Updates-A Story of Realistic Hope

Michael Beer, our longtime Executive Director, is off to Korea and Japan to promote peace. His first destination is PyeongChang for the Peace Forum that seeks to strengthen the unification initiatives from the 2018 Winter Olympics.  The PyeongChang Peace Forum is an effort involving the Olympics and peace co-hosted by the President of the Korean Olympic Committee. Conference participants will also visit the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. The Peace Forum will also address issues of world-wide militarism and war. We hope to initiate some new campaigns against war and militarism so we hope everyone will read the closing resolutions and announcements expected on February 12.

Michael will join a delegation to Tokyo to meet with potential hosts and venues for a convocation of sports people and peace activists at the time of the Olympics and the 75th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This would be the first of a series of such convocations to be held every two years in connection with the summer and winter Olympics. The current partners in the initiative include members of the International Olympic Committee, former Olympic and Paralympic athletes, representatives of sports and peace organisations and some leading peace and disarmament organisations including Basel Peace Office, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament and the World Future Council. We hope to strengthen the global peace movement and deepen connections between sport and peace and the spirit of Olympism.

Follow along with him on this trip by checking our website in the coming week. 

To support this important work, please visit: https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/donate

This just in... Michael sent a group photo from the opening session. See more about this impressive event at: http://ppf.or.kr/en/

Recap: The PyeongChang Peace Forum in South Korea

Written by Micheal Beer, Director of Nonviolence International

I have just returned home from the PyeongChang Peace Forum in South Korea! The Peace Forum worked to help develop an action plan to end the Korean War, building on the rapprochement of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games between North and South Korea. We also discussed how best to link UN sustainable development goals with the pursuit of global peace.  To accomplish these goals, the Peace Forum is developing an action plan with four tracks:

 Sports and Peace 

The Peace Forum addressed the role of sports in peace, including the role of the Olympic Truce Foundation and the International Olympic Truce Center. During this discussion, I asked the keynote speakers: “What more can the Olympics do to lessen a focus on nationalism and increase its role in promoting peace and international understanding?” (noted on the slide at 0:47 in the video) As an organization, we feel this is an important issue that represents a broader need to consider how all of the work we do is interconnected. 

Nonviolence International seeks to invigorate the role of sports in promoting peace by organizing events this summer surrounding the Olympics. This summer marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the founding of the United Nations whose primary purpose was to stop the scourge of war.  We hope to remember these monumental events during the Olympics this summer. Details should be forthcoming by the beginning of March.

Peace and Sustainable  Development Goals (SDGs)

SDGs are incredibly important to the well being of humanity and the planet. Peace is not just incorporated in Article 16 but cuts across many of the SDGs. Unfortunately, we had an early report from civil society leaders that countries are falling short of their pledges. At Nonviolence International, we simply take this as further motivation to pursue our work across the world and spread the mission of nonviolence. 

Other initiatives are also responding to the increased need to push for action. Peace 2045 is a new campaign calling on all countries to pass laws and constitutional changes that will outlaw war in each country by the year 2045. Additional campaigns include Stand Together Now that is pushing for sustainable development, and UN2020 which is calls for strengthening the United Nations more broadly. 

Peace and Economy 

This track largely focuses on efforts to improve the economy of Korea through unification and cooperative efforts between North and South Korea with regards to railroads, roads, trade, and tourism.

Michael Beer and international attendees at the never used Railway station in the Demilitarized Zone of Korea.

Peace and Ecology

This track emphasizes the relationship between peace and the environment. At the Peace forum, we discussed turning the Demilitarized Zone into an eco-peace park and an international Peace Zone, upon the reunification of North and South Korea. 

Many of us traveled to the DMZ to see the horrific scar of Korea. The barbed wire, the guns, and the checkpoints were a reminder of the mistrust, the misallocation of resources, and the existential dangers of modern war.

Nonviolence International supports the vital efforts to promote peace which were promoted at this conference. Nonviolent civil society movements, as well as nonviolent government policies, are urgently needed to end militarism, violent crime, and structural violence. 

We’ll update you soon upon the publication of the Action Plan for peace and our efforts to promote nonviolence and peace at the Olympics in August in Japan.

Michael Beer has provided an update on the PyeongChang Peace Forum he attended in February. The committee recently released their message for peace which includes: peace between North and South Korea, transformation of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), and peace deliberations at the Tokyo Olympic games in Summer 2020. Click here to read the PyeongChang Peace Forum's Action Plan. 

Written by David Hart

Nonviolence International Welcomes The Isaiah Project

We are thrilled to welcome our latest fiscally sponsored partner - The Isaiah Project. Please be on the look out for much more about their important work in the months to come. 2020 is the 40th anniversary of the Plowshares Movement and there is some exciting news coming about how we can celebrate together. 

Many months ago, I dreamed of a series of profiles on our website that could begin to tell the story of a powerful, diverse, creative nonviolent movement growing all over the world. A movement that inspires us to continue taking daily action to build Nonviolence International and thus strengthen our capacity to make a difference in this brutal world. 

