U.S Weapons Bombing Gaza: Civilians on Both Sides Will Pay the Price

Five Gazan girls dying beneath the rubble of their home, in a "precision strike" (Getty images)

Israel has rejected a call for a truce, even a 48 hour one to let humanitarian supplies in, and the number of Palestinians dead will soon surpass 400. The one government in the world that could pressure Israel to stop the attacks has this to say thus far:

“...Avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza.”
~White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe's regarding the most massive aerial bombardment in Gaza ever.

My advice to Mr. Johndroe and Israel: If you want to 'avoid civilian casualities' don't launch aerial assaults on Gaza--its one of the most densely populated areas on the planet. Another tip: if you actually want to protect your citizens, don't break 5 months of a ceasefire that sharply reduced violence. The major breach in the ceasefire was from Israel--not Hamas--on Nov.4th when Israel's launched its first air strike on Gaza killing four people in Gaza it claimed were digging a tunnel to smuggle weapons.

The first Israeli killed since the June ceasefire agreement was on December 27th--that's AFTER Israel's massive aerial bombardment of Gazans. (And two more Israeli civilians and one Israeli soldier have been killed since.)

Ceasefire results for Israeli security = No Israeli deaths, dramatic reduction in violence, and most of the rockets that were fired into Israel were from splinter groups--not Hamas itself.

Of course Gaza benefited from the ceasefire that stopped Israel's aerial bombardment as well--until the November 5th bombardment that broke the truce.

But other aspects of life for Gazans did not change--the blockade only tightened. Every calorie of food coming through their borders and whether or not they have electricity is subject to Israeli control. The lucky ones had one meal a day of grass seed and cooking oil. Now Israel is putting even more restrictions on humanitarian aid--since according to an aide to Prime Minister Olmert: “Gaza is not undergoing a humanitarian crisis.” I'd love then, to know what you would call a place where 80% of its residents are dependent on food aid to keep them from starvation.

With "Made-in-the-USA" F-18s, Hellfire missiles, and even GBU-39 "bunker buster" bombs, Israel targeted:

* Police stations--including the police headquarters in the midst of a graduation ceremony
* A university--including a sports club and a science laboratory
* A mosque--a "precision strike" which killed the 5 sisters above in their sleep.

This kind of devastation and the trauma it will bring to Palestinians, Israelis, and everyone else in the region for generations, would not be at all possible without U.S. military and diplomatic support. It's not only President Obama's responsibility (which it is, read the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's brilliant op-ed in the Chicago Tribune on what he needs to do); there is a special responsibility that U.S. taxpayers and citizens have in this conflict (which I will have to go more into depth another time...but suffice it to say that according to the Congressional Research Service, "U.S. grants to Israel represent over 20% of the overall Israeli defense budget".

SO (let me put on my FCNL lobbyist hat...)

TAKE ACTION! Urge your member of Congress to support a ceasefire, robust and inclusive diplomacy, and an end to the blockade of Gaza.

It is so critical that when the 111th Congress begins, members speak out in favor of robust U.S. diplomatic efforts to quickly restore a ceasefire that would:

* end Israeli airstrikes and prevent a ground assault on Gaza;
* end all rocket fire into Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian groups;
* engage diplomatically with Hamas, a policy supported by two-thirds of Israelis according to a poll taken last February;
* end the blockade of Gaza.

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

Off for the Holidays - But read Karyn's post!

I don't want to overshadow Karyn's post by writing a lot, but just wanted to let everyone know that FCNL is closed for the next week. We wish everyone a happy holiday week! It's the perfect time to catch up on old Of Peace and Politics posts you may have missed :)

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

First Americans Public Liason

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

Barack Obama has said many things about respecting Native Americans in concrete ways during his campaign. I had decided not to hold my breath...it seems like a good thing to say and then ignore without much political fall out. That's why I was plesently surprised when Obama named a First Americans Public Liason to his transition team -- a position representin the need to correpsond nation to nation. His name is Wizipan Garriot, a member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe in South Dakota. Wizi is young (only 28!) but extremely competent (having already worked for Tom Dashle and graduated with a Yale law degree).

While Barack Obama should be celebrated for becoming the first African American President -- he should also be praised for understanding the needs of the American Indian communities -- and respecting tribes as sovereign nations.

The Bush Administration Announces the Completion of 500 Miles of the Berlin Wall

Here in its final month of executive power, the Bush administration just announced that 500 miles of the US border wall have been completed...and they expect to get another 100 more done before President-elect Obama is sworn into office.

