Peace Pirates

Jeff Leys — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:26:02 -0500

Short Information Teaser

Cathy Breen writes from Amman, Jordan

Excerpt

Amman, Jordan
August 24, 2008

Dear Friends,

Yesterday afternoon as I got into a public taxi, or “service” as they are called here, a friendly driver greeted me in English, something very rare. This type of taxi carries four passengers, and it seems that people are reluctant to be heard speaking English. I had ridden in this driver’s taxi before, and the other time he felt free as well to address me in English. His words yesterday however took me completely by surprise. “Did you hear about the boats arriving in Gaza!” he said excitedly. He was referring to the Free Gaza campaign which I too have been following with great interest. We have friends among the 45 or so human rights activists on the two boats which, despite multiple threats, set sail from Cyprus to break the siege and end the blockade of Gaza and its 1.5 million occupants.

Body

Amman, Jordan
August 24, 2008

Dear Friends,

With 42% of the Palestinian population living in Jordan, this event received extensive news coverage on Jordan TV last night and today. Sadly I was unable to understand much of the Arabic, but the joyful faces of the Palestinians and the “peace pirates” alike were worth a million words. The mission of these humble vessels and their international crew was clear, “We are not delivering humanitarian aid. This is about the right of the Palestinians to live freely,” said one of their spokespersons. What a sign of hope to all of us in these desperate and dark times!

School began last week here in Jordan, and this is always a painful time for Iraqis who have no income or legal status. So many Iraqi children are either not in school or have been out of school for some years. Many are teenagers now with little hope of ever catching up with their peers. What is the saying “Idle hands, a devil’s workshop?” But with staggering rent, fuel, electricity, water and food prices,. school enrollment has become a source of distress for the majority of the Jordanian population. The cost of milk has risen 35%, and lentils has increased fourfold in price over the last months.

Over 30,000 Jordanian children have been transferred from private to public schools this year. Some classes are already overcrowded with 60 students, and now there is the need in many areas for the school to “double-shift.” Under the two-shift system the morning classes begin at 6:45am until 11:45am, the second shift from noon to 5:00pm. Teachers on fixed salaries are bearing the burden. “As teachers how can we live with this system? I chose this profession so I could go home and take care of my family!” (The Jordan Times, Aug.22-23,08) Tragically the resentment felt by teachers, parents and students alike is often transferred to Iraqi children. The overcrowding has led to “waiting lists” for new students, and it falls to the school administration to decide if spots will go to Iraqi or Jordanian children.

I want to close with another sign of hope. A mother in the states wrote the following message and sent a gift of money which will go to several mothers of Iraqi children for shoes, uniforms or other school related needs. Each of the mother’s receiving a small sum of money will hear her words.

“Dear Friend, First, I want you to know that there are many, many people in this country who care about you, and would like to help you. We feel almost as helpless as you. This money seems like a small gesture. Here is a picture of my son, Andy. He’s 8 years old. It is so painful for me to think of other children, just like him, caught in the middle of such a terrible situation. I cannot tell you that it’s all going to be OK. But I can tell you there are many people who care about you and are trying to improve your situation. I wish our children could be playing together while we talk and laugh. But this is the best we can do right now. Inshallah [God willing], someday we will meet in peace.”

There are so many “peace pirates” doing what they can to bring healing and hope. Let us take heart.

Cathy Breen

VCNV Author

Cathy Breen

Walk Blog: Walking against war in God's country

voices — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:43:21 -0500

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WITNESS AGAINST WAR 2008: From Chicago to St. Paul

Short Information Teaser

Bill Christofferson write about the final week of the Witness Against War walk

Excerpt

By Bill Christofferson
August 22, 2008

Witness Against War, a walk from Chicago to St. Paul to promote non-violence and an end to the war is Iraq, is in its final week.

Dan Pearson, the one who dreamed it up, scouted and planned the route, and coordinates much of the logistics, calls it “a totally worthwhile endeavor.” He and Kathy Kelly are co-coordinators of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, the Chicago-based group that organized and sponsors the walk.

The drive from Milwaukee, where I had last walked with them, to Pepin, WI, on the Mississippi River, to rejoin them, took five hours. It had taken the walkers five weeks.

