November 2003

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Short Takes

Remembering Bob Philbrook

From "Quaker Profiles: Bob Philbrook" by Kara Newell, Friends Journal, July 2001, and "Portland Loses Longtime Champion for the Poor" by Melanie Creamer, Portland Press Herald , October 3, 2003.

Bob Philbrook, a Quaker advocate for peace, justice, and especially the rights of the poor and disadvantaged, died at the age of 73 on September 30, 2003.

However, many of the organizations and networks he helped to inspire and sustain will continue to carry out the advocacy he cared about deeply.

When Bob lost a bid for the Maine House of Representatives in 1990, it didn't seem to matter, since he was at the Statehouse nearly every day anyway to testify before legislative committees and lobby for social justice. "Just his presence in the room would assure that the issues of the poor and underserved would rise to the top of the discussion," said Dora Mills, director of the Bureau of Health in the Department of Human services.

In 2001, Bob said: "I accept that I can fail in earthly terms, but I have no picture of what failure is in the global perspective. I just go through life thinking, 'I can do anything.' If I play any kind of religous role, it is to keep religion relevant to the rest of society and the future. I believe that I do what I do simply because I love doing it. It's fun. I find life fun."

Against Suicide Bombings

Excerpts from Editorial in Saudi Arabia's Arab News , www.arabnews.com, October 7, 2003.Reprinted by the Common Ground News Service .

Israel's attack on what it said was an Islamic Jihad military training camp in Syria sends two messages to the world. The first, on behalf of the United States, is the clear signal that the Bush administration will do everything it can to keep Syria and Iran in its sights as the so-called war on terror continues. It is a message that has been heard, loud and clear, in the Arab world.

However, the second message, though indirect, should be taken on board with equal concern: That suicide attacks on Israeli civilian targets are politically and militarily counterproductive.

How much reflection has there been in the Arab media on the fact that three Israeli Arabs were among the 19 killed in the restaurant in Haifa on Saturday? How much acknowledgement has there been that the city targeted is one of the few in Israel where Arabs and Jews coexist peacefully? And where are the editorials asking what the three children and the baby who were blown to pieces there did to deserve such a terrible fate?

Is there any reflection on the fact that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is now as a result of the bombing in a weaker position than ever, and that the sizeable minority of ordinary Americans who support Palestinian calls for a viable state are less likely than ever to raise their voices in support of the cause?

Arab News has said it before, but along with all decent-minded people we must continue to say it loudly and unambiguously: Suicide bombings are morally repugnant, are totally against Islam and all human decency.

Let's face it: The Palestinians and the wider Arab world have no meaningful strategy for dealing with the Arab-Israeli conflict, and that is why extremism fills the vacuum.

If as much planning and effort had been put into forging a strategy for mass civil disobedience, for example, and promoting genuine internal reform and development as has been put into the recruitment, training and encouragement of suicide bombers, the Palestinians would not only be in a much stronger position at the negotiating table but would also have much more vocal and tangible support from the international community.

Our Pens Should Not Tremble

From Tawfiq Abu Baker's Acceptance Speech upon Receiving a 2003 Eliav-Sartawi Award for Middle Eastern Journalism.

I strongly believe that the extremists on the Israeli and Palestinian sides are practically serving each other by their destructive policies. The demolition of an eight-story building without any reason after killing the wanted persons could only lead to the blind killing of women, old men, and children in a Jerusalem bus or in a cafe in the middle of Tel Aviv and vice versa.

The arbitrary killing is entirely contradictory to our tradition, heritage, and Islamic religion. While we are now experiencing the tenth anniversary of the 1993 Oslo Accord, I would say firmly and confidently that the moderates on the Palestinian and Israeli sides have not yet exerted sufficient efforts for the triumph of peace.

Each side was only seeking ways to maitain its popularity amongst its supporters, and they, sometimes, embarked on back-to-back negotiations rather than launching face-to-face dialogue. Allow me to say with sorrow and sadness that the decade which has elapsed since the Oslo Accord has provided evidence that the peace opponents on both sides have been more powerful and more enthusiastic than the peace proponents.

However, my deeply rooted conviction is that co-existence between the two peoples in the two neighboring states as well as a just solution for the chronic issue of refugees will remain the solution which will be victorious in the end; there exists no other solution except continuous bloodshed without any glimpse of hope.

Hence, it is our obligation as media men and women to lead public opinion in our countries to achieve those
objectives. Our pens should not tremble for a moment in our hands while we call for dialogue, peace, rationality, and enlightenment. We should not stop for a moment our search for the common ground of understanding and everlasting co-existence.

Thank you all for this honor and peace be upon you all.

Letters to the Editor

Jesse Leamon

Your article on Private Military Companies, "Private Armies, Public Wars," (October, 2003), was great, but the article's conclusion promotes a falsehood. Author Suraya Dadoo concludes, "The Cold War is over. The culture of deception and covert dealing should have come to an end with it."