Nice to know our democracy continues to be crushed even in the waning hours of this "lame duck" session.

As hate crimes are on the rise towards the Latino population, immigrants are being abused and even dying in the poor conditions of our immigrant detention system, and hundreds of people are being killed along the US border, our government celebrates spending BILLIONS of dollars on a wall which has desecrated the sacred sites of native peoples, violated numerous environmental and religious freedom laws, and on top of it all is not even effective in reaching its purported (though faulty) goal of stopping undocumented immigration.

Is this really the vision we have for our country?

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

Tim Wise on White Privilege

While doing some work on immigration today, I came across this speech by Tim Wise on youtube.

He does a great job at articulating oppression and intersectionality both in a historical and contemporary setting. In particular, I like the way he ties the concept of white privilege to current anti-immigration rhetoric.

In case you don't have time to watch the whole video, here are a few key quotes:

"At some level, again, working class white people are being harmed by white privilege. Relatively, being advantaged, right? Being given a leg up, being given a membership to the club, but in absolute terms, being kept economically subordinated by the very thing that gave them a sense of superiority. How's that for irony?

Then, in the present era, this hasn't stopped, this is not ancient history. Now, we have people running around insisting that we should close the border with Mexico because if we don't the wages of working class people will continue to fall. The implication being that the only reason workers are paid like crap in this country, is because the border is open.

But if you believe that, you would actually have to believe, that if that border were closed, that all these owners of capital and industry would just say, 'Oh well you figured us out. Here it's a raise.'

Do we really believe that the only thing keeping bosses from paying people more is the presence of low-wage medium semi-skilled labor from South of this artificial border? Is that really what we believe? We know that if that border is closed, it isn't going to be closed to capital. It isn't going to be closed to goods. If you have a border that can be crossed by capital looking for the highest return on investment, or goods looking for the highest price, but labor is chained to it's country of origin, how is that going to work to the benefit of working people? By definition it doesn't. By definition it immiserates the working class. Divide and conquer."

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

Panel Urges Obama to Re-structure U.S. Gov't to Prevent Genocide

I am admittedly late in getting to this, but its been busy around here!

Several weeks ago, a panel led by former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and former Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen, released a report on genocide prevention.

While I haven't gone through enough of the report to provide a thorough analysis, at first glance, many of these recommendations look similiar to a sign on letter Bridget and I wrote last month.

However, there was one really great highlight that occurred at the press conference. When asked about the military aspect of genocide prevention, Madeline Albright stressed the need and importance of early, flexible and robust non-military efforts to prevent crises from spiraling into mass killing. Bill Cohen reaffirmed Albright's comment, by saying we need to increase U.S. efforts to stop genocide before it happens. Wow, this sounds familiar to what Caroline A. wrote in FCNL's press release on The Responsibility to Prevent!

It also is provides a far more nuanced perspective on U.S. foreign policy and genocide prevention. Madeline Albright, who once asked "whats the point of saving this superb military for, Colin, if we can't use it?" is now advocating for what FCNL and others have been saying for years. While genocide can occur very quickly, as it did in Rwanda, the conditions in which genocide and ethnic cleansing occur are capable of being spotted much earlier. By increasing international efforts to assess and address these conditions, we can truly live up to our collective responsibility to say "Never Again."

President Obama's administration should move quickly to implement these recommendations, and make prevention of these crimes a priority of his administration.

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

Snapshot of 2004: Can war work?

One evening in early September I decided to do my laundry. I had just set up the wash cycle and was returning to my apartment when something in the free magazine pile caught my eye. Believer. The fantastically entertaining and notoriously expensive literary magazine. Goldmine! Yes, this issue was from April of 2004 (ah, freshman year of college), but I never pass up free culture and pretension.

I picked up my treasure and perused the cover as I walked upstairs. One title screamed out at me: "On antiwar ambivalence and a belated reading of The Gulag Archipelago" by Tom Bissell.

