On 19 November 2008, for the second time in as many months, members of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake blockaded Provincial Highway 117, a busy resource distribution route used by Canadian logging companies and other industries.  The Quebec Provincial police again responded with excessive force.

by Joel Klassen

Amid pouring rain one day, and in brilliant sun the next, dozens of people gathered at the proposed Robertsville uranium mine site in Algonquin territory the weekend of 25-26 October to pray for the land. The Ardoch Algonquin First Nation had called for the universal days of prayer from people of all faith traditions, to express once again their opposition to mining exploration by Frontenac Ventures Corporation (FVC) on their lands located 100 km north of Kingston, Ontario.

by Murray Lumley and Christine Downing

by Julián Gutiérrez Castaño

When the community of Tiquisio in southern Bolivar province, led by parish priest Father Rafael Gallego, decided to organize in 2002 to confront violent actions by guerrillas, paramilitaries, and the Colombian Armed Forces, its members never imagined that seven years later their community process would set an example to other groups in the region and receive national and international recognition.

by Sarah MacDonald

November 27 was U.S. Thanksgiving, a day I usually associate with festive meals and family gatherings.  Here in Barrancabermeja, however, our day unfolded differently.

At midday, two strangers entered a house in our neighborhood and shot a man as he sat eating lunch.  This murder adds to the wave of assassinations-at least 100 so far this year-in Barrancabermeja.  Because this particular killing occurred just down the street, the violence feels both shocking and frighteningly mundane.

by Carol Tyx

by Doug Pritchard

CPT has begun a three-month project based in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) city of Goma.  A team of four CPTers arrived in Goma December 6. The Goma human rights organization Groupe Martin Luther King invited CPT to join them in their work of promoting nonviolence and conflict resolution, monitoring human rights, and providing a peaceful presence in the conflict zone and in camps for internally displaced persons.

by Bob Holmes

It's called Kani Spi, after the white spring that flows from the cliff below the snow-capped mountains in Iraqi Kurdistan near the border with Iran. Mahmoud and his two sons, standing by the gushing spring, pointed to the meadow below and the ruins of a mill where they used to grind their wheat for bread before 1977-the year Saddam Hussein destroyed their village.

Members of CPT's team in Iraqi Kurdistan visited a camp for internally displaced persons near Zharawa on 31 October 2008 and saw fifty families from nine surrounding villages living under deplorable conditions. The families fled their villages after aerial bombardment and shelling by Turkish planes from the north and Iranian missiles from the west. CPT heard bombs in the distance while visiting the camp.

by Donald Kahle -- CPT Delegation member to Iraq 31 July - 14 August

After receiving five cups of tea from homeless families in Zharawa refugee camp, I returned to Suleimaniya ready to believe that hospitality offered a recognizable path to peace. Then I received this advice from CPTer Joe Mueller: "Notice the women." He could have said, "Notice how easily you don't notice the women."

by Garland Robertson

At an evening gathering to say goodbye to one of the CPT Iraq team members, I visited with Rajal. He is about twenty-five-years old and works as a technician with a U.S. university here in Suleimaniya. He told us about his recent drive to Baghdad, where he visited his old neighborhood-his first trip back since he and his parents had relocated to Suleimaniya in mid-2006.

A new report by CPT and partner organization Operation Dove about the Israeli military escort of Palestinian children to school in At-Tuwani during the 2007-2008 school year documents a series of violent settler attacks on the children and the Israeli military's lackadaisical response to them.

by Bob Palmer (July delegation)

During our CPT delegation Rashid* took us on a tour of the al-'Arub Refugee Camp near Hebron. Then he brought us to his home outside the camp for lunch and a visit with his wife Nibaal and their four kids.

After sharing a home-cooked meal, we gathered in the living room for dessert, coffee and more conversation. Ten-year-old Tarek invited me outside for a game of hide and seek with his seven-year old sister, Nowal, which brought laughter all around.

by Ramzi Kysia

29 October 2008: This morning, I marched in Selma; I stood down tanks in Tiananmen Square, and I helped tear down the Berlin Wall.  This morning I became a Freedom Rider.

The Fall Signs of the Times reported the closure of CPT's Hebron Project site. A few of the updates from CPT personnel tasked with tying loose ends and exploring options for future work are included in this issue.

On Saturday 18 October, four Israeli settlers beat a Palestinian journalist in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron.  His injuries required hospital treatment.

Two friends of CPT Hebron told team members on 13 October 2008 that the Palestinian Authority had replaced the board of directors of the Islamic Charitable Society (ICS) schools and orphanages.  The friends noted that this move means that the ICS schools and orphanages will likely continue to operate the rest of the school year.

Christian Peacemaker Teams announces the publication of it its first official history, In Harm's Way: A History of Christian Peacemaker Teams by CPTer Kathleen Kern (Cascade 2008).

Kansas air show action

CPTers and supporters were among eight people arrested October 15 at the Salina, Kansas, bombing and strafing air show.

The action was part of a three-day gathering focusing on militarization, the environment, impacts of depleted uranium munitions and nonviolent peace-building.

Swedes disarm Iraq-bound weapons

CPT sends short-term (7-14 day) delegations into crisis settings around the world. CPT delegations link communities that are struggling for peace amid violence with concerned persons, groups and churches. Participants gain a first-hand experience of CPT's on-the-ground, team-based experiment in faith-motivated, active peacemaking grounded in the transforming power of Gospel nonviolence.

CPT is recruiting Peacemaker Corps applicants for trainings to take place in the United Kingdom and Colombia.  These are projected to be CPT's first trainings held outside of North America. Summer and Winter trainings in the Chicago Training Center will continue. At least ten applications are needed in order to schedule an off-site training.

After successful completion of training, the peacemakers commit to a three-year term of either full- or part-time service in situations of conflict and crisis. 

Members of CPT Northern Indiana’s Depleted Uranium weapons project are taking soil samples from outside the Aerojet DU plant in Jonesborough, TN for testing. Activists’ efforts have prompted the closing of four U.S. DU plants in recent years. Aerojet is the Pentagon’s largest supplier of DU weapons, producing 60 percent of all DU Penetrator bullets. The project began in March 2006 as a CPT Northern Indiana Regional Group effort dedicated to stopping DU weapons production. www.stop-du.org.

We have decided to make Christmas gifts to family this year with a contribution to organizations like yours that make a difference in places around the world with the greatest innocent suffering. Thank you.

Lin and David Zahrt
Turin, IA

Peacemaker Delegations:

• Aboriginal Justice: to be announced

• Colombia: January 11-24, May 26 - June 8, July 14-27, September 22 - October 5

• Iraq: (Kurdish North): tentative April or May

• Palestine/Israel: January 6-19, March 17-30, May 19 - June 2, July 21 - August 3,
  October 6-19, November 17-30

• Philippines: February 6-21

Peacemaker Trainings: