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by Nancy Yarnall,Corvallis (OR) Friends Meeting

In the days immediately following September 11, the Section Office (the Philadelphia office of FWCC) received messages from many Friends around the world. Friends who deal with pain and suffering daily reached out to Friends in the United States with prayers and concern. As time passes from the now-infamous date, Friends responses are growing and developing. This is a time when Friends from different traditions and areas have come together to respond and witness to our peace testimony.

Following are some Western Friends’ responses to September 11 and its aftermath:

Friends from Northwest Yearly Meeting and North Pacific Yearly Meeting in Oregon formed a joint committee that called upon each of their US Senators and Representatives’ local offices to discuss alternatives and to request an appointment

Mountain View Monthly Meeting (IMYM) in Denver, CO, solicited funds and published a full-page ad in the Denver paper in the form of an open letter "To Our Fellow Americans." In it they expressed the desire to find "just and peaceful responses to terrorism and the causes of terrorism."

Santa Fe (NM) Meeting has an irregular, as-needs-arise electronic message dispatch. Some items are quite local, such as describing the progress of one of their members who is having hip surgery. Other items, especially following 9/11, are more global and allow for people to either express themselves or, more frequently, lead the list members to links which one of the recipients feels have significance.

Pastors and leaders of Northwest Yearly Meeting and Willamette Quarterly Meeting sent letters to national political leaders.

Montana Gathering of Friends’ minute on the "New War" includes the following: "As Quakers and as members of the human family, we call on ourselves and our nation to look deeply and honestly at this tragedy, to resist turning toward violent ‘solutions,’ and to amend any actions of our own which may feed hate and rage."

Olympia Meeting’s Faith and Action Committee proposes that an appropriate function of their meeting is to hold the spiritual center. Then, when individual persons or groups choose a particular way to take action and/or to be a presence in the community, they can come to the meeting for support, and encouragement and potentially the help of other like-minded members.

Palo Alto Meeting has a page in its newsletter of items related to the events of September 11 and the aftermath. These are short articles, references to web sites, and pertinent phone numbers

The San Francisco Meeting Newsletter included an article by Carin Anderson where she tells of hearing about the events of September 11 in the missionary house in La Union, Columbia. She says, "And now the TV is bringing us the tragedies of thousands more. In this moment, I suddenly feel that I am a citizen both of the United States and of Columbia, trying to make sense of the connection between them, trying to make sense of the great suffering of innocents."

Many other Meetings and Churches have written minutes or statements or have performed other actions as a follow-up to this tragedy.

Last May, the FWCC Section of the Americas Executive Committee approved using "The meaning of the Peace Testimony for Quakers Today" as the theme for its March 2002 Annual Meeting. This was long before September 11.

We think of the historic Friends peace testimony as an opposition to war and to preparing for war. For most Friends, this testimony also includes opposition to service in the armed forces, and for some, to registration for possible military service. In more recent times, to this basic testimony was also added a call for ending the arms race, and an effort to educate the public about the terrible dangers of nuclear war.

Then September 11 happened and Friends have had to look at their peace testimony as a living document. How have we as members of our society contributed to what happened? With Afghanistan bombed and the threat of further violence being carried out in our name, how can we as Friends live "in virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion for war?"

We know we have differences as Friends. Some of us worship out of the silence; others have church services with

Some Questions to Consider During This Time of Crisis

During this time of crisis, we can’t afford to let emotionalism, fear, or anger determine our foreign policy, or blindly leave all decisions to our leaders. In a democracy, citizens have the responsibility to ask questions, to be well-informed, and to let their leaders know what they think should be done. All of us need to find out more about what caused the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and how they can best be prevented in future. We also need to assess the risks of whatever policy we adopt to combat terrorism. Here are some key questions that need to be considered carefully and thoughtfully:

1. What caused the terrorist attacks in the first place? Did the US do anything to provoke them?

2. What kind of response on the part of our country is likely to reduce terrorism in the future?

3. What are the risks of an all-out military attack on terrorism in the Middle and Far East?

4. What effect will a major military attack on Afghanistan and other places in the Middle East have on the world economy?

5. What segment(s) of our population is likely to make the biggest sacrifice if the US undertakes a global war on terrorism?

What will happen to civil rights in our country if there is a prolonged war against terrorism? How will people of color be affected? How can our citizens be protected against xenophobic and racist attacks, as well as against the erosion of our rights to privacy and free speech?

How You and Your Meeting/Church Can Work for Peace

(adapted from Orange Grove Meeting’s mailing)

1. Pray for peace. During this time of uncertainty, it is more important than ever to be centered.
2. Listen for and respond to “that of God” in others. Many have been traumatized and angered by the events of Sept. 11. Be sensitive listeners. Sometimes it is better to listen deeply rather than offer one’s own opinions.
3. Display your convictions through bumper stickers, a World Peace Banner or American Flag Peace Banner in front of your meetinghouse, church, or home.
4. Email or letter writing campaign. Check out: http://www.afsc.org or <<http://www.fcnl.org>>. Once you have accessed these sites, all you have to do is click on your zip code and they provides the email addresses of Congresspersons and local newspapers, plus a sample letter and a lot of very useful background information.
5. Ad in newspapers
6. Attend vigils/rallies/teach-in’s. Help to build a community of peacemakers.
7. Sign e-mail and other petitions.
8. Learn more about the background of this conflict including opportunities for conflict resolution. Study the Koran and other works by and about Islamic and Arab peoples.
9. Have a media coordinator to send out statements and press releases (see samples on this website).
10. Ask employers and shop keepers to make a statement that they support diversity.
11. Get Business/ Chamber of Commerce to sponsor diversity statements
12. Use “Islam” postage stamps and tell other groups about doing this as a small gesture to combat racism
13. Go into the schools to talk about non-violence.
14. Establish a “Dial a Prayer” service

See also the letter of Judith McDaniel at http://www.afsc.org/nomore/whatcanido.htm

A Call for Justice, Not Revenge

by Durango, Colorado, Quakers

The events of the week of September 11, 2001 fill us with grief and sadness. We feel deep pain and outrage about all terrorist attacks throughout the world. We feel this pain acutely now since the enormity of the recent attack on our country. Our hearts and our prayers go out to the victims of these tragic events. We grieve for lives lost, the fear and trauma of those who watched and survived, and for those who lost loved ones. We also grieve for the families and the souls of those who chose death and destruction as a response to their own pain and outrage. We grieve even more deeply for our world, in which we as humans have not yet found a better way to live and disagree together.

We now share a profound moment in history that will be marked, chronicled, and documented for generations to come by what we do now. We acknowledge the anger these events have aroused in our nation, and the need to take decisive action in response to them. Those who helped to plan and carry out these atrocities must be brought to justice before an international court of law, which includes cultural and spiritual peers of those accused. However, we must not sacrifice our core values of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in the process of defending them.

