In this, the season of shepherds and unexpected desert visitations, the story of Omran Harbi Jawair stands as a compelling appeal to embrace the true meaning of events in another stable so many years ago. On May 17, 2000, the thirteen year old shepherd was watching over his flocks, anticipating a carefree summer after completing another year of school. The American plane that approached was under instructions to retaliate for a radar lock-on or related Iraqi "violation" previously reported by pilots patrolling the southern no fly zone. That's when the bombs fell, ending his short life while posthumously thrusting him onto the world stage as an illustration of all that can go wrong when empires collide.
Having been made aware of Omran and hundreds of others like him through a remarkable story in the Washington Post, the Middle East Children's Alliance and Voices in the Wilderness joined forces to make sure young Omran did not die in vain. They purchased a school bus and transformed it into a forty foot long rolling billboard and classroom about the siege of Iraq. Complete with phone, computer, audio visual aids, and thousands of printed handouts, the "Remembering Omran" bus tour took to the road with the fervor of traveling evangelists.
From October 7 until December 1, the campaign worked its way up the west coast making over fifty stops at universities, colleges, seminaries, high schools, churches, and even an elementary school. Thanks to the growing network of people horrified by reports of over 5000 children under the age of five being killed each month by sanctions, classes were taught, rallies staged, sermons preached, interviews given, and donations collected to send the bus along on its journey of compassion. From San Diego to Vancouver, B.C. the nearly universal response to the story was, "We had no idea. What can we do to help?"
Staffed by a handful of converts who have traveled to the cradle of civilization on numerous occasions bringing medicine, toys, and school supplies to the children of Iraq, the bus has become a center of resistance to a policy that finds the United States increasingly marginalized on this issue. In recent months, dozens of nations have flown into a reopened Baghdad airport with everything from medicine and pencils to soccer teams and artists. The visiting prime minister of Iran , which fought a devastating war with its neighbor to the west during the 1980,'s declared sanctions "broken" upon his arrival in Baghdad.
In November, an international trade fair brought over 1800 representatives from forty-five nations all bent on reestablishing ties with Iraq. A report in the Times (U.K.)from November 20 speaks of how, "Britain has extended an olive branch to President Saddam Hussein" in a move that "could cause serious friction with the United States" over sanctions policy. Through bellicose rhetoric and non-diplomacy, the US has found itself in the age old position of being stuck in a policy that is not working because there is no way to exit and save face at the same time. The cries of the Iraqi people are not falling on deaf ears.
In the meantime, a chorus of voices crying in the wilderness plan to roll on across the "one" nation under God, carrying a ragtag collection of peacemakers giving voice to Omran and the hundreds of thousands of others silenced since the siege of Iraq began ten years ago. While the sole remaining superpower waits for its king to be crowned, shepherds, carpenters, and the rest of the meek, are undeterred in their preparations to inherit the earth, just as they were two thousand years ago, under desert skies, awaiting the unexpected with joy in their hearts.
Mike Miles has gone to Iraq twice with Voices in the Wilderness and has most recently spent four weeks traveling 4000 miles with the Omran Bus Tour. The bus is continuing the tour after a brief stop at the Inauguration in Washington DC.
###