Body

By Bill Christofferson
August 22, 2008

Witness Against War, a walk from Chicago to St. Paul to promote non-violence and an end to the war is Iraq, is in its final week.

The drive from Milwaukee, where I had last walked with them, to Pepin, WI, on the Mississippi River, to rejoin them, took five hours. It had taken the walkers five weeks.

As they started Saturday’s trek from Pepin to Maiden Rock, along one of the most spectacularly scenic stretches of river in the country, they had covered 420 miles. When they reach St. Paul this weekend, in time for the Republican national convention, they will have walked nearly 500 miles.

There are 10 walkers on Saturday, including Marie Kovecsi, who joined the group in Winona, MN to spend a week walking with them before returning to start another school year as a teacher of deaf and blind students, and me. The rest are part of the core group who left Chicago in mid-July and have walked most or all of the way. Most days they are joined by local activists who walk with them for a day or two, but there are none on Saturday in this sparsely-populated area.

Almost all of the others have some connection with the Catholic Worker movement, inspired by Dorothy Day and dedicated to non-violence. (I changed the title of this piece to reflect their view.) I am an atheist, although the best argument I have seen for some sort of intelligent design is Lake Pepin, the wide, 20-mile stretch of the Mississippi we are walking today. I discovered it – much like Columbus “discovered” America – 45 years ago, and it is where my ashes will be scattered one day.

The walk starts early, shortly after 7 a.m., to avoid the heat of the day. It’s a slightly hilly, winding stretch along the river, and with a couple of stops at scenic overlooks, bathroom breaks and even a quick pot of propane-stove coffee, it takes almost exactly five hours. The first seven miles, to Stockholm, a tiny artist colony with a population of 98, goes quickly. The second half is hillier and seems longer, with the promise of Maiden Rock just over the next hill – or maybe the one after that.

The walkers carry signs –“Witness Against War,” “Keep Red Arrow (Wisconsin’s National Guard division) Home,” “Stop War Spending,” “Rebuild Iraq, Rebuild America.”

The reception from drivers and motorcyclists is positive, with waves, honking horns, peace signs, and thumbs-up from many – and nary a middle finger during the five-hour, 13-mile walk along Highway 35.

“We have made a lot of good connections with people along the way, both people who agree and those who disagree,” Dan Pearson says in explaining why he thinks the walk has been an unqualified success. “It has ended quite well, usually, when people – often active duty military or veterans – pull over to talk. Once you show people you’re willing to listen and they understand that we are not attacking them personally, we have had some good conversations and find there is a lot we can agree on.”

When the walk reached Fort McCoy, Wisconsin’s main military base, two weeks ago, 13 people – including core walkers Kathy Kelly, Josh Brollier, Lauren Cannon and Alice Gerard — were arrested for crossing the line onto the base. Most were quickly processed and released, but Kelly was held on a 10-year-old warrant from Ashland County for civil disobedience against Project ELF, a submarine communication antenna system based in northern Wisconsin, now abandoned.

She spent two nights in the Monroe County jail and another in Ashland County jail before being released. When Ashland County jailers announced at 10:30 p.m. that she was being released, Kelly didn’t know if anyone was there waiting for her, and she was hundreds of miles from the walk. “Well, I know I can always walk 15 miles,” she recalls thinking. “I wouldn’t have thought that a year ago.”

The soldiers were friendly at Ft. McCoy, she said, but the military presence and influence is overwhelming. “In the Monroe County jail, an older woman jailer was keeping an eye on us,” Kelly said. “She was excited that she was going to Ft. McCoy where they would let her carry an AK-47 and play the role of an insurgent — and pay her $12 an hour. There is such a powerful presence around military base that it affects people’s hopes and imaginations.

“Bessie, the kindly jailer, should have an affinity for the Iraqi mothers and grandmothers, the refugees with sick children, but no one’s going to pay Bessie $12 an hour to identify with them.”

The walkers, with a colorfully painted old bus as backup, usually finish walking around mid-day, leaving afternoons to check in online, prepare for evening events, pitch tents if no one has offered overnight accommodations, prepare a meal, and have some personal time.

Along the way, many local peace groups have hosted the walkers, sponsored events and held community programs. Most of the walk has been in Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, a Madison-based network of some 150 groups, has helped make those connections.

