WE CAN’T WAIT: ACCOUNTABILITY MEANS TAKING ACTION christian peacemaker teams IPS CPTVol. XXVI, No. 4; OCT - DEC. 2015 P.9
CYCLE OF VIOLENCE life in Palestine deteriorates, p10
TEAM REPORTS
colombia i.p.s. kurdistan chicago Shots fired in El Accompanying the Waiting for the next Peacemaker Profile Guayabo, Hunters at Short bomb to drop, a with Terra Winston nonviolent Hills delegate’s story resistancep continues p p p 7Letters from the5 Editor p.2 • Colombia:13 Persecution Continues3 p.8 • CPT Europe: Lesbos Report p.16
BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS TO TRANSFORM VIOLENCE AND OPPRESSION WORLD MAP
CPT From the Editor JENNIFER YODER [email protected]
Beloved peacemakers, remain, firmly in place, on the land At the end of this calendar year, we at they’ve been farming for decades is one CPT are contemplating seasons. For our of the ways they resist the violent forces Christian supporters, you’ll be receiving attempting to drive them away. And in this at the end of our season of waiting, Canada, Judy da Silva tells us not to wait Advent. In the northern hemisphere - to take action now. temperate zones we’re experiencing Whatever your season is bringing you winter; for our southern hemisphere at this time, we thank you for your supporters it’s summer. continued support. It means the world This time at CPT marks another season to us when you choose to give us your as well - honoring and reflecting on the time, energy, prayers, and financial passage of 10 years since four of our contributions. beloved CPTers were held hostage for Thank you, beloved supporters and 118 days in Iraq. In this issue you’ll see a friends, for being a part of our reflection from CPTnet editor Kathy community. Please consider taking the Kern on her experience of waiting next step in our peacemaking during that Advent season 10 years ago partnership. Are there ways you still - waiting for a phone call, waiting for the have not joined us in our work? return of colleagues, waiting for good 1.Become a monthly contributor news. of $10, $15, $20, or $25. Go to www. As I write this, I feel as if we’re in the cpt.org and click the “Donate” link. midst of a season of violence. It’s only a Contact [email protected] with few days past violent attacks in Paris and questions or technical difficulties. Beirut, and I’m interrupted by occasional 2.Send to [email protected] the notifications on my phone with news names and contact info of 5 people alert updates about 140 people taken you believe would be a good hostage in Mali. Our recent delegation candidate for attending one of our to Palestine was nearly canceled due to delegations. increasing violence there - ultimately we 3.Host a CPT fundraiser in your continued with the delegation, and all community. Contact markefrey@ have returned safely. You’ll read about cpt.org. one CPTer’s experience waiting in 4.Make phone calls to CPT custody of the Israeli Military after they supporters. Contact [email protected]. arrested her for an Instagram photo. In Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey has resumed In Christ’s Love & Liberation, cross-border bombings and peaceful protestors are being met with security forces, beatings and guns. We’ve included a delegate’s reflections on the lives of partners whose daily lives include waiting on the next Turkish bombing. Jennifer A. Yoder, Yet waiting can itself be an act of Communications & resistance, as we see in Colombia. In Engagement Director Shots Fired in El Guayabo, you’ll read about a community whose choice to 2 CPT.ORG | CHICAGO, IL & TORONTO, ON | [email protected], [email protected] WORLD MAP
CPT PEACEMAKER PROFILE Rev. Terra Winston is currently based in Chicago, IL. She is both the Delegations Coordinator and the Interim Care Coordinator for CPT. Her care and support of delegates and CPTers alike is deeply appreciated by the Administrative Team and the teams in the field. Terra was ordained on September 19 into Presbyterian Church USA. Rev. Terra Winston PHOTO BY KATIE RAINS
Jennifer Yoder: How did you first get gave about the work in Kurdistan, during involved with CPT? the CPT Congress in Chicago. My first Terra Winston: I first heard about involvement with CPT was as a member CPT at McCormick Seminary when of the Steering Committee, where I was Sarah McDonald was sharing about her the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship work in Palestine. However I first Representative. thought about joining CPT after hearing JY: As Delegations Coordinator, what a presentation that Mohammed Saleh • peace profile, page 15
Letters to the Editor
