May 10, 2010

Had a 4.5 hour trip from Islamabad to Lahore. But the bus was fantastic. They had a “flight attendant,” headphones, movies (I couldn’t understand them), a snack, a drink, periodic trips by the attendant to give us water (in cups that they provided) … Greyhound, eat your heart out! I wish I could tell you about what the trip was like, but I slept through most of it.

We came to Lahore principally to meet with I. A. Rehman, Pakistan’s Human Rights Commissioner. He said some good things and gave me an important insight on the relationship between the Pakistan military and the Taliban.

First of all, he pointed out that “the militants” (as they are frequently called here) “recruit” the people by force. They say, “Give us 40,000 rupees or one of your sons. Otherwise we will destroy your house and family.” Kind of a crazy “protection racket.” (In fact, Rehman likened them to “NYC youth gangs” threatening a local business.) The people cannot afford the price, so they give up their son to protect the rest of the family. That is why it really is indiscriminate to attack the “Taliban,” because not all the participants are willing, or are convinced of the “mission.” So, the people are caught between the militants, and the Pakistani security forces who are trying to “eliminate” the militants, especially with indiscriminate shelling and “extrajudicial” killings.

We spoke briefly about the drone attacks. Rehman’s investigations show that drone attacks do NOT cause the least damage. Also, drones cause more hatred, and so, recruitment for the militants. Especially, again, because their own government cannot protect them from attacks from a foreign (i.e., US) power. I asked  about the legitimacy of a government that would allow a foreign power – even if it is an ally – to attack its own citizens, for whatever reason. Rehman’s wry response was: “We sold ourselves long ago; we have no shame on that now.”

Second, the militants do not recruit just from the poor. There are also young, rich Pakistani men among them. I heard later that often, retired military commanders from the Pak army go to the camps to train the militants – often because they are the “true Islam.” I heard that from Sr. Anna at the Jesuit Center later in the day. I suggested that the motivation might not be so much “true Islam,” but the fact that their own government and military cannot protect them – in particular from the US drone attacks. Others around the table seemed to agree with that.

There are two geo-political reasons I have heard about the Pakistani army’s strange dealings with the Taliban. First we see the kind of attacks on the Taliban that we heard about in the Swat Valley. The Pak army utterly destroyed every Talib they saw. Killed them, drove them out, bombed their houses.

At the same time, Pak military have trained the Taliban. And every once in a while, you hear a favorable statement from the army about the Taliban. For example, Colonel Imam in Pak army, boasting: “I raised the Taliban.” Rehman says that everyone knows that If US  pulls out of Afghanistan, the Taliban will take over (in fact the Taliban already has “shadow governments” in 32 of the 34 provinces in Afghanistan); but if Pak army “takes care” of Taliban, then if Taliban takes over; Pak army will have direct influence over Afghanistan. The second I heard: that the Pak army wants to have the Taliban as a kind of “militia in reserve” in the face of the massive numerical superiority of India (especially, I suppose, if it comes to armed conflict in Kashmir).

A third, socio-political reason is that the government of Pak is hopelessly corrupt, existing to enrich a small power elite (also see subsequent interview with Dr. Hassan).

Tax structure is a scandal. People on top earn much; pay nothing. Crime against minorities has increased; violence against women has increased; 40% of people are living below the poverty line.

There are problems in Baluchistan with the separatists, and in general, the democratization process, as the country moves away from the military dictatorship of Musharraf, is stagnant.

And while the new 18^th amendment is good in that it provides provinces more rights and authority, the provinces do they have the governmental infrastructure to implement it.

In the face of all that, the people need to turn to some group that will “represent” them. Add to that the fact that Pakistan was formed as, and still considers itself an explicitly Islamic state, and the appeal of the Taliban to act in a way that is “true Islam,” becomes seductive – even though all of the Pakistanis I’ve met speak quite openly about how the Taliban teaches a corruption of Islam, and that their use of “forced conversion” is deeply and explicitly antithetical to Qur’an and Islam.

