by Pierre Shantz

Since Martin Luther initiated a reformation in the 16th century, Catholics and Protestants have argued and fought, sometimes to the death, about whose church shall lead us to salvation.  In many contexts it is impossible to hold an ecumenical service because one tradition will not recognize the other.  

by José Edward Escobar, CSB
translated by William Payne

[Escobar, of the Congregation of St. Basil (the Basilians) participated in CPT’s June 10-16, 2008 delegation of Colombian Mennonites and Catholics].

For many of us Colombians, the Magdalena River is simply a source of great fish.  What we too often fail to realize is that, for those who live within its reach, the Magdalena River can mean both life and death.

In what local newspaper headlines called “the most violent weekend of the year,” six people died in an ongoing string of murders in the city of Barrancabermeja, where CPT is based, in mid-July.  In the eight months of 2008, 37 people were assassinated (the same number killed in all of 2007).

by Nils Dybvig

Traveling in a motorized canoe with a dozen farmers returning from registering their land titles, I chat with Jose Manuel,* a farmer in his early thirties.  He grew up working hard and saving to buy 20 acres of land in his community.  The corn, vegetables and fruit trees from that land provide food and income for his family of five.

by Peggy Gish

Unlike refugees who seek safety and security in other countries, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) flee to areas of refuge within their country’s borders.  

In August CPTers made several visits to the Zharawa IDP camp in northwestern Suleimaniya Governorate located just above a shallow river between the mountains near the Iranian border.  More than 120 families, totaling at least 600 people, fled their homes closer to the border after Turkish and Iranian forces repeatedly bombed their villages.

by Joe Mueller

On July 22, 2008, 23-year-old independent journalist Soran Hama was assassinated in front of his home in a relatively safe, Kurdish-controlled neighborhood in Kirkuk.  He had received death threats after publishing an article exposing corruption among Kurdish officials involved in local prostitution.

by Renee Borsberry

Early on the morning of July 21, five CPTers joined a group of Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFN) members and local non-indigenous people (who refer to themselves as settlers) at the Robertsville, ON site where they have been resisting efforts by Frontenac Ventures Corporation to explore for uranium for over a year.  The gathering was brief, lasting only about forty-five minutes, but the message was clear: NO MINING ON FIRST NATIONS TERRITORIES WITHOUT CONSENT.

by Gene Stoltzfus, CPT Director Emeritus

On June 3, AbitibiBowater announced plans to stop its logging operations in the Whiskey Jack forest, the region claimed by Grassy Narrows (Asubpeeschoseewagong) First Nation (GNFN), because the province of Ontario has entered into a new four-year consultation process with GNFN regarding the future management of the forest.

On July 22, CPTers carried symbols of death and destruction into the Chicago office of U.S. Congressman Rahm Emmanuel (D-IL), who has consistently voted in favor of funding the Iraq war.  “We are delivering what Rahm Emmanuel has ordered through his votes,” said CPT training participant Paul Horst.

The last issue of “Signs of the Times” (Summer 2008; Vol XVIII, No. 2) reported on the abduction, torture and year-long detention of Pastor Berlin Guerrero of the United Church of Christ of the Philippines.  CPT Reservist Rey Lopez reports that Pastor Guerrero was released from prison on September 11 and the trumped-up charges against him were dropped.

[Note: According to the Geneva Conventions, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and numerous United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal.  Most settlement outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law.]

by Laura Ciaghi

Instructions for living in the South Hebron Hills:

1.    Do not go into nearby orchards to steal cherries.  Twenty-five heavily armed adults from the neighboring Israeli settlement may attack your village, screaming, pushing and threatening your parents while soldiers and police stand and watch.

by Jessica Frederick

What are summer days like in the South Hebron Hills?  It depends.

On a good day, we CPTers sit with Palestinian shepherds as they nonviolently resist the occupation of their land.  The shepherds graze sheep on lands where Israeli settlers have attacked, stoned, shot at, and threatened them.  We listen to the shepherds tell us stories of life on the land before the Israeli occupation.  We laugh together, and the shepherds teach us how to flick tiny pebbles between our two index fingers.

On July 10, villagers from Ni’lin, in the Ramallah District, led a large demonstration protesting Israel’s construction of the Annexation/Security Wall which will confiscate 1/3 of the village’s land (2500 dunams / 625 acres).  The community had organized three to four nonviolent demonstrations against the wall each week for over a month.

This particular day, with a lot of media present, the Israeli military launched canister after canister of teargas into the crowd 20 minutes after the march began and fired rubber-coated bullets at the protesters.  

The last issue of “Signs of the Times” (Spring 2008; vol. XVIII, No. 2) reported on Israeli military raids of orphanages run by the Islamic Charitable Society (ICS) in Hebron.  CPTers and other internationals stayed with the children for weeks hoping to prevent the terrifying incursions.

Those who live and work at the affected orphanages and schools nervously await an Israeli High Court decision that will determine whether the Israeli military will forcibly close their institutions.  

With the expansion of the Kiryat Arba settlement, Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian families in Wadi Nasara, a valley on the outskirts of Hebron, have increased.  Residents reported six violent incidents in the first ten days of August.

August 1: A group of 20 stone-wielding settlers attacked a wedding party at the Jaabari family home injuring five Palestinians. Three people, including a pregnant woman, were hospitalized for treatment of their injuries.

In August, after 13 years of peacemaking ministry based in the Old City of Hebron, CPT had to make the difficult decision to close that team site.  The Hebron team has been short on full-time CPTers for many months.  We covered the work with more help from Reservists knowing that this was not a sustainable long-term option.

by Gene Stoltzfus, Director Emeritus

In the early days of Christian Peacemaker Teams, we began searching for a simple phrase that could represent our experiment in faith-based, nonviolent peacemaking.  It took awhile, but eventually the result of our quest became clear.  The answer was simple, engaging and connected to a long religious and spiritual history.  And it grew directly from our experience – “Getting in the Way.”

Colombia

CPTers serving the Colombia team June-August 2008 were: Michele Braley (Minneapolis, MN), Sally Ann Brickner (Green Bay, WI), Laura Ciaghi (Trento, Italy), Jenny Dillon (Washingto, DC), Nils Dybvig (Minneapolis, MN), Julián Gutiérrez (Colombia), Bob Holmes (Toronto, ON), Sarah MacDonald (Iowa City, IA), Gerald Paoli (Chicago, IL), William Payne (Toronto, ON), Sandra Rincón (Colombia), Pierre Shantz (Colombia), Carol Tyx (Iowa City, IA), John Volkening (Chicago, IL), Stewart Vriesinga (Lucknow, ON).

We are sending our income tax rebate to your in confidence that the good you do will help to counteract the harmful uses to which many of our tax dollars are put.  Thank you for being peacemakers!
Debbie, Ed, Jacob & Robbie
Ritchey Okeson
Rockford, IL