The reading that followed was partly enjoyable and partly infuriating, but most notably a time machine back to rapidly darkening but generally optimistic days of early 2004. I was engrossed by his description of The Gulag Archipelago, a three-part book about the horrors and injustices of the Soviet Union, hearkening back to when I spent my Tuesday afternoons in seminars with titles like "Life under Communism." When I neared the end of the article Bissell somewhat inexplicably turned to his own anti-war ambivalence. This is when I began to grow skeptical and frustrated. This passage crystallizes his take on the early Iraq War and the antiwar movement:

"I found myself less antiwar than anti-antiwar, which did not make me prowar but left me much less antiwar than I wanted to be. For The Gulag Archipelago had told me this: one must fight totalitarianism and never apologize for doing so. The sick brilliance of totalitarian regimes is that they are beyond diplomacy. They are removable only by war..."
(Believer, April 2004, p.15)

This passage frustrates and frightens me because it demonstrates a kind of reverse idealistic belief that war can fix totalitarian regimes. Of course I have the benefit of knowing what transpired in Iraq in the years that followed this article. War introduced a new injustice and horror into Iraqi life. But is that chaos really better than the freedom crushing regime of Sadaam Hussein? Neither is good, and clearly war is not the answer for dealing with totalitarian regimes. As Bissell himself points out, when a society has lived under a controlling regime for many years, it is not effective to "liberate" it by throwing the doors open and announcing freedom. Totalitarinism inflicts severe pschological wounds -- wounds that are not healed by subjecting the sufferer to war.

I agree with Bissell that, "one must fight totalitarianism and never apologize for doing so." But does war fight totalitarianism? No! If we use 1920s and 30s Germany as an example, one could argue that it in fact promotes totalitarian regimes.

Bissell's attitude in this article is 'totalitarianism happens. We have a resposibility to stop it." But totalitarianism doesn't just happen. Conditions of inequality, chaos, and unrest allow dictators and controlling regimes to rise to power. We shouldn't waste time feeling ambivalent about the antiwar movement -- we should be over the moon about removing the causes of war. People should get out in the streets demanding more money for the State Department and civilian control of foreign relations.

Think out of the box Bissell! Iraq is just another example that the "stop injustice with war" model doesn't work. Try prevention. Try diplomacy, economic development, education, equality, and cooperation among nations. Then you will stop totalitarianism and war in one move.

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

Fox News Tries to Make Hate and Racism Sexy

My peers and I all probably remember when "reality tv" as we know it went big time. MTV started showing "The Real World" allowing us all to experience what it was like for seven strangers with different backgrounds to live together in the same house. The concept exploded. Today we have reality TV on everything from deserted island survival to fashion design to gay men.

And it's become sexy.

Today reality tv shows are much more graphic and explicit than they ever were back in the early 90s, playing up the drama of sex, drugs, friendship and betrayal. In many ways, it seems like participants in the shows cater to what they think the audience will want to see. In other words, they try to make it sexy. And I have no doubt that the producers encourage that as well.

But what are the consequences of the popularization and sexy-ilization of certain "reality" concepts?

Fox News is planning to air a new reality tv show called "Smile-- You're Under Arrest" two days after Christmas documenting the work of Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, the notorious "America's Toughest Sheriff" who turned his police department into an immigration enforcement agency.

Yet Sheriff Arpaio's tactics are known internationally for openly racially profiling latinos throughout Arizona and spending vast amounts of money for large-scale immigration sweeps.



Since 2004, over 2,700 lawsuits have been filed against Arpaio for his racist and illegal tactics and Arizona's governor has cut funding to his unit. Yet he continues, just driving his county into a $1.3 million deficit.

And now, Fox News is parading his work all over television.

But do you think they'll mention the consequences of Arpaio's tactics? Like the fact that in exchange for focusing on immigration, he has ignored 40,000 felony arrest warrants? Or that response times to 911 calls have increased because he has pulled his "immigration enforcement team" from emergency responders and patrol units?

Immigrants are not criminals. And we endanger the physical safety of our communities by making people scared to report crime to the police for fear of being deported. We damage the moral character of our community by permitting hate and racial profiling to be the rule of law.

Some news for Fox News: Hate and Racism are NOT sexy.

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

An Economic Solution for Congo

This morning's New York Times offered a plan for an economic solution to war and destruction in eastern Congo. I blogged about the current situation last month, but the truth is this area has been unstable and dangerous for normal life for many years (even centuries?) Could this plan, which calls for a common market system that would allow Congo and its neighbors to the east like Rwanda to engage in free movement of goods and labor, be the solution? Or would it be another example of the West imposing regulations on central Africa? I'm sure the displaced families, women dealing with rape as a weapon of war, and child soldiers hope that it is, and that a resolution and the chance for a peaceful life comes soon.

