DOCSLIB.ORG

Interviews: Nonviolence As a Practice GEORGE LAKEY RIVERA SUN ALI ABU AWWAD Harnessing Social Media Support Nonviolence a MAGAZINE for PRACTICAL IDEALISTS

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Interviews: Nonviolence As a Practice GEORGE LAKEY RIVERA SUN ALI ABU AWWAD Harnessing Social Media Support Nonviolence a MAGAZINE for PRACTICAL IDEALISTS A MAGAZINE FOR PRACTICAL IDEALISTS Summer/Fall 2017 the training issue KAZU HAGA Interviews: nonviolence as a practice GEORGE LAKEY RIVERA SUN ALI ABU AWWAD harnessing social media Support nonviolence A MAGAZINE FOR PRACTICAL IDEALISTS Help us bring more stories about peacebuilding, person power, social justice and climate protection into the world: Become a donor or sponsorship partner. In upholding a positive image of human beings while looking deeply into the issues of our time, nonviolence fills a gap largely ignored by corporate media. With your support, we can send magazines to places that would appreciate them: high school classes, prisons, nonviolence trainings, college libraries, yoga service programs. Email us for more information about nonviolence donations and sponsorships: [email protected] Thanks in advance for the wonderful support! The print version of nonviolence is published biannually by the Metta Center for Nonviolence, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides educational resources on the safe and effective use of nonviolence, advances a higher image of humankind and empowers people to explore the question: How does nonviolence work, and how can I actively contribute to a happier, more peaceful society? To learn more, visit nonviolence.org and mettacenter.org. Courage, complemented by the knowledge of skillful nonviolence, as provided in this handbook, is a recipe for a world of peace and justice. ~ Ann Wright, Col. US Army (ret) and recipient of the US State Department Award for Heroism Support your local bookseller with your purchase of a print copy. Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide for Practical Action is also available as Amazon Audible and Kindle books. 2 nonviolence applause The Metta Center for Nonviolence, publisher of Nonviolence, thanks all the volunteers who share their love and help spread the mission of creating a nonviolent future. This issue of Nonviolence was made possible, in part, by generous support from the following people: MAJA BENGTSON TODD DIEHL ANNA IKEDA BARBARA BRIGGS-LETSON JOHN LEWIS NANDU MENON RICH MEYER MICHAEL & VICKI MILLICAN MICHAEL NAGLER TAL PALMAN LORIN PETERS JAMES PHOENIX BERT SACKS JEANINE SAPERSTEIN JIM SCHUYLER JOHN WADE SUSAN FISCHER WILHELM LOU & JILL ZWEIER nonviolence 3 featured inside Principle & Strategy Person Power & Unity 8 New Story & Training 30 A Personal Theory of Change Michael N. Nagler makes a case for familiarizing Maja Bengtson looks at the power of rewriting activists with the New Story. our personal narratives. 10 How to Use the New Story 36 Meditation: Soul of Peace The Metta Center for Nonviolence offers robust Michael N. Nagler sees meditation as the most tips on telling the New Story. effective training at our disposal. 12 Ten Lessons Learned 62 The Kung Fu of Nonviolence David Hartsough shares insights from his Kazu Haga emphasizes why (and how) lifelong experiments in nonviolence. nonviolence is first and foremost a practice. 18 Conflict Analysis & Actor Mapping Tiffany Ornelas de Tool outlines a process Photo: Ming Lai and Laura-Marie Taylor for seeing an initiative’s bigger picture. Nonviolence is not glamorous, and you don’t see the effects right away. ~ Julia Bacha 4 nonviolence Photo: Lou Zweier Interviews & Insights Scholarship & Culture 20 Q&A: Ali Abu Awwad 32 Training for the Revolution The Palestinian peace activist talks about his life Mary L. Hanna reflects on the encouraging and work with Michael N. Nagler. upswing in nonviolence trainings. 24 Answering the Skeptics 38 When You See Something: Act The Metta Center reveals how to address Rose Marie Berger explains how to be an active common objections about nonviolence. bystander when the moment arises. 40 Q&A: George Lakey 46 For Six & Under Lou Zweier picks George Lakey’s brain about Stephanie Van Hook reminds us that nonviolence training for campaign success. is not just for adults but children too. 50 Social Media for Social Change 54 Building the Movement Rivera Sun identifies ways to improve your Soneile Hymn and Stephanie Steiner round up engagement and outreach efforts. learning and dialogue resources. 58 A Look at Swaraj Peeth Trust 56 Case Study: 1000 Trainings Rajiv Vora gives us a bird-eye’s view of this Ryan Hall illustrates what went into building the Gandhian center’s work in India. Nonviolence Training Hub platform. 60 Satyagraha: A New Term Michael N. Nagler traces the history of the Poetry Sanskrit word and its relevance today. 