The walkers slept in a rectory in Alma Friday night, and will camp out at the end of Saturday’s walk. After reaching Maiden Rock – where legend has it an Indian princess leaped to her death from a high bluff rather than be forced into marriage with a man she didn’t love — the group discusses whether to camp there, in a campground right on the river, or return to a campground in Pepin. Pepin has showers; Maiden Rock seems more likely to have a wirelsss Internet connection. Showers carry the day.

Others in the core group are Lauren Cannon, a theology student and staff member at Voices for Creative Non-violence; Paul Melling, an Iraq veteran from Minnesota who shares bus-driving duties with Bob Abplanalp, recently returned from a Pastors for Peace caravan to take supplies to Cuba, and who’s also part of the Voices nucleus; Josh Brollier of Clarksville TN, a musician who takes a drumming break now and then; Mary Dean, part of Chicago Voices community, returning to a new physical therapist job when the walk ends; and Alice Gerard, a freelance writer from Grand Island NY, who met Kathy Kelly in a Columbus GA jail after both had crossed the line at the School of the Americas in Ft. Benning.

Several of them have spent time — and sometimes put themselves in harm’s way — in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other hot spots, working to end sanctions and aid refugees. Pearson, 27, a native of Luck, WI, learned Arabic in Syria, where he has twice lived and worked with refugees. Cannon was in Iraq three times during the Voices campaign to end economic sanctions there.

Kelly and Voices challenged economic sanctions against Iraq by delivering medical supplies to Iraqis and organized over 70 delegations as part of a campaign of civil disobedience from 1996 to 2003. In October 2002 Voices organized the Iraq Peace Team, in Baghdad, where they maintained a presence throughout the bombardment and invasion. Kelly remained in Iraq throughout the US Shock and Awe bombing and has returned three times, most recently in May of 2006 when she traveled to northern Iraq. She recently spent five weeks living in Amman, Jordan, amongst Iraqi families who have fled Iraq.

They walked from Maiden Rock to Red Wing, MN on Sunday and, after a day’s rest there today, leave Red Wing on Tuesday for the final 50 miles to the Twin Cities, where they expect to link up with Veterans for Peace and other groups calling for an end to the war and occupation while the Republicans nominate warmonger John McCain, a candidate who never met a war he didn’t like.

To Witness Against War -and Vårberg Violence...

voices — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:30:19 -0500

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WITNESS AGAINST WAR 2008: From Chicago to St. Paul

Short Information Teaser

"Whatever polished ideals and brave ideologies I may have to claim for my pro-peace/anti-war stand on Iraq they would still only make a skeleton image of the very human face to war. To suffering."

Excerpt

By Heléne Hedberg

Helene here speaking. I left the walk a week ago now to go back to Sweden. A rather busy schedule awaited me here but I finally made some time to wrap things up for you and tell of what the WAW-walk was like for me. -The Swede…ha ha.

Let me just begin by saying that I was very glad to hear of how the encounter that some of you made at Fort McCoy the other day turned out peaceful and rewarding. I had just picked up Thoreau’s Walden and Civil Disobedience and I’ll now continue reading it with the gleaming image of the thirteen walkers crossing the line. Thank you for doing it and putting peaceful, creative nonviolent means into practice. Excellent writing Jeff.

Body

By Heléne Hedberg

Okay, so I came to Chicago somewhat burned out and discouraged from this year’s first hand experience of the increasing violence among some of the Iraqi youth in this southern ghetto-area in Stockholm called Vårberg. At the same time I was filled with great anticipation for what the walk would do to me personally. And maybe not so much if it would challenge me but how.

Less than a week before I left for Chicago I went to court to testify “against” one of the boys concerning our most violent incident at the afterschool center in Vårberg where I’ve been working with the youth for two years. A week before that I met with Marten who had just gotten his own apartment outside Stockholm. A young boy who came to Sweden by himself as a refugee after his family’s separation and who, after celebrating Christmas with us, I consider my little brother :) I went to the kid’s summer party at the afterschool center thinking that with the speed they’re growing in I’ll be happy if I just recognize the youngest ones, Ari and Ben, by the time I get back… It was an intense week which now, looking back on it, makes a pretty good outline for what made me wanna come do this walk.