BICYCLISTS TO EMBARK ON from a logistics standpoint”, says Himlie. EPIC JOURNEY AROUND THE “We have to not only ride a hundred UNITED STATES miles each day but plan the most Will Ride One Hundred Miles In Each efficient cycling route around the State In Fifty Consecutive Days country, find time to eat and sleep.” David Jones of Wickenburg, Arizona “Michael and I saw some atrocities in and Michael Himlie of Harmony, Palestine which stunned us. Although Minnesota are bicycling to raise money we are separated by a few years in age for organizations committed to non- we share a common belief that violence violence and peacemaking. does not resolve conflict” says Jones. Jones, 60 and Himlie, 22 met last year Eventually both men hope to serve with in Israel / Palestine while participating in Christian Peacemaker Teams on one of a delegation with Christian Peacemaker its teams in Palestine, Iraq, IPS or Teams. Says Jones, “Michael and I spent Colombia. They hope to raise $100,000 a lot of time together and got to know for Christian Peacemaker Teams and each other. We’re both bicyclists and other organizations devoted to non- have done some long distance riding.” violence. Jones is retired from the healthcare Donate here: bit.ly/BikingForPeace software industry and Himlie is a If you would like more information or would student at Manchester University in like to interview David Jones or Michael Himlie Indiana. please call David Jones at (928)415-1037 or “Obviously this is a huge undertaking email him at [email protected] CPT.ORG | CHICAGO, IL & TORONTO, ON | [email protected], [email protected] 3 WORLD MAP
CPT Waiting, praying for friends
KATHY KERN [email protected]
Ten years ago, November 26, 2005, four CPTers were taken hostage in Baghdad, Iraq. Below is a column I wrote during that awful period. What is it like for me to read this column ten years later in the season of Advent? In many ways the weeks after the kidnapping were a period of anti-Advent. We were waiting, yes, but we were filled with anxiety and fear, and we were busier and more sleep-deprived than many of us have ever been in our lives, as we sought to support the team remaining in Iraq, support the loved ones of the hostages, and manage the information for the media. And yet, even if we lacked the ability to be as open to the Spirit as we might Tom Fox have liked, we were the recipients of a generous outpouring of prayers, intercessions, and public witnesses from thousands of people all over the world. We were especially moved that many thousands of Muslims we had never met took up the cause of Tom, Norman, Jim and Harmeet. In the midst of our terror, grief, and regret for things said and unsaid when the deadlines for executions passed, we could always see those lights shining in the darkness. Eventually, Tom Fox would be executed and the others released after 118 days. The experience transformed all of us who lived through it, and Christian Peacemaker Teams as an organization, forever. ••• Norman Kember I sat in the back of the church during the Christmas Eve midnight service in case the call came. I pulled the cell phone out of my pocket every few minutes to make sure it was on. But after the congregation lit candles and sang “Silent Night,” I knew the call I was waiting for would not happen that night. All of us in Christian Peacemaker Teams have been nurturing rational and irrational hopes about Jim Loney, Tom Fox, Harmeet Sooden and Norman Kember since they disappeared Nov. 26 in Baghdad. Because so many Islamic leaders called for the Swords of Righteousness Brigade to release the four in time for Christmas, I cherished the idea that Jim Loney the Brigade might actually acquiesce. I told family members I planned to visit in Ohio and Pennsylvania that I might be spending enormous amounts of time on the phone and e-mail doing media work over the holidays, should the CPTers be released. After my initial disappointment on Christmas Eve, I realized that midnight in Akron, Ohio, is 8 a.m. in Baghdad. The people holding the CPTers could still release them on Christmas Day. As I drove to Elizabethtown, Pa., from Akron, I kept checking my phone and wondered whether it was illegal in Pennsylvania to talk on the phone while driving like it is in New York State. By 4 p.m. I hit fog on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and crawled along at 40 Harmeet • waiting, page 6 Sooden 4 CPT.ORG | CHICAGO, IL & TORONTO, ON | [email protected], [email protected] WORLD MAP
IPS Accompanying the Hunters at Short Hills
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES SOLIDARITY [email protected]