17 Breathing For Peace Poem by Ira Batra Garde 29 @ this point Poem by James Phoenix nonviolence 5 nonviolence PUBLISHER The Metta Center for Nonviolence EDITOR & CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kimberlyn David SUMMER/FALL 2017 CONTRIBUTORS Designer Miroslava Sobot Proofreader Todd Diehl Writers Maja Bengtson Rose Marie Berger Kazu Haga Ryan Hall Mary L. Hanna David Hartsough Soneile Hymn Michael N. Nagler Tiffany Ornelas de Tool Stephanie Steiner Rivera Sun Stephanie Van Hook Rajiv Vora Lou Zweier Poets Ira Batra Garde James Phoenix Photographer Lou Zweier HOW TO REACH US MAILING ADDRESS The Metta Center for Nonviolence PO Box 98, Petaluma, CA, 94953 PHONE NUMBER 707-774-6299 WEBSITE www.mettacenter.org All contributors maintain the rights to their work as they choose, though the publisher generally uses Creative Commons licensing (CC BY-NC-ND). Please request permission to reproduce any part of Nonviolence, in whole or part. For info about permissions, advertising or submissions, email the editor: [email protected]. 6 nonviolence editor’s letter Nonviolence is power, but it is the right and good use of power. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. Photo: channing.wu, via Flickr Nonviolence is not The road ahead is paved with opportunities to create the kinds a solo adventure, of changes needed to build a sane and just world—if we’re yet for it to succeed, adequately prepared to meet and overcome the challenges. Since each of us must be Brexit and the 2016 elections in the United States, we’ve seen a practicing it. horrifying rise in xenophobia, racism and international tensions. At the same time, the demand for nonviolence trainings has never been higher. We therefore turn our spotlight on training for this issue, drawing from a wide range of expertise and scholarship in the field of nonviolence. You’ll likely recognize some of the notable voices featured throughout these pages, from Kazu Haga and Mary L. Hanna to David Hartsough and George Lakey. Understanding how to tell the right story about nonviolence trainings—and how to illustrate their importance in effective activism—is invaluable. Digital forms of communication offer us easy, and often free, ways to spread the word. Rivera Sun’s “Social Media for Social Change” provides plenty of sound tips on engaging, informing and inspiring people through platforms like Facebook and Twitter. On a related note, Ryan Hall’s “Case Study: 1000 Trainings” discusses a purposeful web-based tool for posting and learning about nonviolence trainings. “To practice nonviolence, first of all we must learn to deal peacefully with ourselves,” as famed Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh has said. Maja Bengtson’s “A Theory of Personal Change” offers one prescription for doing that. Do you lead nonviolence trainings, or have you participated in a life-changing one? We’re eager to share stories about training experiences/results at nonviolencemag.org. Email your stories to: [email protected]. KIMBERLYN DAVID Editor & Creative Director nonviolence 7 Principle & Strategy Where the New Story Meets Training by MICHAEL N. NAGLER Two things are necessary to build and sustain an New Story Training unstoppable movement: training and strategic requires very little planning. Training is busting out all over. People like myself who have been in the peace movement for a organization. lifetime have never seen anything like this outpouring. Strategy is another matter, and it will be the subject of a future issue of Nonviolence. activism” to how to organize a movement (Bill Moyer), What is nonviolence training? Many things; yet I will conduct meetings (Nonviolent Communication) and argue that we need to include at least one more aspect. prepare for jail (Ruckus Society), the vast majority of the trainings springing up today concentrate on the The classic, iconic type of training developed in the moment of interaction between oneself as activist and United States was what Rev. Jim Lawson offered to some kind of pushback. One example in this regard participants in the varied actions of the Civil Rights is how to intervene to protect someone from some movement. Many of us will have seen those grainy kind of attack, either by an irate person emboldened black-and-white videos of Lawson working with activists by the US president or US Immigration and Customs in church basements somewhere in the South. The Enforcement. These are real, needed skills that help us main techniques were, and still are, role-plays, in deal with the very conflicts we’re facing. The more of which some participants played the part of abusive this the better. segregationists while others practiced techniques of defusing their aggression without giving in. A special At