As children of God, as citizens of the United States, and as Quakers, we call for:

Icons of Terrorism

By Robert Griswold, Mt. View Meeting, Colorado

The result of terrorism is never what terrorists think it is going to be. Terrorists believe that their act is going to get people to change their ways or to “teach them a lesson they won’t soon forget.” The hope of terrorists is to instill a level of fear in people that will make them willing to give up their status as persons worthy of respect and care and thus, become submissive to the icon (religious, patriotic, tribal or whatever) of the terrorist. Terrorists can believe this works only because they have themselves given up their status as people worthy of respect and care and have become submissive to an icon. They have been afraid at the meaninglessness and hopelessness of their lives and have made a pact to exchange their fear for a rage that offers only their own (and others) extinction. As Nietzsche said, “Rather than believe in nothing, people will believe even in nothingness.”

But the faith of terrorists never succeeds. Most often the result is counter-terrorism which is merely terrorism itself in a new disguise. Those attacked become afraid and in their fear they become willing to give up their status as persons worthy of respect and care by becoming willing to cease treating others as persons worthy of respect and care. Instead of accepting the terrorist’s icon, they cling to their own icons and hide the reality of what they have surrendered under the flag or the cross or the hammer and sickle or the swastika or the six pointed star or the tartan or the family or “our way of life.” Those attacked become terrorists willing to inflict injury on any and all who have come to represent the source of their fear even it in the process many innocent bystanders are killed. The common consequence of terrorism is the spread of terrorism and the breeding of more terrorists. The common consequence of counter-terrorism is the spread of terrorism and the breeding of more terrorists.

Anger is not a primary emotion and “anger management” is a fantasy. Anger is a secondary emotion that comes out of fear; it is a way (a poor way) of translating fear by becoming a fearful creature yourself. Hot anger is dangerous. People kill each other in hot anger all the time. But it is not the worst because hot anger burns out quickly and usually only a few people are left killed or injured. Worse is cold anger. Cold anger arises from fears and angers that have burned out our capacity for compassion, our capacity to care, even our capacity to recognize other human beings as human. Once we have turned our fear to anger we are lost.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Notice that it doesn’t say there will be no evil. That is not something that I should be hoping for. That hope is an indulgence in fantasy. What I need to be concerned about is my fear. We are so little aware of the consequences to us of fearing evil. Everything we fear is strengthened and empowered by our fear. Fear makes us act in ways that increase the force of whatever we fear. Fear changes us and makes us become defensive. When we become defensive, we create a gap between us and that which we fear and then we are fully equipped to do evil ourselves. Furthermore, the gap we have built also cuts us off from those who might love and support us. The price of fear is not sometimes too high. It is always too high.

Fear comes from the ego’s need to defend itself. Hence, the only way to let go of fear is to find a guide other than self. And the other guide is indicated in another section of the psalm. “He leadeth me beside the still waters; He restoreth my soul.” It is when we are quiet and have come to a still place inside, underneath the ego, that we become enabled to let go of our fears. In that place we come to know a connection to reality where we can never be anything but safe. The separation between ourselves and what we saw as a threat to us fades away. Saying this is easy; doing it is a hard discipline. Most people would rather die angry than subject themselves to this discipline - killing is an easier discipline to learn. They fantasize that they can nurture their anger and destroy their enemy and thereby “keep the peace” or return to it later. They ignore that their “peace” was never real but was merely the studied lack of awareness of the surrounding violence.

If we hold fast to our Inner Guide, we will be able to let go of our fear. We will be able to retain our love, compassion and recognition that even terrorists are human beings, however lost they have become. Both love and hate have power to change people. But love alone can heal the world. The only hope is to let go of fear and equip ourselves with love. All the rest is a snare and an illusion.

Responding to Terrorism As A Friend

by Gene Knudsen Hoffman, Santa Barbara

by Gene Knudsen Hoffman, Santa Barbara (CA) Friends Meeting

This interview was conducted by Bob Banner, editor of HOPEDANCE: PATHWAYS TO SUSTAINABLE LIVING AND POSITIVE SOLUTIONS, a free publication from San Luis Opisbo (CA) that can also be accessed via its website www.hopedance.org.

What do you think of this media craze focusing on vengeance and military action against an unknown enemy?

I feel this is a reaction, not a response. It might be an attitude which is being encouraged by our government, I’m afraid.

Anger is a healthy response to an act of violence against something or someone we love—but it need not be the determining factor in how we behave. Anger is also a reaction to danger, to fear, but it’s not the response which is needed. That we must determine or ourselves. I hope we have evolved far enough to realize there are other paths to take, that we need to explore them, and to talk publicly, freely about them.

I don’t know whether we are having a ‘media craze,’ whether the media is now being controlled by some corporate or governmental powers. What I do feel is that not presenting a variety of opinions to the public is a disservice. We need “open mikes” which encourage diversity because there are other ways to go.

Do you think your work with Compassionate Listening is impossible to implement at this critical juncture, or do you at least contemplate it as a possibility.

Wherever we find someone who will encourage us to listen, we should listen, and we should listen to both sides. We should make “radically new responses to the radically new situation of a world where violence is mindless, hopeless, and meaningless. I feel we must move beyond initiatives we formerly used, into realms we have not yet considered, and not yet discovered.” We Americans have a gift for listening to the oppressed and disenfranchised.

That’s very important, but can we begin to listen to our “enemies”?

One of the new steps we can take is Compassionate Listening—a new international program I conceived in the eighties which is now doing remarkable things in the Middle East, Alaska, Washington, and other States, as well as in Canada. Compassionate Listening means we listen to people who widely differ from us with the same openness, non-judgmentalism, and compassion we bring to those with whom our sympathies lie. Everyone has a partial truth, and we must listen, discern, and acknowledge this partial truth in everyone—partially those with whom we disagree.

The ultimate goal of Compassionate Listening is to bring both sides together to listen to one another and, hopefully, they will make compromises—as they have after a year and a half of being listened to in Alaska, as they are beginning to in small pockets in the Middle East. This is called reconciliation.

If we want to do this today, we will need training for it. This training is provided in new pamphlet I’ve written called Compassionate Listening: An Evolutionary Sourcebook which will take you step by step through the process and prepare you to go out and do it. It’s free to anyone who wishes to take it off the web (see www.coopcomm.org). The beginning of listening compassionately will be to go from door to door with a brief questionnaire on whether people want war now or do not want it and why.

You frequently say that “an enemy is one whose story we have not heard.” What do you mean by that? Do you contend that terrorists have resorted to violence because their stories have not been heard.