For the second year, CPTers were among the supporters of the Haudenosaunee deer November harvest at Short Hills Provincial Park in Thorold, Ontario. In past years, Haudenosaunee hunters entering or leaving the park have been subjected to anti-hunt protesters surrounding their vehicles with flashlights aimed in hunter’s faces, waving IPS full-timers Peter Haresnape & Carrie Peters, along with placards and calling out CPT Canada Coordinator Esther Kern, show support for various derogatory Haudenosaunee hunters. statements. In response, Supporters of the Haudenosaunee Right and hot drinks for everyone, including to Hunt organised to accompany the hunters, supporters, anti-hunt hunters and demonstrate respect for this protesters, police and the Ministry of exercise of treaty and inherent rights, Natural Resources and Forestry (MNR). joined by the Indigenous Peoples It also served as a place for passers-by to Solidarity team beginning in November learn what was happening. The aim was 2014. to shift the oppositional nature of the In addition to the Hunters, in the past protest/supporter divide and invite non- local Haudenosaunee who came out in Indigenous Canadians to relate to their support also endured racism and Haudenosaunee neighbours in a better harassment from protesters. The way. presence of supporters (includng Since the last hunt, local allies have been CPTers) practicing nonviolent busy creating dialogue with the intervention and deescalation helped to communities of hunt protesters. This change that dynamic. The second evening includes animal rights activists, local of the hunt saw Haudenosaunee and property owners with safety concerns, Anishinabe people drumming and singing and even non-native hunters seeking the to create a positive atmosphere, turning right to hunt in the park. The success of a tense protest site into a celebratory these outreach efforts is shown in the sharing of culture, music and food as the contingent of animal rights activists that hunters headed home. joined the supporters, demonstrating The team helped to set up a ‘Peace that a commitment to animal rights does Table’ on site, funded in part by local not require opposing the rights of the churches and supplied by the vegan Haundenosaunee over their territory. activist catering co-op Food Not Bombs, The new Canadian government has as a CPT-style ‘experiment in named the need for reconciliation. The peacemaking’. The Peace Table had food • hunters, page 6 CPT-IPS.TUMBLR.COM | INDIGENOUS PEOPLES SOLIDARITY| [email protected] 5 WORLD MAP
CPT • waiting, continued from 4 and nonjudgmental attitude toward people he mph as I approached the tunnels running disagreed with impressed me. I choke up when through the Allegheny Tuscarora, Kittatinny I fantasize about seeing him or Jim again. I do and Blue Mountains — the most exciting part not fantasize about learning they have been of childhood car trips to visit my grandparents murdered. in Harrisburg. But these memories faded When I think about how the dangers facing before my dull realization that Christmas Day Tom and Jim affect me, I know that the pain in Iraq was over. their families and other loved ones must feel is I know and like Jim and Tom. I’ve probably staggering. And I know I have to multiply that interacted with Jim the most of the four pain by tens of thousands of Iraqis whose loved captives. He and I have butted virtual heads ones have disappeared in prisons run by the over the years regarding how long postings on U.S. military and those of the new Iraqi CPTnet (which I edit) should be and the government. Iraqi families know that torture appropriate manner to educate CPTers bound and sexual violations have happened in these for Israel/Palestine about anti-Semitism. Face prisons. They also know that some people to face, we have done better, and our mutual swept up in military raids are never heard from dedication to the “Christian” part of Christian again. Peacemaker Teams has covered a multitude of Thousands of people around the world are disagreements. praying for Jim, Tom, Harmeet and Norman. I want to tell Jim that shortly after he Their lives and and work have become the disappeared I posted every word of a 1,200- subject of extensive media coverage. word reflection that I had rejected two years Whatever happens to them will have an ago because the limit for CPTnet releases is impact. I cannot imagine what Iraqi families 500 words. must feel when a son, brother or father Tom I met only once, at a CPT full-timers’ disappears, and they know that the rest of the retreat the summer of 2004. His gentleness world does not notice.
