Just when we thought there was some quiet and relative calm in the Middle East, BAM! Flotilla flashes across news headlines and Israel is immediately condemned as the aggressor. But is she?

Why is Israel always the bad guy in any scenario? All too quickly people forget the youth and challenged existence of the Jewish State. Israel is constantly defending her borders, and considering her size, one would think it would be a bit easier. But the international community keeps sticking its nose into her affairs, making it increasingly difficult to protect her citizens.

Rocket shrapnel behind Sderot Police Station.

It is no secret that I am pro-Israel. Here, I will say it: “I Liora Herman, am pro-Israel.” BUT before you run off and accuse me of bias, I am also pro-PEACE. I believe that

Palestinians, the ones not shooting rockets at Sderot (been there and seen the damage first hand), have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Unfortunately,moderate Palestinians are not the ones in power and are not the ones making news headlines.

I am a well educated, informed woman who can think for herself. After reading several news sources and watching lots of video interviews, here is what I surmise.

1. There has been a military blockade in place around Gaza for the last three years. And it’s not just Israeli policy but also Egyptian policy. (No big secret, and the captain of the flotilla should have been well aware.)
2. There was a flotilla of six boats. Five were taken without violence. It was only on the sixth ship that violence broke out after the Israeli soldiers were attacked.
3. Yes, the flotilla was in international waters. But under Article 51 of the UN Charter, a country has the right to self-defense.
4. Israeli commandos arrived on board with paint ball guns and used their firearms only after one of their own was shot and wounded.
5. Hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid pass from Israel to Gaza each day. (I have been to the check point they pass through and seen the aid processed with my own eyes.)

Karni Crossing in Israel bordering Gaza

So why, with these clear facts, do countries such as France and Great Britain scold Israel?

What I find shocking and surprising is the amount of video coverage of the actual attack―video clips that are readily available on YouTube. If I am witnessing it for myself, how can I spin it against Israel?

• Israeli Navy Addresses a Ship in the Flotilla and Offers it to Dock in the Ashdod Port
• Mavi Marmara Passengers Attack IDF Before Soldiers Board Ship
• Weapons Found on the Flotilla Ship Mavi Marmara Used by Activists Against IDF Soldiers

Also consider:

• http://sderotmedia.org.il/bin/content.cgi?ID=602&q=3
• http://networkedblogs.com/4o5CA
• http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-05-31-flotilla-israel_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
• http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2010-06-02-editorial02_ST1_N.htm

These are my truths and opinions. I believe there are multiple truths in any situation. I encourage you to share yours. And I might regret asking this, but, what do you think?

In response to an article I recently wrote—Making Sense of Violence (While Getting a Pedicure)—a thoughtful reader reminded me of the unfortunate reality that violence against women and  “the dedication to keeping family events ‘in the family’ runs through our history.”

I absolutely agree. There is nothing new about violence against women. If it hasn’t existed forever—perhaps men were more willing to acknowledge women as equals when women were priests and the powers that govern the universe were depicted as a goddess rather than a god?—it’s been the reality, everywhere in the world, for centuries.

Currently the United Nations Development Fund for Women estimates that at least one out of every three women in the world will be beaten, raped, or otherwise abused during her lifetime. In most cases, the abuser is a member of her own family.

Violence of epidemic proportions prevails but that does not mean that what has been is what will be. (I often remind myself of this.)

Women are refusing to stay silent; to accept that violence is a private matter to be kept “in the family.” We are discovering that beyond the walls of our homes, and outside the familiarity of our culture, we share experiences in common.

“… every night when I close my eyes I can still remember just like it was yesterday. And it is still my nightmare. I am not so sure I can ever be ok with this but it is good to be able to talk about it with those who have experienced what you have.”

I’ve had the privilege of listening as women, around the world, share their experiences of violence. Despite uniquely devastating circumstances, there is so much that is shared—a sense of fear, hopelessness, and retreat. Stories of survival are rarely linear, however so often they are ripe with insight and strength—often times in ways that even the survivor does not realize until after she has spoken.