the same time, I see room for an added dimension type was called “hassle lines,” where participants form that would enable us to not only deal more skillfully two parallel lines of equal number (and sometimes with the conflict at hand but turn it into an opportunity a third to be observers) and then play out how they to advance the revolution. I call it New Story Training. would respond in some typical conflict situations. Here It requires very little organization. is one set of role-plays recommended by the venerable As a civilization, we are in the throes of a paradigm shift War Resisters International (note the last role, which from what’s called the “Old Story” (OS) of materialism is particularly pertinent for the kind of conflict and separateness to a “New Story” (NS) of spirituality demonstrators are facing right now, and which, in my and “interbeing,” to use the wonderful term coined by view, we must find a solution for if we are to continue): Thich Nhat Hahn.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Palestinian Dilemma
    EVALUATING PEACE EDUCATION IN THE OSLO/INTIFADA GENERATION: AN IMPACT STUDY OF SEEDS OF PEACE 1993-2010 BY Ned Lazarus ABSTRACT Since 1993, several thousand Israeli and Palestinian youth have participated in 12 summer “coexistence” programs in North America. The programs espouse a common theory of change: that an experience of dialogue in an idyllic American setting will inspire youth to return to the Middle East as aspiring peacemakers. This dissertation provides the first large-scale, long-term empirical assessment of that theory, by tracking the peacebuilding activity of all 824 Israeli and Palestinian graduates of SOP's first decade of operation (1993- 2003), and complementing this with qualitative research on more than 100 adult graduates (ages 21-30). The longitudinal framework assesses fluctuations in activity over time, highlighting the influence of changing personal, organizational, and political contexts. Key findings include that more than half of alumni engaged in peacebuilding during high school; that compulsory Israeli military service discouraged activity among both Israeli and Palestinian graduates; that nearly one-fifth of alumni engaged in peacebuilding as adults; and that extensive follow-up programming was essential for sustaining long-term commitments to peacebuilding. The study concludes that the international intervention structure embeds an effective educational model in a problematic organizational model. While providing an unprecedented evaluation of a popular peace education approach, this study tells the stories of a pivotal generation: Palestinians and Israelis who entered adolescence at the hopeful dawn of the Oslo peace process, to emerge as adults in an era of intifada and “separation.” 1 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation is the culmination of a journey of eight years of practice, and seven years of research, study and writing.
    [Show full text]
  • Facilitators' Manual
    Israel/Palestine: Is There a Samaritan on the Road? Facilitators’ Manual This booklet describes a four-session course offered at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Washington, D.C., November-December, 2010. It has been published as an aid to parishes developing their own courses on the subject. The manual and all its appendices can be found on the St. Mark’s web site. For its encouragement of this project, the authors wish to thank the Companion Diocese Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. Acknowledgments As the team that planned and implemented the course, we are deeply grateful for the encouragement and assistance that we received from the following people: • The clergy and wardens of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, who supported the establishment of the Mid- East Working Group in 2009 and encouraged the array of educational events we undertook in our first two years. • Our Working Group colleagues, who offered helpful advice and assisted in many ways. • The lay leaders of St. Mark’s Christian Education Program who supported our proposal for this unique course and gave us much wise guidance as we shaped it. • The guest presenters who gave generously of their time and insights. • The 34 members of the congregation who enthusiastically participated in the course and gave us constructive evaluations of it. • Business Research Services, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, for donating its services to publish the manual. • The Companion Diocese Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington for sponsoring the distribution of the manual. Whatever use you make of the manual and appendices, may they help you and those you reach respond faithfully to work for peace, justice, and reconciliation in the Holy Land.
