Small Miracles
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September 3, 1996
CPT Bosnia -- As the news that municipal elections will be delayed until April or May, dashing the hopes of many that they might soon return home, there are still moments of inspiration and success. Creativity, perseverance and mutual good will can work miracles.
A Muslim former citizen of Jajce who had lived in several cities throughout the war was residing in Bosnian Army-controlled Bugojno. The house he was living in was owned by a Croat who visited Bugojno from his place of refuge in Croatia to see what was left of his home. The Muslim invited the Croat owner to come in. As they talked, they shared their mutual desire to return to their own homes, the Muslim to Jajce, and the Croat to his own house in Bugojno.
Despite the Dayton agreement's pilot program for the return of 200 families to each city, permission for return is difficult to attain. Both had experienced the seeming impossibility of securing permission to return to their own homes. They decided to collaborate and approach both governments together, with the Croat taking the lead with Croatian-dominated Jajce, and the Muslim taking the lead with Muslim-dominated Bugojno.
Success! It was not easy, for our Muslim friend had to travel to Bugojno's city government six times to get the proper authorization, but the men's creativity and perseverance paid off in the end, and both men and their families have been able to return to their own homes - at last. Hopefully the creative solution of these two men will serve as an example to be replicated by other individuals.
On Wednesday, August 28, CPT traveled to Bugojno to find out about the conditions for the return of Croats. The windows of some Croats' houses have been broken and several bombs have been thrown to suggest to them that they are not welcome in Bugojno. Various international organizations (UN High Commissioner for Refugees - UNHCR, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe - OSCE, International Police Task Force) that are active in the area seem unable to effect much change in the situation of return.
CPTers Amela & Randy Puljek Shank and Suzanne O'Hatnick serve as a kind of bridge,
giving
people accurate information about their rights and relaying current problems to the other
international organizations. CPT works in cooperation with International Mennonite
Organization to maintain a nonviolent presence in Jajce to facilitate the return of refugees. Top
September 4, 1996
Two years ago, Father Jean Marie Vincent was gunned down right in front of his community's Center in Port-au-Prince. Father Vincent had worked tirelessly in the church to protect people's lives in the face of brutal military rule. In a secret meeting at the U.S. Embassy, alleged assasin Marcel Maurrisaint started to confess to participating in the murder of Father Vincent. American pressure reportedly had Maurrisaint released from prison and flown away. He disappeared before he could be tried.
Over 150,000 pages of documents seized from the FRAPH (paramilitary) headquarters by U.S. troops in 1994 continue to be held at the American Embassy. These documents, which legally belong to the Haitian government, contain crucial evidence needed to bring perpetrators of the abuse of people's rights and illegal use of weapons.
Under Haiti's military rulers, more than 200,000 weapons entered the country through military assistance programs and arms smuggling. Haitians, from the youngest to the oldest, expected that the U.S. forces would collect those weapons when they landed in September, 1994. That did not happen. Most of the weapons are in the hands of former military and paramilitary personnel and their supporters. They continue to be used in political assassinations, banditry, and in recent days, full-scale attacks on Haitian police headquarters.
Many Haitians fear that the same forces that ousted President Jean Bertrand Aristide and carried out assassinations like that of Fr. Jean Marie Vincent will once again take control of the country.
CPT has maintained a violence reduction presence in Haiti since 1993. Current team
members
Lena Siegers (Hamilton, ON), Joanne Kaufman (Boulder, CO), Pierre Shantz (Kitchner, ON), and
Joshua Yoder (Chicago, IL) are working to identify sources of weapons and deter violence in
Port-au-Prince as well as monitor selected court hearings throughout the country as accused
human rights violators are brought to trial. Top
Thursday, September 5, 1996
Give thanks that the Shreateh family will be able to meet with the Israeli military governor of
Hebron to ask for protection from violent settlers. Rabbis for Human Rights and Peace Now have
both joined Christian Peacemaker Teams in assisting the family. Top
6 Sept 1996
Jerusalem
Yesterday Israel's High Court rejection of the Jahalin Bedouin appeal against their impending eviction from their encampments adjoining the West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim. The Civil Administration, a branch of the Israeli army, last night agreed to postpone the eviction pending the outcome of negotiations with the Jahalin. The emergency meeting was called by the Action Committee for the Jahalin Tribe.
