April 28, 2008 The Washington Post
Ellen Francis, an Episcopal priest who spent a decade in Iran during the years between 1968 and 1978 and who has also co-led several delegations to Iran sponsored by the Fellowship of Reconciliation, dismisses the view of Iran as an “axis of evil” and instead explains why she believes Iran is a country with a human, loving, and hospitable face. Read more to find out why she believes so.
America’s apartheid mentality toward the world
April 25, 2008 The Christian Science Monitor
In an interview with Helena Cobban, author of Re-Engage: America and the World After Bush, the question “What kind of relationship do Americans want to build with the world’s 6 billion other people in the years ahead?” is asked. Cobban says that America’s current relationship with the rest of humanity has much in common with that between South Africa’s apartheid-era whites and their disfranchised non-white compatriots. She argues that Americans should start to think and act as though all of humanity constituted a single community and give fair weight to the views of the citizens of other countries on matters that affect everyone. Read more about this opinion.
April 25, 2008 CNN
Beijing announced it will hold talks with a Tibetan envoy representing the Dalai Lama in the first direct talks since March protests over China’s role in Tibet. The Dalai Lama has long said that “The only way we can solve our differences is with face-to-face dialog.” China, which has accused the Dalai Lama of agitating recent violence in Tibet, an autonomous region of China, has stopped any official meetings with Tibet since July 2007. Read more about this story.
Baltimore tries to heal wounds from riots – 40 years later
April 24, 2008 Christian Science Monitor
For 40 years, the violent civil unrest that erupted in Baltimore following Martin Luther King Jr.’s assasination in 1968 has been a taboo subject among citizens of the city. Today, however, a group of Baltimoreans have come together in an effort to confront this troubling past and wrestle with the issues that produced the unrest and which continue to haunt the city today. A number of initiatives have been launched as part of Baltimore’s experiment with truth and reconciliation, including a Baltimore ’68 Mosaic Monument, an oral history project, a play, a dance performance, and even a literary magazine. Read about these inititiatives.
PeaceJam Inspires Youth to Think and Act
April 18, 2008 Good News Network
Nobel Prize nominee and legendary Detroit rocker, Ivan Suvanjieff, created PeaceJam to seek out nonviolent conflict resolutions from young people. To date the group has inspired 600,000 young people to community service and political or civic engagement. Check out the video clip that promotes this initiative.
The Way to Peace Can Be Paved With Forgiveness, Reconciliation and Negotiation
April 18, 2008 CommonDreams
Read this moving piece about three cases where forgiveness (among the Amish), reconciliation (in South Africa) and negotiation (in Burundi) were wielded with success, providing an inspirational model for humans to effectively and successfully deal with conflict around the world.