Yes, I do. I think a terrorist is someone who thinks his/her grievances will never be heard, and never addressed, and that causes deep pain and severe anger which is an invitation to violence.

I believe violence is caused by our unhealed wounds. Not being heard and not being listened to is a grave wound that can easily escalate to violence.

There is a quotation by the poet Longfellow which I refer to in times of stress and which confirms my opinion about our need to listen to everyone and anyone: “If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each person’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” We should certainly listen to both sides before going to war!

You’ve been talking lately about creating a solid group of citizens who would present genuinely alternative policies to anything they disagree with in our Administration and our President’s policies. Can you tell us more about this new project?

I think so, but it will be abbreviated. I’ve long been considering what formerly was called the Shadow Government in England. That’s a group of people who seriously consider the initiatives of the British Government and, if they do not approve them, they devise new initiatives and publicize them in various ways, sometimes taking them directly to Parliament.

We should create such groups in our cities and villages, of people who will come together to work on new laws, new initiatives they feel are in harmony with what people need, with truth, or with our Bill of Rights and Constitution. Each time they read a proposal with which they do not agree, they call together their group and brainstorm until they create a proposal they prefer. Then they seek to get it into the media: newspapers, radio, TV—and if they can’t—they make fliers and go door-to-door to hand them out.

If alternatives are available to people, they might reconsider. I have a long name for this proposal, but it says exactly what I think we might do. It’s called Concerned Citizens Alternative Solutions.

During the hot crisis our government had with Qadaffi and Libya, you actually went to Libya to speak to his administration and to listen to their grievances. Can you tell us why you went there and what happened when you returned?

After the 1986 bombing of the Libyan city Tripoli in an effort to kill Colonel Muaminar Qadaffi, I wrote a personal letter to him, expressing my grief at the violence, the loss of lives, and specifically the loss of his little daughter. Remarkably, Qadaffi wrote me back thanking me, and added an angry condemnation of our military action.

Then, in January 1989 when the United States shot down two Libyan planes, the editor of the Fellowship of Reconciliation magazine, Virginia Baron, called me because I had written my first article about Compassionate Listening and she published it. She asked me if we should send a Compassionate Listening team to listen to the Libyans. I was enthusiastic, and so was she. She began to visit Ambassador Treikki at the United Nations and told him of our plans.

He was enthusiastic and on June 27, 1989, fifteen of us began an act of civil disobedience and with the aid of a Libyan plane that picked us up in Rome, we were flown to Tripoli, ensconced in the Kabir Hotel, and stayed there ten days.

Next morning we met with a Libyan delegation of fifteen men—all outstanding in Libya—in a lovely, spacious room and began our exploration. We all told them why we had come and when I said I wanted to know about Libyans, who they were, what their government was like, how they lived, and what they ate for breakfast. They shouted in one voice: “Cornflakes!” and our meeting opened in gales of laughter.

When Virginia saw they were all men, she asked where the women were. We were quickly joined by Salma Abdul Jabbar, a teacher of philosophy at Tripoli University, and Rawhia Kara, Libya’s leading feminist and associate Professor of English at Tripoli University. (We met more women later.) We described ourselves as the Libyan Listening project and they dubbed us as “The Committee of Good Intentions.”

We learned that Libya was nothing like we had been told in the American media. It was an active, progressive nation. They had developed universities and the students were 60% women and 40% men;

They wanted to come to the United States for more education; they had released all their political prisoners; they were well-read and aware.

One of Qadaffi’s lesser loved laws was that no movies or television were allowed in Libya—everyone had to participate in pleasures like dancing, playing music, or listening to the radio and reading. We soon learned that young people had an underground way of getting videos and video players and they saw the latest movies of the US. They also liked the participation practiced in their country.

Finally it was time to go home. We did, after being feted in every city in Libya where our planes landed. When we arrived home we went to our government, eager to tell what we had learned. We discovered we were not permitted to speak to any member of our government in Washington for we had gone to Libya illegally and it was against the law for anyone to listen to us. So we wrote our articles and spoke on radio and TV, but could not follow up on our Libyan visit because there was a ban on Libyans coming to the United States and we were considered—and were—law breakers.

Do you think the people in the United States are ready to listen to our enemies or to our own diverse citizens for that matter?

Some people in the United States are ready to listen to their “enemies” and those are people who realize that unless we do, we will never be able to make a real peace with them. I don’t know if Americans are ready to listen to their own citizens on the planning for war—or peace question. I know I would have a hard time with it and I would have to refuel myself on compassionate listening to do it compassionately!

On Friday, September 14 we had a meeting at the Sola House [Gene’s home and peace center in Santa Barbara, CA] to brainstorm about what to do about the war our President has proposed, and our Congress and Senate have supported through its funding. We listened to people of varying opinions—some expressed their anger, some their grief, some their hope for a new era. No one wanted war and each sought new ideas for how they could perform actions which would bring them face-to-face in deliberations with one another.

In the end we felt we could listen to everyone’s story, from our president to the most ardent peace person, and try to perceive the truths in each one of them.

The next test will be trying to do it.

Gene Hoffman: Mystic and Prophet of ‘Compassionate Listening’

by Anthony Manousos

"An enemy is one whose story we have not heard." (GKH)

As the United States launches an ill-conceived war on terrorism, the insights of Gene Knudsen Hoffman, 82-year-old Quaker peacemaker from Santa Barbara, California, ring truer than ever:

Some time ago, I recognized that terrorists were people who had grievances, who thought their grievances would never be heard and certainly never addressed. Later, I saw that all parties to every conflict were wounded, and that at the heart of every act of violence was an unhealed wound. I began to search for ways we peace people might help to heal these violence-causing wounds. (Pieces of the Mideast Puzzle, p. 9).

For the past twenty years, Gene Hoffman has been engaged in efforts to seek out the deep, psychological causes of violence and to help bring about healing and reconciliation through a process she calls "Compassionate Listening."

An active Quaker and member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) for over fifty years, she traveled numerous times to the former Soviet Union during the 1980s to do reconciliation work. In 1989, soon after American planes downed two Libyan planes and several years after Americans bombed Libyan civilians and Muammar Qadaffi’s home and family in Tripoli, she went to Libya with an FOR delegation to meet with Libyan leaders. She has met with and listened to Palestinians and Israelis, and published articles and pamphlets about her experiences, including Pieces of the Mideast Puzzle and No Royal Road to Reconciliation. Most recently she helped to arrange Compassionate Listening sessions between Alaskan hunters and fishers and native people through the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). She has published over a hundred articles, books, and pamphlets and given innumerable workshops and talks about peacemaking. Her work has inspired numerous others, including Cynthia Monroe, AFSC staff person in Alaska, and Leah Green, founder of Mideast Diplomacy’s Compassionate Listening project. Gene has been rightly called a "pioneer" in the Compassionate Listening movement that includes such other notables as Adam Curle and Herb Walters.