The leader of the 400 Bedouin who are under threat of forced removal, Mohammed el-Hirsh, told the meeting that the Jahalin are ready to negotiate for moving to an alternative site if given adequate facilities, security of tenure, building permission and proper compensation for their losses as Bedouin.
CPTNET members have responded in various ways to the crisis of the Bedouin at Jahalin.
This
solution is not the most desirable but it will allow for some compensation. The work of tribe,
members of the peace community, concerned Israelis and Palestinians and many of you who
responded helped in this effort. Top
September 7, 1996
by Marvin Miller
Note: Today Japanese living in Okinawa will express their wishes regarding the presence of US bases in their communities in a referendum.
The first referendum in Japan on any issue is expected to produce a positive vote for reduction and eventual removal of U.S. bases in the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. Mennonites in Japan are watching this vote very closely because some of the military bases may be moved to their communities. Seventy-five percent of U.S. bases in Japan are on Okinawa which has 1% of the total Japanese land area. Okinawans say, "Okinawa exists among the bases."
The present governor of Okinawa is refusing to give consent to renew agreements with the U.S for use of the land belonging to Okinawa farmers. This is the first time in fifty years that such a strong stand has been taken by any Japanese governor. As long as the US-Japan Mutual Security Treaty is in effect, it is certain that a positive vote will be overruled by the national government. Land belonging to farmers will continue to be seized for use by the U.S. military.
Mennonite Christians on the northern island of Hokkaido dealt with the issue of the US bases at their annual Peace Conference in January this year. The U. S. and Japanese government have agreed that a US Marine base will move from Okinawa to the Bekkai area in eastern Hokkaido where there are several vigorous Mennonite congregations. Members of these congregations have a long standing concern and opposition to the Japanese Self-Defense Forces which have been in Bekkai even longer than the congregations. Mennonites have written letters to the mayors of the towns in Bekkai area voicing their opposition to the coming of the Marines.
One Mennonite leader said, "Of course we don't want the Marines, yet some people feel that Okinawa shouldn't have to carry the whole burden on the US bases. Maybe its time to spread the bases around Japan, even if they have to come to our area."
Other Japanese observers think that Japanese shouldn't have to keep paying for the US presence on their soil. Many, including Mennonites are very disturbed about the use of the US bases in Japan for the current air strikes in Iraq, as they were during the Gulf war and the Viet Nam war.
North Americans can stand with Japanese sisters and brothers by letting voices question and condemn the rearrangement of military installations into all of Japan. Geopolitics insist that the bases are required to check North Korean or Chinese expansionism and help create security among states. The reality is that US bases in Okinawa have created moral decay and instability in local communities and their closing may mean the spread of these same influences to other regions of Japan.
Marvin Miller, is a retired Mennonite expatriate professor who spent twenty-five years in
Japan.
He now lives in Bloomington IN who now lives in Bloomington IN. Marvin is a friend and
supporter of CPT. Top
URGENT ACTION APPEAL UPDATE
8 September 1996
Issued by Christian Peacemaker Teams, Hebron
On Thursday September 5th, Hebron University administration, teachers, and students learned that the six month university closure imposed on March 5 in the wake of suicide bombings had been extended. Students and faculty learned the news over the radio while on their way to the university.
Hebron University official Manwar Sultan told Chrisitan Peacemaker Teams (CPT), "After six months of unjustified closure of Hebron University, during which the two thousand university students were scattered all over the city, taking classes in rented rooms; the University hopped to avoid, sending the students to the streets to join other unemployed, frustrated Palestinians". University officials had been advised that the closure would not be renewed. The new university closure will last for two weeks but may be extended for another six months.
CPT Hebron has joined the university officials and students in objecting to the closure of the university. University administrators handed CPT a document detailing the financial losses incurred because of the closure and due to property damage sustained when the Israeli Defense Forces ransacked the university in March. The estimate in damage was $329,550.
The university has no institutional connections with Hamas or Islamic Jihad. No students were arrested in connection with the bombings. The closure is considered a form of collective punishment imposed on students and intellectuals of this Muslim city.