• hunters, continued from 5 build on the relationship so that we may Supporters of the Haudenosaunee Right understand that the accommodation that to Hunt know that Canada’s existence is all parties have undertaken will result in a based upon treaty relationships with natural balance. The ecosystem needs to Indigenous peoples. Understanding that rebound so that indigenous plants and the Nanfan Treaty of 1701 guarantees the medicines can survive without invasive right to hunt for Haudenosaunee peoples species being allowed to thrive.” is critical to healing the relationships The MNR has identified deer between Haudenosaunee and settlers in overpopulation as one of the main reasons Southern Ontario. The Nanfan Treaty for devastated landscapes where flora and was affirmed in R. vs. Ireland (1990) fauna are consumed to the point of when it was ruled that the treaty is a erasure in the area. The crowding of deer living document. herds into close proximity increases the Brian Skye, member of the spread of disease, which heightens the Haudenosaunee Wildlife and Habitat potential for harmful contact with nearby Authority (HWHA) says, “that [treaty] human communities. relationship is based on mutual respect, The land management partnership trust and friendship. Our respect for between MNR and HWHA has the safety has ensured we conduct ourselves potential to develop a real nation-to- accordingly. Our trust is that we are nation relationship, where the rights, allowed to continue to practice our needs and skills of different communities traditional methods of harvesting within are balanced in such a way that all are the context of our mutual understanding supported and the land is sustained for of conservation. We continue to hope to future generations. 6 CPT.ORG | CHICAGO, IL & TORONTO, ON | [email protected], [email protected] WORLD MAP
COLOMBIA
Eric Payeres (behind) presents Guayabo’s case to the Governor of Santander (right) Shots fired in El Guayabo community responds with nonviolent action
COLOMBIA TEAM [email protected]
On October 29th, 2015 Eric Payares—a of continual attacks. Two days ago, similar leader of Guayabo’s legal struggle to to numerous previous occasions, Henao’s maintain its land—along with three other men cut fence wiring, which allowed community members heard shots coming cattle to enter and graze on Payares’s from the direction of the neighboring crops. plot currently occupied by armed men Henao maintains that the community working for Rodrigo Henao. displaced his father with the help of “They’re attacking us once again,” guerillas in the 1980s, claiming victimhood Payares said. “This time they’re firing through the current Victim’s Law shots at us.” Over the last year since the demanding that the land be returned to eviction on October 29, 2014, this five- him. On the other hand, the community hectare plot of land has been a location • shots fired, page 8 ECAPCOLOMBIA.ORG | BARRANCABERMEJA, COLOMBIA| [email protected] 7 WORLD MAP
COLOMBIA
PERSECUTION CONTINUES Barrancabermeja, Colombia - Over 70 people gathered on Nov 10, 2015 in front of the prosecutor’s office demanding the liberation of Carlos Morales. Recent trends show that the Colombian government is adopting new strategy in the persecution of Human Rights Defenders. More and more of them are being charged with common crimes as opposed to political crimes. In the recent past, assassinations were more common, not that they still don’t happen today. Photo by Caldwell Manners
• shots fired, continued from page 7 community to leave the area. Ten months has proven to have had no ties to armed ago, the Defensoria del Pueblo, the Office groups and claims rightful ownership of the Human Rights Ombudsman, issued through occupation and use of the land an Alerta Temprana, an early warning for over twenty five years, after Henao’s system that requires local law father, Octavio Henao, abandoned the enforcement to respond immediately due land due to an unpaid debt. This is to an elevated risk in the area. The bitter Henao’s second attempt to claim irony however, lies in the police ownership. In the early 2000’s he arrived accompaniment of Henao for all of his accompanied by the notorious Bolivar trips to Guayabo. Central Block, of the now demobilised The community’s strength lies in their paramilitary group - the Self-Defence organization. Because of constant Forces of Colombia - demanding the waiting and attacks, waiting and attack, community abandon the land. This abuse they are having to defend their territory of the recent victim and land restitution with nonviolent public actions—not only laws, written to bring reparation to against attacks from Henao’s men but victims of conflict, in addition to also from a biased response by the police assassinations and death threats has sent and military. a chilly warning to land rights activists Immediately after the shots rang out, and persons who resist displacement and the community hurried on motorbikes claim ownership of land. and horses to Payares’s land, asserting The police from Puerto Wilches, the their community’s right to the land in municipal capital, said they were unable solidarity and confronted the violent to respond and instead asked the threat with a nonviolent presence. 8 ECAPCOLOMBIA.ORG | BARRANCABERMEJA, COLOMBIA| [email protected] WORLD MAP
IPS We Can’t Wait Accountability Means Taking Action
MADELEINE SUTHERLAND, INTERN [email protected]
