Peace Activists Kathy Kelly and David Smith-Ferri on Iraq’s Worsening Refugee Crisis

The United Nations revealed this week that 2,000 Iraqis are still fleeing their homes each day because of the continuing violence. The UN refugee agency estimates there are over 4.4 million displaced Iraqis. Some groups put the estimate even higher. More than 2.2 million of the Iraqi refugees are living in Syria and Jordan. The U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq has created the largest refugee crisis in the Middle East since the creation of Israel in 1948 when more than half the Palestinian population were driven off their homeland.

We end today's show with two peace activists who have spent time in Jordan working with Iraqi refugees. Kathy Kelly is the executive Director of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She is a veteran peace activist and the founder of Voices in the Wilderness. Earlier this year she also helped organize the Occupation Project to oppose continued funding of the Iraq war. David Smith-Ferri is a poet and peace activist. His latest collection of poetry is titled “Battlefield Without Borders.”

Kathy Kelly and David Smith-Ferri are in New York as part of a speaking tour. Welcome to Democracy Now.

• Kathy Kelly. Executive Director of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She is a veteran peace activist who has worked extensively with Iraqi refugees in Amman, Jordan.

• David Smith-Ferri. Poet and peace activist. His latest collection of poetry is titled “Battlefield Without Borders.”

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