Last spring CPT supported attempts by the university to nonviolently protest the closure. More than one hundred students and faculty members joined together in a sit-in on April 9 and were subsequently attacked by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). People present witnessed groups of half a dozen soldiers beating up one student and smashing the students' heads into the ground. Several students were sent to the hospital and seven were arrested.
In May Hebron University students were joined in a peaceful demonstration by Hebrew
University
students and members of Hebron Solidarity Committee, Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc) and Christian
Peacemaker Teams. New initiatives in nonviolence activities are being discussed. Supporters of
CPT can play a significant supporting role to this nonviolent work by faxing or e-mailing or
sending letters to the Israeli government and their legislative supporters in the US and Canada. Top
Thursday, September 12, 1996
Pray that St. Catherine's Hospital will be re-opened. Christian Peacemaker Teams reports that it is the only large medical centre serving the poor Haitian slum of Cite Soley. The hospital was closed in February 1996 because of the deteriorating security situation.
Doug Pritchard Top
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Toronto ON
dpritch@web.net
September 12, 1996
A resource packet including a liturgy, sermon ideas, children's activities and peacemaking stories is available for supporting congregations planning to celebrate "CPT Sunday" on October 27 (or another Sunday as appropriate). The call for a "CPT Sunday" originated among denominational representatives serving on CPT's steering committee as a way to mark the third anniversary of CPT's Peacemaker Corps -- a team of people trained in nonviolence and peacemaking skills available on a full-time basis to enter emergency situations of violent conflict at the invitation of local peacemakers.
To order, contact Top
CPT at P.O. Box 6508
Chicago, IL 60680
tel./fax: 312-455-1199
e-mail: cpt@igc.org
September 11, 1996
(Recently Kathleen Kelly, Voices in the Wilderness traveled to Iraq. this country prepares for more bombing you may want to consider the images of this letter. CPT is a supporter of Voices in the Wilderness)
Dear Hilary,
I really do believe that it takes a village to raise a child. But that village has to have purified water, medicine and food.
It takes doctors, but doctors who have medicines and equipment. It takes storekeepers, but the storekeepers must have food to stack on the shelves. It takes farmers and engineers, but they need machines and spare parts. It takes teachers, but the teachers have to have schoolbooks and at least graphite for the pencils.
All these things are being denied to children in Iraq.
Last month, I traveled to Iraq and visited the southern port city of Basrah. The port is completely shut down, so the majority of people are unemployed.
The temperature was about 130 degrees. Indoors, it would sometimes reach 120 degrees, since air conditioners and fans stopped working whenever the electricity went off, usually five times a day. The city's water supply was contaminated.
In the Basrah Pediatrics and Obstetrics hospital, the conditions were horrifying. Children writhed in pain, on bloodstained and rotten mats, in unsanitary wards, where doctors had almost no medications, including antibiotics and anesthetics, to ease their suffering or cure their illness. The children suffer primarily from air-borne and water borne diseases and various forms of malnourishment.
These children are totally innocent of oil power politics, yet many are the dying victims of U.S./UN imposed sanctions. The sanctions imposed in August of 1990 have caused the deaths of more than 500,000 children and threaten the lives of more than a million more.
If you care about children, ask why the gulf war continues by way of the embargo. In the history of oil production and pricing before the Gulf War, OPEC was a squabbling cartel of oil producers who attempted to limit the production of oil and maintain the price through quotas. But certain members of the cartel kept cheating on the others by over-producing and lowering the price. After the Gulf War, the U.S. and its allies had an excuse for totally eliminating one of the producers, Iraq, from the market, allowing Iraq's share of the market to be distributed among the victorious allies. Many of us are speculating that the U.S. actually wants Saddam Hussein to remain in power. George Bush wanted it and perhaps President Clinton wants it. Saddam Hussein is the excuse for excluding Iraq from the world oil market for the benefit of the United States and its oil producing allies such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
As I write this letter, the President again threatens to blast Iraqi military installations in southern Iraq, between Baghdad and Saudi Arabia, in response to Iraq's support for a Kurdish faction fighting in the north. This indicates again that U.S. policy cares nothing for Iraqi children or Kurdish children. In fact, the sanctions exacerbate tensions in the north because rival factions fight over either dwindling resources caused by the sanctions or for control of another by-product of the sanctions, the lucrative black market.
