Archive - May 2009

May 30th

COLOMBIA UPDATE: April 2009

May 30th, 2009
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3 April
The Legion of Affection conducted a symbolic action in response to a violent murder/suicide committed beside a school in the Arenal neighborhood of Barrancabermeja.  The Legion invited the students and the community to participate in painting a mural to reclaim the space.  The Legion also presented a cultural dance to illustrate the renewal of life.  CPTers Sandra Milena Rincon, Jenny Dillon and Sarah Shirk accompanied the event (See photos.)

May 29th

AT-TUWANI BLOG: Running for their lives

May 29th, 2009
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A panting child arrives at our door, trying to explain what has happened.  Because of the language barrier, I struggle to gather the gist of the story.  I understand the settlers have done something to the sheep, so we grab our cameras and head out the door.  While walking, I continue to get the details of what has happened.

May 28th

IRAQ: Life in the Zharawa Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp

May 28th, 2009
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The camp nurse and several small children greeted us as we entered the IDP camp housing villagers who have left their homes because of Turkish military bombing raids and have chosen not to go back until the political situation is resolved.  She invited us into her tent supplied by the United Nation’s High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR).  A furrowed brow replaced her broad smile as she began to describe her fears for the villagers living there.

May 27th

COLOMBIA REFLECTION: The awaited time

May 27th, 2009
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Today, I received another email from one of the twelve Colombians invited to the upcoming CPT training that said, “Yes, I am ready to participate, thank you.”  These Colombians are ready to make real a long-awaited dream: expanding CPT’s perspective on peace work and training beyond white North American culture and the English language.

May 26th

Prayers for Peacemakers, Tue., May 26, 2009

May 26th, 2009
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PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Tue., May 26, 2009

Pray for Iraqi Kurds displaced by Turkish and Iranian bombing from their villages near the northeast border to a refugee camp at Zherawa. Conditions in the crowded camp are poor.

Doug Pritchard
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Toronto, Canada

AT-TUWANI URGENT ACTION: Demand that Israeli occupying forces allow At-Tuwani to bring electricity into their village

May 26th, 2009
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At-Tuwani, Palestine On Monday, 25 May 2009, members of the Israeli District Coordinating Office (DCO)—the branch of the Israeli army that administers civilian affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT)—entered the Palestinian village of At-Tuwani and ordered villagers to halt construction work on new electricity pylons.

May 25th

IRAQ REFLECTION: Some first impressions from Kurdistan

May 25th, 2009
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Having crossed the border from Turkey into Iraqi Kurdistan, we began the six-hour drive back to the team's house on the other side of the region in Suleimaniya.  Along the way, I was struck by the beauty of the mountains surrounding us and the richness of the land.  In a warring country, I noticed a steadiness to the life there.  I admired this quality as I watched people, many of them displaced from their villages, carrying their recently harvested crops.

May 23rd

COLOMBIA URGENT ACTION: Ask U.S. officials to vote against U.S./Colombia free trade agreement

May 23rd, 2009
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Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) asks for your help to stop any further negotiations and ratification of the U.S./Colombia free trade agreement (FTA)…


CPT’s direct experience in Colombia has shown team members that—contrary to what Presidents Obama and Uribe are saying—the situation in Colombia remains the same and that FTAs are bad for working people in the United States and in Colombia.

May 22nd

HEBRON: Border Police invade home near il-Ibrahimi Mosque

May 22nd, 2009
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Hebron, Palestine At 8:45 p.m. 17 May 2009, the IDF invaded the Mutahseb family home near the il-Ibrahimi Mosque in the H-2 area of Hebron. The family had created a doorway in one of their rooms to access the next apartment they rented, and the Border Police Captain said they had not asked his permission to do so. After confiscating all of the family members’ IDs, the Border Police ordered everyone together in one open space of their home. They pushed furniture around, then pulled out clothes and bedding from drawers, making general disorder throughout the house.

May 21st

COLOMBIA: Campesinos threatened with displacement by Biofuel Palm Industry

May 21st, 2009
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At the request of a peasant organization, CPTers Sarah Shirk and Stewart Vriesinga Oil Palmtravelled to Hacienda las Pavas—a 1,235 hector plot of land that a group of 123 families of campesinos (peasant farmers), has occupied and cultivated.  A representative of the Human Rights Ombudsman’s office of Rioviejo joined the CPTers.  The group travelled for over an hour on the back of motorbikes through a very large palm oil plantation.