Un/Armed Forces ....

Sorry for the prolonged absence of postings - it's been a busy few months!

To get the ball rolling again, here's a press release from Quakers:

News Release
22 June 2009
Quakers call for Unarmed Forces Day

As the government prepares for its first 'Armed Forces Day', Quakers are busy preparing themselves for peace. In recognition of the essential work carried out by peacebuilders around the world, Quakers in Britain are calling for an Unarmed Forces Day.

Quakers believe that each person is uniquely valuable. They reject the view that governments’ responses to the inevitable tensions arising from international relations should be to constantly upgrade weapons and to train in readiness for war. Instead, Quakers advocate putting energies and resources into developing and training for non-military ways of solving conflicts and averting wars.

Kat Barton of Quaker Peace and Social Witness says "It is widely agreed that conflict prevention is more cost-effective than sending in the armed forces. At a time when public finances are under enormous pressure, instead of celebrating 'Armed Forces Day' Gordon Brown should be investing in conflict prevention and championing the work of the ‘unarmed forces’ who work tirelessly to build the conditions for peace."

Quakers believe that there is always a choice between working for war and working for peace. They work, locally, nationally and internationally to address the root causes of violence, conflict and insecurity, to promote non-violent approaches to work for peace, justice and social change, to support peacebuilding and peacemaking in areas of violent conflict and to promote disarmament.

Quaker work in Britain includes providing school children with the skills to deal with conflict, working with communities in the north of England to tackle racism and build peace, and supporting the next generation of workers in peacebuilding organisations. British Quakers work overseas to accompany Palestinians and Israelis in their nonviolent actions, to support local peacebuilding organisations in Burundi and to create non-violent peaceful solutions to often bitter and entrenched local conflicts in South Asia.

ends

Media Information Anne van Staveren 0207 663 1048

www.quaker.org.uk

Notes to the Editor:

· Armed Forces Day (Saturday 27 June) is a new government initiative to raise the public profile of the armed forces. The Armed Forces Day website describes it as "an opportunity for the nation to show our support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community".

· Quaker Peace and Social Witness (QPSW) works with, and on behalf of Quakers in Britain to translate faith into action. See www.quaker.org.uk/qpsw

· Northern Friends Peace Board is an organisation of Quakers in the north of Britain set up to support ‘the active promotion of peace in all its height and breadth’. See www.nfpb.gn.apc.org

· QPSW manages the UK section of the World Council of Churches’ (WCC) Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI)

· Peace resources for Armed Forces Day can be found at www.ekklesia.co.uk/resources/armed_forces_day

· Quakers are known formally as The Religious Society of Friends.

Building Peace - Tackling Racism - part 3

We're just over a week away from our next event on this theme - the third in three years - and have also now just published the DVD and accompanying booklet from last year's. We've been very encouraged by the responses so far and look forward to seeing how it's reviewed.

Summer of .... compassion?

Well, it seems, on closer inspection, that the G20 demonstrations are what the Met's David Hartshorn had in mind when warning about the 'Summer of rage'. The World Development Movement has responded () vigorously:
"This ill-considered outburst from the Metropolitan police is yet another example of a distasteful habit of crying wolf about peaceful protest.
"These remarks are insulting to the hundreds of thousands of voters who exercise their democratic right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression."

Likewise, a TUC spokeswoman is quoted in the Morning Star :
"This will be a peaceful march for jobs and economic justice. It is provocative and outrageous to suggest that the thousands of people who will be attending the march are intent on any kind of confrontation."

There may well be anger, but surely Putting People First and seeking an end to War is above all about compassion. Let's work with compassion and urgency- these times call for both - and not be distracted by police alarm calls.

More change in the air...?

Further to my earlier post, I've now found out about this even wider coalition gathering on the Saturday before the G20 meeting in London:

Put People First: March for jobs, justice and climate ahead of the London G20 Summit

They say: "Even before the banking collapse, the world suffered poverty, inequality and the threat of climate chaos. The world has followed a financial model that has created an economy fuelled by ever-increasing debt, both financial and environmental. Our future depends on creating an economy based on fair distribution of wealth, decent jobs for all and a low carbon future."

And similarly, they're hoping to have regional events around the country to get people mobilised for the march itself.

I don't imagine Superintendent David Hartshorn had this particular event in mind when anticipating a 'summer of rage' , but it does feel as though something significant may be in the offing. Is the current state of economic chaos going to make the governments and their leaders more able to hear the depth and breadth of the passion rather than be made deaf and fearful by such news stories?

Change in the air?

The Stop the War Coalition seems to be preparing to pull out all the stops over the next couple of months, with a road show of some of their best-known figure-head speakers, and major demos at the G20 in London and NATO summit in Strasbourg.

Now, this blog is probably not a good example of keeping focussed on a narrowly-defined set of issues, but reading the following from Stop the War did make me stop and think a bit:

Our message [at the April 1st - 2nd: Protest at London G20 Summit] will be 'Yes We Can'. Yes we can end the siege of Gaza and free Palestine, yes we can get the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, yes we can make jobs not bombs, yes we can abolish nukes, yes we can stop arming Israel.