What's more, our NATO ally and client, Turkey, is actively attacking and oppressing its Kurdish population using U.S. supplied weapons. The U.S. is implicated in the same kind of action against Kurds for which it condemns Iraq.
Please, Hilary, help U.S. people learn to care about Iraqi children. If you expressed grief and remorse for the lives already lost, if you called attention to the suffering that persists, then the stories of children like the dying infants I recently held in my arms would become front page news. You have an opportunity to help save many hundreds of thousands of innocent lives.
As we look for fair, humane ways to relate to Iraq's government, let us press to lift the sanctions at once and initiate a massive relief effort that could save Iraqi children and give hope to villages around the world.
Sincerely,
Kathy Kelly Top
Chicago
Sept. 12, 1996
attempts in the area of the Avraham Avinou Jewish enclave.. Israeli settlers in Hebron have launched a campaign to expand the the Jewish held Abraham Avinou enclave. Stores. immediately adjacent to the settler enclave are the target of the take over. CPTers Anne Montgomery and Dianne Roe visited Palestinian shop keepers in this Abraham Avinou area of Hebron on Wednesday morning September 11 after hearing of news of settler takeover.
According to shopkeepers the tourist area of Hebron near the Ibrahami mosque has suffered from economic depression since February 1994 when Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Muslims praying in the mosque. In the months that followed the 20,000 Palestinian residents in the center of Hebron were put under curfew while Jewish settlers moved around freely.
The Hebron produce market once the biggest in the southern West Bank and located near the Abraham Avinou enclave, was closed after the massacre, punishing the victims rather than the perpetrators. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) took over some shops and prevented access to others.
Roadblocks, checkpoints and cement barriers have made commerce impossible in the center of the city. Palestinians feel doubly victimized. Not only did they lose loved ones in the Mosque massacre but they also lost their livelihood.
Now with the increased property confiscation and announcement of Israeli government plans for settlement expansion, they are victimized a third time.
Ironically, a recent Jerusalem Post reporting of the September 10th settler takeover made no mention of the Ibrahami mosque massacre which precipitated this destruction of the central market. Instead the article made reference to a massacre of Jews in 1929. Noam Arnon, spokesman for the Jewish community in Hebron denied Palestinian claims to the shops. "Everyone agrees that they are part of the property that belonged to the Jewish Community in Hebron [before the 1929 massacre]", he said.
Last winter the Jewish community in Hebron erected a mammoth sign on the top of the Abraham Avinou enclave: "This market was built on stolen Jewish property after 67 Jews were massacred by Arabs in Hebron in 1929."
CPT asked Hani Abu Hakel, who owns a shop near the old city, what he could tell us about the 1929 massacre. Hani who has heard the story from his grandparents, and has read accounts about it, recounted the 1929 tragedy.
"Before 1929 many Jewish lived here. They lived in part of the old city and had shops in that area. Jews and Arabs were together under British occupation and the occupation forces stirred up trouble. In 1929, 67 Jews were massacred in the middle of the night. Some said Arabs did it. We don't know for sure. Many families, including my grandparents' sheltered Jewish families. My father's extended family sheltered 11 Jewish families. My mother's extended family sheltered 17 Jewish families. Their leader tended to money matters, selling property and goods as the British evacuated them."
"The Jewish Community of Hebron today is in no way related to the Hebron Jewish Community of 1929. We would welcome back the descendants of our neighbors who were here in 1929."
"What about all of the Palestinians who fled from Haifa and Jaffa in 1948?" he asked. "What
about the more than 300 destroyed villages and the many massacres that Jews perpetrated against
Arabs? Can we now reclaim that property?" Top
September 12, 1996
Peacemakers gathering at the third Christian Peacemaker Congress to be held in Washington, D.C. December 27-30, 1996, will give a public witness for justice and peace in the nation's capital. Sponsored by Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and New Call to Peacemaking, the Congress will bring together people from Canada, the U.S. and abroad for networking, celebration, inspiration and action around the common ministry of reducing violence.