    [Show full text]
  • Dig Deep CBA 2
    Palestine-Israel: The Effects of Occupation CBA Lesson Packet CBA TOPIC: Dig Deep LEVEL: Middle/High School AUTHORED BY: Anna Simonton, The Evergreen State College ADAPTED BY: Linda Bevis, Palestine Information Project This document is intended to assist teachers who are implementing the Dig Deep CBA for high school students, but may be useful to anyone teaching about current world issues, international relations and related fields. WASHINGTON STATE CLASSROOM BASED ASSESSMENT: DIG DEEP The Dig Deep CBA states that, “a responsible citizen can use historical thinking to develop thoughtful participation in a democratic society. To develop your thinking skills you will develop and support a thesis on an historical question based on your analysis of primary and historical narratives.” What does the CBA require students to do? 1) Develop a historical question. 2) State a position on the question that outlines reasons in support of the position. 3) Support the position with evidence drawing on multiple social science perspectives* that includes primary and secondary resources. 4) State why studying the historical question helps in understanding current issues and events. 5) Prepare a presentation/paper explaining the position and the supporting evidence. * The social science perspectives are: geographic, cultural, political, economic, sociological, and psychological. Please see the following OSPI website for more information: http://www.k12.wa.us/ SocialStudies/Assessments/HighSchool/HSHistory-DigDeep-CBA.pdf The graphic organizer and scoring rubric for this CBA are available at the OSPI website. 1 OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this activity, students will be able to: 1) Explain how historical events have created or affected the current Palestinian- Israeli conflict.
    [Show full text]
  • Newsletter As of 7-11.Pub
    SUMMER 2014 Thank You, Summer Interns! Kelsey Howard will be starting her Ryan Murphy is a rising junior sophomore year at Mount Saint at Xavier University, majoring Joseph University in the fall major- in Business, and is the co- ing in Social Work and Criminology with minors in Socio-Psychology as president of Boyz II Men Men- well as Leadership and Civil En- toring and Tutoring Program. gagement. While in school she He is interning at IJPC this plans on joining AmeriCorps Sum- summer through Xavier’s mer Associates Program and joining AmeriCorps Summer Service Internship VISTA upon graduating. She began interning at IJPC as part of MSJ’s summer employment pro- Program. He has been focus- gram and works with Nathan Ruggles on Peace ing on IJPC’s Immigration Program this sum- and Nonviolence focusing on the Dialogue Pro- mer, particularly working to compile college gram. Though Kelsey has only been with IJPC a application information for DACA students in short amount of time it has made a large impact Cincinnati. on her life views and she hopes to continue Inside this issue… working with IJPC in the future! Flying Pig 2014 = SUCCESS! Thank You, Summer Interns. …. You may have already heard the news, but we are so excited 1 we just have to share it again; IJPC not only reached, but surpassed Flying Pig 2014 Success!. 1 our $10,000 Flying Pig fundraising goal! We’d like to take this moment to publish a great big THANK YOU to all of our participants, sponsors Letter from Sr. Alice.
