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CYCLE of VIOLENCE Life in Palestine Deteriorates, P10 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, Har meet 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.
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