Tonight I’ve been reading about seven amazing nonviolent leaders and giving thanks that they are now, in a way, part of the Nonviolence International family. I hope you will join me in learning about these guiding lights at: https://kingsbayplowshares7.org/about/bios/ 

They inspired me to draft a piece about them and their witness against the most horrific weapons in the world. In his history of the Plowshares Movement, Art Laffin reminds us that we are, “trying to build a new world within the shell of the old.” This is a challenging and essential task. The old world is fading. If the new world is not born quickly, the decay of the old may crush all our hopes. 

Today I had the opportunity to work with the amazing Interns at Nonviolence International and a new friend, former NVI staff, and Plowshares leader, Paul Magno, to create a donation page for The Isaiah Project.  

I love the beautiful graphic Meagan Hanlon, NVI Intern, found on the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 website. Together we decided to use this image of painted rocks as the background photo for the new donation page. I don’t know who took this photo, but I can see that the collection of rocks is not just a colorful image to make a webpage pop; it is also the result of committed people coming together to create something unique and precious together. I imagine many hands painting their messages on these rocks.

Maybe someday I will learn the true story of this photo. Now as I ponder this image, I see it as a reflection of the inspirational Plowshares movements that have taken shape over the last 40 years. 40 years we’ve spent in the wilderness. It is time to come home to peace.

There is a rock painted with the words, “Blessed are the Peacemakers.” One that reads, “Friendship Not Warship.” Another says “Seek Peace.” And one made me laugh with the simple power of its truth, it reads, “It is not ok to kill people.” 

When we realize that we are all part of one another killing people doesn't seem like a good idea. As a Jew, I remember hearing the question - what would we have done if a concentration camp was being built in our neighborhood. I celebrate these faith leaders who decided that they would take it upon themselves to notice the ultimate horror of nuclear weapons being built and deployed in our communities and do what they could to knock down these crematorium towers rising among us.

The Jewish prophet Isaiah said, “they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

40 years ago dedicated peacemakers inspired by the disarmed Jesus took action against evil. They didn’t know what ripple effects would come of their bold, creative, nonviolent direct action, but they decided they would witness in a way in keeping with their heart’s calling for peace. So armed only with love, they beat the most destructive weapons in the world into plowshares.

Without any expectation of future actions they created an international movement that has challenged runaway militarism for decades. The movement has shifted and grown in a variety of ways including actions in the US, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia. I predict more to come in additional regions of this beautiful and broken world.

Decades after that first action, Nonviolence International is proud to welcome the Isaiah Project as our latest fiscally sponsored partner. The Isaiah Project is actively supporting the Kings Bay Plowshares 7. You can learn more about their much needed work at: https://kingsbayplowshares7.org

And starting today, you can donate to support this work right here on our site. https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/donate_isaiah Check out the photo of the colorful rocks, be inspired by their actions, donate, and spread the word. And, ponder what you can to put your values into action. How can you live out the beliefs that are core to who you are?

I’m still asking myself these questions and while I find no perfect answers, I celebrate the inspiration in the light shining from those whose commitment to peace seems to know no bounds. Thank you to all the Plowshares activists who for decades have declared that the world can be better than it is today and who, by their actions, have shown us a path out of the darkness and into a future of peace, justice, and environmental sanity.

I am grateful for the Plowshares Movement and all those whose spirits move them to take bold creative nonviolent action.

We are proud to share this wonderful video featuring our partner

Rev. Amy Yoder McGloughlin.

The roots of Zionism run deep in Christianity and Judaism, and their impacts are felt in Palestine. In this webinar, Rabbi Linda Holtzman and Rev. Amy Yoder McGloughlin share stories about their recent trip to Palestine, and how they see Zionism impacting this occupied territory.  More at: https://www.cpt.org

Want to be inspired by decades of deep commitment to nonviolence?

Check out this video from 1986 featuring our founders Mubarak Awad and Jonathan Kuttab

(see photos below the video)

Courage Along The Divide

Produced and Directed by Victor Schonfeld, 1986 

http://www.beyondtheframe.co.uk

Written by Maegan Hanlon

Ann Wright was on an assignment in Mongolia when she resigned from the State Department in March 2003. Having served in the U.S. Army for over two decades retiring as a colonel and in the U.S. Foreign Service for sixteen years, she knew the devastating effects of war. Ann was opposed to the Iraq War and felt that she could not in good conscience represent the United States in the conflict. Because of this, she resigned from the U.S. Department of State to dedicate herself to promoting nonviolence. 

Ann decided to shift her efforts to peace and nonviolent protest. She started working with organizations that were trying to stop the United States government from using war as a first resort. When talking about using war as a way to solve global issues she says, “use of the military and war seldom results in stability.” She knew that there had to be a nonviolent way to solve international disputes. As a result, Ann began a new adventure working with civilian-run organizations instead of government agencies. She advocated for nonviolence in Washington, DC and around the US talking to tens of thousands of citizens on alternatives to war. Since her resignation from the U.S. in 2004, after nearly two decades of commitment to nonviolence, Ann can testify that most Americans don’t want any more wars, yet U.S. politicians, no matter which political party is in power, still favor war and mobilization. 