“When you see injustice happening, say something,” answered Anishinaabe lifelong activist Judy da Silva when asked what we should do to support her community from afar. “We don’t need people to walk beside us, we need family.” Our Christian Peacemaker Teams – Indigenous Peoples Solidarity delegation went to do ally work in Grassy Narrows First Nation, and we learned how great our mandate is. Nine delegates and two co-leaders arrived in Kenora, Ontario on 14 August and prepared for the Grassy Narrows Powwow the next day. There, we watched spectacular Members of the August IPS delegation dancers in regalia battle the 32˚C/90˚F heat. participate in a “Walk A Mile In Her Shoes” We listened to mother and activist Richelle March in Kenora, Ontario Scott describe the racism and objectification she’d experienced in Kenora-area hotels. inform and empower people in Grassy She brought about accountability by regarding the other contaminants in their confronting the managers, an example of drinking water, and challenge government taking direct action supporting the Kenora inaction. We also took action that week when we On this delegation, we heard many powerful attended the Kenora Walk a Mile in Her stories—of decolonization, re-connection Shoes— an event where men don women’s with culture, and taking a stand for water. heels and walk to raise awareness about Elder Larry Morrissette told us he made sure sexual violence and women’s rights, to spend plenty of time with his kids, breaking supporting the Kenora Sexual Assault the cycle of abuse and lovelessness from the Centre. We visited the Women’s Place in residential schools. We danced with the Kenora, a gathering place and resource Kenora traditional women’s drum group centre for women survivors, whose clientele Maang, which is open to all nations and helps are 85% of whose clientele are Indigenous women find their voices. We left with many women, which indicates the intersection stories of our own, and shared some in between racial, gender and economic Winnipeg at the Home St. Mennonite Church violence. the night after the delegation. When we visited Grassy Narrows, Judy These delegations are the backbone of CPT invited us to observe a community meeting work here, and I can see why. They build with government officials on mercury and community, even family. We hear history and asked us to record everything. Though traditional teachings, while also forming advertised as a public meeting, our presence human connections between Anishinaabe made the visiting government officials and other indigenous communities and those nervous, and they only proceeded with the wishing to walk in solidarity. We talk, walk, meeting after reassurance. Later I was asked dance, laugh and pray together and leave with to use my background in biochemistry to committed friendships, not just missions. CPT-IPS.TUMBLR.COM | INDIGENOUS PEOPLES SOLIDARITY| [email protected] 9 WORLD MAP
PALESTINE
Bloody Saturday
Israeli border police and military have been accused of extra-judicial executions by Amnesty International and B’Tselem. Violence has surged in Hebron, killings and curfews are the new norm
PALESTINE TEAM [email protected]
author’s name withheld due to Israel’s policy of barring CPTers from entering the country
Israeli forces and a settler shot dead three told my colleague I was not there. One of Palestinian young people on the streets of my photos, I was told, rendered me a Hebron on Saturday 17 October 2015: threat to the ‘security of Israel.’ Bayan Ayman Abd al-Hadi al-Esseili; 17, An Instagram photo? Me? A threat to one Fadil Qawasmi; 18, and Tariq Ziyad al- of the most powerful states in the world? Natshe; 20. And I was arrested for taking The threat here? The truth. an Instagram photo two weeks earlier. Cameras show the world Israel’s With three youth killed and settlers Occupation: They see Palestinian blood literally celebrating in the blood of Fadil running on occupied streets in Hebron. Qawasmi, executed by a settler, it is (Indeed, I dropped my camera lens cap in perhaps little surprise that those with Hadeel Hashlamoun’s a few weeks earlier.) cameras slung over shoulders are Although CPT’s Palestine Team is a very increasingly coming under threat. small thread in the fabric of resistance to Sitting in a cold police station room for the Occupation, still we have recently hours, without access to a lawyer, I come under increased attack from watched my beloved camera slammed on a Occupation’s actors and supporters, table. Meanwhile, authorities at the base • bloody saturday, page 10 10 CPTPALESTINE.ORG | HEBRON,PALESTINE | [email protected] WORLD MAP
PALESTINE • bloody saturday, continued from page 10 largely ignored me. The sounds of including abusive phone-calls, increased explosions from all over Hebron, and two police aggression and checks, and now, consecutive violent films – ironically set in arrest. prisons – filled the space as we sat in We were detained by Israeli border police awkward silence. as we were en route to the site of 17 year- Later, as the room refilled there began a old Bayan al-Esseili’s murder. We stood somewhat animated discussion about the detained against the wall as we waited for lack of English speakers to translate the the commander “who wanted to speak” to interrogation. I listened wide-eyed as the me. Informed I was under arrest for taking discussion moved onto Ofer–the military a photo of “classified material” (two weeks prison near Ramallah. Ofer prison- where ago in public space), I was taken to a police countless Palestinians are held for months station to await interrogation. I knew they without charge in ‘administrative detention’. were serious– this was not their normal I was told I had one chance, and one chance provocation that we experience daily – but only, to call my lawyer. I did not yet know the full extent of the My one conversation over, interrogation Told to sign documents, including one fully in Hebrew, I was also skin- crawlingly informed that my interrogator would keep my camera unless “I was a good girl for him.”
