United For Peace And Justice National Assembly Report
On December 12-14 in Chicago, I attended the 4th National Assembly of the United for Peace and Justice coalition. Beyond War is not a member of this organization, which includes thousands of peace groups around the country. However, we do have friendly relations with many of these groups.
Much like the Peace & Security Initiative semiannual gathering that I attended in DC the day before, participants at the UFPJ assembly gave a lot of attention to the question of how the incoming new Obama administration and new Congress might affect the landscape for their work. A great quote I heard in this regard was, “Everything is different; nothing has changed.”
One of the most interesting experiences for me came from my efforts to persuade the “Accountability” working group to turn to a “Truth & Reconciliation” model toward their concerns about the Iraq War, torture, and other violations, instead of their “Arrest & Prosecution” approach. While I did not prevail, people did listen with respect to my thoughts about “us & them” thinking, restorative justice, and other more peaceable new ways of responding to violence, crimes, and injustice. Likewise, many of the participants in this conversation helped educate me about the history of previous successful truth and reconciliation programs, and their connection with related prosecution and conviction efforts. In the end, they did not persuade me either, and I look forward to continuing the dialogue.
On a more concrete level, I was able to connect with some wonderful groups that are working on humanitarian aid to Iraqis as a form of peacebuilding. These groups include Direct Aid Iraq, Iraqi Health Now, and LaOnf (whose "Week of Nonviolence" Beyond War already supported this fall). These groups have people on the ground in Syria, Jordan and Iraq, and represent great illustrations of what we try to study, support and teach in Beyond War (much like the Central Asia Institute we often cite).
Also, people were tabling at both the PSI & UFPJ meetings, handing out free copies of Eugene Jarecki’s (producer of the “Why We Fight” movie) new book “The American Way of War.” Apparently their strategy is to give the book to leaders of compatible organizations with big mailing lists in hopes of generating wide exposure and sales. This is something we might think about in connection with our forthcoming “Living Beyond War” book by Winslow Myers?
One final note, people at the UFPJ National Assembly did take the 7 DVD copies I had left from the PSI meeting. So, Mora please send more!
Much like the Peace & Security Initiative semiannual gathering that I attended in DC the day before, participants at the UFPJ assembly gave a lot of attention to the question of how the incoming new Obama administration and new Congress might affect the landscape for their work. A great quote I heard in this regard was, “Everything is different; nothing has changed.”
One of the most interesting experiences for me came from my efforts to persuade the “Accountability” working group to turn to a “Truth & Reconciliation” model toward their concerns about the Iraq War, torture, and other violations, instead of their “Arrest & Prosecution” approach. While I did not prevail, people did listen with respect to my thoughts about “us & them” thinking, restorative justice, and other more peaceable new ways of responding to violence, crimes, and injustice. Likewise, many of the participants in this conversation helped educate me about the history of previous successful truth and reconciliation programs, and their connection with related prosecution and conviction efforts. In the end, they did not persuade me either, and I look forward to continuing the dialogue.
On a more concrete level, I was able to connect with some wonderful groups that are working on humanitarian aid to Iraqis as a form of peacebuilding. These groups include Direct Aid Iraq, Iraqi Health Now, and LaOnf (whose "Week of Nonviolence" Beyond War already supported this fall). These groups have people on the ground in Syria, Jordan and Iraq, and represent great illustrations of what we try to study, support and teach in Beyond War (much like the Central Asia Institute we often cite).Also, people were tabling at both the PSI & UFPJ meetings, handing out free copies of Eugene Jarecki’s (producer of the “Why We Fight” movie) new book “The American Way of War.” Apparently their strategy is to give the book to leaders of compatible organizations with big mailing lists in hopes of generating wide exposure and sales. This is something we might think about in connection with our forthcoming “Living Beyond War” book by Winslow Myers?One final note, people at the UFPJ National Assembly did take the 7 DVD copies I had left from the PSI meeting. So, Mora please send more!
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