Ann began being personally involved in the situation in Israel and Gaza when she left the U.S. Diplomatic corps in 2003. She decided she needed to see for herself what was happening on the ground when Israel first attacked Gaza in early 2009. She went to Gaza in January 2009 to observe with her own eyes the huge level of destruction that a major military power like Israel had done in its 27 attacks on the small, unarmed territory of Gaza. The loss of life-over 1400 Palestinians killed, 5,000 wounded, and over 10,000 left homeless-inspired her to take action. In 2009, she went back to Gaza six times with CODEPINK Women for Peace to bring more people to Gaza so they could meet with survivors, document the damage, and return home to write stories about what they saw. Later in December 2009, Ann and CODEPINK brought over one thousand people to Egypt for the Gaza Freedom March to march in Gaza in solidarity with the people of Gaza on the first anniversary of the Israeli attack. However, Egyptian border police allowed only about 100 people to enter Gaza, and the rest had to remain in Egypt and used a number of nonviolent tactics including staging demonstrations in Cairo to bring international attention to the blockade in Gaza including sit-ins outside the US Embassy. 

In 2010 Ann continued to support Palestinians living under the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza by joining the Free Gaza Movement. In 2008 this organization sent two boats full of people and medical supplies to Gaza and took out of Gaza some Palestinians in need of healthcare. In 2010 the Free Gaza Movement expanded the of challenging the illegal Israeli naval blockade of Gaza by sending no just two boats, but a flotilla of boats to Gaza. This project became the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. In this 2010 mission, they sent three cargo boats of medical supplies along with three passenger boats to Gaza. Ann was on one of the passenger boats when Israeli forces attacked the flotilla for attempting to enter the naval blockade zone. Nine people were executed by Israeli commandos on the boats, and one later died of Israeli gunshots. More than 50 of the unarmed, civilian activists aboard the boats were shot by Israeli commandos. See a list of casualties here. After raiding the boats in international waters, Israeli police arrested nearly 700 people and brought them to Israeli prisons. They were deported which meant they could not return to Israel for ten years. Ann has been deported from Israel three times meaning she technically has a 30 year ban to travel to Israel and therefore also to the West Bank. After her initial deportation, Ann returned to Gaza through the Rafah, Egypt crossing in 2011, 2012, and 2013.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is an international organization of 13 national campaigns participating in the movement. In the 2018 flotilla, four boats in the flotilla visited twenty ports before reaching Sicily, from which they travel to Gaza. In each country they visited, they worked with Palestinian solidarity organizations to educate Europeans about the horrors of the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. By stopping at multiple ports to meet with supporters, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition is able to further spread the message about the suffering people endure in Gaza from the Israeli land and sea blockade. The journey to attempt to break the illegal naval blockade of Gaza typically ends about forty kilometers off the coast of Gaza when Israeli forces intercept the flotilla and arrest passengers. The long journey brings international media attention, except in the U.S., and awareness to the suffering in Gaza. With the help of their international partners, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition has sent boats to Gaza in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 (an all women’s trip), and 2018. 

US Boats to Gaza, the United States chapter of The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, is dedicated to educating Americans about the situation in Gaza. Ann and other organizers travel across the United States holding educational events to spread awareness about Gaza. Many educational events help with funding so the flotilla can keep sending ships to attempt to break the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. The flotilla’s dedication helps Palestinians remain hopeful that the world is not forgetting them. 

Ann Wright came to work with Nonviolence International when she met our co-director, Michael Beer. They ran into one another at a number of peace events around the DC Metro area. Today Nonviolence International serves as the fiscal sponsor of US Boats to Gaza. Ann and Nonviolence International also support We Are Not Numbers, a platform for young Palestinian writers and artists to find their voices and tell their stories as journalists. In fact, We Are Not Numbers has released two documentaries showing the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. The first is an award winning short film, “Six Miles Out,” about fishermen struggling to make a living under the blockade. The other, called “Dreams in the Crosshairs,” is about the permanent disfigurement and amputations many Palestinians suffer under Israeli violence on the people of Gaza. The films help raise awareness and inspire international solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. 

Through all of the suffering she has seen, knowing so many people willing to challenge Israeli and U.S. government policies towards Palestine and are willing to stand up and encourage nonviolent approaches to resolve international issues gives Ann hope. She says, “I know courage when I see it, and I have seen more courage in the brave, determined citizens...than the heavily armed forces arrayed against them.” Grassroots movements around the world show Ann the dedication many citizens have to use peaceful and nonviolent approaches to conflict resolution. She has found that civil society pressures politicians to act peacefully rather than to initiate violence. For example, United States citizens pressured President Obama to refrain from attacking Syria in 2013 over the alleged chemical attacks by the government of Syria. President Trump’s decision not to go to war with Iran also came from civil pressures to remain peaceful and avoid war. Civilian long term dedication to promoting peace and nonviolence gives Ann hope in times of violence and suffering. 

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has begun its fundraising campaign for the May 2020 Flotilla by hosting fundraisers across the country to raise money to purchase the next boats to challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza. To learn more about the campaign visit usboatstogaza.org and to donate please click here