And like I said during one of our presentations (and since our walk has enjoyed overwhelmingly positive response), for me every cheerful honk along the road has meant saying the war is not worth the pain that I’ve seen in the kids in Vårberg. The pain that they’ve carried with them from a wartorn Iraq. It’s meant saying the war is not worth the ugly scenes Ahmed came back from Baghdad to Stockholm with. It’s meant saying it’s not worth the death and bombing of Marten’s older brother. It’s meant saying it’s not worth the loss of a young generation of beautiful, innocent Iraqi kids growing up.

Whatever polished ideals and brave ideologies I may have to claim for my pro-peace/anti-war stand on Iraq they would still only make a skeleton image of the very human face to war. To suffering. I think we need to fill our reasons with faces. That’s what I wanna do. That’s what drew me here and it’s what I think the walk has challenged me personally to keep committing myself to.

Also, when I move to Vårberg this August together with some friends I’ll remember not to do it by myself. I’ll remember the powerful testimony that an encouraging community of folks driven by love for people and longing for peace can make together. I’ll remember the walkers. Off the top of my head - walker and voices friends: Kathy, Bob, Dan, Jeff, Leah, Tim H, Mike, Mary, Alice, Josh, Lauren, Paul, Laura, Joel, Hiwa, Mark, John, Gerald, Tim B, Steve, Jim & Jeanie. Thank You.

Ps. I’ll see you in Chicago again :)

Fort McCoy: Concerts and Patriotic Encounters

Jeff Leys — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:14:10 -0500

Short Information Teaser

Reflections on the August weekend at Fort McCoy

Excerpt

August 25, 2008
By Gene Stoltzfus
Gene’s Blog

Route 21 from Tomah, Wisconsin west to Sparta goes through hilly corn fields and woods. After the tiny berg of Tunnel City the fields end and Fort McCoy begins. Eighty miles northwest of Madison this Fort is one of the few major army training bases in the Northern Midwest. The Gene Stoltzfusoops headed for Iraq and other combat zones. It also provides jobs for civilians.

On this Sunday in August with reporters and cameras looking on the base prepared for the visit of 50 peace walkers on Witness Against War pilgrimage from Chicago to St. Paul. Twelve walkers would seek to enter the base to talk with soldiers and officers about war and peace. I was one of the twelve. The 350 mile walk was organized by Chicago based Voices for Creative Nonviolence.

I joined the group at Tunnel City five miles east of the main entrance to Fort McCoy. State Route 21 was thick with security cars among army trucks, Hummers, SUVs and other vehicles, some out for a Sunday excursion and others basking in vacation days. Horn blowing and waves from people encouraged us. No harsh fists or crypto-patriotic shouts. By 11 am we reached the main entrance only to discover that it had been closed and, that persons seeking entrance must go on.

Body

August 25, 2008
By Gene Stoltzfus
Gene’s Blog

The night before an Alice Cooper heavy metal concert on the base was not only opened to the entire community, it also challenged the trees and animals of the surrounding forests. In thick darkness the rock concert sounds were antiphonally answered by coyote calls. On days or nights when rock concert sounds don’t invade, the seven tiny mock villages hidden in the base’s woods are used as training territory. In these simulated third world hamlets soldiers practice house raids, and surveillance or capture of hostile villagers who are thought to exist in distant lands. In communities along the Mississippi River people in need of employment are hired at $12 per hour to imitate enemy village life. We were not able to assess the risks for temporary employment of this sort. Retirement benefits are nonexistent because enemy village war game employees are considered temporary help.

Members of the Department of the Army Police, a civilian body now used for security duty that was once the responsibility of military police, greeted us and refused our polite requests for entry to Fort McCoy in order to complete our mission of dialogue. As I began the walk into the grand entry way where rock concert goers had travelled the previous night I could overhear police orders barked into tightly gripped two way radios. “Bring on the teams.” I assumed that they were not referring to Christian Peacemaker Teams but did not anticipate the twenty police deployed to meet our motley inter-generational group. For a moment I felt like I might be in a movie set. The late morning sun was perfect. Two very different forces were walking (marching might be a little strong) and something was about to happen. Even after we were stopped, frisked and placed in stiff plastic hand cuffs I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Everything seemed so choreographed.