More than the laws that are passed (as critical as they are), this is what gives me hope: women coming together and raising their voices. Whether it is in the form of public speak-outs, one woman quietly confiding in her best friend, or a group of women coming together online, I believe this is what will eventually bring change.

I consider myself nothing other than lucky that I have made it through 30 years without having been beaten, raped, or otherwise abused. Violence against women should end today—and it should never have existed in the first place—but it won’t end today. It will take a long time before women can bank on something other than luck to be safe. However, small steps—as quiet as a woman whispering to her friend—still constitute real change.

We live in a world where if something can’t be counted—dollars spent, individuals trained, lives saved—it’s not seen as quite real. How does one quantify the impact of one woman being able to say to another:

“My experiences still affect my life today . . . I truly wish there was a button that could erase the memories. Unfortunately, as you know, there isn’t. But, at least we can come together in group settings like this and provide the support we need to each other.”

*     *     *

Want to share your story with other women? Join the Peace X Peace Community. Find other members in a group called “Survivors” who believe that “regardless of what was taken from you in the past, no one can take away your dignity, strength, or courage.” The quotes shared above come from women in that group.

Pillar of Peace: Interfaith Dialogue

For Catholics, May is Mary’s month. I went to Catholic school in the 1950s, when Mary was the default name for Catholic girls. We were Mary Margarets, Mary Elizabeths, Mary Kates, Mary Janes and Mary Joans, the rather daring Mary Michael, and me, Mary Ann. I was sure mine was the plainest vanilla of them all.

I read in Sunday’s Washington Post that in 2009 the name Mary―reportedly “the most popular name in the history of the English language”―fell out of the top 100 baby names in the US for the first time since the Social Security Administration began keeping track.

My guess is that Mary is slipping down the charts not just because parents want something that’s distinctive as well as safe (“I’m unique like everyone else”) but also because more and more of us have seriously mixed feelings about the model of femininity that the Virgin Mary is seen to represent.

Feminist scholars identify marianismo as the complement to machismo, as the acquiescence in patriarchy that keeps dominance systems flourishing in cultures around the world. It instructs women to accept their lesser lot and to return good for evil. It even glorifies their suffering, in the same way the Church celebrates the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Yet without the cult of the Virgin the history of the western world would have been more of a bloody bucket than it already is.

That plaster statue with the folded hands and the upturned eyes represents a woman who dared to say Yes to the unknown. Because of that Yes she was an unwed mother and a refugee. Her only child was a political prisoner, a condemned criminal, and a victim of torture. Mary and her sorrows connect us to the powerless. In a sexist, male-dominated church whose mainstream tradition opts for and safeguards its own power and glory, she embodies the preferential option for the poor.

Marianismo promotes passive acceptance of suffering, joyless “purity” (How some of us Catholic girls came to loathe that word!), and a confining devotion to home and family. But the larger Marian tradition puts the quasi-divine feminine alongside the all-male Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Church fathers take pains to explain that we pray to Jesus through Mary, partly in defense against the Protestant charge of mariolatry. That doctrinal point was largely lost on my mother, as on countless other women who need the aid of a heavenly mother to bear their earthly lot.

Mom chose my name to honor both the Virgin Mary and Mary’s mother Ann. Mom’s own mother died when she was three. Her father hired a housekeeper, Alma, to care for small Bernice and her smaller brother. Then, to stop the gossip and save the wages, he married her. Mom didn’t tell horror stories, but the little she did say put Alma squarely in the storybook tradition of the wicked stepmother. And when Alma was old and frail, Mom brought her to our house and nursed her until she died.

This morning I remembered something that happened during Mom’s last illness. She had lost interest in living and was praying to die. Still a good girl at 86, she made an effort to spoon up what was put in front of her, but she said food didn’t taste good anymore, and she could seldom manage more than a few bites. One day, while I was sitting by her hospital bed, she dozed off and woke up with a blissful expression on her face. “I dreamed I was in Mother Mary’s kitchen, and she was cooking for me, and everything tasted delicious!”