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

SIGN PETITION TO RELEASE SHOE THROWER FROM PRISON & TORTURE!

Perhaps the world's most famous shoe-thrower, Muntadhar al-Zeidi is in prison in an "undisclosed location". BBC released the story that Zeidi's brother reported that he is being beaten in custody in an Iraqi jail. The Iraqi TV station Al-Sharqiya just reported Zeidi has been brutally tortured, with broken ribs, signs of torture on his thighs, and he can't move his right arm. He is not authorized to talk to press, and could face seven years in prison for what the White House calls an "audience interruption".

SIGN THE PETITION FOR HIS RELEASE HERE

Al Baghdadiya, the TV channel that Zeidi worked for, has reported that an Iraqi parliamentarian has confirmed that Zeidi's hand was broken in jail. (Thanks to Raed Jarrar for the translation. Check back on his blog for more updates.)

The New York Times has called on President Bush to "make clear to Baghdad that the United States does not condone abuse of defendants and that it expects Mr. al-Zaidi to have a speedy trial, a fair process and access to a competent lawyer."

Of course, Bush hasn't done that and continues to just make shoe jokes as Zeidi is being tortured. (So sign the petition.)

Reporters Without Borders has just called "the release of Muntadar al-Zaidi who has been held by the Iraqi authorities for two days.”

This is the story of an Iraqi journalist reporting from Iraq--one of the few brave souls who would dare to do so in the country where according to Reporters without Borders, more journalists have been killed than other country in the world since WWII.

The symbolism of the "shoe throw" just keeps getting deeper and deeper. Zeidi reported from the U.S. onslaught of the air bombing of Sadr City last spring. Sadr City is roughly half the size of Manhattan, or the same size as Southeast DC. Unlike either, this area of Baghdad houses more than 3 million Iraqis. It is one of the most densely populated areas on the planet--denser than Calcutta, Gaza, Rio, or some of the other world's worst slums.

Now imagine you are in such a place and you watch bombs falling from the sky. How do you make sure that no civilians get killed when bombs are dropped on six story buildings with tight alleyways?

You don't.



This two year old boy was killed from an air strike in Sadr City. More than 900 civilians were killed in 6 weeks of clashes between the U.S. backed Iraqi army and the anti-occupation militia of Moqtada al-Sadr's--that's about 150 each week. (Pretty average death toll for the whole of Iraq per week these days.) The official U.S. response to the child's death: “The sole burden of responsibility lies on the shoulders of the militants who care nothing for the Iraqi people."

There is absolutely no way to avoid killing civilians when bombing such a heavily populated area--I don't care how "smart" your bombs are. When Zeidi was reporting from this area of massive civilian casualties, friends of Zeidi said it "emotionally influenced" him. Other experiences that made a lasting impact on his political views included being kidnapped twice--once by a Sunni militant group and then later detained by American soldiers.

"He hates the American physical occupation as much as he hates the Iranian moral occupation," Dhirgham said, alluding to the influence of pro-Iranian Shiite clerics in political and social life. "As for Iran, he considers the regime to be the other side of the American coin."

If you don't think that someone should face potentially seven years in prison for throwing a shoe at Bush, if you believe that there is a good reason why journalism is the only career protected by the U.S. Constitution, if you believe that a journalist's hand--the most important tool of freedom of speech--should not be crushed join Noam Chomsky in signing this petition to the Iraqi embassy to free Zeidi. (No joke--not a forgery).

Raed Jarrar will be hand delivering the petition to the Iraqi embassy, so in the meantime spread the word far and wide to gather more signatures to protect the freedom of speech in Iraq.

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

Bush Gets Hit with Shoe

What do we think about this incident with Pres. Bush getting a shoe in the face? Is it an affective protest to displeasure with authority? Unacceptable chaos? Unimportant? I find it a bit exhilarating, and wish that I had the moxie to show my frustration in a similar way... but what do you all think?

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

The enduring significance and struggle for rights

Sixty years ago today, representatives from around the world gathered to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They declared that recognizing the inherent dignity and equality of all human beings--regardless of " race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status"--was the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.

Sixty years later, seekers of social justice still hold fast to the enduring significance of this vision. And we still struggle to make it a reality in our world.