"Gene is a real prophet," said Judith Kolokoff, former AFSC regional director in the Pacific Northwest. "And she’s a remarkable facilitator. She has the capacity to bring out the very best of the truth in each individual."

Hoffman’s approach to compassionate listening is rooted in both psychological and mystical perspectives. A founder of the Santa Barbara Night Counseling Center in the 1970s, she earned her Masters in pastoral counseling from Goddard College and worked with Ben Weininger, a "Zen-Hassidic" Rogerian psychiatrist. With her background in counseling, Gene came to see all parties in a conflict as "wounded," as having suffered psychological traumas that need healing.

But Gene’s work also has a spiritual dimension, as Dennis Miller, a communication skills instructor from Santa Barbara, noted: "Gene is a Quaker mystic. Her calling was to carry pastoral counseling out of the pastor’s study into public life. What has energized her work over the years is the Quaker teaching that ‘there is that of God in every person.’"

As Gene herself puts it: "The call, as I see it, is for us to see that within all life is the mystery: God. It is within the contra, the Nazi, the Africaaner, the Israeli. By compassionate listening we may awaken it and thus learn the partial truth the other is carrying, for another aspect of being human is that we each carry some portion of the truth. To reconcile, we must listen for, discern, and acknowledge this partial truth in everyone" (Pieces, p. 10).

“IT’S MY AMERICAN FLAG, TOO”

by Stanford J. Searl, Jr., Santa Monica (CA) Friends Meeting

When I drive down Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles, I’m struck now by the whipping of American flags. These flags fly from store fronts, flutter on cars and are hawked at major intersections, all of them a pervasive reminder of the deep importance of being a patriotic American, a lover of one’s county and the flag, and the Republic and so forth. With all of my heart and soul, I love my country, this deeply wonderful, deeply flawed America. 

However, no matter how much I do love my country, I love justice, peace and the way of non-violence with equal fervor. At this time, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, feeling terrorized and traumatized myself, I pray that I can enter into my patriotic identity as a Quaker, an American who feels an urgency to promote active, dramatic non-violence, even in the face of this mass murder.

Here’s my version of displaying and flying our flag, my flag, too: Above everything, I will place a fully unfurled version of the American Flag on my Honda; but, just below that flag, I would place another flag that outlined the peace symbol, a flag that signifies the potential for spiritual, inward healing. Hence, as a Quaker, American patriot, grieving for those thousands killed and millions of others around the globe in various stages of trauma, I offer a patriotic, flag-waving prayer for peace and justice: Please, members of my Congress and Mr. President, try to define this terror as a heinous crime against humanity and not a war. And please become open to the inner, spiritual reality of the Divine and allow for the potential for healing and peace to enter our lives. As a patriotic American, I wave the flag for peace, justice and love.

LETTER FROM THE CLERK OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA QUARTERLY MEETING

As I write, US warships and warplanes are massing in the Gulf of Arabia, and American troops are swarming the streets of Islamabad. This morning while reading the paper, I wept with foreboding about what is unfolding: a prolonged war of retribution conducted by the United States and its allies in some of the poorest, most deprived regions of the earth, in retaliation for the terrible acts of terrorism of 11 September 2001. As you read these words, that foreboding may have already turned into harsh reality.

In the days since 11 September, many Friends have been doing work of support and healing. I hear of special meetings of Friends in Santa Barbara, Orange Grove, and elsewhere in the Quarter. Last Sunday my wife and I attended a wonderful impromptu outpouring of support at the Islamic Center of Claremont, where more than a thousand people gathered to hear speakers from many faiths pledge their unity with Muslims in our community who have been unfairly targeted. Charleen Krueger, Clerk of Claremont Monthly Meeting, helped to organize that gathering and spoke to the audience eloquently about the costs of hatred and the need for economic justice.

At times of crisis, it seems especially important for us as a spiritual community to draw together: to worship and pray, to deepen our unity with each other, to open our hearts to God and draw strength to act. It is natural to withdraw, to tighten up and close off to the pain, to erect defenses against distress; but I believe that Psalm 51 gives better advice: “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

As gentle Tibetan Buddhist Pema Chodron writes,

We think that by protecting ourselves from suffering we are being kind to ourselves. The truth is, we only become more fearful, more hardened, and more alienated. We experience ourselves as being separate from the whole. This separateness becomes like a prison for us, a prison that restricts us to our personal hopes and fears and to caring only for the people nearest to us. Curiously enough, if we primarily try to shield ourselves from discomfort, we suffer. Yet when we don’t close off and we let our hearts break, we discover our kinship with all beings. [Wise people] know that the best thing they can do for themselves is to be there for others. As a result, they experience joy. [When Things Fall Apart, p. 88]

Quakerism itself arose in a time of war—a civil war that swirled around the young, charismatic movement—and Friends paradoxically flourished in the midst of this conflict and violence. Historically, Friends have been at their best in times of crisis and threat: reaching out to those in need, calling for restraint and forgiveness, working for justice, seeking to “live in virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion for all war.” At such times, we need to draw strength from each other, to gather in community and renew our commitment to what is truly important.

In this difficult time, I am glad to be a part of our small and far-flung community. I wish for you healing and renewal.

—In Friendship,  Steve Smith, Clerk of SCQM

Multnomah Monthly Meeting Religious Society of Friends

Portland, Oregon —We of Multnomah Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) share in the sorrow of people around the world at the loss of life in Pennsylvania, at the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon. We abhor the violence that has occurred to so many innocent people. The evidence of compassion, courage, and love evoked by the disaster heartens us deeply.

We join the many who caution against reacting to this tragedy with hatred or vengeance. The Religious Society of Friends, since its inception in the 1650's, has been led to eschew war and all forms of violence for any end whatsoever. We believe that the challenge before us all is to break the cycle of violence and retribution. As we seek justice in the aftermath of this tragedy, let us do so under the system of international law. Let us do in a way that strengthens international institutions like the United Nations, whose purpose is to achieve security and stability for all peoples.

In response to this tragedy let us commit ourselves to eliminate terrorism by correcting the causes of hatred upon which it feeds. Over half of this year's US discretionary budget already is going to support the US military, and close to 1% for non-military aid for developing countries. A disproportionately rich and heavily armed society can never be secure in a world of the suffering poor. We will have far more security in a world we approach as helpful friends than in one we arm ourselves against as potential enemies.

Let us also remember that there is a force more powerful than bombs or knives or weapons of war. That force is love - as Gandhi told us: "Love is the strongest force the world possesses, yet it is the humblest imaginable." Let us dare to move forward in love.

