TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editor's Comments

Ongoing Activities

Upcoming Events

World Developments

Letters: Dialoging

Media Notes

Reports and Announcements

       Steve Sachs

     The Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) is developing a list of experts to reply to peace and justice enquires that it regularly receives. PJSA holds an annual conference, run a peace and justice discussion list serve and publishes the Peace Chronicle . For information contact PJSA,. c/o University of San Francisco, University Center, Fifth Floor, 2130 Fulton St., San Francisco,, CA 94117 (415)422-5238, pjsa@usfca.edu, www.peacejusticestudies.org.

     The Coalition for Work With Psychotrauma and Peace (CWWP P) reported in October that in Eastern Croatia rates of suicides and domestic violence are high and still rising, unemployment estimates vary between 45% and 85%, and virtually no work is being done on reconciliation. NGOs live from month to month. "We believe the situation will deteriorate if no action is taken". CWWPP has produced three new briefing papers on: Domestic Violence, Children and Youth, and Ex-Soldiers, that are now available on the CWWPP website: www.cwwpp.org. A CWWPP briefing paper and press release put out on World Mental Health Day, October 11th, noted the relationship between mental and physical health, including. a vicious circle between psychological stress and physical disorders highlighting the problems of mentally ill persons and their families in Croatia.   Virtually all medical practitioners in the region say that they are seeing increased levels of circulatory illness, gastrointestinal illness, endocrine illness and cancer.   Paradoxically, there has been no epidemiological study in this region since the end of the 1991-1995 war, despite the efforts of the CWWPP and other groups to obtain one. The CWWPP also used the occasion of World Mental Health Day to highlight the problems of mentally ill people and their families in Croatia.   Facilities are inadequate, there are no arrangements in acute situations and there is no relief for families, who must deal with their relatives 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Further, there are no half-way houses or sheltered working facilities. The CWWPP is working together with the group Marimo (We Care) in Osijek on these problems. In October , Marimo held a forum of health-related non-governmental organizations, and heldan open house and organized two stress-reduction seminars in Osijek.

     CWWPP staff is now prepared to carry out assessments, evaluation and training on a consultancy basis in all parts of the world. Its areas of expertise include post-war trauma, non-violent conflict transformation and civil society.   Unfortunately, its funding situation remains critical, with its operation continuing to live from month to month, as are the very small number of other non-governmental organizations working on these issues, as there is little if any national or international support. Unfortunately, the international community considers Croatia to be 'cured' and the situation is considered to be good. Thus, the UNHCR office in Osijek has closed and the OSCE is downsizing. "We, and several other organizations, consider this region to continue to be a powder keg if appropriate action toward work on psychological issues, reconciliation and economics is not taken".

     As part of its reconciliation and collaboration effort, the CWWPP joined the Community of Osijek in celebrating Jewish Heritage Day on September 5, in Osijek and Vukovar. The celebration included the dramatization of a portion of the novel Scum by Isaac Bashevis Singer, a group of children dancing Israeli dances and the showing of a film, Dark and Light , by Jasminka Domas, member of the Jewish Community of Zagreb, on the Jews of Varazdin during the Holocaust. In Vukovar, persons remembering Jews and the synagogue of Vukovar were invited to share their memories at Europe House, located directly across the road from the former synagogue. For information, or to send assistance, contact Dr. Charles Tauber, Coalition for Work With Psychotrauma and Peace, Gunduliceva 18, 32000 Vukovar, Croatia, tel and fax +385-32-441975, tel only +385-32-444662, cwwppvuk@zamir.net, http://www.cwwpp.org

     PeaceWeb, formerly The National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution (NCPCR), for the past eight years has focused on diverse traditions of peacemaking and increasingly involved youth and young adults at its global conferences. Restructured and renamed, following its 2003 conference, PeaceWeb is creating an inclusive network of individuals and groups working for peace, nonviolent conflict resolution, racial and economic justice, and environmental sustainability. PeaceWeb seeks to connect peacemakers whether their work is taking place at the local, national or international level, and in academic, community, religious, government or workplace settings. The work of PeaceWeb is carried out through its national office in Tucson, Arizona, and each of the PeaceWeb regions (Northeast; Southeast; Southwest; West Coast), and networks (Alliance of African/African American Peacemakers; Latin American Peacebuilders Network; Network of Youth Peacemakers). PeaceWeb's mission is: to inspire all people throughout the world to find the peacemaker within and support them as they take part in activities that make peace, as well as to effectively link together individuals and organizations to build a powerful force for peace. As PeaceWeb is building its regional and network structure, it is seeking youth representatives from each of the four existing US geographical regions who will participate and take leadership roles in organizing efforts, including young people who are interested in gaining event production and fund-development skills and who want to become interns in PeaceWeb's new Regional Fund Development Teams.

