Christian Peacemaker Teams

Mar 14 2007

WE WILL RETURN to Congressman Emanuel’s office on Monday, March 19 at 3:00pm. Over the past week, congress has been playing politics with the supplemental spending bill, still in the Appropriations Committee and expected to hit the House floor the week of March 19th.

For a recap of past visits to Congressman Emanuel’s Chicago office and more about the upcoming visit:

March 9 2007

Tom Fox at the Syrian border

One year ago, friend and colleague of Voices, Tom Fox was confirmed dead in a Baghdad neighborhood. On November 26th, 2005, Fox and three colleagues - Jim Loney, Harmeet Sooden and Norman Kember - were abducted in Baghdad. It was sometimes difficult during that time to work with the same spirit as Tom and to be as ceaseless as he was in working with and for the people of Iraq and Palestine. Tom accompanied refugees, documented detainee abuses, and advocated for the human rights of all. What has Tom Fox left for us all? Milan Rai says it best in a “Poem for Tom”:

Where there is courage
Tom Fox lives
Where there is strength
Tom Fox lives

Where there is compassion
Tom Fox lives
Where there is faith
Tom Fox lives

In millions of fiery hearts
Tom Fox lives
In the prisons of Iraq
Tom Fox lives

What did Tom work towards, why did Tom work so ceaselessly, and how did he not give in to despair? As it is, Tom wrote quite a bit in the time he spent in Iraq, and it is probably best to let him answer these questions.

For the Sake of Our Children

By Tom Fox
June 21 2005

A colleague and I walked to a shop to pick up an order. The shop owner told us how very depressed she is regarding the ongoing security and infrastructure crisis in Iraq. She feels, as do many Iraqis, that things are getting worse not better. She said she is beginning to feel as if her life has no meaning beyond working nine hours a day, six days a week. A co-worker did not dispute her assessment of the situation but made an impassioned plea never to give up hope for a better future. And even more importantly to never stop working to help bring that better future to come to pass. The co-worker concluded by saying, “Things probably won’t get better in my lifetime but I will keep working to make things better for the sake of our children.”

Our apartment is across the street from a park. Many evenings around the time we are gathering for supper a mother and her three children walk by our living room window. The western sun illuminates her face and the faces of her young children. I don’t know her but in a way I feel I do. She looks tired. So many, many people here in Iraq are so very tired. She looks a bit fearful. Will today be the day when the insurgents set off a car bomb near the park? Will today be the day when the young men of the Iraqi National Guard, riding like cowboys in the back of their pickup trucks, get trigger happy and start shooting with her and her children in the line of fire? Yet day after day I see her taking her children to the park. Underneath the fatigue and the fear I can sense the hope and the courage in her heart. It reflects on her children as does the setting sun reflect on the nearby Tigris River. She gives me courage to face the overwhelming difficulties of life in this broken land. She is living in the present moment fully aware of the dangers and uncertainties and yet she has not given up hope, she has not given in to despair, she has not let herself be driven into hiding by men with guns and bombs. She is my teacher. She teaches me how to live fully conscious of the horrors of today and still be able to envision a future of promise, peace and plenty. I would pray that we all live each day, no matter where we are, “for the sake of our children.”

For more about Tom Fox see the Christian Peacemaker Teams website

Joel Gulledge, co-coordinator with Voices for Creative Nonviolence, is currently a member of a Christian Peacemaker Teams delegation in At-Tuwani, Palestine. Joel recently sent us updates of his experiences of the last week, a well as a press release.

Sept 19, 2006 Joel Gulledge
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT)
Occupied Palestinian Territories
At-Tuwani,South Hebron Hills:

12 Sept 2006

It can be surreal here in Tuwani, to be watching a shepherd boy tend to his flock, and then see an armoured humvee pull up.

I am sitting here holding in my hands, metal spikes that were used today by Israeli settlers to sabatoge a truck carrying water (supplied by international aid organization Oxfam) to nearby Palestinian village Susiya. This entire area has been affected by serious drought, and the water brought by Oxfam is a necessity.

