Seeking peace in Palestine and Israel
November 20, 2003
Palestinian peace activist
Ghazi Briegieth's tour
in Michigan Nov. 2003
from Wes Rehberg
Nonviolent Ways Project
Ghazi Briegieth, Palestinian Peace Activist, extended his tour with Israeli-Palestinian Bereaved Families Forum for Peace with a weeklong journey in Michigan between Nov. 11 and Nov. 18, 2003.
He received continued medical care for the injury that helped result in his hospitalization while he was in San Francisco, with additional medical treatment in Olympia, WA, and Holland, MI. At the end of the West Coast tour and to other U.S. points, Ghazi flew from Seattle to Grand Rapids on Nov. 11. He departed the U.S. from Detroit to return to Palestine on Nov. 18, arriving home on Nov. 20.
We at Nonviolent Ways Project rescheduled forums, appearances and receptions originally scheduled for a late October visit that had to be postponed when Ghazi was hospitalized, adding at least one more appearance. Audio files of his talks are posted below.
His appearances included the following:
* A civic forum at the Herrick Library auditorium in Holland at 7 p.m. Wednesday Nov. 12, co-sponsored by Holland Peacemakers -- River Avenue and 12th Street.
* An appearance on a WHTC call-in radio talk show, Wednesday Nov. 12, 9:30 a.m.
* A meeting at the International Students Center at Hope College in Holland at 11 a.m. Thursday Nov. 13, lunch following.
* A West Michigan Justice and Peace Coalition civic forum in Grand Rapids, Thursday evening Nov. 13 at 7 p.m., Ada Congregational Church (coalition consists of 24 organizations and projects)
* A civic forum in Traverse City arranged by Mideast: Just Peace, Friday evening Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.-- Grace Episcopal Church Hall, preceded by a potluck supper at 6 p.m
* An informal reception at the Leaf & Bean coffee house in Holland, Columbia and 19th, with conversation and music, on Saturday night Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.
* A visit to the Bradley and Salem Indian Mission churches served by his Holland host on Sunday morning Nov. 16.
* A presentation at the Henry Institute at Calvin College in Grand Rapids at 8 p.m. on Monday Nov. 17, in the college's Commons Hall.
To briefly recap, Ghazi’s trip throughout West Michigan was organized and sponsored by Nonviolent Ways Project of Holland, with help from other organizations such as Holland Peacemakers, Mideast Just Peace and the West Michigan Justice and Peace Coalition.
Ghazi, 41, is an electrician for the municipality of Beit Ummar in the Hebron District in Palestine, is married, has three children, and has been a passionate voice for a nonviolent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a conflict which has claimed the lives of his brothers.
The West Michigan trip was a special extension Ghazi requested of a speaking tour he and an Israeli, Yitzhak Frankenthal, had undertaken, arranged through the National Fellowship of Reconciliation's Middle East Task Force, the National Lawyer's Guild's San Francisco Bay Area Middle East Committee, and the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz, California in cooperation with the Bereaved Families group.
Ghazi had traveled to the U.S. with his broken wrist in a cast after a fall in Beit Ummar. Subsequent severe swelling and an episode in which he passed out led to his hospitalization and the treatment that continued as he traveled.
Ghazi is co-chair of the Israeli-Palestinian Relations Committee of the Israeli & Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace, also known as the Family Circle or the Families' Forum, a gathering of Palestinians and Israelis who've lost family members due to the occupation and the severe cycle of violence that have been tragically ongoing since the present Intifada began. The Families' group speaks to an end to the occupation and peaceful reconciliation between warring sides in the conflict.
MP3 AUDIO FILES OF PRESENTATIONS AND PDF FILES OF NEWSPAPER ARTICLES (right click to download)
* Ghazi's presentation to Holland, MI, Peacemakers - mp3
* Ghazi's presentation to West Michigan Justice & Peace Coalition - mp3
* Ghazi's presentation to Traverse City's Mideast: Just Peace - mp3
* Ghazi's presentation to Henry Institute, Calvin College - mp3
* Holland, MI, Sentinel article of Briegieth's presentation in the Herrick Library auditorium - pdf file.
* Grand Rapids, MI, Press article of Briegieth's presentation for Calvin College's Henry Institute - pdf file.
(photos above: © 2003 Nonviolent Ways Project Inc.)
Two backgrounders are available, below. For more information, contact Wes Rehberg of Nonviolent Ways:
* Ghazi's presentation at Herrick Library, Holland, MI -- mp3 audio file
* FIRST BACKGROUNDER
GHAZI BRIEGIETH is an excellent person to speak at synagogues,
churches; schools, colleges and universities; community organizations;
and peace and justice groups. He also is available for interviews by the
media. Ghazi offers a powerful message about the need to break the
descending circle of violence and find a political resolution to the
tragic conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Ghazi Briegieth is 41 year old Palestinian Muslim. He is married with
three children 12 years old and younger. Briegieth is from the town of
Beit Ommar [some know this as Beit Ummar], a small Palestinian agricultural community north of Hebron
on the West Bank. According to Ghazi, farmers in Beit Ommar are coping
with a double tragedy of crop spoilage because of Israel's "closure
policy" and land loss due to the expansion of the Jewish settlements.