     Last fall, PeaceWeb leadership participated in two international delegations focused on peace and justice concerns. Baiza Rasheedah Muhammad, chair of the national PeaceWeb Council and representative from the Southeast Region, undertook a peace pilgrimage to the Holy Lands in September, under the Inter-religious and International Federation For World Peace (IIFWP). 1000 peacemakers from 41 nations in Europe, North America, South America, Canada and the Middle East participated in the peace journey. For details of, visit: http://www.apeacemaker.net/journey.html.

     In October, PeaceWeb's National Coordinator Ann Yellott lead a People to People Ambassador Programs peace studies delegation to South Africa The met with conflict resolution and peacebuilding organizations in Johannesburg and Cape Town to share information, ideas, and inspiration, especially concerning the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its applicability to racial justice and historical trauma work in the US and Canada, indigenous peacemaking traditions and restorative justice models, youth and school-based conflict resolution, including peer mediation and peace studies programs. In heading this delegation, PeaceWeb hoped to: (1) strengthen its connections with peacemakers in Africa; (2) learn about peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and restorative justice programs and practices in South Africa; (3) link interested people with the Alliance of African/African American Peacemakers and the Network of Youth Peacemakers; and (4) support the work of the African Diaspora Foundation, whose goal is the implementation of peace studies in schools throughout Africa.

     The Collaborative Conference Project , coordinated by PeaceWeb under one of final grants to the conflict resolution field by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, began a series of facilitated conversations, last fall, to explore peacemaking collaboration among the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM), the National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD), Practitioners Research and Scholarship Institute (PRASI), Victim Offender Mediation Association (VOMA ) and PeaceWeb. Intergroup collaboration will include the reciprocal exchange and sharing of resources. One major valuable resource is people. PeaceWeb is now primarily a volunteer-based organization. It intends to secure funding for paid positions (both youth and adult), and is inviting interested people of all ages and walks of life to partner with PeaceWeb as volunteers or interns in such projects as networking with other peace and justice organizations; grant writing; researching information on the Internet; strengthening the website helping with office and financial management; and organizing within any of the existing regions and networks. For more information, contact Ann Yellott, National Coordinator, PeaceWeb, 1718 E. Speedway, #305, Tucson, AZ 85719 (520)670-1541, peaceweb@apeacemaker.net, http://www.apeacemaker.net.

      Rebecca Janke (peace@umn.edu) reports, " Growing Communities for Peace , a non-profit service organization and publisher affiliated with the University of Minnesota Human Rights Resource Center, provides human rights and peacemaking skill development for PreK-High School students, parents, teachers and community groups through artist-in-residencies, teacher in-services, and peaceful parenting workshops. "We uses a holistic approach in that we help people identify and celebrate their current strengths and move towards building a stronger culture of peace and human rights in the home, workplace, school, faith-based organizations, and community groups. In addition to generating new knowledge, we believe in the importance of infusing existing curricula and program services to honor and more deeply explore existing efforts and responsibilities which allows human rights and peace education to becoming a tool for increasing excellence and meeting the human needs of those involved.

     We believe we must begin human rights and peace education work with pre-school children to help in the formation of future citizens who are skilled, desirous and motivated to create a culture of peace and nonviolence. Our first publication, Peacemaker's A,B,C.s for Young Children: A Guide for teaching conflict resolution with a peace table and the accompanying support materials, We Can Solve It Peacefully Cassette, The A,B,C,'s Conflict Resolution Poster, Conflict Resolution Cubes and Peacemaker Puppet are now used in over 7,000 locations worldwide. Selected as the number one violence prevention program for young children by the Family Life Specialists at Iowa State University, its conflict resolution approach includes designing early childhood classrooms that help children see peace as a way of life and aids in developing their creativity to make new and exciting contributions.

     In addition to developing support materials, we partner with other publishers to be able to offer over 500 human rights and peace education curricula, secondary texts, storybooks, multi-media materials, posters, training guides and cultural artifacts through our on-line store at www.humanrightsandpeacestore.org to educators, parents and community organizers worldwide. This special collection of resources represents years of research and networking and is staffed to continually add newly developed materials reflecting the burgeoning growth and interest of fastest-growing field in education.

