Israeli authorities are stepping up aggression in the South Hebron Hills, particularly in response to Palestinian migrant laborers.

by Jessica Frederick

In the Jordan Valley, Israeli flowers have electricity, but Palestinian people do not. 

Located in the east, along the Jordan River, the Jordan Valley comprises approximately 25 percent of the land in the West Bank.  In previous times, landowners were known as "princes" because of the abundantly available water and fertile land. 

Today, the Jordan Valley is a land of contrasts.  Israeli settlements and farms exist side-by-side (and sometimes through) Palestinian villages and farms.

Last August, CPT suspended work in the Old City of Hebron, primarily for lack of personnel.  Since then, a Palestine Project Refocusing Committee conducted a thorough process of evaluating, consulting, and envisioning a rejuvenated presence for CPT in the region.

In mid-January as the war in Gaza reached its height, CPT-Palestine issued a statement deploring the use of violence on both sides and urging respect for international law.  The team urged governments and media outlets to press beyond surface explanations of the cause of the conflict between Hamas and Israel and address the root problems of Israel's systemic oppression and domination of the Palestinian people. 

CPT’s Africa Great Lakes team, based in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) December through February, met with church leaders, representatives of  relief and human rights organizations, United Nations officials, governmental agencies, and mining workers.  They visited the capital, Kinshasa, in the west and traveled north to Bunia.  This winter’s work followed CPT’s previous exploratory teams in 2005-2007.

by Cliff Kindy

Nonviolent activists seek to reframe the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) so that they, rather than violent actors, hold the initiative. 

One such activist is Monsignor Jean-Luc Kuye, a Pentecostal pastor, president of the ecumenical Eglise du Christ de Congo (Church of Christ of Congo) in South Kivu.  In 1998, when Rwanda invaded the Congo, Msgr. Kuye said, "We are being re-colonized.  How will we respond without more violence?"

Summary:

CPT-Africa Great Lakes urges supporters to contact their governments and the embassies of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda to encourage compliance with the processes of the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

Background:

In September 2007, Sylvia Morrison joined CPT's Support Team as our first Undoing Racism Coordinator.  With Sylvia's leadership, CPT embarked upon an Undoing Racism "Audit."  Between May 2008 and February 2009, Valentina Satvedi, Harley Eagle and others from Mennonite Central Committee's Anti-Racism Program walked with us to facilitate a clearer self-understanding on which to base undoing racism work within our organization.  This unconventional process culminated in two days of strategic planning.

by Peggy Gish

The mood was one of celebration.  Iraqis in the city of Khanaqin, northern Diyala province, crowded into polling centers on provincial election day, 31 January.  Many dressed in their best Kurdish or Arab traditional clothing or wrapped in flags.  "We are happy to express our democracy," several told us after voting, showing their purple tipped fingers. 

In an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, CPT-Iraq explained the deplorable situation of villagers and internally displaced persons living in camps whose homes, communities and livelihoods have been destroyed due to bombings by the Turkish military.

by Beth Pyles

Standing in a room in the Textile Museum filled with the tapestries of woven woolen blankets, my Kurdish friend walks to a corner facing away from us.  Her shoulders shake with quiet sobs.  I hesitate for a moment and then go to her, and we embrace.  "Your grandmother?" I ask.  She nods. 

My friend's grandmother was imprisoned by Saddam and died in prison.  The family had to flee for their lives into Iran after the men ran to the mountains. 

CHICAGO - On 19 January, 50 CPTers and supporters carried cardboard coffins covered with Palestinian flags through downtown Chicago, dramatizing Boeing's deadly connection to Israel's recent offensive in Gaza.  Chicago police arrested four of the mourners when they knelt to pray beside the coffins placed at the front door of Boeing Headquarters. 

by Chris Knestrick, Kim Lamberty and Sandra Rincon

After marching for over a month, 10,000 representatives of Colombia's indigenous peoples from 102 towns arrived in Bogotá on 20 November, where they camped on the grounds of the national university for five days.  They sought a meeting with President Uribe and the Colombian government to demand respect for the rights of indigenous communities.  They also wanted to build solidarity with other sectors of Colombian society in the struggle for a more peaceful country. 

On 11 February in Nariño province, an unknown armed group massacred 10 members of the indigenous Awá community while they fled their ancestral land.  This followed a similar incident on 4 February when members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) reportedly murdered 17 members of the Awá people.  Three more people disappeared and remained missing after they tried to rescue the bodies of their relatives. 

On 5 December, the Colombia team participated in an undoing racism workshop led by Sylvia Morrison in Barrancabermeja.  Dismantling oppressions - "getting in the way" of  heterosexism, racism, sexism, and classism - is integral to the work of CPT and an important part of our call to nonviolence.  The workshop pushed the team forward and inspired them to continue this challenging work. 

The Simití municipality in southern Bolívar province includes the towns of Nueva Esperanza and Garzal which lies along the Magdalena River a few hours north of Barrancabermeja.  The 136 families who live in the two towns make their living growing cacao and vegetables, raising cattle, and fishing.

      During the 1980's, the Barreto family lived and worked in Garzal processing cocaine and transporting it for the notorious drug czar Pablo Escobar.  In 1989, the drug lab was raided and Mr. Barreto spent 2 years in jail.

by Stewart Vriesinga

by Carol Rose, CPT Co-Director

In CPT we always live with the tenuous balance of having enough work to do, enough people to do it, and enough money to fund it.  It's not all about money, but we can't do the work without it. 

Now, for the first time, the balance has tipped to the degree that we may need to suspend and scale back compelling peacemaking work because funds are low.

No Border Wall: The Coalition of Amigos in Solidarity and Action (CASA), traveled from Brownsville, TX to Washington, DC, March 16-20, to protest the U.S.-Mexico border wall.  "We are here at the midnight hour to halt construction," said organizers, including CPTer Elizabeth García.

Peacemaker Delegations:

• Aboriginal Justice: to be announced
• Colombia: (international) May 26 - June 8, July 14-27, September 22 - October 5; (national) April 4-11, December 12-19.
• Iraq (Kurdish North): April 18 - May 2
• Palestine/Israel: March 17-30, May 19 - June 2, July 21 - August 3, October 6 - 19, November 17 - 30

Coming Soon: CPT Video Series

With the help of intern Suha OH from Frontiers (a sister peace group based in Seoul, South Korea), CPT plans to launch a series of five 10-minute videos this summer.  Each video will present a different CPT project, introducing viewers to our local partners and on-the-ground peacemaking initiatives.  For information on how you can host a premier viewing in your own home, contact Tim Nafziger (timn@cpt.org).

Peacemaker Congress X