Creative peace.I applaud you on The Challenge to Violence (NI 381). We need to hear that not only are there peaceful solutions to violence but also positive results of these solutions. How refreshing to hear that there are countries without armies! I have recently returned from attending the International Women in Black Conference in Jerusalem. We were 750 women from 44 countries who used silent vigil vigil (vĭj`əl) [Lat.,=watch], in Christian calendars, eve of a feast, a day of penitential preparation. In ancient times worshipers gathered for vespers before a great feast and then waited outside the church until dawn for the liturgy (Mass). and civil disobedience civil disobedience, refusal to obey a law or follow a policy believed to be unjust. Practitioners of civil disobediance basing their actions on moral right and usually employ the nonviolent technique of passive resistance in order to bring wider attention to the to promote peace. During our stay we visited Bil'in on the West Bank (now under siege) and gathered with the villagers facing the soldiers, machine guns and razor wire. We were yelled at and spat spat juvenile aquatic shellfish, especially oysters ready for settlement on solid surfaces—'spat fall'. at by settlers as we stood in silent vigil in the Salfit region. We listened to Palestinian women cry for their dead and imprisoned im·pris·on tr.v. im·pris·oned, im·pris·on·ing, im·pris·ons To put in or as if in prison; confine. [Middle English emprisonen, from Old French emprisoner : en- children, we heard young Palestinian women talk about being imprisoned at 14 for over 6 years. We saw a house demolished de·mol·ish tr.v. de·mol·ished, de·mol·ish·ing, de·mol·ish·es 1. To tear down completely; raze. 2. To do away with completely; put an end to. 3. to make way for the Wall, and spoke to neighbours who knew their homes were next. And amid all this sadness and destruction what they wanted of us was that we go home and speak of what we saw. We heard Israeli women say 'Not in our name. Boycott us. Sanction my country and those countries that also profit.' The Challenge to Violence has reminded me that, great though the struggle is, determination and creativity can succeed. Wilma Davidson Canberra, Australia |
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