the Preemtive Love Coalition
The Preemptive Love Coalition

The preemptive Love Coalition

website: www.preemptivelove.org

published | april ‘09

A message to our readers from Jeremy Courtney, PLC's Executive Director:

Jeremy CourtneyWhen we moved to Iraq a few years ago we were unprepared for all the sadness - coupled with all the hope - we've seen to date. As the war winds down and the responsibilities are given increasingly to local authorities, the world is uniquely poised to followthrough on meeting the needs of the Iraqi people and helping them firmly establish themselves as free people.

Many of the children who still suffer today are suffering the consequences of crimes that are decades old. In a few cases foreign governments even conspired together to profit at the great expense of the children of Iraq. The past has passed, but our responsibility to repair what has been devastated and do justice is as nigh as ever.

Hate is easy. Love takes courage.

Always love,
Jeremy Courtney

THE MAIN TASK: 4,000-child Heart Surgery Backlog

Iraqi teenPLC seeks to eradicate the backlog of 3000+ Arab and Kurdish children waiting in life for life-saving heart surgery. There are thousands of children in Iraq today suffering from heart disease that threatens to take their little lives if they do not receive surgery outside the country. Time is running out because years of war and corruption have led to a health care system that is entirely ill-equipped to handle the enormity of the task.

After PLC kids come back from surgery outside the country, most of them are able to journey on with PLC receiving a range of help from medical care and rehabilitation to social reintegration and counseling. PLC's follow-through support groups give parents the ongoing camaraderie of those with shared experiences and challenges - an idea that is completely new in these communities.

Easing Ethnic Enmities

The divide between Sunni and Shia from Iraq to Iran and beyond is not going away anytime soon, especially with the continual export of Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabbi brand of Islam. But that does not mean that significant efforts should not be pursued toward greater understanding, respect, and reconciliation between these historically divided co-religionists.

shoemakerPLC sees every surgery as an opportunity for greater collaboration and conversation between Sunnis and Shiites in the region. They broker opportunities for Shiites to serve Sunnis and for Sunnis to be the lone avenue for a Shiite’s medical situation. They use surgeries to help each small group celebrate their cooperation with the other.

Promoting Cooperation Between Kurds & Arabs

Under Saddam Hussein, a pan-Arabist movement called Ba’athism led to the annihilation of hundreds of thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq. Kurds disappeared in the night. Five thousand Kurds died in the city of Halabja on March 16-17, 1988 when Saddam Hussein gassed the city.

Understandably, those wounds are still fresh and peacemaking is slow. But PLC is committed to using their resources to promote reconciliation and peace between communities at odds. They do this by serving both Kurds and Arabs; by sending them to surgery together and by celebrating their children together. PLC works hard to mobilize Kurds and Arabs toward local solutions to these local problems.

How You Can Donate, Support and Get Involved!

klash shoesDONATE
PLC has organized several great ways to accept donations towards their cause. Those interested can give through the following ways: Monthly Sponsorship, Official Travel Documents, Follow-through Care, Food for a Month, Emergency Passport, Airfare and a Share of Surgical Expenses. Visit the PLC Donate page to learn more and donate online.

BUY SHOES, SAVE LIVES
Buy Klash shoes! These eco-friendly, greener shoes are hand-made by the Kurds of Iraq and all proceeds over cost fund heart surgeries. Find out more at the PLC Klash page.

GET INVOLVED
Check out the PLC Action page to learn about a variety of ways to become personally involved in this important effort.

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