Ghazi Briegieth is dealing with his own double tragedy as well. Israeli
solders killed Ghazi's two brothers, a 14 year old student and a 31 year
old who left a wife and 2 children less than eight years old.
Ghazi Briegieth describes his current personal commitment as saying, "No
to war, Yes to peace. No to killing, Yes to life." Because there is no
peace, Ghazi says, "The only questions I ask the Israeli soldiers who
killed my two brothers is, 'Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why?' Still, there is no answer. Americans must begin to favor justice
for all the world's inhabitants over blind support for the domination of
the strong over the weak. Americans could start by halting the flow
of U.S. weapons to Israel that are grievously used to take innocent
lives. The United States hol the key."
Israeli and Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace / "The Families'
Forum" -- Ghazi is active in the Families' Forum a group consisting of
families whose children and family members have been killed in conflict.
The tragic status of having lost loved ones has given these families a
moral authority to speak out as Israelis and Palestinians against hate.
The Families' Forum was founded eight years ago and continues to meet
and reach out to an increasingly resistant audience in both
societies.Their message goes against the tide: "No to revenge. Turn the
other cheek. Peace over pain."
They have initiated several striking
actions, including donating blood to victims on "the other side."
Members of the Families' Forum speak to schools on the need for peace
and reconciliation. They sponsor a telephone hotline encouraging people
to 'Stop Killing and Start Talking.' The group also gained worldwide
attention when placing 1,200 flag draped coffins in Rabin Square in Tel
Aviv, and later at the United Nations, with flags of the two nations on
coffins for Israeli and Palestinian. Ghazi Briegieth has spoken in the
US and Europe on behalf of Israeli and Palestinian Bereaved Families for
Peace.
Their visit to the United States has been organized by the National Fellowship
of Reconciliation's Middle East Task Force, the National Lawyer's
Guild's San Francisco Bay Area Middle East Committee, and the Resource
Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz, California in cooperation with
Israeli & Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace / Parents' Circle.
* SECOND BACKGROUNDER:
An Israeli and a Palestinian who lost close relatives during "the blood
feud between our peoples" explain why they are coming to the United
States to urge it to do more to end the violence. Their views:
By Ghazi Briegieth and Yitzhak Frankenthal
USA TODAY March 14, 2003
JERUSALEM - We have every reason to despise each other, to be mortal
enemies. One of us is an Israeli whose son was kidnapped and killed five
years ago by Hamas. The other is a Palestinian whose brother was killed
by Israeli troops at a checkpoint in his village. But our grief unites
us behind the same goal.
As part of a delegation representing 350 Palestinian and Israeli
families whose loved ones were killed in the blood feud between our
peoples, we are coming to the United States to plead with the
Bush administration, the United Nations and the European Union to stop
the insane violence that our leaders are unable - or unwilling - to
prevent.
Many parents who have lost sons and daughters in this conflict are angry
and demand revenge. We are no less angry with those who took our loved
ones away, but we demand peace and reconciliation.
We are not diplomats, politicians or "experts" on the Middle East with
Ph.D.s. We are experts on the price paid by the relatives of more than
1,400 Palestinians and Israelis killed in this conflict since the
intifada began in September 2000. But we understand that our leaders are
offering no solutions, no paths out of the darkness and back to the
negotiating table.
That is why our parents´ group calls for outside powers to step in more
forcefully. If anyone has any better ideas - indeed, if anyone else has
any good ideas - we have not heard them.
We are glad that U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni is finally back in the region
trying to mediate, but that is not enough. The United States should lead
a much more vigorous international diplomatic effort to bring about an
immediate cease-fire. If that requires an international monitoring force
to come between Israeli and Palestinian fighters, send such a force
immediately. So many Palestinians and Israelis in our region are like
angry, brawling kids who have lost their heads; they need grown-ups to
declare and enforce a timeout.
And the United States, backed by the international community, needs to
pressure, prod, badger - whatever is necessary - our leaders to sit down
right now and make necessary compromises. If we, of all people, can put
aside our bitterness and reach agreement and work together, our leaders
have no excuse not to try.
Why should anyone listen to us? We hope the answer will be found in more
than 1,000 coffins we plan to assemble at the United Nations in
New York City. The coffins represent those who have paid the price for
the absence of peace. We want to prevent others from joining their
ranks. This display, we hope, will be more convincing than all of the
familiar analyses that explain why nothing can be done. For years, we
have both heard the same political, historical and demographic reasons
this conflict is too complicated to solve. The horrible reality of the
coffins shows that these are not good reasons; they are bad excuses.
Everyone with any sense knows what the eventual answer is going to be.
Someday, there will be two states for two peoples, living side by side,
with secure and recognized boundaries. The only question is how many
years, how many funerals, how many excuses, before we get there.
In these awful times, Palestinians, Israelis and Americans who care
about our region are becoming numb. They cannot bear to think about the
individual tragedies, the individual people who have been slaughtered.
We insist that they remember. Because no other argument for peace and
sanity seems to be working, we will make the argument of the coffins.
Ghazi Briegieth and Yitzhak Frankenthal are members of the Israeli and
Palestinian Bereaved Families Forum for Peace, an organization active in
Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rev Wes Rehberg PhD
Nonviolent Ways Project
Strategic Pastoral Action
www.nonviolentways.org
--------------------------
Bradley/Salem, MI, Indian Missions
United Methodist Church
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