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Pacifism and the Congo Dilemma
Building Antimilitarism
Toppling Saddam’s Statue
It Started with‘Lysistrata’
Youthpeace in Connecticut
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Street Theater in Tel Aviv

It’s May 15 in Tel Aviv, Israel: a military wedding, with groom, bride and rabbi in uniform, along with the guests. The pair march up to the rabbi, get married and then march out, followed by their marching guests. Fast forward: The pair march through the streets, the uniformed pregnant wife gives birth to a baby dressed in uniform, while the uniformed husband stands next to her, saluting. Again, fast forward: child’s play (again, the children wear uniform) turns violent, and the married couple’s son is shot at the end. No one is surprised, and the dead corpse is wrapped in a camouflage blanket. Soldiers in uniform carry the corpse and bury the dead son. At the end, everyone cries and finally steps out of uniform. The now colorful activists offer discharge cards to the audience.

With this street performance, participants in an international nonviolence training from Israel, Chile, South Korea, Spain, Turkey and Britain marked International Conscientious Objectors’ Day in Tel Aviv. On the same day, solidarity actions for the Israeli objectors’ movement took place in Istanbul, Zagreb, Seoul, Paris, Seattle, San Francisco and London, among other places.

For the second time, War Resisters’ International had organized an international nonviolence training week in connection with International Conscientious Objectors’ Day. This year’s May 15 focused on refusal in Israel and nonviolent resistance to the occupation of Palestine, in cooperation with New Profile from Israel. The training took place on the roof of the Old Jaffa Hostel in Tel Aviv, in the heart of Israeli-Arab Jaffa.

The week started with an international seminar about refusal. The militarization of Israeli society—and New Profile’s attempts to civil-ize Israeli society—formed the focus of the first seminar day. The second day started with an overview of the diverse Israeli objector community, followed by discussion on women’s draft resistance and selective refusal. This then turned into a discussion on solidarity with the Israeli objectors and consolidation of the international CO movement.

The seminar was followed by nonviolence training during which participants learned about nonviolence, power, nonviolent tools for analyzing power and developing nonviolent campaigns. This was then put into practice with the planning of an action for May 15, International COs’ day. There were heated discussions on the aim for the action: how much to focus on the occupation, how much on conscientious objection, how much on militarization in Israel. In the end consensus was reached on several main aims: to highlight International COs’ day and conscientious objection as an international campaign, to raise awareness about the role of the military in everyday life in Israel, not to antagonize soldiers and to do an action that might inspire other actions.

To transform this set of aims into an action wasn’t easy. In the end, the group reached consensus on two ideas: a street performance on militarism in everyday life, and a direct action highlighting the occupation as an expression of militarism in Israel. Now the concrete preparation could begin: Equipment for the direct action had to be prepared, costumes and uniforms for the performance had to be organized and training on how to deal with a variety of possible situations was needed. The night before the action difficult discussions took place: Was the direct action prepared well enough? Was the safety of the activists taken care of? Was the training sufficient? In the end, the direct action had to be cancelled—a difficult but important decision, again made by consensus.

On May 15, the training proved to be useful. The group was able to handle several difficult situations: A confrontation with police and security in front of a shopping center was solved by police liaison and a quick decision-making group; several incidents of abusive behavior from bystanders were dealt with constructively. The international groups of activists achieved an important aim of nonviolent action: to communicate in a creative way with the public.

WRI’s second attempt to organize training and international nonviolent action around International COs’ day was very successful and was an important learning experience for everyone who participated. And it was fun. In the end, it was time to say goodbye after a week of intensive discussions, training, laughing, working, eating and living together until next year, at another place, in another country, for International COs’ Day 2004.

The War Resisters’ International main office is at Caledonian Rd., London N1 9DX, Britain; +44 20 7278 4040; fax, +44 20 7278 0444; e-mail, andreas@wri-irg.org; www.wri-irg.org.

—Andreas Speck

East Timor’s Gusmao Honored

Xanana Gusmao, president of the new nation of East Timor, received separate peace prizes from the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Vatican in June in recognition of his extraordinary journey from resistance leader to head of state.

UNESCO awarded Gusmao its 2002 Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize (named after the first president of the Ivory Coast) in Paris on June 10, and the Vatican presented him with its Path to Peace Prize in New York City on June 12. The UNESCO prize includes an award of $122,000. In an ironic note, it was presided over by none other than former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who green-lighted the 1975 invasion of East Timor by Indonesia that led to 23 years of a crushing occupation and made a resistance fighter of Gusmao in the first place.

