Nonviolent peace organizations gathering in Virginia

If you’re anywhere near the east coast of the USA on July 7-9 and are interested in the work of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, Peace Brigades International, or other organizations that do nonviolent peacemaking/peacekeeping internationally, then you should definitely try to get to PBI’s 25th anniversary conference, being held in Front Royal, Virginia, about one hour west of Washington DC.
I, alas, can’t be there since I’m going on a long-planned trip to Europe. I did go to PBI’s 20th anniversary conference which was held (on different days) in both Switzerland and southern Germany. It was really informative and inspiring. Here’s what a press release from PBI says about the upcoming gathering:

    nonviolent peace teams from all over the world are meeting to exchange lessons and strategies about protecting civilians and human rights workers in conflict areas. Joining Peace Brigades are Christian Peacemakers Teams (Iraq, Palestine, Colombia, First Nations People), Nonviolent Peace Force (Sri Lanka), the Guatemala Accompaniment Project, the International Solidarity Movement (Palestine), International Women’s Peace Service (Middle East), Witness for Peace (Central and South America), Michigan Peace Teams (U.S.-Mexico Border), and PBI’s own teams (Indonesia, Nepal, Guatemala, Mexico and Colombia).
    The groups will also discuss how they can best support each other during a critical incident, such as an abduction or massacre of our field teams…

I wish I could be there. Any JWN readers who can get to it, please send in some reports for posting here!

4 thoughts on “Nonviolent peace organizations gathering in Virginia”

  1. Dear Ms Cobban,
    I thought I would let you know that you were insulted on arab radio by ultra right wing polemicist Tony Badran who said you were a groupie of terrorist Hassan Nasrallah, that you were sexually frustrated and that your articles in Al Hayat were non sense, drivel…
    I was really shocked that I always read your articles with pleasure. You are one of the few moderate and smart voices.
    Keep up the great work and don’t let this fascist Tony Badran and his likes disturb you.
    With all my support

  2. Hmmm… This is chutzpah. It does not surprise me since the insufferable Tony Badran is a die-hard supporter of the Lebanese Forces. His father and uncles were militiamen and according to Professor Abou Khalil of the AA News Service, Tony Badran’s father was a bodyguard of the infamous Elie Hobeika. No wonder he uses foul language ! Thank God this thug doesn’t have a kalach…

  3. A.D.– Thanks for telling me this (I think). Actually, it’s really interesting. Where does all this hostility come from? I never met the guy. A while back I did question his credentials as a political analyst, of which he at that point– and perhaps since?– appeared to have none.
    From time to time I’ve gone to his blog which spews out who knows what kind of childish venom against me, Juan Cole, and a few others.
    It’s kind of sad to think that Arab radio stations would give a platform to such sputterings. But generally I find the best response to hate speech is more speech. So that’s what I’ll generate!

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