PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Mar. 31, 2011

Pray for the villagers of Amniyr in the hills south of Hebron, Palestine. The Israeli army has destroyed their homes, cisterns, and olive grove for the second time in five weeks even though the village is on private Palestinian land.

Doug Pritchard

Christian Peacemaker Teams

Toronto, Canada

Generally, I thought Obama's speech to the nation was well written, and he made a relatively compelling case for 'just' war in Libya (even though I personally don't believe that terminology to be very helpful).  You can come to your own conclusions about the military intervention.  I, personally, have friends on both the interventionism and anti-interventionism side of the issue.

Lenten greetings from CPT Colombia.  As we enter this season approaching the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, we want to make sure you are aware of two special opportunities for your faith community in the coming weeks.  

Days of Prayer and Action for Colombia      

Palm Sunday Materials

 CPT-Colombia works closely with the Latin American Working Group (LAWG) and encourages its supporters to sign the following LAWG petition.

 Momentum is building fast in Washington to approve the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia.    

 We cannot let this unfair agreement move forward.  President Obama must not consider it until there are major improvements in human rights and labor conditions in Colombia.   

The Israeli military demolished the village of Amniyr early on March 28 for the second time, destroying seven tent dwellings and a sheep pen.  (Read account of previous demolition.)

March 16 was the anniversary of Saddam Hussein ordering the chemical bombing of Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan, which killed more than 5000 people.

Kaka A. was the driver for our CPT delegation last year.  We had gradually become like an extension of his family.  So, when we visited Halabja, his home, he would not accept payment for that portion of our journey together.  While we were there, visiting the Halabja memorial to the thousands of people who died in the 1988 chemical attack, Kaka A. shared his story with us.

The people of Las Pavas are a sustainable farming community in the southern Bolivar department (province) of Colombia.  Through the years, paramilitary violence has forced community members to leave the land but each time they have returned.  In 2006, the community was in the process of claiming its land rights under Colombian law when a Daabon consortium[1] bought the land from absentee owner, who had lost his rights to the land due to years of abandonment.  On 14 July 2009, the Colombian riot police forcefully removed the community of Las Pavas.  Over a year has passed since the illegal eviction of the 123 families (more than 500 people) from the Las Pavas farm.  Unable to grow their own food, throughout this year the community has been living in a humanitarian crisis.…

On 19 February 2011, ten armed men entered the village of Buenos Aires with a known paramilitary looking for one of the community leaders, claiming to have an arrest warrant.  After further investigation, the community learned that no arrest warrants are pending, but that national police have started an investigation against three leaders of the community for the crimes of possible land invasion and clandestine meetings in preparation for the crime.  In other words, they are being investigated for the possibility that they will return to land that is rightfully theirs.

March 16 was the anniversary of Saddam Hussein ordering the chemical bombing of Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan, which killed more than 5000 people.

Kaka A. was the driver for our CPT delegation last year.  We had gradually become like an extension of his family.  So, when we visited Halabja, his home, he would not accept payment for that portion of our journey together.  While we were there, visiting the Halabja memorial to the thousands of people who died in the 1988 chemical attack, Kaka A. shared his story with us.

Dear friends of justice,

The time has come to act in support of the displaced Colombian community of Las Pavas.

After almost two years of displacement, the community has decided to take the courageous step of returning to their land within the next week.  They are asking for your support during this risky time.

Please click here to sign a petition showing your solidarity with the community of Las Pavas.  

PRAYERS FOR PEACEMAKERS, Mar. 23, 2011

Give thanks that Teofilo Acuna, president of the Agriculture and Mining Federation of South Bolivar, Colombia, has finally been cleared of the trumped up charge of rebellion for which he was arrested in 2007.

Doug Pritchard

Christian Peacemaker Teams

Toronto, Canada

On the morning of 21 March shortly after 7:00 a.m., an Israeli settler attacked and stabbed a Palestinian father of two from Tuba village near the outpost of Havat Ma'on in the South Hebron Hills.  Mahmoud Ibrahim Ali Awad, 32, was traveling by donkey from his home in Tuba to a medical appointment in the city of Yatta when a masked settler ran out of the Havat Ma'on outpost and attacked him with a knife.  A resident of At-Tuwani witnessed the assault, quickly called villagers and internationals, then interrupted the attack.  The assailant ran back into the Havat Ma'on outpost.  Villagers recognized him as a settler who was involved in a riot in the village earlier that week (see below.)  An ambulance transported Awad to Alia Hospital in Hebron, where he remains with stab wounds to his chest and right arm.

See Los Angeles Times coverage of the event: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/03/west-bank-palestin...