Rehman spoke about the role of China in the geopolitics of Pak. Pak is sitting in such a key position with respect to China, and China foresees that one day, China and the US will be the principle rivals in the region – like a new Cold War. (In the last Cold War, Pakistan sided with the US, Rehman pointed out, and India with Russia. He foresees that in the new Cold War, Pakistan will side with China, and India will side with the US.) Kathy pointed out that the Chinese have stopped funding the deep sea port in Pakistan. But Rehman said that China is waiting; not wanting to provoke others in the region, esp. US; that right now, China is Interested in maintaining their 10%+ rate of growth. They’re not opposed to the construction of the oil and gas pipeline through Afghanistan (for which, I think, the Afghanistan war was principally fought), but they are concerned about who profits from it.

Rehman gave us some more insight on the Pakistan army, which really runs the country. To him, it’s not as though the country has an army, but that an army has a country.

The  Pak army is a mercenary army; raised through the cold war years; paid for by the Americans to fight the Russians or the communists. “When the cold war ended, we didn’t know what to do; so God arranged for Afghanistan.”

Then army members went to Iran and gave them the technology to build an atomic bomb. Thus: “ Iran should do more to support Pak army.” (NB Rehman was telling these truths in an ironic, almost sarcastic tone. It is clear he regrets the military’s massive influence over the county.) Pak needs an external paymaster to keep its military going; Pak doesn’t have capacity to meet military’s demands.

Afterwards, I took some photos, and we left.

A coupla quotes from Rehman:

People may be misled for a time; but eventually, they learn to value peace

(No country stays the same way for ages; e.g. Mongolia forming its own nation now.}

Afterwards, Kathy and Josh went to the family where they were to stay, and I went to stay with the Jesuits. I was welcomed by Fr. Renato, a really tall Australian Jesuit with whom I had been in contact through email and phone. He was extraordinarily kind and accommodating, especially since our plans kept changing about when I was to arrive.

I got there in time to attend Mass. That was very good for me. The rector, Fr. Jacob celebrated. They were commemorating an older Jesuit who had died. So even though the reading was the “beatitudes,” Fr. Jacob talked about how the Jesuit who had died (didn’t get his name) had been an inspiration to him. There were several nuns there, and some of the workers at the high schools (one for boys, one for girls), and some candidates for the Society. Fr. Jacob projects this benign presence, almost Buddha-like kindness. When I asked him what would be the one message he would want me to bring back to the US from Pakistan, he said that the Americans should learn to love themselves. Because if they loved themselves, they would know how to love others, and not harm them.

Islamabad, Day 1, May 4, 2010.

It’s 5:15 a.m. and I’ve finally arrived in a friend-to-be’s house in Islamabad. The dog barked at us incessantly when we arrived, before she came down to greet us. We talked for too long, before I finally said that I had to sleep, and gave her the box of Godiva chocolates I bought for a gift in the Duty Free Store. (they also had a bottle of whisky for over $1,000 there. I took a photo of it)

After a wonderful but exhausting day visiting the Dubai Mall and especially the Bruj Khalifah Tower (tallest free-standing structure in the World!) Kathy and Josh went back to the airport to sleep, but I just had to go to the Tower’s observation level. You only live once, and I love tall buildings. Glad I did. It’s a stunning building, really.  Kathy hates malls, and this one was way too rich for my taste, but I got the image of an international suqh – a modern equivalent, and my visit there was not bad.

I got myself back to the airport and waited a coupla hours for the 5 hour plane ride to Islamabad. I watched The Blind Side again and still liked it. Slept only very little. Tomorrow the “fact-finding” begins, but I’ll surely have to sleep half the morning before I can take anything in. Sharing a room with Josh and Kathy … Both of them say they don’t snore. I told them that if they did, I’d throw water on them.

We were picked up by this good taxi driver. They speak Urdu and Pashtun here. The exchange rate here is about 80 rupees to 1 dollar.

Marebani means thank you.

Tired.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010.

Slept 12 hours and now the day is turned around. Just ate “breakfast” of rice and vegetables and lentils. Supper actually.

Now we have to consult: Kathy’s friend wants to take us to Chitral, near the Chinese border. Should we go? A bit dangerous, but also a bit “off mission”: mostly about Chinese – Indian relations, not so much refugees or attacks by the US.