The tradition celebrates Seven Joys of Mary as well as Seven Sorrows. Because divinity became humanity in Mary’s womb, the Church promulgated the dogma of the Assumption in 1950, when I was in first grade with the other Marys. It says that this human woman rose body and soul to the throne of God, where she sits beside her divine and human Son. And she delivers miracles: rivers and streams of grace that defy the mathematics of our limited imaginations.

Do I believe in miracles? Yes, Ma’am. Would I sign on for a pilgrimage to Fatima or Lourdes, or cross the street to see the next local apparition? Probably not. But I count on everyday miracles to get from Monday into Tuesday. And this reluctant consumer, who usually gravitates to earthy browns, greens, and golds in assembling her yard-sale wardrobe, was somehow levitated into a store yesterday to pay full price for a blouse of Mary’s-mantle blue.

Right now my sister Judy is desperately ill. I am not praying for a miraculous healing. I’m asking to know what to do and when to do it for myself and my other sister, our brother, and Judy’s husband and daughters. And I want her to feel your presence, Mary, the way Mom did, or in her own way. I expect to see them both in your kitchen.

“Psshht. He is so good looking. It would’ve been one thing if she was the beautiful one. If he was a dud and she’d left him for someone else. But, look, they’re both so beautiful.”

The faces on the screen look familiar. The all-American young man and woman. Him with disheveled, longish, dirty-blond (read: sexy) hair and don’t-mess-with-me (read: confident) eyes. Her with a brimming smile (read: friendly) and big, blue eyes (read: stunning). White skin, lacrosse uniforms, University emblems. They have the makings of perfection (read: privilege).

“Look at him. I think he must have a mental illness. Or a drinking and drug problem. He must. He probably slapped her around and this time it just went too far.”

Too far? Yes. She is dead. That is too much. Far less would have been too much.

*     *      *

Last week I ventured to the nail salon for a pedicure. As I’ve mentioned before, these types of “womanly” activities tend to make me nervous. While my feet relish a good exfoliation, the rest of me is listening to a barrage of judgmental women, all in my own head, saying, “Are you really going to pick that color polish? You’re not supposed to sit there. Not like that. How can you not know this?” The commentary convinces me that my fears are in fact true – there is some secret to being a woman and I don’t know it.

Typically, I welcome the friendly banter of co-pedicurees to interrupt my inner dialogue. This time, however, the interruption was more disturbing than anything I could conjure up in my head.

Photo Credit: UVA Women's Center

The TV above our heads was broadcasting the 5pm news. On this Friday afternoon it was filled with commentary about the murder of a 22-year-old woman. Yeardley Love, a senior at the University of Virginia (UVA), died on Monday after her former boyfriend, fellow UVA student and lacrosse player George Huguely, allegedly attacked her at her apartment. Hours after Love was found dead, Huguely was arrested and admitted to entering Love’s apartment, kicking down her locked bedroom door and attacking her, shaking her so that her head repeatedly hit a wall.

My heart goes out to everyone who was touched by this tragedy.

My mind wonders what this young man was thinking and feeling in that moment, and what is he thinking and feeling now. What causes such violence?

I, like others, want to somehow make sense of this incident. People, including my co-pedicurees, discuss alcohol and a history of violent behavior as factors in Huguely’s actions. I read an article about the hypermasculinity and exclusivity of male sports culture as a cause of increased violence among athletes. I’ve heard discussions about Love and Huguely’s privileged background, often expressing surprise that something like this could happen among the well-to-do. What do the conclusions we come to, in our attempt to find understanding, say about us as a society?