All good things to say yes to, but as a rallying cry for a demo, is there a danger that it's spread too wide? Might as many people be put off as encouraged to join in by this manifesto? In the context of all this, perhaps it'll be even more important that the people and organisations that are already working constructively to those ends are made even more well known to participants and concerned citizens. Are they ready to do this?

My sense from the recent trip to the states is that activists there were very well aware that the big 'Yes We Can' message of Obama's election means nothing if it is not followed up with focussed and dedicated campaigning and active peace-building.

Heeding God''s Call - A Gathering on Peace: epistle reports etc.

Well, the week in Philadelphia was too full and the cost of internet access too high for me to be writing a blog during the week itself. But here's a link to the epistle from the event. Friends Journal is also carrying a number of individual reports and reflections here.

And here are a few snaps taken during the week. I may write more about it over the next week or so, but have a committee meeting to prepare for at the moment.

Gaza - demonstrating and peace vigils

QPSW has teamed up with Pax Christi and other Christian peace organisations to hold a silent vigil before Saturday's national demonstration in London. The vigil will take place from 12.15pm at the area marked Brook Gate - slightly south of Speakers Corner and parallel to Park Lane (nearest tube Marble Arch). See map: http://tinyurl.com/6umwe8 Look out for the Pax Christi banner.

QPSW is are also making up QPSW placards featuring the word 'PEACE' in English, Hebrew and Arabic for the demo.(See picture to the left).

There's also a Scottish demonstration, taking place in Edinburgh.

More information about these and other activities relating to Gaza are available on PeaceExchange.org.uk .

Heeding God''s Call - A Gathering on Peace

I'm looking forward to attending this conference in Philadelphia next week, as part of a small British Quaker delegation.

I shall try to find opportunity during the week to make some entries on this blog - and will certainly be reporting back afterwards. Watch this space .....

Gaza - Europe and Middle East Quaker Statement

Crisis in Gaza - Statement by the Executive Committee of EMES

Friends in Europe and the Middle East reach out in grief and solidarity to all Friends caught up in the appalling violence that is once again being visited upon the inhabitants of Gaza. We are holding in the Light especially the children, parents and staff of the Palestinian Early Childhood Education Programme (PECEP), which runs 13 kindergartens in Gaza with financial support from Quaker Service Norway. We will try and share news of them when we can. We uphold our Friends in Ramallah Monthly Meeting, Friends International Centre Ramallah, Friends Schools, the Am'ari Play Centre, American Friends Service Committee and the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), all of whom witness to our precious Quaker values of Truth, Peace and Integrity amid daily abuse of human rights.

We stand with them, with all civilian victims of violence, and with all Palestinian and Israeli people who, through many organisations, work tirelessly for justice and peace for all who call this land their home. EMES Representatives have been sent web links and other information on the crisis to share with their Meetings.

We call upon the powerful of the earth to heed the voice of the dispossessed, and say with the Psalmist: "The Lord will not abandon his people; he will not desert those who belong to him. Justice will again be found in the courts, and all righteous people will support it." (Psalm 94, verses 14 and 15). We unequivocally affirm the declaration of founder Quakers in 1660 that "All bloody principles and practices we do utterly deny, with outward wars, and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretence whatsoever, and this is our testimony to the whole world."

--

FWCC EMES is the collective body for Quaker meetings in Europe and the Middle East. All individual members of yearly meetings and groups affiliated with EMES are members of FWCC.

Representatives from the yearly meetings and affiliated groups normally meet each Easter for the EMES Annual Meeting.

--

Congo

A few resources relating to efforts to promote peace in the midst of the conflict:

"Churches can't be silent on D.R. Congo humanitarian catastrophe" is the headline of a report of a World Council of Churches Delegation, which goes on to say:

The ecumenical delegation congratulated President Kabila for "having chosen and privileged the path of dialogue in order to achieve peace". The group plans to meet Rwandan President Paul Kagame in the coming days or weeks, as well as "other actors able to contribute to the resolution of the current crisis," which includes the Congolese rebels leader Laurent Nkunda.

Reaffirming the commitment of the churches in Burundi, Rwanda and D.R. Congo "to work together for peace, healing and reconciliation in the region," the group made an "urgent appeal to the concerned governments and the international community to protect civilians, children, women, and the elderly by applying the agreements already achieved".

Leaders of an inter-faith agency, Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA) also "appealed to the continent’s religious leaders to urgently engage political leadership in the DRC and neighboring countries to end a crisis for which civilians continued to suffer the greatest atrocities." we read on Ekklesia"

And US Friends, through Friends Committee on National Legislation and American Friends Service Committee have written to Condoleeza Rice, saying:
Fighting and unspeakable atrocities have continued in the DRC for far too long. Promoting a sustainable peace, protecting civilians, and providing humanitarian relief can be achieved with these recommended steps. We appreciate your immediate attention and support your leadership role in addressing the urgent crisis in Congo.