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      Our partner, the Human Rights Resource Center , continually updates the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library which is the largest electronic human rights documentation site in the world, providing a single location to access primary documents in seven languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish, with a core collection of the most important human rights treaties, jurisprudence, and additional documents that are available on the World Wide Web. The multilingual search device may be used to search more than 15,000 core materials, including the Web's largest set of links to other human rights resources on the World Wide Web; more than 4,000 relevant links organized in relatively easy-to-use categories. Please see www.umn.edu/humanrts.

     People worldwide, in unprecedented numbers, believe in the importance of developing our capacity to create a world where the rights for all living beings are honored and upheld. It is in this way we serve - to continue to bring resources that will make this work doable and leave a legacy for future generations". For information about Growing Communities for Peace's recent project, The Compassionate Rebel Revolution Campaign go to www.compassionaterebel.org.

     "Our collaboration efforts are joined under the umbrella of The Minnesota Global and Human Rights Education Network and includes The Center for Victims of Torture , http://www.cvt.org The Resource Center of the Americas , www.americas.org World Citizen, Inc ., www.peacesites.org   Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights , www.mnadvocates.org and the Institute for Global Studies , www.igs.cla.umn.edu. Three of us serve on the board of The Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers (www.mapm.org), which provides a variety of support services for 56 statewide peace and human rights organizations.

     Anyone who has material helping to build a culture of peace and human rights and would like it included in our on-line store, please send to our review team at Growing Communities for Peace, PO Box 281, Lakeland, MN 55043 along with order and distributor information. Groups hosting events that would like to have our Traveling Human Rights and Peace Store on location can call Executive Director, Rebecca Janke at (651)214-8282 to make arrangements."

     Israeli peace groups continue their work for peace and justice , often collaborating with Palestinians. Their efforts to protection and aid are much appreciated by Palestinians and are providing an important opening for good Palestinian-Israeli relations. if the politics and politicians can move toward a fair settlement. The following commentary comes from Gush Shalom: [While certain forces in the media are already preparing the attack on the new Palestinian leader, we added our voice to the debate from within the limits of our corner on the weekend Ha'aretz page 2. of tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 7.] The translation follows:

Elections Under Fire

     Abu Mazen's election platform: end of the occupation and establish the Palestinian State through negotiations, without violence. Sharon's answer: make the occupation ìeasierî for 72 hours, remove theatrically two mobile homes of a settlement outpost. And at the same time: build new settlements at a hectic pace. It would have been possible to put an end to the mortar and rocket fire on the town of Sderot, if Sharon had agreed to stop the ìtargeted killingsî and the incursions, in which whole families are being killed. Sharon refused. He wants to annex 58% of the West Bank, knowing that Abu Mazen will not agree to such a 'peace'. Even before the election of Abu Mazen, Sharon is doing everything in order to undermine him. For more information contact Gush Shalom, P.O.Box 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033, Israel, http://www.gush-shalom.org.

     The Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC ) is proud to announce that in conjunction with its 25th anniversary, it is changing its name to International Relations Center. IRC is undertaking the integration and improvement of all its program and project websites remaining committed to its mission of working to make the U.S. a more responsible member of the global community by promoting progressive strategic dialogues that lead to new citizen-based agendas. For more information go to: www.irc-online.org.

     United for Peace and Justice has been active in tsunami relief in the Indian ocean as well as engaging in international work for peace and justice. A key organization in its network that is providing relief and promoting social justice in areas hit by the disaster is Nonviolence International , which has been doing peace-building work for years in Aceh, the remote and war-torn Indonesian province that has been most devastated by the tsunami. When the earthquake and massive waves hit, the group's Peace Education Program office in Banda Aceh was completely destroyed; one staff member, Curriculum and Training Coordinator Sayed Subhan Almabrur, is missing and feared dead. Nonviolence International can be contacted at: http://www.nonviolenceinternational.net. United for Peace and Justice is at: http://www.unitedforpeace.org, (212)868-5545. To subscribe to its list serve (listmaster@unitedforpeace.org), visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email.

     Global Exchange is working to end the war and occupation in Iraq by, among other things, highlighting the voices of those Americans most deeply impacted by the conflict: veterans and military families. The organization is organizing a set of nationwide speaking tours for individuals whose lives have been shattered by the war: Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed during an attack in Baghdad last April; Nooshin Razani, whose 19-year-old brother Omead was killed while serving as a medic in Iraq; Sean O'Neill, a decorated Marine combat veteran who now believes the occupation is a mistake. For information on the speaking tours or on Global Exchange's international peace and justice journeys, contact Maryam Roberts at Global Exchange, (800)497-1994 x 253, newsandaction@globalexchange.org, speakers@globalexchange.org.

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