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Mabel Brunk travels to Iraqi Kurdistan
with Christian Peacemakers
30.11.2009
By John Kline
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Brunk:
The Kurdish people are currently the largest ethnic
group in the world without their own state
November 30, 2009
ERBIL-Hewlêr,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — Stepping outside of her
comfort zone has never been an issue for Mabel Brunk,
the 83-year-old Goshenite who recently returned from
a peacekeeping mission to Kurdistan region in Iraq's
north.
Conducted through Christian Peacemaker Teams, an
international faith-based organization aimed at
promoting nonviolent alternatives to war, Brunk
returned from the three-week trip late last Saturday
ready to share her story with the world.
“We were a delegation of three people that were
going to visit a CPT team already established in
Kurdistan, which is located in the northern part of
Iraq,” Brunk said. “The goal of the trip was really
to learn what the CPT team is doing in Kurdistan,www.ekurd.netfinding
out what the prominent issues are, and then bringing
that message home to our local communities and our
government.”
Brunk said the Kurdish people are currently the
largest ethnic group in the world without their own
state, and have been persecuted for many years by
many different groups, the most recent of which
involves almost daily confrontations with the
bordering countries of Iran and Turkey. |
Local peace activist Mabel Brunk is shown with a
burnished copper bowl she received during a previous
visit to Iraqi Kurdistan region. Brunk recently
returned from her third trip to the war-torn nation
in six years. The above Associated Press photos show
the struggles and violence taking place in the
war-torn country. |
Currently, Brunk said,
the United States controls the airspace above
Kurdistan and allows the Turkish air force to fly
over and bomb the Kurdish border villages. At the
same time Iran is sending rockets over the border
into those same villages.
“Over 100 villages are located along the Iran
border, and they’ve all been hit” she said. “It’s
not safe to live there any more, and many have been
forced to evacuate.”
While both the Turkish and Iranian governments say
they are attempting to target a local group of
Kurdish terrorists, Brunk said that any such group
has long since been disbanded or destroyed, leaving
only local civilians to take the brunt of the
near-daily bombings and rocket attacks.
“One of the things we hope to accomplish with this
trip is to try and convince our administration to no
longer allow the Turkish air force to have free rein
over these villages,” Brunk said. “It’s not that we
feel like we’re going to accomplish great things
through these trips, but we’re trying individually
to spread word of the needs of the people there.”
During her visit, Brunk also made an unforgettable
stop to the Kurdish town of Halabja, the site of the
largest and deadliest chemical weapons attack
directed against a civilian population to date.
The attack occurred under Saddam Hussein, she said,
who conducted many such attacks against the Kurdish
people during the Iran/Iraq war. While there Brunk
spoke to two men who where children when the city
was bombed. One of the men was out of town during
the bombing and didn’t know his entire family had
been killed by the poison.
“Their stories were so powerful, and it’s those
stories I think that are the most meaningful part of
these trips for me,” Brunk said. “One can read about
these things, or watch them on TV, but when you see
them in person and hear their stories first hand,
there’s really nothing like it.”
Brunk is no stranger to such harrowing tales. Her
latest visit marks her third trip to the war-torn
nation in six years.
After the Korean War, Brunk said she became
affiliated with the Mennonite Central Committee and
has been interested in peace and relieving world
hunger ever since.
Her first trip to the country was made with a CPT
delegation in February 2003, just before the war
began.
Now 83 and living at Greencroft, Brunk said her
passion for peace has only grown with time — due in
no small part to the love and support she receives
from family and friends.
“I think initially they were concerned with the idea
of my traveling to these dangerous places, but I
think they’ve learned that this is what I feel,”
Brunk said. “Now they pray for me and also help me
financially,www.ekurd.netbecause
just this last trip I needed to raise $3,500 in
order to go. I definitely have a lot of prayer
support from my church and my friends.”
As for what’s next for the Goshen peace activist,
Brunk said she has already begun compiling a list of
venues where she will speak on the experiences and
observations of her most recent trip.
“I think the most important message I can convey
right now is the realization that when anyone in the
world suffers, it affects all of us,” Brunk said.
“We need to be ready to listen to stories, and work
with people and help them find ways to live with
each other so that this violence does not continue.”
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