Hope in Dark Days
As we approach the 3rd anniversary of the illegal invasion of Iraq, I have been reflecting alot on the impact of the war and methods of resistance.
Over the weekend the news came through of the death of Tom Fox, a Christian Peacemaker Team member who had been kidnapped over 3 months ago with his 3 CPT collegues. CPT are an organisation who sends volunteers to war zones to document human rights abuses and give voices to those who have no voice, the Palestinians, the Iraqis and other oppressed groups. The death of someone who fought to give voice to these people through peaceful means is a huge tragedy. Tom Fox was totally against the invasion of Iraq, he knew the dangers of going to Iraq, but he went anyway, and like Margaret Hassan and the many other aid workers and peace activists killed in Iraq, he was killed because of the imperialist ambitions of the US, Britian, and indirectly Australia. It makes me very sad.
Over the last week Father Roy Bougious, a Maryknoll Priest and founder of the School of the Americas Watch has been on a visit to Bolivia to talk about the impact of the school on Latin America and the resistance movement which has grown up opposing it over the last 16 years. The School of the Americas in located in Fort Dennison, Georgia, and trains military personal from Latin American countries. SOA graduates have been found responsible for the torture and murder of thousands of Latin Americans, including Archbishop Oscar Romero, 6 El Salvadorian Jesuit Priests and thier house keeper and 6 year old daughter. Graduates include Augusto Pinochet, Hugo Banzar (former dictator in Bolivia), Garcia Meza (currently the only Bolivian dictator in jail for huan rights abuses) and Manfred Reyes Villa (the current Governer of Cochabamba and former Mayor of Cochabamba during the Guerra de Agua in 2000). Father Roy and many other activists have put themselves on the line constantly to try and get the SOA closed. He alone has spent almost 4 years in Federal Prision because to cross the line and enter the school is a Federal crime in the US.
When the torturers of Aru Garib and Guantanomo Bay go free or get minimal sentences of one year, these peaceful protesters get up to 3 years.
It makes me question myself and what I am willing to do for peace and justice in this world? Would I put myself in front of an Israeli Bulldozer when they are destorying Palestinian homes, just like Rachel Corrie who was run over by one and refused justice?
There are different ways to change the world, Im not saying that this is the only way. Just like the Bolivian people, who in their thousands not only have fought for change over the last 500 years at a huge cost but won many of those battles. But its people like Tom Fox, Father Roy and activists like them who put their lives on the line to tell the stories of the oppressed people of the world, who give me hope in these very dark days.
Over the weekend the news came through of the death of Tom Fox, a Christian Peacemaker Team member who had been kidnapped over 3 months ago with his 3 CPT collegues. CPT are an organisation who sends volunteers to war zones to document human rights abuses and give voices to those who have no voice, the Palestinians, the Iraqis and other oppressed groups. The death of someone who fought to give voice to these people through peaceful means is a huge tragedy. Tom Fox was totally against the invasion of Iraq, he knew the dangers of going to Iraq, but he went anyway, and like Margaret Hassan and the many other aid workers and peace activists killed in Iraq, he was killed because of the imperialist ambitions of the US, Britian, and indirectly Australia. It makes me very sad.
Over the last week Father Roy Bougious, a Maryknoll Priest and founder of the School of the Americas Watch has been on a visit to Bolivia to talk about the impact of the school on Latin America and the resistance movement which has grown up opposing it over the last 16 years. The School of the Americas in located in Fort Dennison, Georgia, and trains military personal from Latin American countries. SOA graduates have been found responsible for the torture and murder of thousands of Latin Americans, including Archbishop Oscar Romero, 6 El Salvadorian Jesuit Priests and thier house keeper and 6 year old daughter. Graduates include Augusto Pinochet, Hugo Banzar (former dictator in Bolivia), Garcia Meza (currently the only Bolivian dictator in jail for huan rights abuses) and Manfred Reyes Villa (the current Governer of Cochabamba and former Mayor of Cochabamba during the Guerra de Agua in 2000). Father Roy and many other activists have put themselves on the line constantly to try and get the SOA closed. He alone has spent almost 4 years in Federal Prision because to cross the line and enter the school is a Federal crime in the US.
When the torturers of Aru Garib and Guantanomo Bay go free or get minimal sentences of one year, these peaceful protesters get up to 3 years.
It makes me question myself and what I am willing to do for peace and justice in this world? Would I put myself in front of an Israeli Bulldozer when they are destorying Palestinian homes, just like Rachel Corrie who was run over by one and refused justice?
There are different ways to change the world, Im not saying that this is the only way. Just like the Bolivian people, who in their thousands not only have fought for change over the last 500 years at a huge cost but won many of those battles. But its people like Tom Fox, Father Roy and activists like them who put their lives on the line to tell the stories of the oppressed people of the world, who give me hope in these very dark days.
posted by Paula Pfoeffer at
11:16 pm