Inside the security building I was interviewed, photographed, fingerprinted and ticketed. I would be informed when I had to appear in court, probably in Madison. The plastic cuffs bit into my arms but I managed to carry on reasonably human conversations with the officers. As my processing moved towards completion, I engaged the Sargent who commanded the unit, regarding strategies of security. I explained I had been working on security matters from a nonviolent point of view for many years. I also noted that no doubt his responsibilities came about because of advanced education, degrees and careful reflection on the theories of effective police work. I pressed him to talk about his own theory of security and asked if he believed that the best way to achieve security was by way of overwhelming force.

In our conversation I reminded him that we are in fact both concerned about the security of the human family and even in his text books there were various theories that suggested minimal and even no use of force. Discussing security with a Sargent who commands police for the Department of the Army while in hand cuffs may be a little disjunctive but I think we had a tiny but worth while two way conversation. Judging from the honks and waves of support from soldiers outside the base I suspect the reception inside beyond the guard post might have been even more cordial than the arresting greeting from police on that August day.

After two hours of processing we were driven several miles beyond the base and released. Finally I felt like I had departed the movie set for good. Every one had been polite, too nice. What was achieved? Perhaps local people who have long held uneasiness about the cultural, economic and military influence of the base were encouraged - at least they said they were. Folks in surrounding towns thanked us for joining with local people in the witness. And for me there was an added personal dimension.

On many occasions in Iraq I spent hours in homes that had been the object of US army raids. Was Fort McCoy one of the places where army recruits learned to turn over furniture, threaten families in the middle of the night and cart off young men and husbands for long hours of interrogation at Abu Gharib? Would Wisconsin tolerate this behavior in the homes of its own residents? Could our nation survive such a primitive strategy? Coming here this Sabbath day to pray and to shine the light on military tactics abroad was one more response to those Iraq home visits.

I was tempted to seek temporary employment in those mock villages of the forest where I could feel the energy of a practice raid first hand. I know the participating soldiers come from orderly villages and farms like those we passed in our walk. I know they were not trained to do house raids in their homes, churches or high schools. What would the people at the English Lutheran Church in La Crosse think if they saw the overturned furniture, devastated families and trashed homes created by Wisconsin citizens? Does the Governor understand the thin veneer of pseudo-patriotism and public policy that allows him to send his own citizens off to distant lands to do house raids?.

Now tell me, those American flags pasted so prominently on police uniforms, what exactly do they mean? In times like this I get confused My mind is teased with questions about patriotism. Who is the patriot, the one wearing the flag or the unarmed detained walker here in the heartland?

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WITNESS AGAINST WAR 2008: From Chicago to St. Paul

Walking with War On Our Mind

Jeff Leys — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:45:33 -0500

Short Information Teaser

Gene Stoltzfus reflects on his participation in Witness Against War.

Excerpt

August 22, 2008
Gene StoltzfusGene Stoltzfus

Note: Until 2004, was the Director of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a program of Brethren, Mennonite and Friends churches and other affiliated organizations that places teams in high conflict zones

Last week for eight days I joined a walk from Chicago to St. Paul, Minnesota, a seven week trek that will culminate at the Republican National Convention in the opening days of September. Our numbers varied from fifty participants to ten as we wound our way along highways, town boulevards and bicycle paths in south central Wisconsin towards and along the Mississippi River. A core group of ten nonviolent practitioners at Voices for Creative Nonviolence began in January to organize foot soldiers like me for this dialogue of the village For years I have wanted to learn how walks of this nature unfold. Travel by foot brought me closer to the feel of Gandhi’s freedom walks and Jesus journey with his handful of disciples through the towns of Palestine.

Body

August 22, 2008
Gene StoltzfusGene Stoltzfus

I had allowed my mind to be tricked into thinking such experiments hold little promise for engaging fast track civilization . Occasional evening gatherings along the way reminded me of how encouraging a walk can be for local people. A bicycle and trailer provided replacement water that the summer heat soaked from our bodies. Walkers learned to massage sore muscles and treat oncoming blisters. I was enormously thankful that I had prepared by practising with a walk of several miles on alternating days for a month. From those prep times I learned that after mile five I encounter a boundary created somewhere in my body memory that sends sore signals to my hips. But, I also learned that I could press through those physical barriers and that by the following morning the miracle of renewal had occurred because my body felt relaxed.