At FCNL, this is the work we do every day. From calling upon Congresspersons to incorporate humanitarian and conflict prevention funds into the appropriations bills, to asking Congress to honor the contract between the US government and the indigenous peoples of the United States, to working on ending war, stopping torture, banning cluster bombs and nuclear weapons, and ending racism and xenophobia, our work is grounded in the fundamental belief in human rights.

A month ago the people of the United States proved they wanted change in this country. Today, the UN began a year long campaign to help people around the world learn about their human rights.

Now is the moment to shape the change you wish to see in the world.

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

thoughts as I take my coffee break

As anyone who knows me knows, I love food. I love eating food, preparing food and serving food to others. Half of my past work and volunteer positions have in some way involved food. I love bonding over food with family, co-workers and my house mates. I particularly love the ways that the organic, local and slow food movements can be used to heal the earth and prevent world hunger.

So, imagine my excitement on the metro this morning when I read about the Japanese government's attempt to promote a local foods movement. It's great that some people in Japan realize that eating local foods can save on fuel, promote a healthier diet and help build the local economy!

And just in case you think that the local foods movement would never make such a big impact in this country: check out this petition to urge President-elect Obama to replant a vegetable garden on the First Lawn, with the harvest going to the White House kitchen and local food pantries. This would make the White House an example of environmentally friendly, economically savvy, healthful eating and would be a great way to support the hungry in DC!

And as my boyfriend (who woke up early on Saturday to do some mid-winter compost tending as I slept in) can attest, veggie gardens do great in DC!

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

On the Dangers of a Quaker Education

I woke up yesterday to the news that the intern blog is the link between a giant Sidwell School/FCNL Quaker peace conspiracy. A blogger was concerned the about the "radical" Quaker indoctrination that the Obama girls may receive at the school, and he pointed to Caroline's post as a connection between Sidwell and the "hardcore peacenik" organization, FCNL.While I think that this blogger overstated FCNL's connection to Sidwell, the entry got me thinking about the values of a Quaker education. Like most of the FCNL interns I am not a Quaker, but like at least half of the interns I attended a Quaker school.

I attended public schools for my entire grade school career and both of my parents went to world-class public universities. So, for a long time I just assumed that I would take advantage of my home state's fantastic university system. However, when it was actually time for me to choose a college, I realized that I would feel lost in a larger university and needed a smaller school to address my needs. It was also important for me to be involved in communities that nurture my spiritual development, so I felt particularly drawn to faith-based schools. Being Catholic, I naturally began by looking at Catholic universities (I admit to still having a deep love of the Catholic educational system and I joke that I will give my future children only two choices in terms of colleges: Quaker or Jesuit). However, I eventually fell in love with a small Friends college in Richmond, Indiana.

At Earlham, I was able to participate in a learning environment that was grounded in community, while so many other colleges seem grounded in competition. At the time that I was at Earlham, I never once felt that there was an administrator, professor or fellow student who didn't genuinely want me to succeed. The Quaker value of equality permeated every aspect of the campus, encouraging students (and professors) to see beyond the many things that seem to divide us and encouraging us to get to know and love each other as people.

One of the first things that attracted me to Earlham was the Peace and Global Studies (PAGS) program. As a Peace and Global Studies major, I came to appreciate peace as an active discipline, and not merely the absence of war. My PAGS degree had an emphasis in Women and Social Change, and I studied how peace related to a variety of life experiences, academic fields and communities. I was taught that if structural violence exists on every level, structural peacemaking needs to exist on every level as well. What I respect most about the PAGS program was its ability to keep its moral center, while at the same time remaining self-critical and academically rigorous. That is a balance that I found to be true at every level of Earlham's education, and a balance that I appreciate about FCNL as well.

One of my favorite things about attending Earlham was it's ability to be deeply spiritual without being dogmatic in a way that would be alienating to others. I was able to go to classes on Quaker theology and attend College Meeting For Worship, while at the same time attend my own religious events and functions on campus. I hope Friends realize how much we non-Quakers appreciate going to a school that is based on such a beautiful spiritual tradition, while at the same time feeling that our own beliefs are honored and appreciated. The hospitality that Quaker colleges provide to students from other faith traditions is truly amazing.

When I think of what defines the Quaker approach to education, I always end up thinking of two Quaker theologians. One is George Fox and his value of following the truth wherever it may lead. The other is William Penn and his willingness to experiment with "what love can do to heal this broken world." This honest search for truth that is grounded in a sincere love for humanity and the earth has been at the heart of my experience with Quaker education.

