Date: August 5th 2008

Unity Stage Presents another Musical Missions of Peace Event: World of Arabic Music
Friday, August 15th, 2008
8:00 pm -- 9:30 pm
At Unity Church in Boulder
2855 Folsom St.
Boulder, CO 80304

Cameron and Kristina will be joined by musicians: Noora, Pete Jacobs, Rachid Halihal, James Messerich, others...

We will offer spectacular tastes of the ancient micro-tonal musical modes of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon.

Creating Music Schools for the millions of Iraqi Refugees in Syria and Jordan has been leading to many fascinating adventures as we explore the ancient roots and values of these people and their cultures.
Cameron will present information about this project which will hopefully provide insights on levels which go beyond what is available through standard media sources. There is no "Us and Them," only language barriers.

Yes, put this event on your calendar!

While we were in Syria and Jordan a family of recently arrived Iraqi women stayed in our house in Boulder and our ongoing connections with them leads to an ever-widening network of Iraqi people.

An Iraqi woman, a friend of theirs, has been studying in California at Stanford for a few months. She can no longer safely go back home to Iraq. Her family was attacked in Iraq because it was found out that she was associating herself with America.
To some people in Iraq anyone who associates with Americans is seen as a traitor, and may be killed for treason. She now needs political asylum or to have someone sponsor her as a refugee. She is in southern California at the moment and will be coming to Denver August 17th. Her visa runs out in September so we must act fast. We need a lawyer to advise us. Who would like to help?

The women who stayed in our home lost the husband and father of their family for the same reasons: a brother had worked with the Americans. So they were three of the 500 Iraqi refugees allowed entry into the USA in 2008.
Beginning in 2009 the US government will begin accepting more Iraqis, perhaps as many as 5000. Contrast this with the numbers who have been accepted in Syria and Jordan, where by the Iraqi peoples' own count, there are 4 million in Syria and 2 million in Jordan. Yet Syria's native population is only 19 million to begin with. How can this influx of Iraqis find livelihood? That, of course, is why we have begun fund raising through Musical Missions of Peace to support Iraqi refugee musicians in those countries. The situation in Jordan, a country of only 7 million, 75 per cent of whom are already refugees from Palestine, is even more difficult and Iraqis feel increasingly unwelcome there.

Our knowledge of traditional Arabic love songs has made us feel very welcome in all Arab countries we have visited and we have personal knowledge about the effectiveness of learning music and languages to engage in what Musical Missions of Peace calls the "Triple Musical Ambassador" project.
These exercises guide us into deepening our intuitive abilities and relate from the heart. It is possible for us Americans to begin to walk our talk about spiritual growth and actually show up in the world as beings of light.

Hope to see you there on August 15th!

Oh yes, if any of you see Michael Franti on August 6th at the Fox Theater in Boulder, tell him we should get together and compare notes on singing in Baghdad!