Local news outlets prepared people for our coming with generous helpings of announcements, pictures and stories. “We have been expecting you”, a coffee shop hostess said as I awaited an ice coffee, my luxury for that day. Her face radiated a backyard or supper table conversation about those walkers coming through and what they are walking for. Her questions about the mechanics of walking great distance and themes of peace displayed genuine curiosity. My mind and spirit still has callouses from earlier and shorter walks that I helped plan where I heard angry shouts, “Get a job”, or was given mean gestures and hand signal with the raised middle finger shouting at me. I didn’t experience any of this in south central Wisconsin. Horns and waves of support were frequent.

By tenting in parks, staying with local people or camping in places like the English Lutheran Church (La Crosse) our group enjoyed glorious hospitality, mixed with moments of joy, engaging discussion and occasional times of uncertainty as rain threatened or the distance for the day remained unclear. Little things caught my attention like the amount of oncoming traffic, the quality of the shoulder on the road, water supply, and even the sign that I carried which grew sticky from sweat. Wisely, in this journey the organizers had easy to read, firm but respectful signs printed ahead of time thereby avoiding confusion of purpose that can sometimes divide participants.

Earlier walkers had met with the Wisconsin’s Governor’s staff to challenge his support for another deployment of the Wisconsin National Guard. The news coverage of the event helped to remind citizens of Wisconsin that the culture of hospitality and decency so apparent in Wisconsin’s community life is not visible in the deployments to Iraq. By praying, singing, or crossing lines into restricted areas at Fort McCoy, the reality of this nation at war and the power of confrontational witness became visible and sometimes even supported by soldiers.

In my days with the pilgrimage I encountered several veterans and their supporters who are still fighting the Viet Nam war or its contemporary surrogate, Iraq. Their words betray inward wounds that have held so much power over our body politic. Jim Nelson of Onalaska, Wis. reminded me of images I awaken in some of them when I walk. On August 15 he wrote the following letter to the La Cross Tribune which on the previous day had placed a prominent photo and article about our journey on its front page. His letter helps us remember a slice of American mythology.

LEFTIST WING-NUTS AND HIPPIE LOONIES

“Resurging from the Canadian woodwork and hippie havens around the United States, we find old hippies out recruiting young, like minded liberal loonies to provide front page nostalgia for their left-wing ravings once again offered up by the left-wing media as heroes for a cause. To address the peace walk, let’s all admit that no one “likes” war. Especially our men and women in uniform. They all too often pay the ultimate price.

Our military men and women have volunteered for very dangerous and often times, thankless job. They follow orders. Saying that soldiers have made the statement “the war is a bunch of crap” obviously is not a majority opinion. The mission, goals and objectives may be honorable and achieveable.

There were “peaceniks” around in the 1930 and early 1940s. Had they prevailed, we would be speaking German or Japanese rather than English, which should be our undisputed national language.

Western Wisconsin is an area that houses a small nest of radicals who will attempt to disrupt any event they disagree with. The old hippies and flower children have a refuge in our media.

Be prepared for the left-wing nut cases and their symbol “footprint” to disrupt the Republican Convention in Minneapolis. Their history tells us that violence is part of their strategy of dissent, so much for peace. Here we go again.”

Lest I become too innoculated with the kindness and niceness that surrounds us in our Wisocnsin village culture this letter reminds me that there is still miles of walking in store before the completion of a party platform for the age of righteousness.

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WITNESS AGAINST WAR 2008: From Chicago to St. Paul

Peace activists march into Red Wing

Jeff Leys — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:01:01 -0500

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WITNESS AGAINST WAR 2008: From Chicago to St. Paul

Excerpt

August 25, 2008

Mike Longaecker
The Red Wing Republican Eagle

Red Wing was a welcome sight Sunday for a group of peace activists.

Of course, their destination — St. Paul — may be even more so, once they’ve completed their mission. Members of the peace group Witness to War stopped here for a couple days in the midst of an approximately 500-mile walk from Chicago to St. Paul.

“It re-energized us,” Voices for Creative Nonviolence activist Joshua Brollier said Monday, recalling how local supporters joined up with the group as they passed into town.

Short Information Teaser

News report from Red Wing, MN

Body

August 25, 2008

Mike Longaecker
The Red Wing Republican Eagle

Red Wing was a welcome sight Sunday for a group of peace activists.