Minute approved at Meeting for Worship for Business, September 16,2001--Tina McMahon, Clerk,Multnomah Monthly Meeting

A Letter to the Islamic Community

composed by Jeanne Nash on behalf of Ft. Collins (CO) Meeting

The following are my thoughts on a letter to the Islamic community. I use the term "9-11" because news reports have indicated that this date was chosen because it is an anniversary of the Camp David Peace Accord signing.

Dear Friends in the Islamic Community,

The horrifying slaughter that we witnessed on Tuesday 9-11 has left the world grieving and numb. The hate and vengeance that generated such an act is frightening to comprehend.

Although there are many times when the 'Western' and Islamic world don't appear to understand each other fully, and injustices are done, we are sure that the majority of us all are devastated by these actions, whomever may have done them.

Remembering the accusations and active persecution of Muslims during the early aftermath of the Oklahoma bombing, we can only imagine the concern and fear you must be experiencing now.

Our religious faith is based strongly in the belief that there is a bit of the spirit of God-Allah in all persons and therefore ALL humankind is to be treated with respect, each individual walking the earth with the concern for 'that Inner Light' in others and rejecting violence as a solution to problems. This is an active faith, seeking ways to bring justice and caring to those with whom we differ and those we do not know.

We wish to offer our support and concern in what unfairly may be a difficult time for you. May your faith in Allah-God bring you courage and patience as you work for peace and understanding,

--The Fort Collins Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Opening Our Hearts and Minds  To the Power of Compassion

By Anthony Manousos

Ever since the fateful events of Sept. 11, I have felt mixed emotions. I have felt deep sadness—sadness for the victims of this terrible national tragedy, sadness for their families, but mostly sadness for those whose minds and hearts are twisted with anger and fear. I have also felt an energizing sense of urgency, since it is clear that those of us who are concerned about peace are going to face challenging times in the next few years.

That’s why I have put together this website consisting of reflections and suggestions for action. It’s partly therapy, partly a way to share with others what I have learned and what has inspired me.

When I first heard the news about the tragedy of Sept. 11, I was working on an article about Gene Knudsen Hoffman, the Santa Barbara peace activist whose work is featured prominently on this website.

Her insights into the causes of terrorism (as well as how to “cure” it) seem incredibly relevant. Ten years ago she wrote:

"Some time ago, I recognized that terrorists were people who had grievances, who thought their grievances would never be heard and certainly never addressed. Later, I saw that all parties to every conflict were wounded, and that at the heart of every act of violence was an unhealed wound. I began to search for ways we peace people might help to heal these violence-causing wounds."

Gene is fond of quoting what the Trappist monk Thomas Merton had to say about the need for listening compassionately:

"We have to have a deep, patient compassion for the fears of people, for the fears and irrational mania of those who hate or condemn."

It is clear that we need to feel compassion for those who commit terrorist acts, and also for our leaders in Washington, DC, where a blind, unreasoning war fever seems to have taken hold. We need to remember that behind all the macho rhetoric, our leaders are afraid—for themselves, their families, and their world.

When I hear our leaders beating the drums of war, I find myself growing angry and am tempted to write satire (my outlet for anger). But during this time of crisis, it is necessary to move beyond anger and to seek understanding.

Because of the violence-obsessed culture we live in, many people’s response to fear is "flight or fight." Those who have chosen to fight a war against an enemy as shadowy as terrorism haven’t a clue about how to proceed, but are afraid even to admit it.

It will take time for emotions to settle down and for the voice of Reason and Wisdom to be heard, and heeded. During this time of uncertainty and fear we need to be especially sensitive and discerning listeners. I have found that people are basically at three different stages:

Some are still so traumatized that they need to vent their fear and anger. We need to allow them time to heal. Gene Hoffman’s “compassionate listening” approach can be extremely helpful for those at this stage.

Others have processed many of their feelings and need information so that they can take appropriate action. We need to be well-informed so that we can help them to come to a clearer understanding of the current situation (and that means educating ourselves!). Organizations like the AFSC and AFSC can provide the background information we need. See http://www.afsc.org and http://www.fcnl.org

Finally, some of us already some a sense of purpose and direction, instilled through years of involvement with the peace movement. We need to be cognizant of meaningful actions that can make a difference. See How You and Your Meeting/Church Can Work for Peace.

Perhaps because I have been a teacher much of my life, I resonate with the words of Alan Solomonow, AFSC’s Middle East Program coordinator in San Francisco:

“What happened in New York City and Washington, DC, this week will reverberate through our lives for generations to come. Let it be a learning experience to build a better future ... NOT one that will tempt us to fall back on old slogans and simple-sounding answers. None of us in safe—ANYWHERE—–in a world that has failed to expunge militarism, injustice, inequality, poverty and more.”

One lesson we need to learn is that people—even terrorists—can change. Perhaps that’s why I was deeply moved when, right after the tragic events of Sept. 11, Arafat gave blood and said repeatedly, "God bless the American people." What an act of compassion and statesmanship! Arafat has certainly has come a long way from his "terrorist" days. Maybe there is hope for the rest of us. Maybe we Americans can become more compassionate and understanding towards those in the Islamic world who are suffering from poverty, injustice, and yes, terrorism. Maybe we can learn that there is more power and security in providing economic justice and humanitarian assistance than in selling arms and supporting corrupt governments.

Once of the most hopeful and educational events of the past month was the opening day of "Quiet Helpers," an historical exhibit at First Friends (Quaker) Church in Whittier dedicated to the relief work that Quakers did in Germany after World War II. This exhibit was put together by the German people in gratitude for the relief work that the Quakers did after WWII (for which the American Friends Service Committee was given the Nobel Prize for Peace). The affection and gratitude that the German people feel for Quakers and for Americans in general were clearly evident in the words spoken by Dr. Han Jurgen Wendler, the consul general of the Federal Republic of Germany, and others who attended. It is wonderful to see hundreds of people gathered for this event—including the mayor of Whittier, the President of Whittier College, and AFSC staff and volunteers, among them Mary Ellen McNish, the Executive Secretary of the Service Committee. The energy of so many people gathered to celebrate peace was just the kind of community-building experience that we need. As Steve Smith, clerk of our Quarter, points out so well,

“Quakerism itself arose in a time of war--a civil war that swirled around the young, charismatic movement--and Friends paradoxically flourished in the midst of this conflict and violence. Historically, Friends have been at their best in times of crisis and threat: reaching out to those in need, calling for restraint and forgiveness, working for justice, seeking to ‘live in virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion for all war.’ At such times, we need to draw strength from each other, to gather in community and renew our commitment to what is truly important.”