A week on from Barack Obama's election...

Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian writes: "The president-elect is not a dove - he is just a much smarter hawk". and goes onto detail some of the ways in which he perceives the Obama's approach to be more nuanced and sharply focused on current peace and war issues, concluding:
"In every sphere, Obama marks a break from the recent past. He will not be perfect; the disappointments will be real and may come soon. But for now, at least, we are entitled to that sigh of relief - and even the odd yelp of joy."

Ira Chernus, writing ('Obama' for Lefties) on CommonDreams, suggests... "Barack Obama is the name of a person. "Obama" is also the name of a new mood -- a new tone and sensibility -- that has somehow risen up in every section of this country. It's a sense of open-ended possibility that hasn't been felt since the time of JFK" .... but also recognises the limitations of what we should expect.... "We don't have to appear as cautious and timid as Obama. We couldn't, even if we wanted to. But we can learn how to talk to people who don't share our values, how to take their needs and concerns into account, even how to work together with them, without sacrificing our principles. If we do that, we can use the new mood of change as a window of opportunity to persuade the whole nation to continue moving leftward. That possibility is what the name "Obama" symbolizes. But the new president certainly won't do it for us. We have to do it ourselves."

A particular challenge that he may face is that of US army reservists who are refusing to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, described here where two of them write: "By refusing activation we are refusing to participate in wars that serve the purposes of furthering the careers of politicians and high-ranking officers. We openly support other IRR [Individual Ready Reserves] members who follow in these footsteps. ... we turn to organizations like Courage to Resist, Iraq Veterans Against the War and many other large scale and grassroots organizations to solicit change in a largely unrepresentative democracy, and, to allow the voices of the people to ring through the halls of the Capital."

And finally, for now, an interesting and helpful analysis by Jim Lobe, Obama Foreign Policy May Not Require a Clean Break

We musn't undervalue the significance of the election – the Obama 'mood' and the momentum of the election are a positive in so many ways - but no-one, not even he, will be able to please all the activists all of the time.

Opportunities and responsibilities

There are some interesting personal and official response from Friends Committee on National Legislation.

First, their statement...

Opportunity Knocks--Are We Ready? from Joe Volk, Executive Secretary, detailing what they see as some specific opportunities for FCNL in the first months of 2009Source: Friends Committee on National Legislation, which concludes:

On Tuesday night, President-Elect Obama said, "This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change, and that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you. So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of service and responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other."

We at FCNL look forward to working with President Obama on these opportunities.

On the less formal level, staff members and programme assistants have taken a step back to contribute personal responses to the landmark election in a series of blog pieces. In one of these, Alex Martin writes of his sense of responsibility:

Millions of people who felt alienated by or just indifferent to politics, in the sense of our common civic project, have been connected to it by the two-year drama that has just concluded. Suddenly, they feel they have a stake. For a time, anyway, we feel like a people. How will we harness this energy? How will we keep people engaged in solving the tremendous problems we confront?

I also feel great privilege, because I work for an organization dedicated to precisely this purpose. FCNL has never been more relevant. Never has there been greater need for our work: to show people ways to remain involved with their government, and to continually remind our new leaders of the causes of peace, justice, and stewardship, so that together we may build the world we seek.

And those of us working in other parts of the world can share that sense of privilege and responsibility by holding our own leaders to account in pursuit of the same goals, and drawing inspiration from the possibilities of drawing communities together for a common cause.

Remembrance

An interesting piece from Ekklesia's Jonathan Bartley today .... The default politics of Remembrance

On Remembrance Sunday, thousands of services will take place, commemorating - as the Church, state and the British Legion put it with one accord - “those who have given their lives for the peace and freedom we enjoy today”. But the political, and for that matter theological implications of such a perspective, will be quietly ignored. This should be, they say with equal agreement, an impartial event, devoid of political considerations.

But it isn’t. Because this is in reality Remember-In-A-Certain-Way Sunday ....

... if we accept the Remembrance Day rhetoric, that soldiers laid down their lives to give us the liberties we enjoy today, then surely that must include the freedom to choose how we remember the dead, and say what we believe?

Meanwhile, the Yorkshire Evening Post carried a number of letters on the theme, including the following from Martin Schweiger:

On Tuesday the YEP letters page carried three letters making the case for wearing poppies to remind us of the sacrifice made by so many servicemen and women and importantly supporting the Poppy Appeal. The red poppies are an echo of human bloodshed upon the battle fields of the First World War while flowers grew and bloomed nearby.

I suggest that today we should complement the red poppies with white poppies to mark a determination that we should not forget the past but learn from it and strive to build lasting peace between people and between nations.

Simply buying a red poppy and wearing it will not solve all the problems of those whose lives have been damaged by conflict. Simply buying and wearing a white poppy will not bring about an instant end to all conflict. However we have to start somewhere and the poppies, red and white give us a starting point.

Martin Schweiger, Member of Roundhay (Leeds) Quaker Meeting