End of day; Some planning; an email to the Jesuits in Lahore. A walk to end the day, and then a hope that I can sleep tonight, in order to turn my clock back around.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

OK, only a couple of hours of sleep last night.  My brain was racing, so I just lay there and prayed most of the night. Makes you wonder how Jesus did his all night prayers, because by mid-day, I was exhausted. But I was determined to stay awake all day, so that I could sleep tonight. Our hosts prepared breakfast for us – toast and eggs into a kind of omelet, with LOTS of peppers.

After some more planning, and some more disappointment, we decided to go to the Afghanistan embassy, so that Kathy and Josh could go to Afghanistan after I leave. The embassy looks like a regular house, with a sign outside. Pretty unprepossessing (I’ve always wanted to use that word). They’ll stay another 5 weeks after I go, so they’ll get a chance to go to Afghanistan, darn it!

I walked with them, just to get exercise and to stay awake and see a bit more of Islamabad. There wasn’t much to see. It was mostly walking along the highway – though I was impressed with the way they kept the trees growing instead of uprooting them. Trees were growing along the sidewalk and occasionally, in the middle of the sidewalk. We would pass by swaths of wooded areas, too.  It was about 95+ degrees, but I didn’t mind it that much; I’m kind of DNA-coded for this kind of heat.  We walked about 90 minutes in the heat, mostly because I got us lost on the way back from the embassy.

Alas, upon our return (to lunch and about 6 glasses of water) I failed pretty wretchedly on my resolve to stay awake all day. I lay down after our walk for a few moments, and CONKED for about 3 hours.

Later in the afternoon, we meet with man who has a Ph.D, I believe, and is an activist. He has a great concern for the poor and a great resistance to what he kept calling “binary thinking” (either .. or: Either you’re with the hegemonic powers, or you’re a terrorist). We asked, and he answered questions for a few hours. His understanding is that the military is still dominant in Pakistan. I questioned him on the legitimacy of a government (Pakistan’s) that, for whatever reason, allows a foreign power (USA) to attack its own citizens. He acknowledged that it was an extreme case in point, but a) the Pak military has always been attacking its own people, and so eroding the legitimacy of the “representative” government, and b) the attacks have always been with the military-economic support of the US.

We also discussed how the NYC Times Square bombing was going to affect the US-Pak relationship, and we agreed that it would spur / initiate attacks in the north, where Shazad was “trained” – a place that the US has not attacked before, but that has not been in agreement with the government for some time.  Shazad’s attempts would provide a good excuse for the US and Pak to team up on these attacks. A friend remarked how the media in Pak had learned from the media in the US to self-censor, and to deliver only one story line about what happened. We all remarked that Obama’s words after the failed attack were EXACTLY the same words that George Bush had used after 9-11: “They hate our freedom … we won’t be cowed …” all that stuff. I’m sad to hear that response, but not disappointed. I never “fell’ for Obama’s line anyway.  And no one seems to remember that we’ve been attacking Pakistan for months now.

We discussed why people would want to join the Taliban in Pak, but we knew the answer pretty much: economic deprivation. But also, all the military can do is kill folks and destroy villages here were entire villages leveled in the Swat Valley (Pakistan) offensive. But after that, what? People still need running water, garbage disposal, working hospitals, safe roads, access to food – all the civilian infrastructure. And the military is not “equipped” to provide that. So, in come the Taliban folks, who have only temporarily withdrawn under fire, and they begin providing these essential services for the people, and voila! They’re back “in power” again. One friend reports that the Taliban have these “shadow governments” in many of the provinces of Pak. And with the government so committed to a military “solution,” they have no resources (monetary or manpower) to provide them.  Add to that the continuous prodding of the US to undertake further military action, and you have the formula for an ongoing war. That would suit the corporations just fine, in my view.

But in the end, I asked him if we could establish some kind of dialogue between the Center for Peacemaking community, and a similar student body here. He said that he was working with a group of students, and would be happy to link us up with them. A good idea, I think! I always say to the CfP folks: “The opposite of war is community.” So it would be good if we could establish some kind of community interaction between us and this Pakistani student group. Help us to understand each other better. We even thought that it would be possible for us to “Skype” to each other. That would be great, because face-to-face is better than emails.