The “Quiet Helpers” exhibit also clearly demonstrates an important lesson that we as a nation need to re-learn—–the power of compassion and kindness in transforming an enemy into a friend and ally. After WW II, Germany and Japan were regarded by many as pariah states, much like Iraq and Afghanistan today. After the horrors of WW II, many saw Germans and Japanese as evil and beyond redemption and felt that they should be punished with reparations, as happened after WWI. But wiser heads prevailed. The Quakers and others did relief work which showed that Americans truly cared. Eventually the Marshall Plan was instituted, massive relief and development aid was given to our “enemies,” and the societies of Japan and Germany were re-built. This was the wisest investment that the United States ever made. Today we count Japan and Germany as our strongest allies.

Would it not make sense to follow a similar policy towards the Muslim world? Today we give huge amounts of military aid to countries in the Middle East (especially Israel) and only a pittance in humanitarian aid. Would it not be wise to send significant amounts of aid to the Palestinians, the Iraqis, the Afghanis, and the Pakistanis to show them that we care deeply for them as people and we are not their enemy? Would this not contribute to the peace and security that we seek?

The power of compassion should not be underestimated. That was the lesson I learned from "Quiet Helpers." I hope that my fellow Americans take this lesson to heart and (to use the words of the Quaker William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania) "try what love can do"

AFSC SAYS “NO MORE VICTIMS,” JUSTICE AND HEALING,NOT RETALIATION

Philadelphia, PA—The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) today announced it would launch a No More Victims campaign to help support victims and survivors of the Washington, DC, New York City and Western Pennsylvania tragedies. Its No More Victims campaign is also designed to educate the public about finding peaceful solutions in the face of these terrible acts of anger and hatred and the suffering they caused.

“Our hearts go out to the thousands of victims of these horrible acts of violence and we recognize and share the grief and sorrow felt by the entire country, if not the world. We join in the hope that those who planned and orchestrated these despicable acts will be brought to justice under the rule of law,” stated Mary Ellen McNish, AFSC general secretary. “Yet it is important to recognize that in this time of grieving that we cannot react in haste by scapegoating the innocent. We must not repeat the mistakes of the past by unfairly targeting those whose only guilt may be that they look like or share a similar-sounding name, religion or ethnic background with those whom we perceive may be the cause of this suffering.”

“We have to break the cycle of violence and retaliation,” McNish emphasized, promising to organize and partner with like-minded organizations for public action, including peace vigils, speaking engagements and identifying ways to help heal the scars from this terrible tragedy.

AFSC also encouraged Americans to reach out to Arab and Muslim communities, many of whom are being unfairly targeted and made scapegoats when they, as individuals, have done no wrong against this country or its people. In addition, the organization announced that it would encourage staff in its 22 offices throughout the United States to work with their local Red Cross to establish blood drives when they are most needed.

Donations may be directed to AFSC No More Victims and mailed to AFSC/Development, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102. To contribute via Visa or Mastercard, call 1-888-588-2372, ext. 1. For more information on the blood drive, call the AFSC at (215) 241-7000.

FRIENDS COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL LEGISLATION ON THE ATTACKS  ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER,  THE PENTAGON, AND CIVILIAN AIRCRAFT

Our hearts go out today to the victims of Tuesday’s terrible attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the people in the four civilian aircraft. We call on Friends and others across the US to offer prayers, solace, friendship, and aid to the survivors, families, and friends of the victims. We commend the heroic efforts of public safety personnel and the many others who, at great personal risk, are working to rescue and treat the victims of these tragedies.

We join with people across the country and around the world in expressing the hope that those who planned and orchestrated these terrible acts will soon be brought to justice under the rule of law.

We are concerned, however, about how the US government responds now.

First, we are concerned that the US not avenge these attacks with attacks upon other innocent people who may happen to be of the same nationality, faith, or ethnic group as the alleged perpetrators. This concern extends to protecting the safety and rights of people here at home. Many in this country of the Islamic faith or of Middle Eastern descent are worried that they may now become the unwarranted focus of suspicion in their communities or, worse, the subjects of unjust persecution.

Second, many in the administration and Congress have declared that a state of war now exists. We are concerned that these public statements may be stirring the popular will and expectation for war. We wonder: War against whom? Cooler heads must prevail in the US government during this time of crisis. War will only compound the tremendous assault on humanity that has already occurred. War is not the answer. The people who committed these acts struck with hatred. They saw the people in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the aircraft as faceless enemies. They denied the humanity of their victims. The US must not commit the same sin by compounding the hatred, violence, and injustice of these attacks with its own acts of terror and war against another people, most of whom are innocent of these crimes.

Finally, the people who planned these suicide attacks were able to draw volunteers from a growing number of people around the world who harbor deep resentment and anger toward the US It is important that we in the US try to hear and understand the sources of this anger. If we in the US do not seek to understand and address the roots of this anger—poverty, injustice, and hopelessness—then the violence may well continue, no matter what the US does to try to prevent it.

As members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) we witness to that spirit of love which takes away the occasion of war. Out of darkness and tragedy, may God show us the path of true and lasting peace.

JOINT RESPONSE FROM FWCC, FGC, AFSC, AND PHILADELPHIA YEARLY MEETING

Philadelphia, PA—As organizations of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and as members of the human family and children of God, we are profoundly grieved at the loss of life, the suffering, and the sorrow that result from today’s tragic events. The God of love and mercy whom we worship and serve surely grieves, too, in the face of these acts of anger and hatred and the suffering they cause. We pray earnestly for comfort and strength for those who are injured and grieving. So, too, we hope with all our hearts that in responding to today’s tragic events, all persons will find ways to end the violence that is consuming our world.

We offer our gratitude and prayers to those who are responding to this tragedy, rescuing and caring for those who are injured, comforting those who are grieving, and working for peace and reconciliation.

The Religious Society of Friends, since its inception in the 1650s, has been led to eschew war and all forms of violence for any end whatsoever. Time and again we have ministered to the victims of war and violence. We believe that the challenge before us all is to break the cycle of violence and retribution.

DENY THEM THEIR VICTORY: A RELIGIOUS RESPONSE TO TERRORISM

We, American religious leaders, share the broken hearts of our fellow citizens. The worst terrorist attack in history that assaulted New York City, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania, has been felt in every American community. Each life lost was of unique and sacred value in the eyes of God, and the connections Americans feel to those lives run very deep. In the face of such a cruel catastrophe, it is a time to look to God and to each other for the strength we need and the response we will make. We must dig deep to the roots of our faith for sustenance, solace, and wisdom.

First, we must find a word of consolation for the untold pain and suffering of our people. Our congregations will offer their practical and pastoral resources to bind up the wounds of the nation. We can become safe places to weep and secure places to begin rebuilding our shattered lives and communities. Our houses of worship should become public arenas for common prayer, community discussion, eventual healing, and forgiveness.

Second, we offer a word of sober restraint as our nation discerns what its response will be. We share the deep anger toward those who so callously and massively destroy innocent lives, no matter what the grievances or injustices invoked. In the name of God, we too demand that those responsible for these utterly evil acts be found and brought to justice. Those culpable must not escape accountability. But we must not, out of anger and vengeance, indiscriminately retaliate in ways that bring on even more loss of innocent life. We pray that President Bush and members of Congress will seek the wisdom of God as they decide upon the appropriate response.

Third, we face deep and profound questions of what this attack on America will do to us as a nation. The terrorists have offered us a stark view of the world they would create, where the remedy to every human grievance and injustice is a resort to the random and cowardly violence of revenge, even against the most innocent. Having taken thousands of our lives, attacked our national symbols, forced our political leaders to flee their chambers of governance, disrupted our work and families, and struck fear into the hearts of our children, the terrorists must feel victorious.

But we can deny them their victory by refusing to submit to a world created in their image. Terrorism inflicts not only death and destruction but also emotional oppression to further its aims. We must not allow this terror to drive us away from being the people God has called us to be. We assert the vision of community, tolerance, compassion, justice, and the sacredness of human life, which lies at the heart of all our religious traditions.

America must be a safe place for all our citizens in all their diversity. It is especially important that our citizens who share national origins, ethnicity, or religion with whoever attacked us are, themselves, protected among us.

Our American illusion of invulnerability has been shattered. From now on, we will look at the world in a different way, and this attack on our life as a nation will become a test of our national character. Let us make the right choices in this crisis—to pray, act, and unite against the bitter fruits of division, hatred, and violence. Let us rededicate ourselves to global peace, human dignity, and the eradication of the injustice that breeds rage and vengeance.

As we gather in our houses of worship, let us begin a process of seeking the healing and grace of God.

Draft Outline for a Nonviolent Strategy against Terrorism

by Vickie Aldrich, Las Cruces, NM

For the last two weeks I¹ve been reading the e-mails and statements from Buddhists, Quakers, and other Peace activists. As people considered theoptions of violence and nonviolence, at least one person asked how we could approach the problem of ending terrorism nonviolently. This outline is my attempt to share my ideas of a nonviolent strategy to end terrorism.

In the dialogues about nonviolence there was mention that nonviolence only worked when dealing with reasonable or civilized people. I don't want toget into what those terms mean, but here are two examples of how nonviolence was used effectively with terrorists.

Finding the Unibomber

I think the case of finding the unibomber is an important one for us to remember in terms of the current world situation. The unibomber was identified after the press was convinced to run his article in the newspaper. Seeing the article led his brother to identifying him, which led to his capture and imprisonment. This is important for two reasons one is the role of the media which I speak to in the following strategy and second allowing a forum in which extremists may speak and those close to them are then able to see them and their actions more clearly. It is also an example of nonviolent and police action working together (I am assuming that the FBIagents who arrested the unibomber were carrying weapons).

The Civil Rights Movement in the southern US

During the Civil rights movement of the 1950's in the U.S. the black communities of the south were subject to terrorist acts committed by white extremists. The terrorism was not a direct target of the nonviolent resistance but as the movement found success and rights were won the amount of terrorist activity decreased. I do not believe that the nonviolence changed the views of these extremists but that the culture and climate of the society did change so that the extremists were not supported in their actions. I think it is important for us to realize these acts of terrorism still continue in our country and that the groups who openly advocate such violence are still allowed to exist in the US.

I believe this and the finding of the unibomber are examples we can look at of how nonviolent actions can work to end terrorism. This instance of letting a violent person speak is an important one to consider. I would much rather listen to the views of terrorists on radio, TV or in the paper than hear for weeks about their violent actions. Encouraging another way of communication instead of violence should be a top priority in any plans.

SOME ASSUMPTIONS

1. We can not change the extremists.

2. Near the extreme terrorists are some reasonable people who feel they have no where else to turn.

3. There is some underlying cause or justified complaints which exist between the terrorists and those at whom the terrorism is directed.

GOAL

To end terrorism

INTERMEDIATE GOAL OR PLAN

Isolate the extreme terrorists by changing the situation so that others leave them by their own choice or turn the extremists in to authorities.

I. APPROACH TO TERRORISTS

1. Treat them with respect - this was the method advocated by Bill Richardson when freeing hostages

2. Do not honor or advertise their violent actions (repeat showings of the attacks on television did the propaganda of the terrorists for them).

3. Do not give them the shield of religion to hide behind. (I heard Bill Moyers quote William Penn on TV last week saying "Religious extremists are Irreligious")

Implementing this;

1) Treat them as we would like to be treated even though they have behaved in this horrible way. We should not paint them as evil monsters but ask that they and those close to them abide by agreed upon international laws. {This idea is to not be drawn down to their level and to the game they want to play, but to continually show that we are in charge and will remain civilized even when they are not ­ consider the actions of the Black people in the south after church bombings, lynchings, attacks by police dogs, etc., it¹s amazing to think of the courage they had}

2) The Media ­ all world TV networks should agree to a voluntary video blackout of terrorist acts ­ report orally but do not show the destruction or the terror of the people. Let the press run photos with their articles. {note this tactic will lesson the second wave of any act which is the fear and terror which is experienced by those watching on TV. It will also cause people tobuy the newspapers and read the hopefully more in depth articles there instead of just reacting to images and sound bites. }

3) The Media , Governments, and people agree to not refer to terrorists by any religious term ­ no Christian terrorists or Jewish terrorists or Islamic terrorists ­{ labeling terrorists by religion helps to achieve their aims of polarizing communities and people, it also gives them a shield or protection in terms of explaining their actions, if people go to these extreme acts of violence against the world we will no longer consider them to be part of the religious groups they want to identify with, this will also help to isolate them and reduce their power}.

II. HOW WE SHOULD BEHAVE

1) With humility

2) With introspection ­ Congress, the people of the country and the mediaall need to investigate the question ­ in what ways does the United Statesgovernment, business and society encourage terrorism?

3) Do the unexpected. (Note ­ these people expect and know how to deal with violence).