The Congress program includes a public witness event, a variety of workshops and interest groups, and testimonials from CPTers working in Haiti, Washinton D.C. and Hebron. Keynote Speaker Lucius Walker, African American pastor from New York City and founder of Pastors for Peace, will address the Congress on Friday evening. Plenary session presenters are Kathleen Kern, a founding member of the Christian Peacemaker Corps, and Art Gish, an organic gardener and peacemaking prophet from Athens, Ohio.
"We expect a good representation of college students who will want to attend the Congress during their Christmas break," said John Stoner of New Call.
Congress activities will be held at Luther Place Memorial Church, 12th and Vermont Streets
NW.
For more information and to register, contact Christian Peacemaker Teams
P.O. Box 6508
Chicago, IL 60680
312-455-1199
cpt@igc.org
or New Call to Peacemaking Top
728 Fulton St.
Akron, PA
717-859-1958
jkstoner@prolog.net
16 September 1996
by Wendy Lehman
HEBRON, WEST BANK -- Palestinian officials, lead by Mayor Mustafa Natshe, joined more than one hundred Palestinians near Avraham Avinu settlement calling for the reopening of closed off section of the Hebron market today.
The market has been closed since February, 1994, when a Jewish settler shot dead 29 Arab worshipers in Hebron. According to the Oslo II agreements between Israel and the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), signed almost a year ago, the market should have been reopened following the signing.
A Reuter press release from September 14 quoted Natshe as saying, on the same day as the release, "We will go Monday and we will reopen shops there ." Regarding the fruit and vegetable market, he said, "Israel does not implement what was agreed upon."
Mazen Dana, video camera operator for Reuter, was arrested by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) while filming as were several other Palestinians who were present. Natshe said his group would not leave until they were released.
The IDF released the arrestees. Before leaving, Natshe agreed to form a delegation of market vendors to meet with the IDF military governor of Hebron in the hopes of brokering an agreement regarding the market. After pushing Palestinian bystanders and journalists back, the IDF declared the area a closed military zone.
At the end of January, 1996, Christian Peacemaker Team members sold tomatoes in the area in the hope of reopening the market. A group of approximately 200 Palestinians cheered them on and some bought tomatoes from them. Since the market's closure, most vendors have moved to the Manara district in Hebron, further congesting Hebron traffic. Others are out of business.
On Israeli radio today, Hebron settler spokesperson Noam Arnon agreed that the market was scheduled to reopen according to Oslo II, but that the settlers here oppose the reopening. He said the area belongs to Jews.
Palestinian residents of Hebron disagree. Locals say that they were the victims of the 1994 massacre and were further victimized by the closure of the market and the main economic thoroughfare of Hebron following the massacre.
Palestinian bystanders were not hopeful regarding the future of the market. According to one man, "Natshe will take a group of people to meet with the military governor, and maybe in 1000 years the market will be reopened."
Another bystander said, "In Hebron, there are 400 Israeli settlers controlling the lives of more than 100,000 Palestinians. Is this peace?"
On September 10, settlers took over two nearby Palestinian shops to annex them to Avraham
Avinu, unhindered by the IDF. Top
September 17, 1996
by Joanne Kaufman
Haiti's former military, officially disbanded but still active, issued an ultimatum to citizens Wednesday, September 4, demanding that no one enter the streets and warning parents not to send their children to school. They threatened violence unless the former soldiers' pay and savings were restored and members of their group were released from prison. The ultimatum was retracted the following day after the Haitian government agreed to listen to their concerns.
The back pay and savings at issue disappeared with General Raoul Cedras, Michel Francois, and commanders of various military units. No one even knows who was actually in the military then because the lists identifying names of military personnel were seized by U.S. forces in 1994. The Haitian government is still awaiting the complete and unaltered return of those documents.
In recent months, groups of ex-military have launched an armed attack on the Parliament, thrown a grenade at the national television station, fired a rocket launcher at police headquarters in Port-au-Prince, and burned the Vialet police station and truck. Former President Aristide, on his return in fall 1994, disbanded the military, but legislative action is still needed to abolish it from the constitution.
The Haitian government's willingness to acquiesce to the demands of the former military has infuriated people. Some groups have protested by building road barricades with trees, blocks and burning tires. Little action has been taken to begin reparations for the murders, rapes, torture and loss of property Haitian citizens suffered during the military's rule.