Violence Awareness

Whether alcohol was involved or not, whether this was the first time Huguely hit someone or the hundredth, and regardless of if they are privileged or not I think there is a straightforward factor that isn’t being discussed. George Huguely, like the rest of us, is surrounded by a culture that condones violence. A culture, as I wrote previously, “where violent rhetoric, death threats, and racist, sexist, homophobic slurs such as ‘nigger,’ ‘faggot,’ and ‘bitch’ all seem to be part of democratic politics.”

According to Bureau of Justice statistics, on average three women are murdered by their intimate partners in the U.S. every day. Intimate partner violence is perpetrated overwhelmingly against women who are between the ages of 20 and 24 without regard to race, ethnicity, economic status, or education.

Generally speaking, people are culturally conditioned to dismiss violent and jealous acts perpetrated by men with a “boys will be boys” excuse. Discussions of alcohol and athletics fall into that category.

I wish I’d asked my co-pedicurees why they thought beauty mattered or what it would look like for an incident like this to not go too far. I was in the midst of a small circle of women—young, old; black, white, brown; all of us with our feet soaking in Epsom salts—and I stayed silent. All I could do in that moment was think to myself, “I, like any of these women, could be a victim of violence.” I guess that too is what it means to be a woman.

I am left wondering if the day will ever come when violence—regardless of who it involves and what the circumstances—is just simply unacceptable.

Commentary by Liora Herman, Marketing and Outreach Manager

I have grown up a child of Hadassah, the women’s Zionist movement, without knowing its full history or the impact it has had on the development of the Jewish State, and more importantly the role of healing―physically, mentally, and emotionally―it has played in the global Jewish Community.

Upon birth every child in my family, including my brother, received a lifetime membership to Hadassah as a gift. And it is truly the gift that keeps on giving. The February/March issue of Hadassah Magazine, “Hadassah: The Road to 100,” includes articles detailing “how the world was changed because of the organization [Hadassah] and the women who built it”. One of these articles was written by a close Peace X Peace friend, Barbara Sofer.

Having met Barbara in 2008 when she came for the Washington, DC launch of Sixty Years, Sixty Voices: Israeli and Palestinian Women,I knew I was going to read something well written and thought provoking. But little did I know that her magazine essay was going to cause tears in my eyes and a sense of pride coupled with a need to take action and get my tush off the couch.

Barbara’s article, “Letter from Jerusalem: Hadassah Horizon”, will be featured as a Voice from the Frontlines, reprinted with her permission.

Yeah, yeah, I’m only 24, I have a lot of life ahead of me. But I want to make big change NOW. I am constantly struggling to find my place, my purpose and my higher calling. Kudos to Katie Spotz (featured in our April PeaceTimes) for finding hers (shameless plug 1)! But my passions are being pulled in so many directions I find it hard to choose. And I can’t do them all.  Or can I?

I only have patience for so much self-reflection. I am the kind of person who thrives on the energy of others. So naturally I go bouncing my ideas off of family, friends, colleagues, and the overly cheery Starbucks guy.  The great thing about a network―check out ours at www.peacexpeacecommunity.ning.com (shameless plug 2) is that you never realize the potential that exists until you dive in. So, a few weeks ago, I began tapping my network. Oh, and the floodgates overwhelmed me with opinions and ideas.  My parents learned long ago they could never tell me to do anything a particular way. I am so self-determined that only suggestions, opinions, and experiences will be welcome. But sometimes, when I am making that life-changing decision, I wish someone would tell me what to do. Learn about my most recent life-changing experience in “The Economics of Change” (shameless plug 3).

So here I go again, trying to weigh my options. Well now that I think about it, maybe others have made similar choices in their lives. Didn’t the women who lived 40, 60, 100 years before me struggle with similar decisions? The internet really hasn’t changed everything.

Founder of Hadassah

I am sure Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah, had her own life dramas. She grew up in Baltimore as one of eight daughters. I am one of three children and we always fought over the mirror and the sink, so I can’t image eight. There is so much information about her life and work, but I want to know: How did she handle peer pressure? Body image issues? Boys?  Szold was a great woman who opened many doors for women in Judaism, but if I were to sit down with her today, I would want to know if she knew her path was groundbreaking at the time. Or did she just follow her heart?

