「イラク - 記憶の断片から -」 相沢恭行
「Iraq - Fragments of memories -」 Yasuyuki Aizawa
「なぜイラクに行こうと思ったのか？」とよく訊かれる。思えばあの９・１１から、アフガン攻撃、そしてイラクへと照準を合わせていくアメリカに対して、同じ問いを抱いていた。戦争になれば真っ先に殺されるであろう市井の民に思いを馳せようにも、イラクと言えばサッダーム・フセインの顔しか思い浮かばないし、報道は大量破壊兵器があるとかないとか囃し立てるだけで何もわからない。だったら自分で見てやろうと行ってみた。あちこちで底抜けに明るくやんちゃな子どもたちに囲まれ、友達もできて楽しくなった。一方で経済制裁の影響で子どもたちが次々と死んでいく日常に言葉を失った。私はどうしても戦争を止めたいと思い、何か役に立てないだろうかと「人間の盾」になった。思い虚しく開戦に至ったが、市民のインフラだけでも守りたいと浄水場に立てこもり、空襲の下、イラクの民と死の恐怖も生きる喜びも共にした。外国人女性に恋に落ちたイラク人ガイドの恋文を頼まれて代筆したり、米軍によりイラク人は立ち入り禁止となっていた区域に散乱する遺体収容を手伝ったりもした。戦時下でも普段の生活の営みがあり、人々はもてなしの心を忘れず、愛があった。そしてまたそれが一瞬で破壊され粉々になった死も至る所に散らばっていた。3週間も持たずにバグダードは陥落。結局「人間の盾」はこの戦争の被害を抑えるのに役に立てたとは思えなかった。ただ、「役に立てたかどうかなどどうでもいい。一緒にいてくれて感謝している」という近所のおじさんの言葉が嬉しかった。
しばらくしてガイドと再会し一緒に小さなNGOを立ち上げて、子どもたちへのささやかな支援と、イラク現代美術を日本に紹介するなどの文化交流活動を始めた。その後イラクは復興どころか混乱の極みに向かってしまうのだが、イラクの人々と会うたびに、何が起きても屈することなく生き抜く力に圧倒された。彼らはもちろん日本からの支援を必要としているが、生きる力を失いかけている日本の私たちが、イラクの人々から教わることはもっと多いと思う。
私たちは、３・１１を経た今だからこそ、これまで戦争によって故郷を奪われてきたイラクの人々の痛みを心から分かち合うことができるはずだ。私も変わり果てた故郷を前にした時、イラクの友からの励ましがどれだけ力になったことだろう。あの戦争から9年。この追憶の断片を見返しながら、この先もお互い支え合って生きていこうと決意を新たにした。
"Why made you want to go to Iraq?" is aquestion I encounter quite often. Come to think of it, I had the same question to the U.S. who attacked Afghanistan and then moved their focus to Iraq after 911. I tried to imagine faces of ordinary people, who are more likely to be killed first if the war occurs, however, when I think of Iraq, only face I can think of was the face of Saddam Hussein. Media was high on whether there are or there are not WMDs and did not reveal much information. So I went to Iraq, thinking, I would just go there and see it for myself. I found myself surrounded by brightest and happiest children here and there and I made some friends as well and it was an enjoyable experience for me. On the otherhand, I lost my words to reality where children were dying one after another due to economic restrictions. I desperately wanted to stop the war, so I looked around to see my options and Ichose to be a member of "human shield." The warerupted mercilessly; however, we wanted to protect the infrastructure of the people there, so we locked ourselves in water plant. Under the air-raid, I shared the fear of death and joy of living with Iraqi citizens. Iwrote a love letter for a Iraqi guide who fell in love with a foreign girl andI also went to areas made off-limit for Iraqi people by U.S. military to help cleaning up the corps. Even though a war was happening, people still had carried on their daily living and people did not forget the heart to welcom eothers and there was love to be felt. And there were deaths that could destroy all the sein a fraction of a second. It did not take 3 weeks before Baghdad fell. After all, I could not think that "human shield" was useful in any ways top revent damages of this war. A man in the neighborhood said to me, "I don't care if it was useful. I am grateful that you stayed with us." I was glad to hear his words.
After some time, I met up with one of the guidesagain and we established a small NGO and began supporting children andorganized cultural exchange activities to introduce modern art in Iraq to Japanand such. Iraq goes further into chaos after that with novisions for revival, but I was always overwhelmed by Iraqi people who strive tosurvive, who do not dare to give up no matter what is happening. Of course, they rely on support from Japan,but we, Japanese people who are starting to lose strength to live, have learnedso much more from Iraqi people.
After 311, we can truly share the pain felt by Iraqi people who have lost their hometown due to wars. When I saw my hometown, which has changed its appearance completely, I don't know how much I was encouraged by my friends in Iraq. It has been 9 years since that war. I look back to those fragments of my memories, I have determined once again to live by sharing and supporting each other in thefuture to come.