The massive injustice perpetrated on the people of Haiti by its own military and the call for justice now has awakened a major debate in the churches of Haiti. Some Haitians believe that clandestine assistance from the United States is helping the demobilized military fund the grenades, machine guns, and rocket launchers which have been used to terrorize the population in recent weeks. The attacks are considered to be a product of American electoral politics. They believe that the Republican Party is trying to undermine the $500 million operation which brought the current relative peace to Haiti so that President Clinton cannot claim it as a foreign policy victory.
Haitians are as terrorized by the attacks on their police stations and Parliament building as
Americans were by the Oklahoma City bombing. Readers of CPTNET should urge U.S. political
parties to keep their political battles at home. Top
Tuesday, 17 September 1996
The Chechnya peace agreement negotiated by Alexander Lebed is increasingly under threat, with renewed violence in the capital, Grozny, and a powerful political reaction in Moscow against his "capitulation" to the rebels.
On Sunday night, the worst fighting since the cease-fire declaration was reported around the Russian base at Grozny airport, involving anti-tank missiles and small arms. Russians suspended their troop withdrawal from Chechnya pending a deal on freeing prisoners. Chechen leaders have imposed of a kind of Islamic law in Grozny.
The chief point of contention of the cease-fire agreement is to delay for five years the issue of whether Chechnya should become independent.
Friends of CPT remind us that the Russian government can continue its policy of guns and suppression because money continues to flow to Russia from the West. On 12 September the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) launched an appeal for nearly 18 million Swiss francs to cover the increase in its activities for victims of the conflict in the republic of Chechnya (Russian Federation).
Christians in North America and Europe can urge their governments to do all in their power
to
encourage Russia to honor the peace agreement and not renew the fighting, and they can give
donations to the Red Cross to aid in the vital relief effort it is conducting. Top
Thursday, September 19, 1996
Pray for Mayor Mustafa Natshe, as he, his officials, and Christian Peacemaker Teams attempt to reopen the central market in Hebron. It was closed by Israelis in 1994 after a Jewish settler killed 29 Palestinians at the Ibrahami mosque.
Doug Pritchard Top
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Toronto ON
September 19, 1996
B, a Muslim native of Jajce was kicked out of town by local Croatian police. Incensed, he traveled to Muslim-controlled Bugojno directly to the residence of a Franciscan Croatian priest there. "What Croat should I kick out to make room for myself here?" he challenged the priest. The Franciscan immediately arranged for the man to receive free room and board overnight at a local hotel, and invited the man to return in the morning. When he arrived, the priest had arranged for him to return unmolested to Jajce to his former home. This story had a happy ending. The priest exercised his influence to help this fellow.
S's story is not yet over. S returned to her home in Jajce from Sweden to discover a family of Croatians living there. She went to the local police to let them know that she had returned and she expected to move back into her home, which was occupied. The police threw up their hands and said, " what can we do? Nothing." "Don't be ridiculous!" she replied with some asperity.
That's your job." The police promised to inform the occupying family that they must move. S had already offered to let them stay, rent free, on one floor, while she moved into another floor to begin the clean-up, and initially they agreed, but they never moved out. Although the police, and then City officials at City Hall promised to take care of the matter, still S does not have her house back, more than a month later.
Another Muslim, G, returned from a Scandanavian country to see his home. It was occupied
by
Croats. Then he went to the cafe he had owned before the war and bought a cup of coffee. Now
Croats "owned" the cafe. I asked him, "Do they pay you rent?" "No," he responded. "I do not
have legal status here, since I am not registered, so I cannot seek legal redress. I was not on the
original list of 200 Muslim families allowed to return, and so I am here illegally." What about the
Dayton Peace Accords, allowing fredom of movement?" I asked. "Well, Croats control this town,
and I am not permitted to return." I then asked a City official, "What does a Muslim have to do
to be permitted to return to Jajce to live?" His response was, " First, he must show that he has
work, and also that his home is in liveable condition." The only problem is that Muslims are not
allowed to work. They cannot own their own businesses, and Croats hire Croats. And in the case
of G, his home is occupied by Croats. Catch 22. So much for Dayton. The reality is quite
different. Top
Sept. 20, 1996
Note: This tiny vignette from our CPT violence reduction team in Haiti gives a feel for race the legacy of race relations.