The Szymczak Fellows Program allows students to create projects that put nonviolence into action. Students have the option to work for an established organization or to create their own project. Upon their return, the Fellows present their projects and showcase the different ways Marquette students are engaging in the struggle for peace through the practice of nonviolence. This year, the presentations were a truly inspirational experience which we want to share with you.

Molly Ryan is a Peacemaking student at Marquette University and a Photography student at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.  She presented on her fellowship at Contemplatives in Action, an Urban Jesuit Retreat Center in New Orleans, LA.  While in New Orleans, Molly helped local children. The center’s devotion to Ignatian spirituality gave Molly an opportunity to think about life and understand it before she acts.

“Usually we do, do, do and then maybe think. This experience gave me an opportunity to think, think, think and then do,” Molly said.

Molly presented her photography exhibit “Grace”. The exhibit is named after her friend Grace, who showed her around the city. Not only did Grace show Molly around the city, but she also contributed to the exhibit with her writings.

Molly will always remember Grace’s words: ”New Orleans is so full of life that sometimes I swear the city itself is breathing and I can hear its heavy pulse underneath the roaring of traffic on the bridges and the cacophony of day to day life – the sirens and the gunshots and the vibrating bass of crappy stereos set out on front porches. Underneath it all, I can hear the sluggish beat of its ancient heart.”

The name of the exhibit has a deeper meaning and comes from the meaning of “grace”: “Grace is Christ is in our lives and what He enables us to do.”

Amanda Griedl is a Public Relations student with a minor in Gender Studies. She spent the summer in Cape Town, South Africa volunteering for the Social Change Assistance Trust. SCAT is an independent human rights non-governmental organization that was founded 20 years ago. It is a fund-raising and grant-making agency striving to improve the quality of life in South Africa, to prevent HIV/AIDS, to support local economic development and to create gender equality. The organization collaborates with over 60 communities. Amanda helped the HIV/AIDS coordinator with programs analysis, evaluation and research. She also did field work and helped with different programs such as condom distribution.  Amanda explored the culture and examined how gender issues are related to the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Chris Jeske, whom you already know, studies Information Technology, Marketing and African Studies. During the summer he interviewed people in his hometown Kirkwood, MO about race relations after a racially charged shooting at the City Hall that left six people dead.  He will make a documentary film about race relations in his home town. Although the documentary is not ready yet, Chris showed some of his favorite clips from the interviews and shared how the stories from the interviews still impact him half a year later. Chris told the stories of many different people from Kirkwood because “the world needs to hear your story to be complete.” He believes that stories make us come to real epiphanies, the ones that change how we think and act, as opposed to false epiphanies, which don’t change how we act.

Hopefully these three students inspired some real epiphanies. Hopefully they inspired you to find your “Grace”.

If you want to make a change in our world, apply for the Szymczak Peacemaking Fellows Program. The deadline is March 1. Hopefully next year we will listen about your actions in achieving peace and creating a better place for all of us.

Peace!

P.S. We will invite you to see the documentary.

Briefly introduce yourself!

I am a Junior, majoring in Information Technology and Marketing with a minor in African Studies. I am from Kirkwood, Mo. and came to Marquette because I was looking for a mid-size university in an urban environment, and I loved Marquette each time I visited (when it was warm in the summer and when it was bitter cold in the winter).
I am currently interested in environmental issues, especially urban farming. Although I am just getting started in learning about urban farming, I’d love to sit down and talk with you about farming if you are an expert or if you don’t even know what it is.

What exactly do you do for the Center for Peacemaking?

I am the web master and volunteer extraordinaire. I hope you are enjoying the Web site as I have been working on this for more than a year now.
I was also one of the Summer 2009 Szymczak Peacemaking Fellows and am still working on my project which will be completed by the end of this semester. It’s a documentary on race relations in my hometown Kirkwood, Mo after there was a racially charged shooting almost two years ago.

Why did you get involved with peace and nonviolence?

I have been involved in community service and service learning for several years and when I heard of the Center for Peacemaking, I thought that nonviolence might be the next step in my development. Also, I have always had an interest in peace and nonviolence, but I have never had an opportunity to study peace and nonviolence. I am glad that Marquette and the Center for Peacemaking have provided me with this opportunity.

What is the greatest challenge for achieving peace nowadays?