danger they would later put me in ten began, and I was informed that I was to be hours later. deported. Apparently, I could speak to my “Why do you love these terrorists?” I was lawyer again when I got off the plane. repeatedly asked, amidst suggestions that I Chuckling, my interrogator changed this to “go and sleep with Abu Mazen” (PA leader a fifteen-day ban from Hebron. Supposedly, Mahmoud Abbas) throughout the cold I was to leave that night. Listening to the hours of waiting. I stated my right to inform clashes raging outside, with two teenagers my lawyer that I was in custody, to which I killed so far, I said such a departure was was greeted with “you tell your lawyer impossible, to which I was given a shrug when I tell you to,” informed I would have and a “well if you don’t leave tonight, I to wait for longer because of such non- deport you.” Told to sign documents, cooperation. My passport and my camera including one fully in Hebrew, I was also confiscated, I shivered for seven hours skin-crawlingly informed that my awaiting interrogation. interrogator would keep my camera unless My body grew more tense and sore and, “I was a good girl for him.” needless to say, my request for something Suddenly, the interrogator received a call warm was greeted with smirking. One and ran from the room. Eighteen-year-old border police attempted to engage me in Tariq had been killed by Israeli soldiers. The conversation about how ungrateful ‘the third teenager in twelve hours. Arabs’ were, citing the ‘giving back of Gaza’ Explosions outside the base intensified in 2005. I declined conversation, deciding it and a blindfolded Palestinian man, was not the time to discuss locking over staggering as he was dragged in, slumped 1.5 million people in an open-air prison and next to me. He was wincing with pain at bombing them. Eventually most of the the tightness of his handcuffs. “These are personnel trickled away, and I was left with the terrorists you love,” I was told. one Border Police woman who, thankfully, • bloody saturday, page 12 CPTPALESTINE.ORG | HEBRON,PALESTINE | [email protected] 11 WORLD MAP
PALESTINE • bloody saturday, continued from 11 An hour and a half later, my interrogator returned, and took my DNA, while we argued about the danger of leaving Hebron amidst the chaos of that bloody night. “It’s not safe,” I said, “I have nowhere to go,” to which my interrogator repeated I could sleep with Abu Mazen, and another replied “of course it’s not safe – you are in Israel, there are terrorists everywhere.” Resisting temptations of stating that we are in ‘occupied Palestinian territory.’ I once again called my lawyer, having blessedly had my phone left with me in the chaos of the killing. Eventually, she convinced them to return my passport, my camera, and arranged for me to leave by 9:00 a.m. the following morning. Real panic set in as I was released. They did not release me to the Palestinian Israeli forces fire rubber bullets into a busy area, but into the settlement populated Palestinian marketplace during clashes in by strongly ideological individuals. That Hebron. day settlers had killed a teenager and celebrated in his blood. That day Israeli Back at the office, we sat listening until soldiers had called to other international 3:00 a.m. to continued explosions and activists to run, as settlers approached the calls of warning and help screaming with machine guns. Having had my fair- from mosque towers around the city, as share of being spat at, jeered at, swerved settlers continued to attack families. at by cars, and accusations of Nazism or My arrest is a very small fragment of a ISIS membership from settlers, I knew much wider repression of those full well the danger, walking alone at documenting the violence of occupation. 10:00 p.m. in a settlement. Those that On the day I was arrested, so were two made me leave that way were also fully Palestinian activists from Youth Against aware of that danger, particularly Settlements, having videoed the amplified that evening. aftermath of Fadil’s murder. This week, Reaching the now deserted road where the Israeli military has ransacked Palestinians still live, I could hear the journalist offices, Israeli border police noise of settler mobs as I headed to the were caught on video stamping on the roadblock to meet my friend. Palestinian face of an accredited journalist, as the families watching the horror of the day Foreign Press Association report “a from their windows were calling to me: series of unprovoked attacks”, and “Why are you out walking there? It’s not human rights workers and journalists are safe! Come off the street!” Three men increasingly targeted in demonstrations. cautiously opened their door, ushering Flicking through images and videos on me in to their family home. Loaded with my camera, I see the extreme ugliness of the gift of cucumbers, one Palestinian this occupation, which we will continue man risked arrest—and even death had to write about, photograph and video. I we run into settlers—to walk me to the also see the faces of the kindergarten road block where I met friends, who children we escort to school in Hebron. drove me, also at their own risk, back “Truth,” says Aeschylus, “is the first home. casualty of war.” But a fatality? No. 12 CPTPALESTINE.ORG | HEBRON,PALESTINE | [email protected] WORLD MAP
IRAQI-KURDISTAN