And how do I know what my own heart is saying? Sometimes I feel so fickle. The decisions I am about to make feel daunting.  I want to make a big difference and I feel that I am destined for something greater, but what happens if I don’t find the path? What if I chose to make the leap, but I don’t land on my feet? I want my life to be filled with love, charity, passion, growth, adventure, and satisfaction. Henrietta Szold’s work impacted the lives of many, Jewish and Arab alike. She saved some 22,000 Jewish children from Hitler’s concentration camps. But did she find her work fulfilling? Was she happy? Was she loved?

For many, Hadassah provides a congregation for community service and socialization. It is a place where history breathes and the future is full of promise. Szold’s impact on feminism in the Jewish community and her part in the development of Israel is immeasurable and ever present. But what lessons can I learn from her and apply to MY life?

I look to these changemakers of past and women of the present for guidance. I want to “grow-up” to be a peacebuilder. But now, as I stand at the head of two paths, do you have answers for me? Or do I just have to plunge down one hoping its right? The time for considerations is over. I have to choose. And the choice will change my life.

Commentary by Liora Herman, Marketing and Outreach Manager

The 5^th of May has its roots in Mexican history. But contrary to popular celebration it is not the official day to eat chips and salsa and consume giant margaritas, even though that sounds enticing. Even more surprisingly, it is NOT the celebration of Mexican Independence. So in the name of all that is holy, cheese dip and guacamole, what is Cinco de Mayo?

Image via Wikipedia

The holiday of Cinco De Mayo commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. It is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state capital city of Puebla and throughout the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico, and especially in US cities with a significant Mexican population (Mexonline.com).

So how did the holiday become so big in the US? My first guess is too many margaritas, but according to Mexonline, “Commercial interests in the United States and Mexico have also had a hand in promoting the holiday, with products and services focused on Mexican food, beverages and festivities, with music playing a more visible role as well. Several cities throughout the US hold parades and concerts during the week following up to May 5th, so that Cinco de Mayo has become a bigger holiday north of the border than it is to the south, and being adopted into the holiday calendar of more and more people every year.”

Image via Wikipedia

All of this debauchery celebrating a victory of war! So how do we celebrate a victory of peace? Anybody know? Ideas? Inklings? Pie? No peace holidays stand out in my mind that have the same national recognition Cinco de Mayo has. International Day of Peace, on September 21^st, is still largely unknown to the masses. Washington, DC has memorialized war and its victims time and time again. But where are the physical tributes to peace? As a publicly proclaimed pie lover, I will loan the celebration of pie to the celebration of peace, and raise you one delicious holiday.

Imagine if we started to highlight the values and victories of peace instead of their costs. A Chinese Ambassador’s speech only serves to highlight the atrocities of the war that preceded the peace. A member of the Maylaysian Ba’hai Community talks about the violence and terror that many are experiencing in the Middle East. Peace is almost always talked about in the context of war. I believe it is time for a culture change. It is time we started discussing and promoting peace, for the sake of peace.

Yes, crimes and violence sell more newspapers and yes, shock and awe are always effective ways for the media to grab attention. But how is our community to know that peace is NOT solely the absence of war? Peace is so much more. Maybe we could develop a delicious low-carb food group for the celebration of peace? OR everyone could go on war diets! Now that is a diet I could stick to. We must work to instill hope in each other, hope that our actions can bring about a better tomorrow. One must understand that peace can exist at multiple levels and it is up to you and me to see it through. Peace is a process, and together we will build it.

Image by smohundro via Flickr

So, as you sip your margarita this Cinco de Mayo and enjoy the strumming of the mariachis, remember that you are participating in the commercialized commemoration of a war victory. I hope you sit a little uneasy as you recognize the value mainstream culture puts on war. And I encourage you to think about what would be different if we put the same price on peace. Yes sustainable peace, the whole enchilada!