I think the greatest challenge we have for achieving peace now is in our understanding of peace. While most people think of peace as a global issue, I see it as a personal issue. Peace is something that we all need to take personal responsibility for and do our best to achieve peace within ourselves. If we do not first find peace within ourselves, we cannot build peace between each other.

What can common people do to achieve peace? We all believe that only people with power such as politicians can help with peace. What about us?

Definitely! Think of achieving peace individually as a struggle to become a better person. In this sense, peace is a process, not a state. As long as you are engaging yourself in a struggle to become a better person, you are working to achieve inner peace, and when you share your process with others and invite them to join you and you struggle with them, you build a peaceful community.
As for politicians, they have role models too. Although they can recite the prose of famous figures through history, they often tell stories of the struggles the citizens they represent. Share your story with them, ask them if they have a story, and invite them to join you in the struggle for peace.

What do you hope people take away from our events?

I hope that people who visit the Center for Peacemaking – whether it be an event, the Web site, or stopping by to visit – will come away knowing more about the topic of the discussion, inspired to learn more and willing to share what they learn with others. Any nonviolent movement first starts with education.

Briefly introduce yourself!

I’m Carole Poth. My official title at the Center for Peacemaking is Office Associate. 

What exactly do you do for the Center for Peacemaking?

I run the day to day activities. I make sure we have supplies. I contact people. I make sure everyone is on the same page. I do all kinds of business activities. All the things behind the curtains that no one notices. I also help out with programs and events, which is my favorite part of my job.

Why did you get involved with peace and nonviolence?

Through my parish I met people who told me about the JustFaith program.  After completing the 30-week program, I began to get more involved in my parish community and attended Peace Action events.

What is the greatest challenge for achieving peace nowadays?

I think the greatest challenge to peace is getting all individuals to realize their own importance in their community.  We need to appreciate and understand the diversity of our community and our world.  We need to be involved citizens.

What can common people do to achieve peace? We all believe that only people with power such as politicians can help with peace. What about us?

We are our government, but it only works when citizens are actively involved by keeping informed, attending community meetings and rallies, joining community groups, writing letters to politicians, etc. Politicians have power only because we give it to them, thus we are the ones with power.
What do you hope people take away from our events?

I hope our events help people to open their hearts and minds.

Numerous times Martin Luther King spoke about the importance and power of education. If we don’t know an issue exists, how can we solve it? How can we help establish peace if we don’t know what caused the war? Many people know that there are conflicts in Darfur, Cabinda, Palestine and Israel, Chechen… Some might know that there are civil wars in small, almost forgotten, countries. But how many of us know what exactly caused these rebellions, civil wars, international conflicts and other acts of violence? How many of us care to learn?

Another important lesson Martin Luther King tried to teach us was to use nonviolent actions to achieve peace. Did we learn his lesson? NO! We try to establish peace with violence. We try to stop violence with more violence. Does it work? Obviously it doesn’t, since there are many active wars and conflicts today.

Martin Luther King tried to teach us to be tolerant toward each other. He stated that race, nationality, skin color, socioeconomic status and education level should not matter in our interactions with others. Did we learn this lesson? NO! We still tend to base our opinions about others on stereotypes and uneducated judgments. How many of us avoid interactions with people who differ from us? How many of us don’t respect people who differ from us?

Tough questions that we might not want to answer. Questions that might make us uncomfortable. But we should be honest with ourselves. Hopefully next year, when we celebrate Martin Luther King’s legacy, we will also celebrate our achievements: being educated and tolerant idividuals who are devoted to nonviolence and peacemaking.

Briefly introduce yourself.

Happy New Year! I am Patrick Kennelly, the associate director for the Center for Peacemaking. I graduated from Marquette University and have previously taught high school. I am involved in the Catholic Worker Movement, the Iraqi Student Project, and other peace initiatives.

What exactly do you do for the Center for Peacemaking?

My primary responsibilities are helping facilitate student programs. I co-coordinate the veteran re-entry program and help implement nonviolence in the Milwaukee Public Schools.

Why did you get involved with peace and nonviolence?