Next door to where we are staying there was an in-house prayer service being held. As I was
returning from the market with Lena and Carla we could see arms raised in loud prayer and
singing, Ari came running into the room exclaiming "You won't believe what I just heard." He
went on to explain that in one of their prayers they prayed to God "O Lord we have no whites,
we're just by ourselves and have only you. Help us work together, because we have no whites."
Two young Haitian girls sitting in the room broke out in laughter and Ari another Haitian
co-worker walked away shaking his head in dismay at this all too pervasive mentality that some
Haitians have about white people. Top
I would like share my prayer for the Peacemakers in Hebron as they attempt to reopen the central Market, with everyone.
I pray that they be safe from harm. I pray that they succeed in their holy task. I pray that the tireless effort by the CPT be rewarded and be an example for all. I pray that the misery of Hebron eases. I pray for my home town to never be so sad again. I pray that my childhood memories in the streets and corners of Hebron will continue to be free, innocent and safe. I pray for my mother whose fear for the safety of her children have aged her still beautiful face. I pray for the CPT with all my heart.
Jehad Al-Iwiewi Top
Toronto
September 20, 1996
Dear Doug, (person who posts prayer requests)
We in Jajce, Bosnia, read your prayers each week. We began praying together - with others here and abroad - two weeks before the elections here (September 14) that the elections might be safe, and that Bosnia's refugees might return safely to their homes. Jajce is three-fourths empty as few Muslims are allowed to return to this town which is now controlled by Croats.
It was such a rich experience of corporate worship that we are continuing to meet each evening at 7 PM to pray together - both for guidance for our work here, as well a return to some normalcy here for the citizens of Bosnia. We'll include your prayers with our own - and invite you to share our prayer concerns, as well.
Thank you for making the effort each week to draw attention to a particular concern.
In Peace,
Suzanne O'Hatnick
CPT Reservist working with Randy and Amela Puljek Shank in cooperation with International
Mennonite Organization on peace-building in Jajce, Bosnia. Top
24 September 1996
by Wendy Lehman
HEBRON, WEST BANK -- Today at 12 pm, hundreds of Palestinians, organized by The National and Islamic Committee for Encountering Jewish Settlements, protested the Israeli policies in Hebron of collective punishment against Palestinians, including limiting freedom of worship, the closure of universities, and damaging the Palestinian economy through the closure of shops.
In a written statement the organizers stated, "The Israeli authorities in Hebron, along with the settlers, are still violating International Law . . . and the Palestinian rights every day . . . especially after the Abraham Mosque massacre which was committed by [an Israeli settler] on the 25th of February 1994. In this sense, it is clear that the Israelis are punishing the victim and rewarding the criminal . . ." The massacre mentioned refers to when Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein shot to death 29 Muslim worshipers as they prayed.
Today, the group marched through the market to a site near the Israeli settlement of Avraham Avinu in the city center. This area is where the wholesale fruit and vegetable market was located prior to the 1994 massacre. The market was supposed to reopen immediately following the signing of the Oslo II accords between the PLO and Israel on September 28, 1995. Israel has still not complied.
Christian Peacemaker Team members present witnessed dozens of Israeli soldiers and border police push back the crowd. At least one Palestinian was injured and carried away by three men. Settlers waving banners and Israeli flags were also kept back by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces).
Palestinians pushed back against the soldiers. At least four demonstration participants were arrested to the cheers of settlers. During one arrest, a CPT member witnessed soldiers grabbing the man by the throat. Some demonstrators unsuccessfully attempted to block the police vans carrying away arrestees. After an hour, the area was cleared.
CPT member Tom Malthaner said, "The thing I'm hearing most here is that Palestinians are expressing frustration and hopelessness and that concerns me. Yet today I saw a determined people unwilling to be abused by the Israeli policy of collective punishment and that is hopeful to me."
Participants in the demonstration included Palestinian Authority Minister of Education Hanan
Ashrawi, PA Minister of Agriculture Abdel Jawad Saleh, PA Minister of Environment Abdel
Hafeez, Hebron's mayor Mustafa Nastche and Muslim sheikh Tassir Tamimi. Top
25 September 1996
Clashes erupted throughout the West Bank and in Jerusalem today in unparalleled force since the intifada (Palestinian uprising). In Ramallah, hundreds of Palestinians were wounded and several were killed by bullets from Israeli soldiers.