Not to exclude the rice and beans―seriously, my favorite part―OK, besides the margaritas. Please don’t make me choose! But I am going to make you choose. If you could celebrate PEACE one day each year, when would you do it? And with what foods? Do you find one season more peaceful than others? Should we have a season of peace? I am personally a fan of fall: much less pollen, and I love the colors.

What are your ideas for a party worthy of peace?

Already, Peace X Peace and its members have identified eight requirements for thriving communities. We call them the Pillars of Peace.

Each of the Pillars is an essential component of a culture that embodies values, attitudes, choices, modes of behavior, and ways of life that will ultimately lead to sustainable peace.

The Pillars of Peace are:

• Conflict Transformation
• Cross-cultural Understanding
• Economic Empowerment
• Education
• Environmental Sustainability
• Health and Well-being
• Interfaith Dialogue
• Justice and Good Governance

Peace X Peace believes that shared effort to strengthen all the Pillars, with women’s leadership and active engagement, is vital to achieve sustainable peace.

Click to learn more.

It’s Poetry Month and today, April 29, is Poem in Your Pocket Day. Are you carrying a particular poem in your pocket, or in your mind? We are blessed to have many talented poets in our Peace X Peace community, so to help you fill those physical and mental pockets, we’re devoting most of this week’s blog space to poetry.

Peace X Peace founder Patricia Smith Melton is an artist in many media, including poetry, and her vision for this organization has always challenged us to make our website and our e-media as beautiful as peace herself. Be sure to read her new poem addressed to Love.

Our longtime member and friend Alaha Ahrar addresses her poem to the homeland she loves, Afghanistan, formerly known as Khurasan. We offer it both in English translation and in its original Dari, not only because Alaha has attracted a huge following among Afghans but because the Dari script is beautiful in its own right.

Washington, DC-area member Judy Neri has written many poems I admire, and she is as generous with her gifts as she is gifted. I chose one that connected to my own experience as a writer and a mother. You don’t have to be either one, though, to enjoy Writing.

Finally, our staff member Liora Herman contributed a kind of prose poem about a necessary but inconvenient feature of April in these latitudes: tree pollen and the allergic reactions it provokes.

Shepard Fairey design for Syracuse Cultural Workers

Now, is anyone out there wondering what poetry has to do with peace? If you’ve been reading our publications for a while you’ll remember the PeaceTimes feature “Singing for Our Lives,” in which various members tell us how they believe art can change the world. Like other art forms, poetry sneaks past our defenses to pluck the common chords that unite us as human beings and make us responsible for each other’s well-being. The arts, like all good things, thrive in peaceful times and places and struggle to survive in times of war.

Please use the Comment space below to share your favorite poems and poets. Rumi? Mary Oliver? You? We are eager to discover many more of the poets and poetry-lovers in our midst and share the wonder of their words with our international audience of peacebuilders. We publish peacebuilding poems as Voices from the Frontlines all year round, so don’t wait until next April!

A thin layer of yellow dust covers my car, gets on my clothes, and is tracked in by my dog, all contributing to the haze in which I must try to function. For some the yellow particles are merely an inconvenience, but for allergy sufferers like me springtime is no fun.  And even though it is Earth Month and I should be loving the green, I am hating the yellow.  Trapped in the yellow fog, I want to punish the trees, grasses, and weeds for making me feel so damn crappy.

I am surely exacting my revenge on the trees with the numerous tissue boxes I am consuming. But this gives me no peace. I want to be able to love Mother Earth and the rebirth that happens every spring, instead of being sequestered inside to avoid breathing the poison-riddled air. And steps I would normally take to help the environment and reduce my footprint would actually increase my suffering.

So how can I come to terms with Earth Month? I am thinking I just can’t. It is time for a quiet acceptance. Mother Nature is more powerful than me. I must learn to push through the grogginess and continue my work. Crankiness won’t get the job done; it only tests the patience of my teammates. So to allergy sufferers out there, we can complain and treat the symptoms, but ultimately, we must make peace with our ailments and move on.