“It re-energized us,” Voices for Creative Nonviolence activist Joshua Brollier said Monday, recalling how local supporters joined up with the group as they passed into town.

The group, which began its trek in mid-July, stops in cities to present is main message of nonviolent resistance to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The group on Monday took to the stage at Hobgoblin Music Loft, where several of the walkers explained why they undertook the effort.

The peace effort has a long history of marches and walks, Brollier said.

“We want to kind of follow in that tradition,” he said.

Others who have spent time in Iraq shared their stories.

Co-coordinator Kathy Kelly watched Iraqi children grind their teeth and lose their bladders as bombs fell all around them in 2003.

As a peace activist, Kelly was present in Iraq during the initial “shock and awe” campaign, which left parts of Baghdad blown to smithereens.

“We’ve seen the consequences of war,” Kelly said Monday in an interview with the R-E.

Witness Against War organizers note that the walk’s staging point in Chicago was also home to the historic riots that took place during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Despite the mention, Kelly said the group has no intention of re-creating the violence that marred the convention.

“It’s our responsibility to galvanize the public opinion … into an experience that will reach elected officials and people aspiring toward elected office,” she said.

Their feet, however, won’t get immediate rest in St. Paul.

The group will join up with other activists marching from the Capitol to the Xcel Energy Center, where this year’s Republican National Convention is being held.

Members of the group, which swells to about 40 people in stages, acknowledged that they have experienced resistance along the way. Their tack is to engage antagonists with gentle words, an approach Kelly said has changed some minds.

“Quite often, people go away feeling there’s more in common between us than what divides us,” she said.

Michael Bayly traveled from St. Paul for Monday’s presentation at Hobgoblin. Witness Against War members painted a much more detailed picture of the war in Iraq than he said he’s used to seeing in the mainstream media.

“It’s encouraging to see people take such a strong stand and make such sacrifices,” Bayly said.

The group leaves today for Diamond Bluff, and then on to Prescott, Wis.

Activists take a walk to make a point -- Wabasha, MN

Jeff Leys — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500

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WITNESS AGAINST WAR 2008: From Chicago to St. Paul

Excerpt

August 25, 2008

By Dawn Schuett
Rochester Post-Bulletin

WABASHA — For one group of activists, getting to St. Paul for the Republican National Convention is a slow journey and one that’s bringing them to southeast Minnesota. Every mile is an opportunity to deliver their message to passing motorists or curious bystanders. Each stop is a moment to explain their viewpoints.

“It’s a chance to meet people right in their front yard,” said Marie Kovecsi, a teacher from Winona who is participating this week in Witness Against War, a 450-mile walk from Chicago to St. Paul.

Short Information Teaser

News report from Wabasha, MN

Body

August 25, 2008

By Dawn Schuett
Rochester Post-Bulletin

Organized by the Chicago-based Voices for Creative Nonviolence, the walk is a campaign to “challenge and nonviolently resist the war and occupation of Iraq,” said Dan Pearson, co-coordinator of the anti-war group. Voices for Creative Nonviolence supports a complete and immediate withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq. It’s also calling for the full funding of the highest quality health care, housing and education for U.S. veterans and full funding by the U.S. for the reconstruction of Iraq.

The walk began July 12 and has followed a route through Wisconsin to La Crosse and north along the Mississippi River. On Aug. 10, the group was protesting at the Fort McCoy military base near Sparta, Wis., when 13 participants were arrested for trespassing. All were later released from custody. The number of walkers varies from day to day depending on how many locals join in temporarily.

The group stopped in Winona earlier this week before continuing along the river on the Wisconsin side. Nine walkers made it to Nelson, Wis., on Thursday and in the evening, participants joined the River Cities Alliance for Peace for a public discussion at Eagle’s Nest Coffee House in Wabasha. A similar program is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at Hobgoblin Music in Red Wing.

Pearson said the group has encountered a few individuals who don’t agree with its message but “it’s very clear at this point that the tide of public opinion has turned against the war.”

Kovecsi feels so strongly about the issue that she had to walk with the group if only for a few days.

“I knew it was something I wanted to be involved with,” she said.

Dawn Schuett covers news in Goodhue and Wabasha counties. If you have news tips or story ideas, call her at 281-7487.