Photos by Linda Panetta - Dreams & Nightmares Photo Exhibit

Independence Park, Philadelphia - Fourth of July weekend
(adjacent to Independence Mall; across from the Liberty Bell Pavillion)

- "Exhibit Shows Toll on Iraqi Civilians" -
- Philadelphia Inquirer article (July 3, 2006) can be found at the bottom of the page -

Reflections by Linda Panetta -

The exhibit was visible from Independence Hall as well as the Liberty Bell pavilion and drew many curious pedestrians en route to one of the many Fourth of July events taking place in the surrounding area. The vivid life-sized images of joyful and hope-filled Iraqi's drew contagious smiles from people passing by, until they looked more closely at the stories and accompanying images of Iraqi's killed and traumatized by the war. Some people tearfully gazed at the exhibit, while others made boisterous comments, expressing their support or opposition to the war - and especially to Bush (the vast majority of the comments were very supportive of the exhibit and ending the war).

Included in the exhibit were over 125 boots tagged with the names of soldiers from Pennsylvania who had died in Iraq. Several veterans came to find the names of their buddies who had been killed; others came to pay their respect to loved ones. One individual - "TJ" - who had been severely injured while fighting in Dessert Storm, was especially taken aback by the display of boots. "Why… Why… Why? They shouldn't be there! What's wrong with Bush?" TJ shared with me that he had been homeless for 5 years after he returned from the war in 1991. Pointing to his head he could barely get the words out to explain how traumatized he was by the war. TJ had taken a bullet in the back and has since had 2 strokes and a heart attack - he is now 34 years old. "Look at me… this is all that's left of me" - he irately exclaimed, referring to his debilitated health and confinement to a wheelchair. TJ came back the next day to again thank us for the exhibit - and to return to his somber position in front of the boots. He came and went throughout the afternoon - at times I could see him off in the distance gazing back at the exhibit. Most of time he pled with me for answers - struggling to understand how the war could still be going on… long periods of silence would usually follow his reflections on the horrors he witnessed while fighting in Iraq.

Many of the photos I took in Iraq are on display throughout my house or in portfolios laid out on tabletops - they provide a daily reminder of the people who welcomed us into their homes and who embraced us as friends. At the same time the images fill me with sadness as I ponder whether my Iraqi friends are still alive, or how much suffering and trauma they may be enduring.

While at the exhibit one person tried to convince me (or more likely herself) that it's the politicians who must take responsibility for the war - I reminded her that every bullet fired and bomb dropped, and each body-bag that is unzipped and filled with another young man or woman has every taxpayer's name on it. And although we may feel helpless at times, perhaps most of the time - everyone has a voice - and it is our responsibility to use it to stop the bloodshed.

Please continue making calls and sending letters to your members of congress demanding more funding to treat post traumatic stress disorder for returning soldiers as well as expressing your opposition to the war; take part in actions of civil disobedience, march in a protest, join fasts for peace, do whatever (peaceful) means possible to stop this administration from using your tax dollars to terrorize and kill Iraqi civilians.

Please continue reading the article below that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer (July 3) - and was accompanied by a prominently displayed photo of the exhibit.

Philadelphia Inquirer / Monday, July 3, 2006
(the article ran on page 1 of section B with a very large photo of the exhibit)

"Exhibit Shows Toll on Iraqi Civilians"

By Natalie Pompilio
Inquirer Staff Writer

There were no photos of Marwa, Tabarak and Safia Abbas on the walls of the antiwar display, but the sisters' story was there for all to read and remember: The girls, ages 5 to 11, were madly, deeply loved by their young parents. They were ordinary children living ordinary lives - until an American missile exploded in their home, killing them while they slept.

"People from Washington should come and see this and understand before they make their remote decisions," Bumblebee Makherjee, 29, of Center City, said yesterday as she walked through "Dreams and Nightmares: Daily Life in Iraq," an exhibit on Independence Mall.

"Look at this," Makherjee said. "It's appalling. It's so shocking. People would rather put their heads down and not look at it because you feel your hands are tied and you don't know what to do."

The exhibit, by the American Friends Service Committee, focused on Iraqi civilians killed since the conflict began in 2003. It used photos to juxtapose colorful scenes from peaceful life in Iraq - a shoe-shine boy, a father holding an infant, a toddler wearing a red bow - with black-and-white images from a country that is suffering - a man wailing as he holds a small, blanket-clad body, a child sifting through dust in a graveyard.

The text on the walls provided sketches of the lives of people who have died, including Khalid Ali Saleh, 72, killed in April 2003 before he could meet his second grandchild, and Samar Hussein, 13, killed in March 2003 while making breakfast with her aunt.

"Dreams" was a new addition to American Friends Service Committee's "Eyes Wide Open: The Human Cost of War," which uses pairs of boots to mark military deaths and shoes to mark civilian deaths in Iraq. The entire exhibit, which included boots marked with the names of the more than 115 troops from Pennsylvania, was scheduled to remain until tomorrow night but ended late yesterday because of the stormy weather.

It's unclear how many Iraqi civilians have been killed during the conflict, but a Johns Hopkins University study in April 2004 estimated the total at 100,000.

The civilian tally grows almost weekly, with deaths blamed on coalition forces or insurgents; last week, a car bomb in a bustling Baghdad market killed more than 60 people.

But 60 is a faceless number. The faces on the wall are real.

"We don't know if any of these people are still alive or not. It's hard to wonder," "Eyes Wide Open" tour manager Marq Anderson said, looking at the staring image of a slightly smiling boy. "Thousands of Iraqis are going to die who had no say in this war and no way to escape the consequences of it.

"The pictures of Iraqis going about their daily routines were made by Philadelphia photographer Linda Panetta, who visited Iraq in 2003 and 2004. In a year, she said, the war's toll on civilians was clear.

"You could see the immense fear in people's eyes," she said. "You just never knew what was coming around the corner.

"Visitors yesterday had differing opinions about the war and the exhibit's message, said Melissa Elliott, an American Friends Service Committee staff member. Many were moved, she said, including a Gulf War veteran in a wheelchair who returned twice to donate money. Three Navy men stopped and had a lengthy discussion about the reasons behind the war. One woman said she felt the display dishonored the troops.

"We tried to explain that it honors everybody and our common loss," Elliott said.

Visitors Janice and Rowland Curry, both 58, of Austin, Texas, said they opposed the war and felt the exhibition supported their cause.

"I think we all need come out and see this and think of the deaths in real terms," Janice Curry said.

Added Rowland Curry, "Every protest puts a little pressure on somebody. The more of us old white guys that come out, maybe we'll get something done.

"Narberth resident Bruce Segal said one of the things that struck him most was the display's location.

"It exemplifies freedom of speech when you can have an exhibition specifically challenging our government's policies across from Independence Hall," Segal said. "It's a protest in the form of art."

Contact staff writer Natalie Pompilio at 215-854-2813 or npompilio@phillynews.com.