The score: Mother Nature – 1, Liora – aaahhchewwww

Related articles by Zemanta

• Achoo! Pollen at its worst in years in many areas (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• This allergy season nothing to sneeze at (cnn.com)

- Commentary by Alicia Simoni, Community Manager and Staff Writer

Everyone knows what war is, right? If you haven’t personally lived in its midst or sent someone you love off to fight it, you’ve seen it on television or at least read its headlines.

A sampling from today: “Decrying US ‘Threat,’ Iran Begins War Games”; “Relief Work Suspended After Dozens Killed in Pakistan IDP Camp Attack”; “UN Humanitarian Official Says Somali Civilian Casualties Rise”

I tend to believe that there is some truth — not an ideal truth but a harsh truth — in what Chris Hedges’ suggests in his provocative book War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning: “Most of us willingly accept war as long as we can fold it into a belief system that paints the ensuing suffering as necessary for a higher good, for human beings seek not only happiness but also meaning. And tragically war is sometimes the most powerful way in human society to achieve meaning.”

What do those of us invested in peace have to offer as an alternative??

For the past decade I’ve earned my living working for various organizations that focus on building peace in conflict-zones. I spent days, and most nights, over the course of two years reading and discussing peace, all in the name of acquiring an advanced degree in Peace Studies. I believe in both the possibility and the potential of peace. And I have no doubt that I’m not alone in any of this (although those nights in the library did feel quite lonely at times).

Image via Wikipedia

I’m so immersed in the field of peacebuilding that sometimes I forget that the field hasn’t been around forever and that it’s not exactly clear what peacebuilding actually is. Last week, while attending the Alliance for Peacebuilding’s “Take Peacebuilding to Congress” days on Capitol Hill, I was reminded that we have a long way to go in making cultures of peace the norm. (My colleague, Mary Liepold, also shares her experience taking peacebuilding to the Hill here.)

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that most members of the United States Congress –- and the general public in many places, for that matter –- do not know what peacebuilding is. I’ve received enough kind yet tentative smiles from family, friends, and strangers when I tell them what I do for a living to know this. And as I was informed last week by a Congressman, Congress is triage – they don’t have time to delve deeply into issues. (And yet they are the one’s making the critical decisions on our behalf??)

If anyone who reads this works in Congress or knows one, or a few, members of the general public who would be interested to know what peacebuilding is, please help spread the word.

Peace doesn’t just happen and it isn’t simply what’s there when there is no war. Peace is built. Here’s a definition that might help clarify just what I mean by that (nod to the Alliance for Peacebuilding and 3D Security: Development, Diplomacy, Defense for getting us all on the same page with this):

Peacebuilding includes a wide range of efforts by diverse actors in government and civil society to address the root causes of violence and protect civilians before, during, and after violent conflict. Before conflict, preventive peacebuilding addresses potential instability and violence through diplomatic, economic, social, legal, and security sector reform programs. In the midst of violent conflict, peacebuilding takes the form of dialogue, negotiation, and mediation. In the post-conflict phase, peacebuilding fosters stabilization, reconstruction, and reconciliation.

Peace X Peace

This wide range of efforts includes everything from people gathering in a living room in America to watch a film and have a meaningful discussion about Islam to trauma healing workshops for child soldiers in Northern Uganda. And many, many activities in between that do things such as promote cross-cultural understanding, heal trauma, encourage alternatives to violence, and further justice.

If the person you’re speaking with is inclined to consider economic implications please pass on the word that peacebuilding programs to prevent violent conflict cost less than it does to intervene after conflicts turn into crises and violence. In fact, research shows that, on average, one dollar spent on preventive programs compares with approximately sixty dollars to respond to crises once violence erupts. The average cost of a war is $50 billion.