The era of "covert operations" should never have happened with the bogus "cold war."  There rarely existed a credible threat from the Soviets which justified the nefarious actions of the CIA during the Cold War era.

As long as we keep holding on to the myth that these companies, ever, at any time, had a justification, we're perpetuating the myth that they need to continue in some fashion. If it was good then, why is it not good now?  Dadoo's conclusion unravels the argument of the rest of the piece. 

Suraya Dadoo responds

As a South African, I believe that the Cold War period in American history can appropriately be compared to the apartheid era of my own country. As such, I am not in any way justifying the deception of that time, but merely stating that we now live in a time when people demand transparency.

We have moved away from this era, and governments need to realise this, which is why I maintain that the end of the Cold War era should have brought with it a need to end the use of shadowy intelligence operatives, secret dealings, and covert operations, which PMCs typify.

In saying this, I am not arguing that these companies ever had a justification, or should in the future. However, I am deeply concerned that some academics and analysts actually advocate the use of PMCs as a "viable" alternative to the financially-stricken UN peacekeeping forces.

Recently, former apartheid soldiers were implicated in the coup in the oil-rich islands of São Tomé and Principe. Instead of lambasting them, some South African journalists argued that Africa's politics were far too complicated to prohibit the use of PMCs entirely. It is extremely dangerous arguments like these which my article was designed to rebut.

Gifts for Peace

Give the Gift of Peacework - Holiday Bonus Offer! From now through the end of December, buy gift subscriptions to Peacework for your friends and we'll also send them a tin of delicious, organic, fairly traded hot cocoa mix - along with a gift card, of course. $35 per one-year subscription. Be sure to note "holiday gift offer" with your orders. Call 617/661-6130 to order by credit card, or send a check, payable to AFSC-Peacework.

Syracuse Cultural Workers Peace Calendar 2004 celebrates & honors the unprecedented, worldwide peace movement that sprang to life in opposition to the illegitimate US war on Iraq; $12.95; full-color, 14x22 on your wall. Also available, the 2004 Women Artists Datebook ($13.95) & the Rebels & Radicals Perpetual Calendar ($10.95); Syracuse Cultural Workers, Box 6367, Syracuse NY 13217; 315/474-1132 x102; www.syrculturalworkers.org

Dissenting Views: Art In the Age of Terror . The WRL 2004 Peace Calendar. Cartoons, prints, drawings, woodcuts, and paintings enliven this year's desk calendar. ($12.95 plus tax in NY). War Resisters League, 339 Lafayette St., NY, NY 10012, 212/228-0450. Or, order online at www.warresisters.org/cal2004.htm

Sweat X: Clothes with a Conscience offers jackets, polo shirts, sweatshirts, & T-shirts produced by an anti-sweatshop, union-affiliated workers' cooperative in Los Angeles. Call toll-free 866/479-3289 or shop on line at www.sweatx.net

Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? This resource helps re-evaluate Christmas, and encourages simpler living all year. Available from Alternatives for Simple Living, 5312 Morningside Ave, POB 2787, Sioux City IA 51106; 800/821-6153; www.simpleliving.org

Book Donations Needed for the prison library of Connecticut's Supermax prison. Most Level 5 inmates only leave their cells for one hour of recreation five days a week. Please send books, but please no magazines, to Mark Suse, Counselor Supervisor, Northern CI Library Donations, 287 Bilton Rd., Somers CT 06071.

What Would Gandhi Do?

John Humphries , a member of Hartford Friends Meeting, a community organizer, and a nonviolence trainer, traveled to Iraq with an AFSC-Quaker delegation in June 2002 and helped organize a statewide interfaith network to resist the war in Iraq.

To register for the gathering described below, see www.woolmanhill.org, or call 413/774-3431.

When we started bombing Iraq in March 2003 I asked in my anger and frustration, "Why weren't we able to stop the war?"

I had worked hard, writing letters, participating in vigils, and I had even been arrested twice in civil disobedience actions - one in December 2002 and one in March 2003. And I wandered the streets of New York City on February 15 holding the hand of my seven-year-old son among the vibrant masses - just two among millions who marched in the streets on that day. How could they not listen to all those voices around the world?

As I searched for answers in the writings of Gene Sharp and others, I came to understand that my expectations for the acts of civil disobedience, vigils and marches were unrealistic. The demonstrations of February 15 played a valuable role in building the global movement, but we never should have expected them to stop the war.

We need to dig deeper into the tradition and experience of nonviolent action and broaden our strategies of resistance if we are going to stop the Bush juggernaut and move closer to the world we want. We need to bring experienced and creative people together for longer gatherings where we can take the time to learn and dream together and develop more creative strategies for not only protesting war but also for radically altering the culture of violence in which we live. Together, let us consider how we might interweave active resistance with positive steps toward building new social structures.

We invite you to join us for a workshop called "What Would Gandhi Do?" coordinated by Joanne Sheehan, chair of War Resisters League International, and I. February 6-8, 2004 at Woolman Hill Conference Center in Deerfield, MA.

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