I am thrilled for the Obama daughters that they will be given this educational and moral grounding while facing such incredible changes at their young ages. I cannot imagine a better community to support them through this monumental time.

And I am also thrilled for Quaker schools everywhere that they have proven themselves (once again) able to educate and nurture some of the best young minds in the world, whether they be in Ramallah, Atlanta, or the White House.

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

Ridiculous!

More on this later (I'm feeling a bit brain dead now), but check out Dana Perino's lame response to Helen Thomas's question about the cluster bomb treaty:

MS. PERINO: Helen, did you have a question?

Q Yes. Is the President going to sign the anti-cluster bomb treaty? Apparently this is --

MS. PERINO: Right, this is a treaty that was passed out of the U.N. Security Council several months ago. We said then that, no, we would not be signing on to it. And so I think that the signing is actually -- we did not participate in the passage of it, and therefore we're not going to sign it either.

Q Why not?
MS. PERINO: What I have forgotten is all the reasons why, and so I'll get it for you. (Laughter.)

Q Thank you. One other question.

MS. PERINO: Oh, okay.

Q Do you have any -- do you see any linkage between the Pakistani government and the so-called terrorists?

MS. PERINO: Secretary Rice today in the region said that she would decline to comment before the investigation has some time to reach more conclusions. What we -- some of the things that we do know about individuals coming from Pakistan are more well known, but I don't think that anybody is making a direct link to state sponsor. But she said that we should decline to comment until the investigation has some more time to play itself out.

Okay, thank you.

You can read the full transcript here, and find out more about FCNL's reaction to this disgraceful response here. I'm going to gather my thoughts and write more about this next week - or maybe someone will beat me to it tomorrow!

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

Quaker education on the blogs.

I read a select number of blogs, and I have to admit most of them are not political. I prefer neighborhood, literature, and style blogs. They are my escape from work.

This morning, however, our intrepid nuclear disarmament lobbyist David Culp alerted us to a political blog that linked to FCNL and to this very blog. The blog post was focused on the Obama family's decision to send their daughters to Sidwell Friends, and though we do occasionally do outreach projects with the school, and we're both, you know, Quaker organizations, I can only think that my little post about Quaker education prompted the blogger to suggest the Sidwell and FCNL as closely linked. As tenuous as these links actually are, as a product of a vaguely Quaker college (Bryn Mawr gave up official ties long ago), I say, huzzah!

From what I can tell, Quaker values are the cat's pajamas. What could be better than focusing on respect and community, be that respect of the environment, of sexual orientation, or even of political beliefs?

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

Further Reflections on the SOA

Stephen already wrote a great entry about our trip to the SOA protest, but I wanted a chance to share a few of my thoughts, as well.

As you probably guessed, this picture was taken last week at the gates of Ft. Benning. The four women who are memorialized in this picture are Ita Ford, Maura Clarke, Jean Donovan, and Dorothy Kazel, four U.S. churchwomen who were killed by SOA graduates in El Salvador. Today is the 28th anniversary of their death. Dorothy Kazel was a member of the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland and her order has a memorial to her on their website. It gives a lot more information about her story, if you are interested.

It's important to say that I think Dorothy, Ita, Maura and Jean would want us to remember that 28 years ago they joined the ranks of thousands of innocents who died in the civil war in El Salvador, many of whom still remain unknown but to God. Hopefully, by hearing their stories and seeing their faces we will become better able to mourn the names and faces and stories of the victims that we do not know.

Now, I'll leave you with something that I wrote on my way home. I hope all of our Quaker readers will be understanding of the somewhat un-Quaker terminology.

Thoughts at the Gates of Ft Benning

We think of sacred places
(those of us who care to think of them)
As devoid of any history
outside the miraculous

A spring in Lourdes
A river in Varanasi

It feels crude to speak of:

A pilgrimage to Auschwitz
A military gate turned shrine

But even Mexico was under occupation
When a mother first gave her gift of roses

And Mary walked to a tomb in Calvary
Expecting only to see death

So if the walls of Jericho were brought down by faith
Maybe these gates, too
Will tremble with our prayers

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook

Quaker Education in the News

One of my favorite things (as I may have mentioned before) is the Slate.com podcast known as the "Political Gabfest." It is a weekly, pretentious-yet-silly, look at politics. This week, they discuss Quaker education because the new first daughters are going to Sidwell Friends, and two of the three hosts went to Friends schools.

Enjoy here!

Email the Author | Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook