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to respond to God's love and transforming Spirit.

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE

PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION
814 NE 40th Street
Seattle Washington 98105
(206) 632-0500

FRIENDLY ACTIONS FOR PEACE April, 2003

The American Friends Service Committee has spent the last two years in its own visioning process. In expectant worship, we have listened to discern where God is calling us to be. Hundreds of people from around the world devoted themselves to dream and plan together. The final document they produced begins: The AFSC envisions a world:

* Where security and fundamental human rights eclipse violence and oppression;

* Where opportunities to make a living as part of a sustainable community supplant poverty;

* Where appreciation of diverse gifts and cultures replaces exclusion and rejection;

* Where commitment to love and dialogue prevails.

In the present, we are compelled to stand against the immediate evil of war.

In Juneau, Saturday, March 22, 120 people began a five-day vigil. In the fresh snow that day, children built large snowmen with a peace symbol. Sunday they held a candlelight vigil with the rest of the world. Monday through Wednesday they stayed in 24-hour stints.

Friends in Colville, WA, a town of 5,000, have organized an all day mock International Criminal Court trial of Saddam Hussein on May 10. It will be held in the county courthouse with the three county judges, five attorneys, and high schools students participating. This is to be a demonstration of the importance of international law. For more information: bpruitthamm@plix.com.

Olympia Friends. Dennis Mills was one of two coordinators of a silent vigil March 9. He reports: "Beloved member of the Olympia peace community, Rachel Corrie, has been killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli army bulldozer while acting as a human shield to protect Palestinians. She was 23 years old, raised in Olympia, and a senior at Evergreen State College. Her friends and fellow activists wanted the vigil to be a memorial to her as well. Over 600 people came to the vigil." My wife and I attend Olympia Friends Meeting and are members of Reedwood Friends Church.” Contact: Dennis Mills, dwmills@attbi.com.

University Friends Meeting held a special Meeting for Worship on Friday after invasion. Thirty folks attended. The Meeting will host a film series for teens on "War and Peace; Nationalism, Pacifism; Patriotism, and Media. Contact: Roger Kluck, 206-547-6449, quaker_lawyer@attbi.com.

Vashon Islanders for Peace and members of Vashon Worship Group have been fasting for peace in the center of Vashon town where a temporary shelter has been set up for those fasting. They commit to a 24-hour presence from 7am to 7am. The mission statement says in part: A prolonged fast signifies a participant's willingness to forgo sustenance for a given period of time, calling to witness our ability to fortify ourselves from an inner source of power while rejecting exterior supplementation. A prolonged fast also allows for a deep and spiritual connection, and empathy with those who are suffering.

Port Townsend Peace Movement had an action at Indian Island, a Naval Storage Base. They sent a letter to the commander of the base explaining their actions, which said, in part:

"As US citizens we believe we have a legal obligation under international law, and a moral responsibility as human beings, to do all we can (guided by the principle of non-violence) to prevent our government from committing acts which may be considered war crimes under international law."

It goes on to quote from the Hague Convention, the Article VI of the Nuremberg Principles, The International Court of Justice. The letter ends with:

"Given our understanding of the international laws described above, we believe strongly that our country is about to embark on a war of aggression, using weapons and tactics which are unlawful under international law. As U.S. citizens living in Port Townsend, we feel it our duty to inform you of our strong opposition to this war, and to the storage in our neighborhood of armaments to be used illegally in a war of aggression. We invite you and your command to join with us n non-violent protest against the threatened illegal invasion of Iraq."

Ralph Beebe, Newberg, OR writes to editor:

"I appreciate the desire that we support our friends who are being called to sacrifice in a war far from home. I am dismayed, though, by assertions that when our troops "are in harm's way, right or wrong, we need to get behind them.

"As US citizens we believe we have a legal obligation under international law, and a moral responsibility as human beings, to do all we can (guided by the principle of non-violence) to prevent our government from committing acts which may be considered war crimes under international law.

"As one of those who protests in silent vigil each Friday afternoon, I wonder if anyone really believes that we should support our president's call to fight if the cause is wrong. Certainly most Iraqis, like most Vietnamese in my youth, believe they, too, should support their country, right or wrong. So we kill each other, and multitudes of children die alongside the soldiers.

"Sometimes my government does something I think is a mistake. I firmly believe I should not be stampeded into a war that I feel certain is one of those mistakes, in this case a tragic mistake. I pray that my government will do what is right, but that I will firmly resist following it into a disastrous wrong.

"I appreciate our veterans and support them by doing whatever I can to keep them from harm's way. I pray that their children will not have to erect a memorial to countless thousands of Americans who died fighting in Iraq, and in the wars spawned by this one."

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