CPTer Mohamed at the village of Zargail. Waiting for the next bomb to drop
ADAM DICKSON, DELEGATE (UK) [email protected]
We’re halfway into our delegation, and I finds ugliness as an unwanted and terrible write my Friday night journal entry companion. The Turkish government surrounded by incredible scenery, at the frequently launches bombing campaigns in end of a long day traveling to the Qandil this region, and in the past Iran has carried Mountains at the borders along northern out similar operations. Turkey’s official Iraq and Iran. Our group is staying at the explanation for these campaigns is that family home of Latif, CPT intern, in the they are an attempt to neutralize the village of Gullan. We’re now relaxed after perceived threat of Kurdish militia. our hosts prepared a wonderful dinner, By and large, however, the victims are enjoying each other’s company and our the villagers themselves, as these attacks added company of lush greenery, happen on the border regions mountain ranges, and the shining indiscriminately. On the way to Qandil multitude of stars now hanging above. The stands the memorial to a family killed in porch is brimming with the contented one of these attacks. The Kurds call the chattering of different conversations in victims “martyrs,” as they believe they Kurdish and English, deep conversations, lost their lives through a determination to laughter, and the melodic chirping of remain in their land and to preserve their crickets. cultural identity. Because these bombing “Beauty” feels a somewhat deficient campaigns have taken the lives of civilians term to describe the peace of this place and additionally displaced whole village and the landscapes we behold, yet that is communities, many Kurds perceive such the word which keeps recurring both in attacks as yet another chapter in the my own thoughts and in the discussions heartbreaking history of attempted that unfold with my fellow travelers. genocide and ethnic cleansing of their Even still, such incredible beauty as this • bombs, page 14 FACEBOOK.COM/CPT.IK | SULEIMANI, IRAQI-KURDISTAN| [email protected] 13 WORLD MAP
IRAQI-KURDISTAN • bombs, continued from page 13 centrality of breaking bread within my people. own Christian tradition. Whether at the As we make our way into the altar for Communion or at table with mountainous areas, we stop at the village friends, there is for me something of Zargali, which has now been completely undeniably transcendent about sharing a abandoned. Some residents of the meal, and indeed, throughout the Gospels neighbouring villagers accompany us as we we read that Jesus is mysteriously revealed examine the ruins, including partially built whenever people sit down and break houses from which families were forced bread together. As we eat in this desolate to flee. Although there are no exact place God’s love is present, disclosed in figures, our companions tell us that our common humanity and our shared roughly 100 people once lived in this now hopes. Our picnic might be incidental, but desolate area. it is nonetheless a small act of resistance The most recent attack, on August 1st to the violence around us. this year, leveled one mosque and six Later on, we are welcomed into the homes, and claimed the lives of eight people. The one thing making it real for Although some villagers me is the depth of sadness in Ali’s are slowly beginning to return to tend their eyes, which in some ways tells the story crops, this is likely to be far more than the factual details. When a long process of I ask why he thinks Turkey launched reconstruction and these attacks, his response is resettlement. merely this: “We are Kurds.” Upon joining us, one of our companions said simply “This is life here.” They tell us that home of a large family who lost five of when the bombings occur, they happen their own in the course of two recent during the night while villagers sleep. It is bombings. We listen to one of the young difficult to predict if bombing will happen men, Ali (not his real name) recount the on any particular night. The sheer story of losing his grandmother, uncle, and unpredictability of these attacks two cousins. One of the children in the compounds the villagers’ anxieties and family was also killed. casts them under an omnipresent threat The one thing making it real for me is the of death. depth of sadness in Ali’s eyes, which in Before leaving Zargali we pause to have some ways tells the story far more than lunch, for which we set up a picnic outside the factual details. When I ask why he one of the houses. A couple of our thinks Turkey launched these attacks, his Kurdish accompanists tell us uneasily that response is merely this: “We are Kurds.” bombings are more likely to happen after From the beginning of this journey, the 3pm, though we eventually decide that we significance for me of being here has are as safe here as we are in any other involved encountering the people affected part of the region. “We all signed a by violence, to actually meet the human statement accepting the risks of being faces of conflict rather than read about here,” I joke, provoking some much- impersonal statistics from the comforting needed laughter. illusion of distance. Though our receiving Part of our meal, as is commonly the of these stories is always connected to a case in most meals in the Middle East, sombre mood of helplessness, that feeling involves breaking bread to share amongst is itself an important sharing in, and ourselves. Although we are a mixed group solidarity with, the experiences of these of Christians, Muslims, and non-religious, I human lives. Those of us who visit them can’t help but be reminded of the • bombs, page 15 14 FACEBOOK.COM/CPT.IK | SULEIMANI, IRAQI-KURDISTAN| [email protected] WORLD MAP
