By Nicholas Gallo, Staff Writer
St. Bonaventure University hosted Kathy Kelly to speak about her experience with the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
The “Peace Talk” was held in Dresser Auditorium in the John J. Murphy Professional Building on Monday, Nov. 13.
According to a university press release, Kelly is a peace activist and the founding director of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, an organization formed in 2005 to promote nonviolent resistance to American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
As stated in the press release, Kelly has led 27 delegations to Iraq and spent several months living in combat zones in Iraq, the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. Most recently, she has been working to build resistance against United States collaboration with a Saudi-led coalition that has subjected Yemen to airstrikes and blockades.
Kelly began the presentation by playing “Bring Him Home” from the musical Les Miserables. She explained that while staying in a hotel with her colleagues, they would listen to different songs from the soundtrack to drown out the bombings happening near their hotel.
She then described her experience by sharing the story of two specific people. The first was a 16-year-old girl who repeatedly asked Kelly, “Am I as valuable as a 16-year-old girl in America?”
The second was a man working in a hospital in Yemen when a bomb landed on the hospital. The man was injured, bleeding out and reached into his pocket for his cell phone to call his family. He asked for his father and apologized for all he has done wrong and explained how thankful he was for his life.
Kelly explained that the bombs that hit this hospital were bombs from American planes. She said that when she saw those planes she was in complete shock and was trying to understand why Americans were bombing hospitals.
Fr. Michael Calabria, Ph.D., O.F.M., director of the center for Arab and Islamic studies, said Kelly did a terrific job and she is clearly someone who speaks from first-hand experience. Fr. Michael said Kelly speaks from a place of deep faith and has witnessed the horrors of war and the terrible impact it has on populations in the Middle East.
“I thought it was good for students to hear her first-hand stories of individuals,” Fr. Michael said. “She spoke about that man who was working at the hospital in Iraq, and it puts a human face the suffering we see on various countries in the region.”
Fr. Michael said it is easy for people to look at the television and forget about those images after they flash by. He said to hear personal encounters with people who were injured or killed puts a human face to the suffering.
Fr. Michael believes Kelly brought more awareness to the situation. He said the crisis is an issue Americans are largely ignorant of, and it’s not well covered in the news.
“The United Nations recognizes that it’s a humanitarian issue and has condemned the Saudi attacks on Yemen because of the civilian casualties, yet the United States continues to sell arms to Saudi Arabia to be used in Yemen,” said Fr. Michael.
“It’s hard for Americans to hear that our military was involved in the suffering of innocent people. Great men and women enter the military to defend the country and, through no fault of their own, they become inflicting suffering due to bad policies.”
Fr. Michael said he has had the great honor of being the instructor for men and women who have come through the ROTC program.
“I have taught them, I have mentored them and love and respect them and they have shared their horror stories from the military with me,” Fr. Michael said.
If you would like to learn more about the situation or other conflicts in the Middle East, you can register for Fr. Michael’s class on the modern Middle East next semester. He said to look for future events hosted by the Arab and Islamic Studies.