Tensions and frustrations have been rising among Palestinians due to the increase of Israeli settlement expansion, closure of universities, and other acts of abuse by Israeli authorities. These tensions reached a breaking point after Monday night when Israeli workmen opened a tunnel beside Jerusalem's Temple Mount, site of Islam's third holiest shrine.
In Ramallah, West Bank, witnesses said 8,000 Palestinians marched to the border between Israeli and Palestinian control at the edge of the city. Palestinians threw stones at Israeli soldiers stationed there. Soldiers responded with tear gas and rubber bullets (round steel balls encased in a hard, thin rubber coating). The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) then used live ammunition when the crowd did not disperse. Two hundred and fifty Palestinians were injured and two were killed.
A shoot out began between the Palestinian Authority police officers stationed nearby and the IDF. According to some witnesses, the PA opened fire to protect the Palestinian demonstrators. Others say that the shoot out was started by the IDF when Israeli soldiers tried to enter Ramallah, under Palestinian autonomy, and the PA police refused them entry. Nineteen Palestinian police were injured and four were killed by IDF fire. Several Israeli soldiers were injured. At 5:30 p.m., the IDF declared total curfew in Ramallah. The PA advised civilians in Ramallah to store up food for the curfew.
Clashes also broke out in Bethlehem, Hebron, and Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, three PA
parliament
members were injured by the IDF. Today, PA Chair Yasser Arafat called a general strike from
noon until 2 p.m. Top
Sept. 25, 1996
Pray for the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian peacemakers in Israel and the West Bank as they work together in the midst of frustrations and renewed violence.
Doug Pritchard Top
Christian Peacemaker Teams
Toronto, ONT
26 September 1996
HEBRON, WEST BANK -- The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) clashed with Palestinians today in Hebron, as well as in most other towns and cities in the West Bank, in Gaza and in Jerusalem. The IDF killed 35 Palestinians and injured 400 hundred throughout the West Bank and Gaza and Israeli soldiers suffered 11 casualties during shoot outs with the Palestinian Authority police.
Clashes began in Hebron this morning, at about 9 am, and lasted until at least 1 pm. Christian Peacemaker Team members arrived at the scene at 10:30 am. Palestinians set up road blocks, using garbage cans, cement blocks and burning tires, and threw stones and bottles at the IDF.
Israeli soldiers responded to the stone-throwing youth with rubber bullets, tear gas, concussion grenades ("sound bombs"), and live ammunition. CPTers present felt the effects of the tear gas, but not as severely as some who were coughing and gagging. Dozens of Palestinians were injured by the bullets and gas and some were taken to the hospital.
During the beginning of the clashes, most of the injuries were at the level of the feet or legs. Toward the end, an IDF officer ordered the soldiers to shoot at the demonstrators' heads. Immediately after this order, he told journalists that the area was a closed military zone and they could no longer film.
Yesterday and today, clashes throughout the region were as intense as seen during the six and a half year intifada (Palestinian uprising) which began in the late 1980s. What seemed to spark what some are calling a "second intifada" was the opening of a tunnel by Israeli workers beside Jerusalem's Temple Mount, site of Islam's third holiest shrine. Yet people here have been expecting such an uprising due to the worsening economic and political situation.
Since the signing of the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) three years ago, Palestinians have seen increased Israeli settlement expansion, demolition of homes, closures of universities and other violations of international law. According to Israeli lawyer Allegra Pecheco, who defends Palestinians against house demolitions, torture and other human rights violations, her work load has doubled since the signing of the Oslo II accords a year ago.
One of the Palestinians at the demonstration told CPTers that, "We want peace. If the Israeli government really wanted to make peace, it would be possible."
Some watching the demonstration were excited to see the protest; others were concerned, particularly for the four and five-year-olds participating. Some of the younger children were throwing stones and bottles, others were carrying stretchers for the injured, and others were ushering children coming home from school to safety.
Curfew was declared in Hebron at 1:30 pm. Some locals suspect that similar protests will
continue for at least a week. Others think it will continue to snowball for a longer period of
time. Top