Kissinger, who was the chair of the UNESCO jury that unanimously voted last October to give Gusmao the 2002 prize, did not travel to Paris to present the award. (He has been wanted there in the past for questioning about human rights violations in Chile during the Pinochet coup and subsequent dictatorship.) Instead, he sent a letter to accompany the presentation. It said, in part:

“When the Portuguese army evaporated in November of 1975, it was replaced in Timor by another foreign ruler. The human impact of that event was not immediately understood by most of the nations of the world, including my own.

“That makes the significance of the Timorese accomplishment all the greater. For 24 more years, the people of Timor bore the greater burden, and earned the greater share of the honor, for bringing that rule to an end, under the brave leadership of the man we celebrate today. Americans can take pride in the role their country has played in the ultimate culmination of these efforts.

“By his life, President Gusmao reminds us that power is not its own justification, that force alone will not in the long run suffice unless it is called forth in the service of human dignity and freedom. We honor President Gusmao and the nation which he now leads and which he inspired before it was a nation. They have achieved freedom by the moral authority of their cause, for which we thank them in the name of peace.”

The Vatican’s Path to Peace Award was presented to Gusmao during a dinner cruise in New York Harbor by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican nuncio to the United Nations. Msgr. Migliore praised Gusmao for “fostering a culture of peace” in East Timor.

Embargo Arms to Indonesia!

In a related story, 90 human rights organizations, peace groups and anti-arms-trade campaigners worldwide, alarmed at Indonesia’s bloody war in Aceh, its military campaign in West Papua and the increasing lawlessness and brutality of its armed forces called in June for an international military embargo on Indonesia.

The groups from Europe, America, Asia and Australasia issued a statement urging governments to embargo the supply of military, security and police equipment to Indonesia and to suspend all forms of military cooperation with the Indonesian military and police special forces. They also called for an immediate end to the military operations in Aceh and West Papua.

Many of the groups were especially concerned that weaponry from their countries is being used against civilians in Aceh; those weapons include Hawk jets and Scorpion tanks from Britain, OV-10 Bronco counterinsurgency planes and F-16 fighters from the United States, warships from Germany and French- and Russian-made armored vehicles.

The groups pointed out that Indonesia has not needed to defend itself against an external attack for 40 years and that it has “regularly used weaponry and combat skills obtained in part through foreign training and military assistance programs against civilians, including Indonesians, East Timorese, West Papuans, Acehnese and others.” Noting that Indonesia’s armed and police forces are “infamous for … brutality and lack of accountability in areas of conflict,” they say they are convinced that the Indonesian army “represents a grave threat to the stability and security of Indonesia,” and “the policy of western countries to strengthen their military ties with Jakarta as part of the ‘war against terror’ is wholly misguided and dangerous.”

Indonesia launched a military offensive in Aceh, its largest operation since the invasion of East Timor in 1975, on May 19. By mid-May, the offensive was causing widespread civilian loss of life and the destruction of Aceh’s public infrastructure. Civil society activists were being targeted, and the government had imposed severe restrictions on press freedom and foreigners’ access to the province. Tens of thousands of people had been internally displaced, and the United Nations was concerned about a humanitarian crisis as food supplies ran dangerously low.

In West Papua, Indonesian armed forces launched a widespread operation in the Central Highlands. Many Papuans have been arbitrarily arrested, detained, beaten and tortured. Sweeps through highland villages have led to the killing of civilians and the destruction of homes, schools and crops.

—TAPOL/Indonesia Human Rights Campaign

National Peace Coalition Meets in Chicago

U.S. peace work took a major step forward when some 500 activists representing 300 local and national groups formalized the structure and goals of the United for Peace and Justice coalition June 6-8 in Chicago.

Workshop on Activism and the Arts at the United for Peace and Justice Conference in Chicago in June. Diane Greene Lent.

Although the conference was exceptionally successful as a strategy and decision-making meeting, another important and inspirational aspect was meeting people, including activists from the U.S. South and from rural communities. As always, people I see organizing nonviolently and seeming to be pretty pacifist (at least) weren’t sure they could even join WRL because they can’t promise to be 100 percent nonviolent forever. We would be wise to address this.

The Unity Statement that had been prepared by committee in advance was approved as presented on the last morning, as a working document. This allowed us to emerge from the weekend with a sense of unity without having to consider each of 80 proposed amendments. The fifth paragraph, which ends what could be a “preamble,” reads in toto: “We will work for peace and justice through nonviolent means. We will strive to embody in our day-to-day work the values we espouse and the world we seek to build.”

