This time when the telephone rang in the middle of the night, it was good news - Norman Kember, Jim Loney, and Harmeet Sooden were free at last! On March 23, British soldiers entered a Baghdad house and cut the chains that had bound the men for 118 days.

This list only begins to name the thousands of individuals and groups who joined CPT's interwoven efforts to seek safety for four peacemakers held captive in Baghdad and peace for Iraqis held captive by war and occupation.

Tom Fox decided to join CPT as a result of reflecting on what he valued most in life and what he hoped to contribute in the aftermath of the devastating attack on September 11, 2001. He shared the same vision as Quaker leader George Fox - a shadowy sea of chaos, and flowing over it, a sea of light. Tom said, "I want very much to find some way to pull us out of the darkness and move the world (even if it is the movement of one human being) towards the light."

Once Norman, Jim and Harmeet were safely home, the remaining team members consulted extensively with Iraqi partners and friends about the future of CPT's work. The team then left Iraq for a period of time to debrief and rest.

Members of CPT's February 24 - March 3 Arizona delegation conceived "Operation Welcome Mat" after visiting the U.S.-Mexico border for the first time.

Javier* was three months old and nursing at his mother's breast the first time he entered the United States without documents 27 years ago. His family settled in Chicago where Javier grew up and graduated from high school. Fluent in English with a thick Chicago accent, Javier did not know Mexico before he was deported to Guerrero.

by Haven Whiteside

CPT Reservists Haven and Rose Whiteside served together on the Arizona team last summer. This May was Haven's first time on team since Rose died of cancer on November 23, 2005.

My teammates and I are sitting in the back of the pickup at a water station in Sonora, Mexico, one mile south of the border. It is noon time and hot. The migrants are lying low right now, wherever they can find shade, but they will start moving again at the end of the afternoon. Our team carries water and small food packs in case we find someone who needs them. If not, we will leave them by the trail for anyone who may come along.

 

Israeli police arrested three Israeli peace activists and two Palestinians during a nonviolent protest against the planned security wall near at-Tuwani along Bypass Road 317 on April 22. Palestinians from at-Tuwani and neighboring villages organized the demonstration to protest the construction of the wall - an 80-centimeter high, 14-kilometer long concrete barrier on the north side of the road running from the settlement of Tene to the settlement of Carmel - and invited the support of Israelis and internationals.

 

For the second week in a row, about thirty Israeli settlers from Ma'on ambushed Palestinian children and the Israeli soldiers escorting them home from school on May 6. Settlers hurled rocks, then stormed the group, kicking and shoving soldiers and children alike. Several children sustained injuries; three required medical attention. One soldier fired his gun into the air after being punched in the face by a settler.

 

A late-night call on April 6 alerted CPTers to yet another seizure by Israeli settlers of a vacant three-story apartment building owned by a Palestinian man. The building stands about 300 yards from the CPT apartment on the road which Palestinian children have to cross to get to school from the Old City. The CPT school patrol passes that way every morning.

 

The conflict in the Magdalena Medio region of Colombia where CPT works claimed at least five civilian casualties during the same week that CPT celebrated the safe return of Jim Loney, Harmeet Sooden and Norman Kember after four months of captivity in Iraq.

by Robin Buyers

In addition to maintaining a presence with communities along the Opón River in Colombia's Magdalena Medio region, CPTers have traveled to other areas of intense conflict in recent months. This report describes one such trip to a region known as Montes de María in the north of Colombia along the Carribean coast.

by Noah Dillard

The sound of helicopters flying overhead still causes my spine to tense. When I lived in Gaza Strip, Palestine, my friends associated this sound with the terror of bullets the size of lead pipes that could tear thick branches from their trees and drill holes the size of soft balls in the crumbling cement of their houses.

by Sandra Rincón
translated by Duane Ediger

Since concluding a full-time presence in Kenora, Ontario on May 31, 2005, CPT continues to place small teams there for 8-10 week periods several times a year to support the ongoing work of the Anishinaabe Peace and Justice Coalition. In addition, CPT sends short-term delegations to Kenora and nearby Grassy Narrows.

 

From July 3 - August 15, CPT will place a small team at Bear Butte, South Dakota at the invitation of an Intertribal Coalition involving 30 local tribes. The coalition, which includes all of the Lakota tribes with whom CPT worked at La Framboise Island in Pierre, SD in 1999, has organized a six-week encampment to nonviolently resist continued development and encroachment on this sacred territory.

 

Damu Smith Joins Cloud of Witnesses – Legendary peace activist, Damu Smith, died of colon cancer on May 5, 2006. The founder of Black Voices for Peace and the National Black Environmental Justice Network, he spent years fighting environmental racism, particularly in the South. He was a key leader in the anti-Apartheid movement and challenged police brutality in Washington, DC and around the country. Damu was a keynote speaker at CPT’s Peacemaker Congress in Indianapolis last September. He was diagnosed with colon cancer while on a peace mission in Palestine. He then not only struggled for his life, but against racial disparities in the health care system. His legacy lives on in all those who work for justice.

Enclosed is a check from the local Washington, DC-area War Tax Resisters who are donating a portion of their “tax” money to CPT in memory of Tom Fox. Several CPTers spoke at the annual Tax Day event in front of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building.
Carol Spring
CPT Reservist
Washington, DC

Peacemaker Delegations:
● Congo: October 18 - November 2
● Colombia: International: July 18-31; October 3-16; National: December 3-10.
● Kenora, Ontario: July 28 - August 6
● Palestine/Israel: July 26 - August 7; October 7-19; November 19 - December 1

by Milan Rai

Where there is courage
Tom Fox lives
Where there is strength
Tom Fox lives

by Beth Pyles

If there was a life he begged for,
it was yours.

If he wept when you killed him,
he wept for you.

If I would have anyone know about Tom,
it would be this.

A listing of CPTers and where they served...