    [Show full text]
  • Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping
    Nr. 52 September 2016 ISSN 1439-2011 Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping: Effectively Protecting Civilians Without Threat of Violence Ellen Furnari, Rachel Julian and Christine Schweitzer Herausgeber: Bund für Soziale Verteidigung e.V. Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping: Effectively Protecting Civilians Without Threat of Violence By Ellen Furnari, Rachel Julian and Christine Schweitzer Editor: Bund für Soziale Verteidigung Schwarzer Weg 8 32423 Minden Hintergrund- und Diskussionspapier No 52 September 2016 ISSN 1439-2011 3,- Euro Photo on page 1: Dialogue ending communal violence in South Sudan 2011, facilitated by Nonviolent Peaceforce. Photo: Christine Schweitzer 2 Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................ 4 Terminology ................................................................................................................ 5 What is Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping? ..................................................................... 6 Who are the Unarmed Civilian Peacekeepers? .............................................................. 8 How Does It Work? ..................................................................................................... 9 Example 1: Colombia ............................................................................................ 10 Example 2: South Sudan ........................................................................................ 11 Example 3 Kosovo Verification Mission ..................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Summer 2015 Edition of the Peace Current
    The National Catholic Peace Movement Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2015 t by Rev. John Rausch, glmy, Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace en Pax Christi USA r Jeremiah 33:14-16 | 1 Thessalonians 3:12–4:2 | Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 r Summer 2015 u C e “But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads, because your redemption is at hand.” (Lk 21:28) c Pea Advent allows a step back from our preoccupation with economic worries and the cares of the world. It raises our eyes to The see the new liturgical year as the hopeful dawn of salvation that will ultimately reach completion with our participation. Fear Letter from the Executive Director about the “end of the world” gets replaced by excitement about the fullness of God’s Reign. Your “ransom,” “liberation,” and “redemption” are at hand! Dear Companions on the Journey, “wherever two or three of you Fear sells newspapers and grabs our attention with every news broadcast. Terrorists might attack, hackers may control the eace and blessings. are gathered Internet, a gallon of gas may double in price! Shrill talking heads on TV and radio constantly inflate every troublesome situa- On June 18, 2015, two together in My tion into catastrophic tragedy. The gullible get scared. People of faith, by contrast, click the “off” button. seemingly paradoxical events For faithful disciples, the right agenda drives out fear. We know concerns like immigration, poverty, torture, capital punish- P Name, there am occurred: 1) the publication of Pope I in the midst of them” (Matthew 8:20).
    [Show full text]
  • PEC-Newsletter Summer 2021
    SUMMER 2021 Ma$$ive mon$oon $ea$on for military $pending PEC Board of Directors Becky Payne · CO-CHAIR By Terry Link Nelson Brown · CO-CHAIR Jim Detjen · SECRETARY We are entering the season of wrestling over the federal budget and nowhere are the John Masterson · TREASURER vested interests more active than in the military spending sector. It makes up half of PEC Board all non-discretionary federal spending. Various committees and subcommittees in Terry Link both houses of Congress are having hearings with generals and admirals and Pentagon Paul Brun Del Re lobbyists trying to sell their new toy list. The vast majority of the public remains ignorant Petra Daher Nate Jemison of these skirmishes. Individual members of Congress, besides accommodating visits Thasin Sardar from the lobbyists, are trying to determine which new gizmos will bring home the bacon John Metzler to their district or state. These proponents of additional funding cloak themselves in the PEC Office Coordinator mantra of rising fears – not of climate change or increasing inequality or gun violence, Samantha Dillon but of the old recycled boogeymen of Russia and China, sometimes including the evil twins of Iran and North Korea. (www.pogo.org/analysis/2021/06/inflating-china-threat- PEC Work Groups to-balloon-pentagon-budget) Media Activism Research and Study Group Sponsoring Organizations Edgewood United Church of Christ Spirit of Peace Church of the Brethren Red Cedar Friends Meeting University United Methodist Church Islamic Center of Greater Lansing Mennonite Fellowship Affiliated Organizations Greater Lansing Network Against War & Injustice Meta Peace Team Greater Lansing United Nations Association Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence Peace Notes Editorial Board: Between June 21 and June 25 there were at least seven different Congressional hearings Samantha Dillon, Editor related to defense spending.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume 7, Issue 3 December 2014
