The Peace People

WAR ON IRAQ AND ANTI-WAR PROTESTS

MAIREAD MAGUIRE continues Lenten Fasting in front of White House.

Washington D.C. April 3rd, 2003 Peace People's member Mairead Maguire (Nobel Peace Laureate, 1976) intends to maintain a liquids-only fast during the forty days of Lent as she keeps a daily vigil in front of the White House, waiting for President Bush to respond to her letter (reproduced at the bottom of this page) asking him to meet with her and other peacemakers. On March 26th, the first day of her protest Maguire was arrested and released (see story below).

(Maguire was also arrested on St. Patrick Days 17th March, outside United Nations, protesting the War. After her arrest with fellow peace activists from Belfast, Ann Patterson, she visited the Sec. General Office, to present thousands of signatures from Belfast School Children appealing for 'no war' against Iraq.

On March 31 she issued the following statement:

PRESS RELEASE - Nobel Peace Laureate issues an 'Apology to the People of Iraq'.

Washington, D.C. March 31, 2003 (Press Reports) From her daily vigil outside The White House, Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire, called for an immediate cease-fire in the war against Iraq. Maguire is asking for a dialogue between the Bush Administration and the Government of Iraq in order to put a halt to the unnecessary death of Iraqi civilians and soldiers from both sides.

"It is with deep sorrow that I read the reports from Iraq and the ongoing shameful slaughter and destruction of human life -civilians and soldiers". Maguire stated. "Two missiles from a single American jet killed more than 20 Iraqi civilians. Those killed included a mother and her 3 small children who were incinerated in their car."

I would like to know the names of this Iraqi mother and her children, so that we can remember them in the prayer vigil we are holding outside The White House" said Maguire "Daily we sit, facing Mecca in solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters in Iraq, and we ask Allah for forgiveness. We will say we are "sorry" to the Iraqi people for destroying their children, their mothers, their families with our Western weapons of mass destruction, under the orders of the Anglo-American forces directed by Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair."

Maguire also expressed her deepest sympathies to the families of American and British soldiers who have died in this "immoral and illegal" invasion of Iraq, and said "Tragically if a cease-fire is not called and the Anglo-American forces advance into Baghdad, many more will die. It is precisely because we can about each human life, and proclaim it sacred, that we vigil, fast, pray, and carry out civil disobedience".

USA NEWS UPDATE; Reuters March 26). Police arrested two Nobel Peace Prize winners along with more than 60 other people protesting on Wednesday near the White House against the US led war in Iraq. Police handcuffed Maguire, and Jody Williams, after they refused to leave Lafayette Park opposite the home of the US President.

The Nobel laureates were detained along with religious leaders and Vietnam-era protester Daniel Ellsberg as they sat in a circle in the park. Maguire told Reuters before being taken away that she planned to stage an anti-war protest each day outside the Whitehouse until April 18th, Good Friday.

"In N.I. we were encouraged to resolve our problems with dialogue and I would like to see that happen here" added Maguire, who said she had asked President Bush to meet her.

Ellsberg, a former Marine and high-level military analyst who leaked Pentagon secrets about the Vietnam war to the press in l971, was cheered by supporters who stood behind police barriers when he was led away.

Catholic and Methodist Bishops and a leading Rabbi were also among those arrested in the demonstration which was organised by the Catholic group Pax Christi.

LETTER FROM MAIREAD MAGUIRE TO PRESIDENT BUSH

Dear Mr. President,

I have come from Northern Ireland to Washington, in the hope that I might meet with you, to talk about the suffering of the children in Iraq.

My name is Mairead Corrigan Maguire. In l976 my sister Ann's three children were killed during the troubles in Northern Ireland. I, together with Betty Williams and Ciaran McKeown started a movement for Peace. For this both Betty Williams and I were awarded the Nobel Peace Priz in l976. During our work for peace, we were helped by many people around the World , and especially by the American Administration who helped encourage the people of Northern Ireland to start dialogue and begin the process of peace. In gratitude for this help, and because I know the pain of violence and war, I have come to American to be with people here in this sad and tragic period of your history, and the history of the worlds people. I come to fast and pray with the people here.

When I visited Iraq I was so sad to see the suffering of the children. I am now concerned about the possibility that there will be many more deaths, of children and soldiers on both sides, if the war continues.

Mr. President, will you please consider meeting with myself and some colleagues in order that we may talk and listen to each other about possible resolutions to this sad tragedy affecting all our lives and future.

You and your family are in my prayers each day.

God Bless you, Mr. President,

Mairead Corrigan Maguire