CPTnet
March 2, 2017
CPT INTERNATIONAL: Train with CPT – Join CPT’s Peacemaker Corps 

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is currently accepting applications for its Peacemaker Corps.  Join us in building partnerships to transform violence and oppression!  

Applicants must be 21 years of age or older and have completed, or plan to complete, a short-term CPT Delegation or internship.  Qualified applicants may be invited to participate in CPT’s intensive, month-long training from 13 July – 13 August 2017 in Chicago, Illinois USA where membership in the Peacemaker Corps is discerned.  Trained Peacemaker Corps members are then eligible to apply for open positions on CPT teams.  

CPT builds partnerships to transform violence and oppression in situations of lethal conflict around the world.  We are committed to work and relationships that: 1) honor and reflect the presence of faith and spirituality, 2) strengthen grassroots initiatives, 3) transform structures of domination and oppression, and 4) embody creative nonviolence and liberating love. 

CPT understands violence to be rooted in systemic structures of oppression.  We are committed to undoing oppressions within our own lives and in the policies and practices of our organization.   

CPT is a Christian-identified organization with multi-faith/spiritually diverse membership.  We seek individuals who are capable, responsible and rooted in faith/spirituality to work for peace as members of violence-reduction teams trained in the disciplines of nonviolence.  We are committed to building a Peacemaker Corps that reflects the rich diversity of the human family in ability, age, class, ethnicity, gender identity, language, national origin, race and sexual orientation. 

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 15 March 2017; direct any questions and send complete application to personnel@cpt.org.

CPTnet

17 July 2017

PALESTINE REFLECTION: Three stories of throwing

by Kathy Moorhead Thiessen

In March 2017, I spent 10 days in Hebron and observed three throwing situations that showed a microcosm of the occupation in that Palestinian city. Hebron, a major city in the southern West Bank, is where some 800 Jewish settlers, protected by hundreds of Israeli soldiers, have moved into the old city, among the Palestinian population.

I was there with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) a faith-based organization that has teams in Colombia, Iraqi Kurdistan, Canada and Hebron, Palestine. The Palestine team, which began in 1995, supports Palestinian-led, nonviolent, grassroots resistance to the Israeli occupation and the unjust structures that uphold it. Some of their activities are documenting the treatment of school children passing through military checkpoints and of Palestinians going to Friday prayers at Ibrahimi Mosque. CPT team members also attend to calls from Palestinian families who are harassed by Israeli settlers.

Shuhada Street in Hebron, once a vibrant market road that is now forbidden to all Palestinians, was the route for a parade marking the Jewish festival of Purim. Israeli settlers were welcome to walk there. Music, laughter, costumes and much wine added to the celebration, as they commemorated the courage of Queen Esther and the buffoonery of the evil Haman.

Photo: Israeli Border Police detains a Palestinian boy who threw a stone at the reinforced checkpoint.

CPTnet

7 July 2017

PALESTINE AND USA REFLECTION: The Struggle to Breathe; state policies and lethal violence target Palestinian people and black US American communities

by Rachelle Friesen 

Oppression chokes, squeezing communities until breath becomes more and more difficult. It displaces people from their land, pushes people into low-income neighbourhoods where folks struggle to survive in markets of high-unemployment, and contains people through mass incarceration. In targeted communities every day’s existence becomes a battleground to regain breath. 

This is acutely felt in the black community in the United States. The unemployment rate for African Americans is 8.8 percent, double rate of what it is for whites. One in three black men can expect to go to prison in their life time. A black man is 5.1 times more likely to be incarcerated than a white man. In 2016 the police killed more than 250 black people in the USA. 

In Palestine, there is a similar struggle for existence as Israeli policies of displacement push and confine Palestinians into extremely crowded zones. Israeli settlements expand and Palestinian land shrinks, strangling opportunities for farmers. There are 7,000 Palestinians in Israeli detention as one in four Palestinian men will spend time in prison. Walls, checkpoints, and settler-bypass roads contain and threaten communities. Meanwhile in Gaza, one of the most densely populated places on earth, Palestinians are caged while facing a barrage of bombings and shootings from the Israeli Military on a frequent basis.

AL-KHALIL (HEBRON) A week in photos June 13 - 19

Daily Detainment   Pictured here: Israeli soldiers detain a young Palestinian man for several minutes at Bab el-Baladyeh. This week CPT recorded 2 detainments, 1 of a sixteen-year-old child who was detained for an hour and a half. CPT also recorded the arrests of two adults, one only 18 years old.  (June 16, 2017)

CPT Position Opening:

COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR

Christian Peacemaker Teams seeks a full-time, talented, creative and detail-oriented Communications Coordinator to facilitate amplifying the voices of our partners and articulating the organization’s mission, vision and values through the framework of undoing oppressions.  The position involves working closely with field teams to strategize and coordinate CPT’s story-telling vehicles and mechanisms in ways that engage world-wide supporters to take action for peace.

Responsibilities include coordinating the ongoing development, assessment and implementation of organization-wide communications plans, managing the organization’s web platforms and social media presence, producing promotional, educational and fundraising materials, and participating in the overall work of CPT’s Administrative Team which cares for the whole “web” of the organization.  This person works closely with field teams and others in the areas of development and outreach.  The position involves some international travel to meetings and project sites each year.

Candidates should demonstrate excellent writing, editing and verbal communication capabilities in English, commitment to grow in the work of undoing oppressions, and ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a dispersed team across continents.

CPT is a Christian-identified organization with multi-faith/spiritually diverse membership.  We seek individuals who are capable, responsible and rooted in faith/spirituality to work for peace as members of teams trained in the disciplines of nonviolence.  We are committed to building an organization that reflects the rich diversity of the human family in ability, age, class, ethnicity, gender identity, language, national origin, race and sexual orientation.

SALARY: $24,000/yr; 100% employer-paid health, dental and vision coverage; four weeks annual vacation.

LOCATION: negotiable; Chicago preferred.

APPLICATIONS DUE BY: June 25, 2017

START DATE: negotiable; July 13 preferred

TO APPLY: please submit electronically, in English, the following to hiring@cpt.org

• Cover letter

• Resume

• Two-page English writing sample

• A list of three references with e-mail and daytime telephone numbers

• Links to multimedia content including videos, infographics, interactives, etc.