My roots as a peacemaker began with my upbringing and the value in the dignity of human life. My choice of nonviolence comes from my ability to think as a logical and rational being. I choose to be nonviolent because it makes sense. Consider for a moment the scene in which a child slaps another child. The parent then slaps the child saying “Don’t hit.” The child does not learn not to hit but rather learns not to use violence when the parent is around. A more effective parenting approach would be to model not hitting. Similarly, if I am working for peace I would not use violence because it contradicts the peace I am trying to achieve. I use nonviolence because it demonstrates in word and action to others that peace is based on respect not humiliation and submission.

What is the greatest challenge for achieving peace nowadays?

The greatest challenge for achieving peace is ignorance. We live in a society that longs for peace, yet few people study peace. Our society sets peace as a goal but often on the micro and macro level we use tactics that encounter violence. We often try to achieve peace through the use of violence, fear and intimidation. We humiliate individuals we hope to live in respectful co-existence with. We must rethink our way of interacting directly and indirectly with others.

What can common people do to achieve peace? We all believe that only people with power such as politicians can help with peace. What about us?

People can get educated. Study nonviolent movements and practice noncooperation with individuals and organizations that promote or use violence to achieve their goals.

What do you hope people take away from our events?

I hope people catch the courage to be peacemakers themselves. I hope that they are willing to stand behind their values and incorporate peacemaking into their daily lives by engaging in actions that work for the common good of all people.

We are excited to share with you all the great things we have planned for the first part of the year.

We will start 2010 with a 2-week Nonviolence Media Exhibit starting on January 25 in AMU. The very next day is the Peacemaker of the Year presentation at 4 p.m. in Cudahy 001. On February 2 is the Szymczak Peacemaking Fellows Presentation at 7 p.m. in AMU 252. Students will present their projects that put nonviolence into action. On March 4 at 4 p.m. at Cudahy 001 is the Faculty Symposium with Dr. Franco Trivigno. April will be busy and exciting. We have the honor to welcome Nomfundo Walaza as the Peacemaker in Residence. Walaza is the director of the Desmond Tutu Peace Center in Cape Town, South Africa. She will stay at Marquette from April 7 to April 10. She will share her experience and views on peace and nonviolence in an open presentation on April 8 at 7 p.m. in Cudahy 001. An interdisciplinary faculty panel on Motherhood and Peacemaking and (M)other, one woman play, will stir the spirits on April 15 from 5:30 p.m. in the Wasler Auditorium. Individuals, who have devoted their lives and efforts to peacemaking will be recognized at the Center for Peacemaking Awards Ceremony on April 25 at 5 p.m. in AMU 252. We will finish the semester with our nonviolent study groups and the departure of the Israel-Palestine Group on May 15. Don’t forget our Undergraduate Nonviolent Study Group meets the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. at the center and the Graduate Student Faculty Nonviolent Study Group meets the first and third Thursday of the month (check schedule for locations). Check our calendar for more events and application deadlines.

This year we are committed to making communication with us as easy as possible.

We have a new and easy to navigate Web site that provides news and information about events and programs. It also has links to helpful resources.

You can sign up for our bimonthly newsletter.

You can follow us on Twitter  for quick updates and words of wisdom.

You can become our fan on Facebook to know everything about our events and see pictures from them.

You can check out our pictures on Flickr.

Of course, you can read this blog, which we promise to update every week, and share your thoughts and opinions.

We have plans for Pecha Kucha presentations, but more information on that later.

Of course, you can also reach us the old-fashioned way: via e-mail at peacemaking@mu.edu and phone at 414 - 288 -8444.

So get in touch! Share your ideas, thoughts, opinions, suggestions and concerns! Ask questions!  Become part of our peacemaking and nonviolence community!

Although we respect people’s right to independence, we condemn violence of any sort as a means to freedom. Violence doesn’t solve anything. The people who were killed and wounded weren’t responsible for the condition of Cabinda. The families of the Togo’s football team members didn’t have to suffer for something they had no power to change. Violence only causes more violence. With so many people already dying in Africa because of famine, diseases, water pollution, and genocides, why do FLEC members think that terrorist attacks can solve their problems? Why do FLEC members think that killing innocent people is justified?

We pray for Togo’s football team and the families of its members. We pray for Cabinda and its people. We pray for FLEC to remembers the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., the 14^th Dalai Lama and all others who have tried to make the world a better place through nonviolent ideas and movements.