Response from Christian Peacemaker Teams and Palestinians in Hebron

This material is from the CPT homepage

Hebron News Brief, September 12, 2001

Dozens of Palestinian friends and strangers phoned or approached members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron throughout the day to express condolences for the catastrophe in New York and Washington. Several times when members of the team said they had no television, Hebronites responded, "It is better. No one should see these pictures."

At no point in the course of the day, did team members witness anyone celebrating or even speaking with approval of the disasters.

Past news briefs are archived on CPT's Hebron page.

CPT CALLS CHURCHES TO SPECIAL PRAYER ACTION

CPTNet
September 12, 2001

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) laments the untold loss of human life resulting from the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon and the crashed plane in Pennsylvania on Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001.

Call to Prayer Walk:

In this time of crisis, CPT urges supporters to respond with prayer and creative nonviolence. Specifically, churches are encouraged to stop worship as usual on a Sunday in September and publically walk in a silent prayerful procession for rejuvenating the nonviolent imagination among God's people.

We invite congregations both within and beyond U.S. borders to join with other churches and groups in walking some distance (1 kilometer, 1 mile) to a public place to:

• Reflect on what it means to be a Christian in this age;
• Remember the past, present and future victims of war, terrorism and violence;
• Renew our commitment to walking in Jesus' way of nonviolence both locally and globally and to personally "getting in the way" of comfortable analysis and unjust structures that lead to violence.

Inviting the media to participate in this walk can help create space for interpreting our convictions to the broader community. Prayer Walk resources including liturgy suggestions and tips on planning vigils and working with the media are available from CPT (cpt@igc.org or on the Web at www.cpt.org).

Love of Enemies

CPT is in ongoing communication with our teams in Hebron, West Bank; Barrancabermeja, Colombia; Chiapas, Mexico; and Esgenoôpetitj, New Brunswick. We have been observing and learning about reducing oppression, injustice and violence for years.

The Biblical injunction to "love your enemies" (Matthew 5:44-45) is often deemed "unrealistic." It is certainly "unrealistic" to think we can successfully seal off an entire country to terrorist attacks. Indeed our most realistic hope for safety comes from working to make sure that everyone in the world community is treated fairly and being just as willing to give our lives in pursuit of loving the enemy as the terrorists were willing to give their lives to kill the enemy.

Our conviction

CPT calls upon congregations and individuals to actively and publicly discourage vicious behavior, damaging rumors and vengeful foreign policy, recognizing that any further loss of human life only escalates this tragedy.

We pray for strength and encouragement for emergency rescue workers trying to save lives. We hold the victims, the survivors and the perpetrators of these actions before God. We remain alert to the possible plight of and encourage personal contact with those neighbors in our communities who may bear the brunt of collective blame or be vulnerable to attack. We rigorously seek the underlying truth behind the violence at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

In order to create space for the Spirit to work the mystery of healing and transformation, we embrace the hard work of prophetic engagement with a world caught in cycles of violence and seek ways to explain our commitments to our neighbors, coworkers, classmates, family members and friends.