CHICAGO, IL On Sunday, April 5, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Chicago
office received a death threat recorded on the telephone answering machine.
The unnamed caller, who claimed to be from the Israeli Consulate, said, "We
are watching your activities." Characterizing CPT work as Anti-Semitic,"
the caller threatened to send members of an "Israeli intelligence team
working in Chicago" to cause "great bodily harm" should CPT continue. The
message concluded, "In other words, they're gonna kill you. This is the
last warning and action is gonna come next."

A spokesperson from the Israeli Consulate in Chicago stated that it was
"absolutely not possible" that the current message originated from their
office and expressed concern that someone would issue such threats in their
name.

CPT has maintained a violence-deterring presence in Hebron since June, 1995
and works closely with both Palestinians and Israeli peace groups. The team
has periodically received verbal and written death threats from Israeli
settlers, but detailed phone threats to the Chicago office suggest a new
level of intensity.

This threat is similar in content and timing to one received by CPT last
January -- both messages were left on the telephone answering machine on a
Sunday at midday when Christians are usually at worship. While the current
threat targets the CPT office in Chicago, the January message directly
threatened members of CPT working in the West Bank city of Hebron. It
identified team members by name, included a deadline for evacuating them,
and was accompanied by a series of threatening e-mail messages.

On several previous occasions in the face of threats from Israeli
extremists, CPT-Hebron issued a Statement of Conviction saying, "All of us
who are part of Christian Peacemaker Teams recognize there are certain risks
inherent in this work. We believe that until people committed to
nonviolence are willing to take the same risks for peace that soldiers are
willing to take for war, people will always choose violence as the most
viable solution to their problems. We reject the use of force to save our
lives . . . we reject the use of violence to punish those who harm us." CPT
workers in Chicago share those convictions and continue to carry out their
work as do team members in Hebron.

This latest threat comes at a time when Israel is under major pressure from
Palestinians and the international community to implement the Oslo Peace
accords which call for turning over additional land to the Palestinian
Authority. CPT workers in Hebron along with Israeli and Palestinian peace
and human rights workers report an alarming increase in the demolition of
Palestinian homes by Israeli authorities in many areas of the West Bank,
particularly around Hebron.

For the past month, members of CPT in Hebron have maintained an
around-the-clock presence with the Al-Atrash family whose house was
bulldozed March 3. With help from Palestinian neighbors and hundreds of
Israeli volunteers, the Al-Atrash family has courageously begun to rebuild
their home. CPTer Dianne Roe wrote, "We will spend Easter Sunday with the
Al-Atrash family as we continue to witness their unfolding story. Muslims,
Jews and Christians have pledged to carry on the vigil against the continued
dispossession of the Palestinian people."

These present threat was issued on Palm Sunday, a time when Christians
around the world remembered Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jesus
initiated that bold witness by riding a donkey, an animal symbolizing peace,
rather than a horse which was the choice of conquering generals. His action
was carried out in an urban area already consumed by nationalist
controversy, plots, counterplots and a population burdened by the heavy hand
of occupation.

"Jesus knew about death threats," said Pat Hostetter Martin, co-chair of the
CPT steering committee. "He was killed because his whole life called people
to creative, nonviolent relationships with enemies. Our world may be living
through the crucifixion of Good Friday but resurrection Sunday is coming,"
she said.

This is also a holy time for Muslims and Jews. Muslims observed the feast
day of sacrifice on April 7 which honors Abraham. Saturday, April 11, marks
the beginning of the Jewish Passover, a time to remember God's miricle of
liberation of people living in bondage.