This image is from Celebrate People’s History/Iraq Veterans Against the War: Ten Years of Fighting for Peace and Justice, a portfolio that celebrated IVAW’s first ten years and was produced by Justseeds, IVAW, Booklyn, Repetitive Press, and the Civilian Soldier Alliance.
(IVAW is now known as About Face: Veterans Against the War)
Former inmate guard at Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, Chris Arendt, and former detainee, Jarallah Al-Marri, went on a speaking tour throughout the United Kingdom in January 2009.
Tings Chak is a migrant justice organizer and multidisciplinary artist living and working in Toronto. She recently published the graphic novel, Undocumented: The Architecture of Migrant Detention.
A comic-style drawing of two people sitting at a table, holding a cup together. Cursive text surrounding their figures states, “Former detainee, Jarallah Al-Marri,” and “Chris Arendt, former inmate guard at Guantanamo Bay.” In text bubbles around them, it states, “At meal times in Guantanamo, detainees were issued small styrofoam cups. Though it was illegal, they’d scratch flowers and beautiful designs into the sides of them. Chris delivered thrash bags full of these cups to military intelligence officers, who would analyze them to see if they contained secret maps or plans. Waiting for food after an event, Jarallah picked up the little cup on the table and nudged Chris, ‘Look, Look!’ It was identical to the ones from Guantanamo. They playfully grappled over the cup. Then they each found their own and, side by side, carved flowers into them with their finger nails.”
