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Page 2 of 2 AMY GOODMAN: Have you been in contact with the other family members, and what about the member of the Islamic Association from Canada making his way to Iraq now? How significant is that, and what is he going to do there?  ED LONEY: Well, to answer the first part of the question, my parents have been in contact with Harmeet Sooden's family in Canada, but that was quite some time ago, maybe 10 or 12 days ago. So we haven't had any real contact with other families from the CPT members. What was the other part of your question? I can't remember. AMY GOODMAN: The representative going to Iraq from Canada -- ED LONEY: Yeah. Well, I mean, it's incredible the amount of support that the CPT is getting from the Muslim community, and I think it shows that the work that CPT is doing and my brother is doing in Iraq and other places in the Middle East is having a real impact on the way people are perceiving the West, hopefully. And to me, it just proves that there are people of goodwill out there who want a way to get stories out about human rights abuses, and that they realize that to have somebody from the West, a team from the West come and expose the occupying forces for what they're actually doing and what they're perpetrating against people that they’re trying to help, apparently, is really ironic, and that it's important for those stories, those little stories, to get out, because it happens to be important, but at the same time, too -- just because my brother is from the West, and he is part of a group doesn't mean that he is anybody special. There are so many stories like this that are happening to common Iraqi families that we don't hear about and just because, you know, somebody from the West gets picked up and is threatened on television, all of a sudden that's newsworthy, so the world takes a look at that. It's unfortunate that it’s come to this, that people are actually starting to talk about it, when it's been a huge issue right from the get-go, right from the beginning of this unjust war. AMY GOODMAN: Ed Loney, I want to thank you very much for being with us, brother of Jim Loney. We will end this segment with Catharine Fox, the daughter of Tom Fox, also one of the kidnapped Christian Peacemakers. CATHARINE FOX: My father has made a choice to travel to Iraq and listen to those who are not heard. He meets with families that are missing loved ones. He has spent most of his time in Iraq trying to free detainees. I did not want my father to travel to a country where his American citizenship might overshadow his peaceful reasons for being there, but this is who my father is. He is deeply committed to a peaceful resolution to these issues. He is there because the Iraqi people are not being heard and so often not supported. I feel as if there has to be a mistake that he has been taken. He is there only to shed light on the experiences of each Iraqi that he meets. He is there to help, peacefully, respectfully and completely.  He tells me of how well he has been welcomed by the families that he meets. The graciousness, mercy and compassion he has experienced in the country is something he mentions often when we speak. Neighbors come to visit and bring food and kindness. He is moved by the warmth of the people he has met. In pictures and in video my dad looks so tired right now, and I don't care to imagine just how tired. I struggle even to find the space to experience my own emotions. I want to be able to communicate just how loved my father is, but more than that, I just want to hug him, I want to find a way to give back the strength he has given to me. I want to show him just how much peace in his heart has inspired me and helped me to find a way in my own life. My dad has always been a wanderer. He believes that the purpose of travel is to experience environments different than our own. When my brother and I were little, our family would visit a different city each year. We’d check [inaudible] and buses and [inaudible], and then traveled by foot as often as possible. We tried new food. We went to museums. We got lost on purpose so we would have to find a new way back. As children, my brother and I did not always see the value in this, but my father was teaching us to see opportunity in every step, planned or otherwise. My dad loves the outdoors. When we traveled as a family, we would always visit parks. On the weekends, he takes us hiking in the mountains. Each time my father returns from Iraq, he visits the same mountain in Virginia. This is his way to center himself and rejuvenate to find the common peace that he hopes to impart to others. My dad wasn't a marine. He was a musician. He politely refuses military discounts. He practices clarinet every day, and once my brother and I began to play instruments, he encouraged us to do the same. He still carries with him the rhythm of that life. He still enjoys the music of language. As he travels, he brings a recorder so he can always express the music that is in his heart. Above all else, my father is a listener, even when no one is speaking. He values the honesty of silence, and when he speaks, there is a respect and kindness in his voice and a strength that stands in quiet testimony to the life he has chosen to lead. I love my father. I'm thankful to have been raised by such an honest, kind and loving gentle man. He continues to teach me the importance of living by my principles. He is my support and my guide, and I need him safe with me again. I will continue to hold him and everyone that he is with in the light and pray for a peaceful resolution. Please let him go.
AMY GOODMAN: Catharine Fox, the daughter of Tom Fox of Virginia, one of the four Christian Peacemakers who are now in Iraq, kidnapped, being held, as their family awaits word. Recommend this article...
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