full effort. But this full effort does not bring satisfaction, but actually more discernment — what can we do, how can we go deeper?
Sherrill – I think we did enough too, because that was all that we planned and could do today, and I feel that we got away with something because we were not arrested! But today I can say we created a tangible representation honoring the detainees’ humanity.
Paki – I have a deep belief that we did the best we can. Humility is an invitation to go deeper, finding those connections. And I appreciated hearing Carmen’s exhortations again!
Tom F. – It was an amazing little drama. As an artist, the visual of the cloth ribbons was very powerful to me. And I also heard one of the CCR lawyers speak about a man detained at Guantanamo whose name I carried into court in 2006…. He is still there.
Larry – There are so many possibilities or reasons why there wasn’t an arrest. But I was looking in the eyes of the officers there today and, maybe I’m being naïve, maybe they were just getting off in two hours…but, I think we softened some hard hearts today.
Chrissy – It was the singing that really got me today. We were singing to the detainees to take courage. And I thought about what Andy Worthington said last night when we asked about the retribution to the families still without their fathers, who are cleared but still detained. “They lost hope,” he responded. Perhaps our presence will help them to take courage too.
Marie – I have been thinking about the idea of trust, especially today in being guided under the hood, up and down curbs and through heavy traffic. What we know about torture is that it breaks the trust we have in one another, and the victim has to work so hard to rebuild it. So I deeply appreciate how this group works on the idea of trust, not just denouncing torture. We are trying to be an example of the alternative we want to create.
Beth B. – This morning’s Gospel reading was the passage about Jesus healing the leper, and we talked about the longing for restoration to the community. This week I have learned how to recognize each of you while you are wearing the hood – by your shoes or by your height. I thought, if I can’t do that for the men at Guantanamo, I can do it for you all here. We all long for healing that allows for our full participation in life.
Josie B. – My description for you all is gentle, angry people. Here’s an example of living in the world in the reality you are fighting for. Today I overheard a comment on the street, maybe I misunderstood the context – I was under the hood – but this woman said distressingly, “Where are you making this people going?!” And one of our guiders gently responded to her, “No, no, no… these are all people who want to be here!” And I was thinking, this is part of the problem, that people do not see such images in front of them. But I find there is something hopeful to me about this person’s worry.
Helen – Today was beautifully choreographed. And we are so diverse and rich in the talents and strengths and love that we bring to the group. Like Dan who led us, in a different voice from Carmen, saying “please” to us! “Please put your hands behind your back, and keep them there… but if you can’t that’s alright too!”
Ellen – For the detainees to know that we are here is important.
Matt – People are doing so well here that I want to suggest that we continue the fast on through to the inauguration…. But I’m afraid that you all will say yes!
Letters of Support
The letters of support we have received from friends fasting near and far have been such a source of encouragement and connection. Below are a few of those we have received:
friends,
in solidarity and steadfastly holding all of you in the Light today,
with a candle burning for our brothers still in Guantanamo. blessings
on your vigils and actions may they also lead others to action and
freedom for the detained.
i’ve been encouraged by and supported n my fast by the daily updates
coming out of DC. I am grateful for the beautiful reflections some of
you have written.
in peace and gratitude,
-b
* * *
WATers,
We had a little rally in Boston today in front of the federal building. We read the names of the detainees in Guantanamo, read the poem by Adnan Latif and three of us took turns speaking…
I hope you all are hanging in there. With two more days than me of fasting, it must be getting kind of hard. Anyway, it’s great being part of your thing, even from a distance.
Cheers and carry on,
Susan
Boston
* * *
Dear friends,
Thank you all for all your hard work this week. Sorry again that I could not join you but it was good to be with all with the fast and in spirit. And thanks for all the updates through the week.
I will join in breaking that fast tomorrow. May you all be well and know that you’ve a great service to peace and justice.
peace,
Rick
* * *
Thanks for these profound reflections. I spent an hour today at noon on the Amherst Common in my orange jumpsuit, giving out the CCR leaflet about Gitmo and about what to do about it. About 25 people took the leaflet – one man thanked me for being there. Tonight I will give out more leaflets at our Shut It Down affinity group – hope folks will do what CCR asks. Tomorrow I will fast as well and go back to the Common to repeat the action. Ruth H.
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