If national security is a concern for people you talk to, tell them that the greatest threats to US security in the last 20 years have come from the volatile and unstable conditions within countries, and that peacebuilding initiatives focus on improving the security of individuals and communities as well as strengthening the responsiveness and effectiveness of government institutions in such settings. (This is straight from a “Discussion Paper on Peacebuilding” produced by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee). It might also be worth mentioning that even the US military recognizes that civilian-led peacebuilding initiatives are critical to stabilization.

Whether for job security or because elected officials genuinely believe in serving their constituents, or a bit of both, I was informed last week that Congress will only fully invest in peacebuilding when people in local districts tell them that it’s what they want. Congressional members need to be convinced that building peace is in their interest.

What’s the perspective in your community? Do your friends and neighbors think promoting peace is important? Whether you live in the United States or elsewhere, what do you think would encourage more people to invest in building peace?

- Commentary by Mary Liepold, Editor in Chief

In her latest blog post on this site Patricia Smith Melton, our founder and the editor of Sixty Years, Sixty Voices: Israeli and Palestinian Women, observed:

Patricia Smith Melton

“Some of us find security (and warmth) by inclusion, i.e. expanding our sense of who is in our local family. Others of us find security (and warmth) by protecting those we sense to already be in our local family, i.e. setting boundaries.”

On April 15, the day that post appeared in our Blog Digest, I was on Capitol Hill here in Washington, DC, participating with about 25 others from various organizations in Alliance for Peacebuilding Lobby Days. A considerably larger group of Tea Party activists were also on the Hill that day. (For those of you outside the US, the website Teapartypatriots.org says the group advocates “fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government, and free markets.” Until a few days ago its home page featured a petition to repeal the new health care law.)

The juxtaposition of peace and tea was interesting for several reasons. For one thing, I’m used to being on the Mall with a throng of anti-war protesters, while a small band of counter-protesters, who claim the flag and the mantle of patriotism for themselves, vie with us for media attention. This time the flag-wavers were in the majority and I (who love my country as much as anyone) wasn’t protesting anything. I was visiting Congressional offices and sitting in on hearings. I was on the inside track, hoping to modify my government’s policies by engaging with them up close, rather than from the middle of a crowd.

After all, we have a President whose friends call him “Ears.” It’s not just the physical feature; this guy listens. Even before his Inauguration last year, the new administration had distinguished itself by its outreach to organizations that could provide input on a wide range of issues. Two wars are in full, violent swing. We in the peace movement have not been heeded. But some of us, at least, have been heard. Why not me?

I’ve never really been an against-er. I believe in being the peace I seek, in looking for what’s right with the world and lifting it up. That’s why I work for Peace X Peace. I still go to demonstrations, though, because I want to show history and the rest of the world that our bellicose foreign policy does not represent the will of all the people. President Obama subscribes to the Just War Theory. I think it’s all just war, and it’s just plain wrong.

Lisa Schirch

Many, if not most of our lawmakers still think the only way to peace is through military conquest. Nevertheless, my heart and mind are being opened by this new willingness to listen. The least I can do is bring my two ears and my one mouth in closer. Patricia Smith Melton met with military leaders even before the Obama administration. Practitioners of NonViolent Communication who I know and admire are providing training to groups within the Pentagon. Lisa Schirch of 3D Security (that’s Development, Diplomacy, and Defense), Chic Dambach of the Alliance for Peacebuilding, and we, as members of the Alliance, are engaging with members of Congress and Congressional committees to make incremental changes toward a radically different future, starting with recommendations and proposed language for the Foreign Assistance Act. If we only succeed in adding the term peacebuilding to policymakers’ lexicons and helping them know what it means (see Alicia Simoni’s blog here), we have a chance to change history.

Some of our friends in the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPAC) offer inspiring models of engagement with their own national power structures. GPAC is a space where rich nations and poor nations interact as equals and learn from each other. We can bring what we learn from them―and from you, the members of Peace X Peace―to Capitol Hill and other corridors of power, if we’re willing to let people who we disagree with into our family. Maybe listening to a little hawk-talk is a small price to pay.