ISMAIL LETTER TO PAU VILA
Hello to everybody,
Let me first of all present my respect for the persons who are either reading or listening to this letter. Sorry that once again I am taking your time my dear teachers and students I have something to narrate regarding my personal experience or if possible I am willing to share this with you until we know each other better or on the other hand we know the world in which we are living in
Thirty-five years ago I was born in a poor village. When I was a little boy, one day in the early morning I woke up and I took my clothes in my hand: I wanted to wear them outside. When I got out of the house it was sunny and all at once I heard a noise from the sky I did not know what it was, so I ran far away from there and finally I saw three Russian helicopters above my head. When they saw me they followed me. They came down close to me and I was afraid: I was running and screaming. I think they were enjoying that and because of the loud noise noise I didn`’t know what I had to do. In fact I was terrified. Then I ran very fast until I hid myself in a hole which was not far away from my house. Several days after, all the people from myvillage moved to the mountain to hide themselves because of the Russian tanks. Since then I recall myself as a person It’s perhaps my first clear memory. I also remember from that time we had to escape to the mountains several times and day and night we heard the sound of bombs and heavy weapons being thrown down in another village which was not very far away from ours.
The invasion of English in the past an Russia in recnt times were the cause of adversity in my country. After that every rich country in its turn and all togoether they have imposed corruption and violence as much as possible on our nation.
During and after the Russia war foreign countries gave support to the muhaydeen by giving them power against the invaders and at the same time creating problems among the population and the ethnic groups and places. When the war finished and the Russian soldiers left, the same powers that had created the unrest saw that the people were tired, and under the excuse of helping them and using religion in a wrong sense, they put them against each other and they didn’t have pity on these samen people and invented the taliban who were introduced as religion defenders, but in fact they were extremists who were trained outside in Pakistan and elswhere and sent to Afghanistan to make the people tired and to defame people and religion and so when the taliban took the control of the country they killed a lot of innocent victims specially among the Hazara ethnic group, because it was one of the taliban aim to genocide and make them disappear from Afghanistan . Why did they explode the Bamyan budas ? Because they had hazara faces and they wanted to destroy the Hazara history. They went against the life of this Afghan community not only phyisically but also spiritually In this process they destroyed through cruelity and corruption our society and many of the people had to leave the country and moved to other countries. Some of them arrived, others died in the mountain or in the sea. Some of them were also killed by forign police in the borders of other countries. Some others were put in prison without having comitted any crimes. And many others were and still are wandering the streets without understading any lanuage and don’t receive any support at all.
These people in all this time have heard a lot of insults and sarcasm abuse that you can’t even imagine: beatings by people in the street and many other kinds of violence, torture and suffering
For example, I am now going to tell you some facts of my own experience: When I got out of the country with heavy pain in my heart and having to go through a lot of difficulties in Pakistan and Iran ,where I had to work 20 hours a day in a stone fcatory, I was beaten again and heard a lot of insults just because I was a refugee.
When I wanted to arrive to Turkey I was many days and nights in the mountain full of snow in freezing weather with the risk of dying at any moment because all my body was begining to freeze . In the Greek border, the police threw me in frozen water despite the fact I didn’t know how to swim. When I was under the water I rememebered my family and my children and I thought I would die, but luckily the safety jacket pulled me over the water and with the help of my friend I went to the police boat but when I finally got to the police boat they beat me although my body was frozan in cold water after this hard beating they sat me on the top of he boat and with very fast speed they took us back to Turkey, to a near Turkish island in by this time all my body was shaking with the freezing air of boat and I was hardly able to breath because of coldness. Again they threw us in frozen water. It was near the Turkish island but we hadn’t oars to move our boat they threw us with everything which we had the body of every body was numb and nobody was able to move because of coldness only I moved the boat about half an hour in water which was dangerous for us. First af all it was possible we drowned because our boat was full of holes and it was also possible that a big storm began in sea and on the other side we were afraid of the Turkish police that they could send us back to Iran. After rowing about half an hour, I lost my energy. I had no more energy to move the boat again. It was morning, the sun was shining and then the Turkish police arrived and arrested us. They took us in their boat and they began beating with whar kind of hitting.... with big sticks and believe me, they were beating like animals, on the back, on the legs, on the arms... they hit us too much... then they took us back to Turkey. The whole trouble lasted all night until the next morning .
Finally I arrived to Grece where I had a lot of problem because they don’t respect the laws of political asylum at all and after three years waiting with no positive results I also tried in Romania where I was denied my rights again and I had to spend fifteen days in a prison near the airport without proper food and knowing as they did there wasn’t any guilt on my side.
I’ve been one year in Spain and the authorities want to send me back to Greece even when the European Court of Human Rights has recently proved this country doesn’t follow the international laws of protection to the political refugees.
With this letter I want to express what happens in this world and the many injustices normal people like me have to face. I am not the only one. Many others have had it and still have to endure their hard lives without any help or understanding.
What do you think now about the war in Afghanistan? Have I comitted any crime when trying to survive and safe my family? Wouldn’t you do the same if you were born the same circumstances? Without any changes in the near future, is this the world you like to live in? How can we all help to build a bettter one? Shouldn’t internationa laws and human rights be really respected?
I’m sorry that when I was with you last Wednesday at the conference I was affected when reacalling all these bad experiences and my voiced might have sounded a bit angry, not with you obviously, but with the lies of the real responsible ones for the war and hardship of the people in my country and in many other places.
Thank you so much for your attention and interest and for the wonderful messages you have written to me which touched me deeply amd give me hope to continue my struggle and thanks you I can have faith in a better and fairer future for all os us, members of the same human family.
I want you to know that I am always very happy to meet at’Pau Vila’ and I am also very proud of you and your teachers that are doing a gret job by showing the real world to you.
I love you all,
Your Afghan friend,
Ismail
TINO MARTORANO: Talk on Religions
GREG HEATH: Talk about the USA Black Church
Diari de Sabadell: article, Interview to Greg Heath
"FESTA DE LA DIVERSITAT 2011"
Kendall Old Elk - CROW ABSALOOKE
In this site you'll find information about Kendal our Native American speaker and performer who will come to talk and to dance his traditional native Dances in the "Festa de la Diversitat 2011" There's also a summary of his tribe's history and the meaning of powwows. Please read it and in groups prepare questions for him.
Diari de Sabadell: Article on Kendall
Oriol Canals presenta el seu documental Sombras
Synopsis Film:
Every year, thousands of immigrants inexorably beach on the Spanish coasts. At times it’s like they’ve always been there, as if they were part of some strange rites of spring, irrevocably doomed to be washed up on the shores of my land. Nameless faces haunting my thoughts… How to film people who are afraid to be seen? How to tell their stories when all they want is to forget?