We also consensed to a strategic framework. This will allow UfPJ to move forward with more clarity on who we are and why we are together. It addresses both our role and main goal and how we will grow as various war plans continue and change. This easy consensus Saturday morning was a product of a well-thought-out and -edited presentation and was great for building morale and creating a sense of hope and common purpose.

Another decision we made was choosing between two competing structure proposals. The one supported, although not drafted, by the Interim Administrative Committee was adopted. It created a 35-plus member steering committee and other smaller bodies. A national assembly every 18 months will be the primary decision-making body. The steering committee is empowered to adjust UfPJ priorities in response to current events, but also is called upon to consult the national assembly (through well-announced and open conference calls and other means) if considering “major changes to policy or practice.”

Importantly, we were able to elect the steering committee on Sunday, after agreeing Saturday evening to have a steering committee. Eighty people ran for the 35 slots. The number of actual members will increase to meet the affirmative action mandates: 50 percent women, 50 percent people of color, 20 percent youth, 15 percent LGBT, and a mandated proportion of representatives of local groups rather than national organizations. We achieved the goal with people of color, and were very close to 50 percent women, but were a bit shy of the other two, and way short on local groups. I feel great about who was chosen based on the people I met there and the groups that have representation on the steering committee. Choosing this body felt historic. I was also glad that the committee has people from all over the country (except southern California), and not too many people from the Bay Area or New York City area. If the structure proposal as approved isn’t available at www.unitedforpeace.org, it will be soon. It could be a great model for other groups (like WRL or a national coalition of Jewish peace groups).

On Saturday, the 80-plus proposals for actions and campaigns were roughly grouped, and small (20 to 100 people) “mini-plenaries” were to prioritize them, decide what level of involvement by UfPJ to suggest to the larger body and try to bring similar proposals together. The mini-plenary conveners later met and came up with a plan for Sunday, to get a sense from the body as a whole about priorities. Each small group presented a brief report about its discussion and proposals, particularly the ones they thought UfPJ should take up directly. Some proposals clearly had much support, a few with little or no opposition at all; the top seven or eight priorities are listed on the UfPJ website. One problem was how will UfPJ relate to the international call by International ANSWER for massive actions September 27 against occupations (focusing primarily on Iraq and the Palestinian territories). September 27 is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year; the 400 people in the room at that point almost unanimously supported the call for mass actions, but not the date, and UfPJ will appeal to ANSWER to change it. But the time spent discussing a non-UfPJ call meant we didn’t have time to discuss other proposals by member groups. Notably, calls for coordinated remembrances of September 11 by September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows and our own United for Peace and Justice Bay Area were left hanging.

I felt inspired and honored to be at the UfPJ conference. A phenomenal amount of work went into organizing the weekend, and my hat is off to the people who put it all together. The prep work allowed us to make decisions in a short time. Our steering committee is very broad-based in most ways, which was vitally important. If we can move forward with some of the strength and beauty of the unity statement, it will be as historic as its potential. If we can work from a place of nonviolence, which implies being willing to learn something from one’s enemies, it will be possible. If activists can avoid treating each other worse than I’d want an “enemy” treated, we’ll be helping create the society we say we want.

—Jim Haber

Grace Notes

Grace Paley, the self-described “somewhat combative pacifist and cooperative anarchist” and longtime WRL member (see pp. 10, 18) was appointed Vermont’s fifth State Poet this past March on the unanimous recommendation of a panel of the Vermont Arts Council. Vermont’s Republican Governor James Douglas made the appointment after a meeting with Paley at which—according to the poet—he assured himself she wasn’t “a really insane radical.”

It wasn’t Paley’s first statewide literary title; the native New Yorker served as New York State Writer from 1986 to 1988. In fact, at 80 (Paley and the War Resisters League are the same age), Paley has secured an illustrious place for herself in both the U.S. literary canon and the peace movement worldwide.

She came to both naturally, the child of Russian socialists who came to the United States fleeing czarist repression. She wrote poetry from an early age and began writing stories—mostly about the lives of New York women not unlike herself—in the 1950s as a young mother in Greenwich Village. Her first volume of stories, The Little Disturbances of Man, was published in 1959. It was around that time, too, that she began her own activism, first in community issues like the fight to ban buses from Washington Square Park, then in antiwar work. By the early ’60s she was a founder of the Greenwich Village Peace Center. She hasn’t stopped since.

Paley’s books include the short story collections Enormous Changes at the Last Minute, and Later the Same Day; Begin Again, collected poems; and Just As I Thought, a collection of essays. She has lived in Vermont with second husband Robert Nichols since 1988.