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Created by and for survivors, LSN empowers individuals and communities affected by landmines to recover from trauma, reclaim their lives and fulfill their rights.
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World Landmine News
Weapons of mass destruction in slow motion - Point Park University Globe
By Kim Kweder, Assistant News Editor
Jerry White was just 4 years old, residing in Cohasset, Ma.when the 1967 Arab-Israeli war occurred. Little to his knowledge at the time, 16 years later, he would become a victim of a leftover landmine while traveling in Israel.
“I thought I was under a terrorist attack … it just didn’t compute. I kept thinking, ‘I have no foot, I have no foot,’” White said as he recalled the incident.
The International Club hosted White as the guest speaker at the G.R.W. Theater Feb. 2.
The speaker presented insight about the dangers of landmines, how he became a victim and discussed how survivors and supporters are taking action in communities worldwide. White, brother of Susan White, a Point Park University administrator, also visited Clarion’s and Pitt’s campuses during his three-day campaign in Pittsburgh.
White stepped on one of the 300,000 mines buried in Israel. During his junior year at Brown University, the Boston native hiked with two of his buddies in the Golan Heights of northern Israel on April 12, 1984. Trying to find camping space, the three wandered in an open field. None of them knew it was an active minefield.
White said he supposed he and his friends “were on the wrong side of the fence…in a different direction…and didn’t see any warning signs.”
After the mine exploded, White said his buddies immediately tied a tourniquet around his leg and carried him to safety. White said his friends climbed down piles of rocks because they wanted to avoid going farther into the minefield.
“They dropped me at one point. They also tiptoed as they were afraid of setting off a mine,” he said.
White was rushed to two Israeli hospitals and stayed for almost six months. At the hospital, an Israeli man, who also lost his leg to a landmine years before, approached White’s bedside.
“He asked me, ‘Can you tell a difference [between an artificial leg and a real one]? That’s the thing. You can’t,’” White said.
White said the Israeli pointed to his head and heart, demonstrating to White that the battle is now in the mind and heart. It takes years to finally overcome, White said, explaining how the use of an artificial limb required relearning skills and his favorite sport, tennis.
“Trauma makes you more yourself…tested by it, and then you come through it. It put me on a more concentrated course. Life is not guaranteed, everything can change,” White said.
The accident didn’t prevent White from moving on with his life. He received his bachelor’s degree in Judaic Studies and International Relations, spending a few years in the field of non-proliferation, advocating against the spread of biological weapons.
Ken Rutherford, another landmine survivor, met with White in 1995, and together they formed the Landmine Survivors Network two years later.
“We wanted to create a human face of the issue. We wanted to present how to change attitudes about the landmine issue,” White said.
According to the network’s Web site, its mission involves helping survivors recover, advocating against the use of landmines and fighting for disability rights.
“All of our networks are run by landmine survivors,” White said.
Government support, foundations, the United Nations, individuals and some celebrities, such as Paul McCartney, fund the network.
Headquartered in Washington D.C., the network is also active in six mine-affected countries, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jordan, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Vietnam.
One of the group’s highlighted achievements included a humanitarian mission with Princess Diana in August of 1997. White escorted the Princess of Wales on a three-day trip to Bosnia, visiting landmine victims and families.
“She had a true gift of compassion…savvy and had a deeply human connection to people who suffer,” White said.
White said the network used her celebrity to open up the world to the issue of landmines.
“Hopefully for her to do this, we could get more people to see the issue and see that the U.S. didn’t sign the treaty,” White said.
The Mine Ban Treaty was signed by over 150 nations since 1997. However, the United States and Cuba refuses to sign the ban to this day.
“I find it appalling, irresponsible,” White said.
The Clinton administration pledged to stop using landmines and find alternatives by 2006, but the Bush administration chose to break Clinton’s pledge, White said. The last time the United States used landmines was during the Gulf War.
“It was shocking, a rollback,” White said.
In 2003, the Landmine Monitor found 82 countries affected by uncleared mine fields, and 70 percent of the landmine victims are civilians. One-third are children.
“It’s a multilateral mess, and we all created it,” White said.
Those attending the meeting were surprised about the landmine crisis.
“I had no idea how serious the issue really is. Living in the U.S., we don’t see the problem, it’s not an issue here,” Aamir Anwar, director of the International Department, said.
Aya Mikaye, sophomore broadcasting student, said she was saddened about the lack of attendance, let alone attention, to the subject.
“I was disappointed about the lack of students. There needs to be more public awareness about this issue. We only worry about the recent things, such as the war, but we need to care about the past,” Mikaye said.
Susan White, vice president of Institutional Advancement and adviser for International Affairs, said she’s wanted her brother to come and speak and confirmed plans with Anwar to bring him to Point Park.
“It’s a major humanitarian and environmental issue in America. My brother has an unusual story, and he is a great speaker,” Susan White said.
The brother and sister are only two out of the six children in the White family who both received international degrees. Susan said she’s made a “lifelong commitment” to working in Mozambique, Africa, a developing country she worked in years ago.
“We’ve always been very close. He’s very funny and has a great sense of humor. We both love adventures and traveling,” Susan White said.
“After Jerry’s accident, the family traveled back and forth in shifts to visit him in the Israeli hospitals.”
White doesn’t forget the Golan Heights. He visited Israel twice last year and hopes one day the country will dismantle the landmines of the Golan Heights entirely.
Posted: Monday, February 14, 2005
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