    Volume 7, Issue 3 December 2014 Peace Studies Journal ISSN: 2151-0806 Vol. 7, Issue 3 December 2014 ______________________________________________________________________________ Guest Editors: Dr. Laura Finley Peace and Justice Studies Association and Dr. David Ragland Peace and Justice Studies Association Special Issue: Courageous Peace: Exploring Innovative, Diverse, and Inclusive Efforts in Peace, Social Justice and Conflict Studies ______________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents ARTICLES Introduction Laura Finley and David Ragland………………………………………………………………….3 In Keeping with the Teaching of Scripture”: Jimmy Carter, Religious Faith, and the Search for Peace in the Middle East. D. Jason Berggren…………………………………………………………………………………6 Transforming Cultures, Growing Substantive Peace: Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis and a Green Peace Christopher Hrynkow…………………………………………………………………………….25 Target the 90 Percenters: Comedian Todd Glass’s Social Justice Crusade Ruth Tallman…………………………………………………………………………………….39 Shifting Practices of Peace: What is the Current State of Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping? Randy Janzen…………………………………………………………………………………….46 Volume 7, Issue 3, December 2014 Page 1 Peace Studies Journal ISSN: 2151-0806 Talking to Cartels? The Catholic Church’s Response to Drug War Violence in Acapulco Julie Ethan……………………………………………………………………………………….61 Dictatorship Declassified: Latin America’s “Archives of Terror” and the Labors of Memory Betsy Konefal and Silvia R. Tandeciarz…………………………………………………………75 “Whose
    [Show full text]
  • Shifting Practices of Peace: What Is the Current State of Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping?
    Shifting Practices of Peace: What is the current state of Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping? Randy Janzen, PhD Mir Centre for Peace Selkirk College Castlegar, BC, Canada V1N 4L3 [email protected] Abstract Shifting Practices of Peace: What is the current state of Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping? Unarmed civilian peacekeeping (UCP) has grown in recognition and practice in the past several decades. Evidence suggests that UCP is as effective as traditional military peacekeeping operations, but is more cost-effective and more likely to assist local civil society organizations to build long lasting peace. However, a comprehensive account of the state of UCP, including location, organizations, activities, training and risks remains elusive. This paper offers a description and analysis of unarmed civilian peacekeeping activities from 1990 to the present, by gathering information from the literature, organizational websites and from a survey sent to organizations. Notable findings include: UCP has grown significantly since 1990, as evidenced by widening geographical presence and growth of UCP organizations. Additionally, while there have been injuries and fatalities, the rate is lower than for traditional military peacekeeping. Finally, information regarding training, principles and activities prompts reflections on issues such as appropriate and best practices, challenges in defining UCP, and the implications of core values. Shifting Practices of Peace: What is the current state of Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping? Introduction Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping (UCP) is a concept that has grown in theory and practice over the past several decades. Perhaps known best by the activity of providing protective accompaniment to civilians in situations of potential violence, UCP has evolved from several small organizations to a large array of groups that implement a wide spectrum of sophisticated and evidence-based activities with international influence.
    [Show full text]
  • ISRAELIS and PALESTINIANS in DIALOGUE Hanan Schlesinger and Ali Abu Awwad
    ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS IN DIALOGUE Hanan Schlesinger and Ali Abu Awwad: “Seeing the Humanity in Your Enemy” Thursday, April 7, 2016 at 7:30 pm in Macmillan 117 Hanan Schlesinger is an Orthodox rabbi and a resident of the West Bank. He serves as the Director of International Relations of Roots/Shorashim/Judur, a local Israeli Palestinian initiative for understanding, nonviolence, and transformation. Ali Abu Awwad is a leading Palestinian activist and Co-Director of Roots/Shorashim, Judur. He teaches his fellow Palestinians non-violent resistance and reaches out to Jewish Israelis at the heart of the conflict. He tours the world to tell his riveting story of the personal impact of violence, imprisonment, bereavement, and discovery of the path of non-violent resistance. Roots/Shorashim/Judur is an initiative led by a joint Palestinian and Israeli committee based in the West Bank. The initiative works within the communities at the heart of the conflict shifting hatred and suspicion towards trust, empathy, and mutual support. Through their projects and workshops they endeavor to lay the groundwork for a reality in which future agreements between Israelis and Palestinians can be built. In just two years of rapid growth their work has reached nearly 10,000 people. http://www.friendsofroots.net/index.html Sami Adwan and Shifra Sagy: “The Search for Mutual Understanding” Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 7:30 pm in Smith-Buonanno 106 Professor Sami Adwan has served on the faculty of Bethlehem University. He is the Director of Peace Research Institute in the Middle East (PRIME), which has pioneered an educational model that enables both Palestinian and Israeli educators to create school history curricula that include both historical narratives in a single textbook http://www.vispo.com/PRIME/.
