As we look back at the 10 years since the war crime known as the Iraq War, one person stands out in my memory as a hero of peace, Marla Ruzicka.
"I found her in the middle of a group of 50 men, women and children totally shocked to see an American without a gun! she was shaking hands with them and saying "sorry … sorry … sorry we invaded your country … sorry we killed your people…".
- Raed Jarrar
Marla Ruzicka (Lakeport, California, December 31, 1976 – April 16, 2005) was an American activist-turned-aid worker. She believed that combatant governments had a legal and moral responsibility to compensate the families of civilians killed or injured in military conflicts.
In 2003, Ruzicka founded the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), an organization that counted civilian casualties and assisted Iraqi victims of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. She was later killed in Iraq.
Please take a moment today to remember Marla, and all the civilians who died in this senseless war, whose stories she was trying to tell.
Wikipedia has a list of links to find out more about this amazing person.
Article by Jill Carroll about Marla's life
Sweet Relief at the Internet Movie Database - film about Marla's life (to be released in 2011)
CIVIC website
News story on her death from The Washington Post
A profile, from The Washington Post
Obituary from The Guardian
A blog of memories from Marla's friends
Appreciation from Salon.com
Remembering Marla Ruzicka (Uruknet.info)
The results of CIVIC's massive campaign in Iraq
Statement in honor of Marla Ruzicka: Sen. Barbara Boxer
Sweet Relief: The Marla Ruzicka Story Biography published by Simon and Schuster
My friend died helping Iraqi civilians (Obituary by Mark MacKinnon in the Toronto Globe and Mail)
Glimpses of Marla. A tribute by thefullmonte.com