IRAQI-KURDISTAN • bombs, continued from, 14 feel but a small part of that grief and helplessness for only a short time, whereas these families and communities live with the entirety of that feeling throughout the course of their everyday lives. Earlier in the day, as we walked through Zargali, one of the local men from a surrounding village approached me with the common greeting of friendship, “As- salaamu-alaikum,” Peace be upon you. As we spoke, I introduced myself and Cutural heritage of the indigenous people of explained that I’m from Manchester, UK, Kurdistan. at which his eyes lit up. “I lived in Manchester for ten years!” he neighbour! exclaims, and he tells me that although he The tired adage rings deafeningly true, it has recently returned home, he lived and is indeed a small world. Behind the adage, worked in Rusholme, mere minutes away an even deeper truth reveals itself: war from where I used to live myself only a and violence for many of us seem like they few years ago. Yusuf (not his real name) are a world away, and disconnected from worked at a restaurant in the famous our lives. Though many of us feel far Curry Mile, then spent another period removed from the complexities of conflict employed at a local car wash I still and its tragic effects, may we continue to regularly pass when I take the bus into the recognise the human faces for whom they city centre. It astonishes me that in the are a reality. They may be nearer to us Kurdish mountains of Iraq I would meet than we might first believe. someone who was quite literally a They may well be our neighbors.
• peace profile, continued from page 3 welcomed even as my government was is one of your favorite memories from a complicit in their struggles, just served as a CPT delegation you’ve been on? reminder of how much I have to learn about TW: My favorite thing about being the grace. Delegations Coordinator is getting to JY: As Interim Care Coordinator, what is hear about delegate’s experiences when one of your favorite ways to take care of they first return home from their delegation. yourself or one of your favorite fun activities As far as my own delegation experiences, I in your off hours? remember on my first delegation to TW: As anyone who has spoken to me in Colombia, we visited the community of the last few years knows, my favorite thing Nueva Esperanza, which is on the Magdalena to do in my free time is to ride my bike. I river. You have to take a chalupa boat to get really love riding along the Lake Shore path there and walk a little. Our delegation was in Chicago because there are no cars and meeting with the community there and I you get beautiful views of the city and lake. was so overwhelmed by the hospitality that It is also a great way to take in the diversity was shown. People brought out beautiful of the city as almost everyone uses the path trays of fruits and several community on the weekends. I also like to volunteer at member had taken the boat to another Working Bikes and work to fix up donated town across the river to buy soda and ice bikes that then go to communities both in for our meeting. When hearing about all the Chicago and around the world that can trials that the community had been through benefit from having a bicycles. I like learning and how they still took the time to be about all the different parts it takes to present with us and make us feel so make a bicycle work well. FACEBOOK.COM/CPT.IK | SULEIMANI, IRAQI-KURDISTAN| [email protected] 15 CPTers seeksafety. inLesboshelpingrefugees particularly Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Kurdistan. Kurdistan. and Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, particularly East, Middle the occurring are that wars proxy the end to need the highlighting campaigns educational and advocacy as well as refugees the of needs humanitarian the for remedies offer to agencies partner with truncheons. their with people hitting stop to officers the told and intervened actively CPTers times Several violence. coastguard and police from refugees to presence aprotective providing to Athens in places unsafe and safe on information providing to etc, Farsi in developed, team the leaflets out from handing safety person’s seeking with roles collaborative of variety a in served workers field CPT Lesbos. of Island Greek CPT inLesbos FOR THE FULL REPORT: BIT.LY/CPT_LESBOS FULL THE FOR discourse political pro-active in engaged also CPT the on presence have active to an continues CPT [email protected] Fax: +1-773-376-0549 Tel: +1-773-376-0550 Chicago, Illinois60680 USA: P.O. Box 6508 the results ofwar [email protected]@cpt.org CPT EUROPE • Presbyterian Peace Fellowship • Congregation ofSt.Basil(theBasilians) • Baptist Peace Fellowship America ofNorth • Mennonite Church USA • Mennonite Church Canada • FriendsUnited Meeting • Church ofthe Brethren Peace /OnEarth SPONSORS
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