    [Show full text]
  • Statement of the Peace Education Center Calling on the United States
    Statement of The Peace Education Center calling on the United States to adopt an evenhanded approach to support a settlement of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians As the world watches in horror as casualties and destruction mount daily in Israel, on the West Bank and 1120 S. Harrison in Gaza, the time has come for the United States East Lansing, Michigan 48823 517.515.5634 government to confront the fundamental causes of the [email protected] www.peaceedcenter.org violence that have plagued Palestine since the creation of Israel in 1948 and since the occupation of the West PEC BOARD OF DIRECTORS Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1967. The current spate of Becky Payne and Terry Link (Co-chairs) Jim Detjen (Secretary) violence between Palestinians and Israelis highlights the John Masterson (Treasurer) Nelson Brown failure of Israel -- with the tacit and sometimes open Paul Brun Del Re Petra Daher approval of the United States -- to seriously negotiate Nate Jemison Kathie Kuhn with Palestinians by accepting their right to territorial John Metzler Thasin Sardar integrity and national identity. Nola Warner Under both Democratic and Republican leadership, the SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS Edgewood United Church of Christ United States has turned a blind eye to Israel’s Islamic Center of East Lansing Spirit if Life Church of the Brethren suppression of Palestinian cries for justice, whether Mennonite Fellowship Red Cedar Friends Meeting University United Methodist Church peaceful or violent, by supplying it with an endless array of military weapons; by acceding to domestic pressure to AFFLIATED ORGANIZATIONS support Israel no matter whatever violent measures it Greater Lansing Network Against War & Injustice Greater Lansing United Nations Association commits against Palestinians; by supporting peace plans Meta Peace Team Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence that give Israel everything and the Palestinians hardly even token relief; and, by shielding Israel from world pressure at international forums, like the United Nations.
    [Show full text]
  • Board Minutes 5-20-14
    FILE: DOCID Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom United States Section Minutes of Board Meeting May 20, 2014 Facilitator: Mary Hanson Harrison Note Taker: Deb Holley Time Keeper: LaShawndra Vernon Board Members in Attendance: Altaira Hatton, Barbara Nielsen, Deb Garretson, Deb Holley, LaShawndra Vernon, Laura Roskos, Mary Hanson Harrison, Millee Livingston, Nicole Scott, Odile Hugonot Haber; both Sara Tess Newmann and Peggy Luhrs joined the call later Staff in Attendance: Ria Kulenovic, Director of Operations Board Members Not in Attendance: None Operating the new switchboard console: Ellen Schwartz, assisted by Darien De Lu, operated the new switchboard system. The first fifteen minutes were spent identifying all board members’ telephone numbers and going over the specifics of the system. Everyone’s ability to “raise their hand” was also tested. Meeting called to order: The meeting was called to order at 7:47 CDT by Mary Hanson Harrison, President. Expression of care and concern offered to Ria: Mary first offered her thoughts and prayers to Ria Kulenovic, saying she hoped Ria’s family was safe and secure from the flooding going on in her home country of Bosnia. Summarizing the agenda: Mary then quickly summarized the items on the agenda prior to beginning discussion. She listed two changes: number 4 should be a Director of Operations report, not the Treasurer’s report, and number 6 would be presented by Darien De Lu, not Barbara Nielsen. Approval of the minutes and related questions: The approval of the minutes followed. Laura Roskos had two questions: Referring to the “List of Action Items” at the end of the minutes, she wanted to know the status of numbers 1, 3, 5, and 6 on the list.
    [Show full text]