Dozens of spikes were placed across the road before the time of the water truck’s regularly scheduled arrival. The truck was disabled, three tires punctured. One, two, three. After a delay, the driver was able to deliver the water.

Editors, Electronic Iraq, 23 March 2006

Three Christian Peacemaker Teams hostages held for nearly four months in Baghdad were freed today by a multinational force. All reports indicate that no shots were fired and none of the captors were present at the time of the raid, reportedly led by British troops. Briton Norman Kember, 74 and Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32 were found inside a house in western Baghdad with their hands tied. They were taken to the British Embassy inside the fortified “Green Zone.”

Christian Peacemaker Teams Statement
23 March 2006

Our hearts are filled with joy today as we heard that Harmeet Singh Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember have been safely released in Baghdad. Christian Peacemaker Teams rejoices with their families and friends at the expectation of their return to their loved ones and community. Together we have endured uncertainty, hope, fear, grief and now joy during the four months since they were abducted in Baghdad.

We rejoice in the return of Harmeet Sooden. He has been willing to put his life on the line to promote justice in Iraq and Palestine as a young man newly committed to active peacemaking.

March 10, 2006

“Through these days of crisis, Christian Peacemaker Teams has been surrounded and upheld by a great outpouring of compassion: messages of support… At the forefront of that support are strong and courageous actions from Muslim brothers and sisters throughout the world for which we are profoundly grateful. Their graciousness inspires us to continue working for the day when Christians speak up as boldly for the human rights of thousands Iraqis still detained illegally by the United States and United Kingdom. Such an outpouring of action for justice and peace would be a fitting memorial for Tom.

Editors, Electronic Iraq, 11 March 2006

Tom Fox, age 54, lived in Clearbrook, Virginia and was a dedicated father of two children. For the past two years, Mr. Fox worked with CPT in partnership with Iraqi human rights organizations to promote peace. Mr. Fox was a practicing Quaker for 22 years. While in Iraq, he sought a more complete understanding of Islamic cultural richness and was committed to telling the truth to U.S. citizens about the horrors of war and its effects on ordinary Iraqi civilians and families as a result of U.S. policies and practices. Mr. Fox was an accomplished musician who played the bass clarinet and the recorder and he loved to cook. He also worked as a professional grocer. Mr. Fox devoted much of his time to working with children. He served as an adult leader of youth programs and worked at a Quaker camp for youth. He facilitated young people’s participation in opposing war and violence. Mr. Fox was a quiet and peaceful man, respectful of everyone, who believed that "there is that of God in every person" which is why work for peace was so important to him.

March 10th, 2005, after more than three months as a hostage in Iraq, his body was found by police in a Baghdad neighborhood.

December 30, 2005

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) invites supporters around the world to help “Shine the Light” on torture, hostage-taking and abuse of detainees in an ongoing effort to expose the shadowy scourge of war and end the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Beginning January 15 - the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - through January 29, 2006, CPT will carry out a series of dramatic processions in Washington, DC starting at key institutions which bear responsibility for war-making and ending with a brief prayer service at the White House. Each day, candle-carrying participants will walk in prayerful silence guided by a torchbearer shining the light on a hooded detainee who symbolically represents all persons held captive by war and occupation.

By Maxine Nash Christian Peacemaker Teams December 27, 2005

It’s now been a month since my friends were taken in Baghdad. We have no news, but we aren’t taking that as a bad sign. In fact, sometimes that’s a good sign. It means that those who have my friends may be thinking carefully about what to do. I’d rather they think carefully and make the right decision than rush into a bad one.

December 8, 2005

Voices for Creative Nonviolence is helping with updates about the four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams who went missing in Iraq on November 26th. The updates can be found on Electronic Iraq.

Highlight: Not Even to Save Our Lives, Mike Ferner, Electronic Iraq (8 December 2005)

Highlight: ABC News Nightline interview of Tom Fox’s daughter

Highlight: Love Your Enemies, Michelle Goldberg, Salon.com (7 December 2005)