Implementing this; 1) The US government needs to accept and admit to past mistakes ­ we want world cooperation we need to cooperate and support world bodies ­ pay our UN dues, join the following international agreements

… UN Accord to enforce the 1972 biological weapons convention

… Ratify the International criminal court treaty

… Sign the land mine treaty ban

… Sign the agreement on sells of small arms

{I see the US as acting like a big bully on the playground, then once we are hurt running around saying it isn't fair. We need to agree to play by the rules that the rest of the world has been agreeing to. We need to acknowledge our place as part of the world community. This act will take away from the extremists the ability to portray us as outsiders as a special country to target. By admitting our mistakes and acting to change them we also set an example for the terrorists to do the same.}

2) Congress and all of us need to look at and review our foreign policy. We need to set up a new policy that will work to create a world without terrorism. {As we do this introspection and realign our foreign policy we should create less cause for those upset with their situation to join the extremist groups. This as George Bush says is a long term project, we need to stop the cycle of violence. }

3) Surprise is a wonderful tactic to use. We should find ways to show compassion to those in the area ­ airlifts of food to those fleeing Afghanistan. In terms of the US ­ we should use this as an opportunity for change ­ develop high speed rail transportation between cities in the US instead of relying only on airlines. Call for a new wave of economic investment ­ not in big business but in our local economies. {The religious communities already did this by coming together against the targeting of Islamic or Arabic people. These actions defeat the purpose of the terrorists and thus changes the climate which promotes terrorism. If they do not know and can not predict what we as a nation will do, we are all safer. Asking citizens to support their local communities will help people to become involved with one another and bring about a greater feeling of  security among the people of the country.}

III. Actions to take

1) Listening - Reach out to people in the area ­ set up a program to listen to the grievances and views of people in other countries ­ particularly in the Middle East against the US ­ send teams made up of politicians and civilians to do the listening. {This will help in a healing process and long term work to end terrorism, it will also create an outlet for frustrations  other than violence}

2) Restorative Justice ­ find ways to bring together victims of terrorism and those who have been part of terrorist groups to start finding ways to heal and to bring about justice. In the Middle East we need to include in any restorative justice ideas the responsibility of Europe and the US in the creation of Israel ­ perhaps these nations need to pay reparations for land to the Palestinians.

3) Work to lesson fear- Rather than promote terror and fear, work to lesson it. With every action you take ask ­ does this increase or decrease fear in the world?

Conclusion

The plan is to create an atmosphere where the causes of terrorism will be taken away. We want to bring the terrorists out of hiding or encourage the people who know them but are not as extreme to leave them or turn them over to police officials. Aim much of the campaign at those next to the extremists (By dealing with and meeting the needs of those who are not as extreme, one isolates the extremists, thus causing them to be in effective as terrorists).

An analogy

This is like untangling a big mass of yarn. We need to continually loosen up the knots that have been created. As we loosen up the tangle we will begin to see more clearly how to undo the mess. If we react with anger and frustration the mess will only get worse and we will not be able to find our way out of it.

Why Do They Hate Us?

By Jack Powelson

The Christian Science Monitor (9/27/01) tells why:

All the way from Jakarta to Cairo . . . a mood of resentment toward America and its behavior around the world has become so commonplace that it was bound to breed hostility, and even hatred. And the buttons that Mr. bin Laden pushes in his statements and interviews - the injustice done to the Palestinians, the cruelty of continued sanctions against Iraq, the presence of US troops in Saudi Arabia, the repressive and corrupt nature of US-backed Gulf governments - win a good deal of popular sympathy.

Here is a quotation from USA Today (9/27/01):

One student's vow: "I will get your children!"

Peshawar, Pakistan -- Morning at the Dar-ul-uloom Haqqania madrassa, or religious school, begins with a prayer and a defiant chant: "Oh Allah, defeat the enemies of the Muslims and make Islam and the Taliban victorious over the Americans in Afghanistan," the 3,500 students say in unison in the school's courtyard. Then they break into a chorus of "Jihad! Jihad!" or "Holy War! Holy War!" Their words bring a smile to the face of the school's chancellor, Maulama Sami ul Haq. . . "Osama and the Taliban would be proud," he says.

Have you seen the pictures of crowds of happy Middle Easterners, faces bursting out in smiles, as they cheer what to us was an overwhelming tragedy?

Are there any other reasons?

Long before the tragedy of September 11, I have been aware that we are hated from all over the world. I spent ten years communicating with Latin American Marxists who hated America, and who said that if they had the chance they would have joined Che Guevara to promote guerrilla actions against the Capitalist system. The points in Janet Minshall's essay in Letter No. 23 are the very ones they raised. (See Letter No. 16, "My Ten Years in Marxistland," at http://clq.quaker.org.)

Universities in Latin America (in their economics, sociology, and political science departments anyway) -- and I presume the Middle East as well -- are full of students who hate America. I have taught them and discussed with them. Our economic might is hated all over the world, and it is this hatred that we must overcome if we are to be secure.

One reader of CLQ chided me for using the tragedy to propagate my economic views (see Readers' Comments, below). But I truly believe they are related. The hatred stemming from our actions in the Middle East is but another layer built upon the solid base of hatred because of our economic and military power.

A complex hatred

The main thread linking all these reasons for hate is the wealth and power of the United States. If it were solely the arrogance with which we flaunt our power, the Islamic countries would be even more guilty: consider how the Taliban has brought Afghanistan to abject poverty and stoned women to death for disobeying their creed; how clerics have denied democracy to Iranians who cry out for it; how Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait; and - farther back in history - how the Islamic peoples conquered from Poitiers, France, through Spain, North Africa, into India, and all the way to the Philippines. They have been just as arrogant as we have, much more oppressive, and much more imperialistic. The main difference is that we have been successful economically, and they have not.

This is the first time in our history that we have felt hated. In the next Letter (No. 25), I would like to offer some thoughts about how this complex syndrome was brought about.

What to do about it?

In the short run, we must

(1) Bring the criminals to justice, by the usual means of doing so. With international cooperation, infiltratetheir ranks, and keep them on the Most Wanted List.

(2) Draw on the many peace-loving Muslims to support us in rooting out the terrorists.

(3) Tighten security in the airlines; follow El Al's example.

(4) Prepare for an entirely different attack - not on an airplane.

Still, remember: The Islamic empire, during its heyday, offered most or all of the freedoms we are accustomed to in the West, including freedom of religion and freedom to trade. Islam is a religion of peace. Most of the world - including Muslims - does not want to live by the rules of terror. Therefore, the long run is on our side.

For the long run, we must teach our children humility. We must expand our trade and contacts with those who hate us. Student exchanges, living abroad, and all those. But most of all, we must trade with them. Drop our barriers against less developed countries. Support the World Trade Organization as an international body in which these barriers may be negotiated away.

What would you do? Please send comments to clq-comment@quaker.org.

To a young man contemplating revenge and joining the Marines – 9/01

D. Pablo Stanfield H.

The following exchange took place between Pablo Stanfield, a Friend from Seattle, WA, and a 19-year-old Puerto Rican, son of Pablo's close friends, who questioned whether the pacifist position makes sense in light of recent events. The young man wrote:

"Yo, let’s be real about this. We got attacked, we can’t just lay down for nothing. We have to do what we have to do as AMERICANS and ride on the enemy. You can’t dance around in a lily field talking about we forgive them."

Pablo replied:

Hola, chico, gracias por tu opinión.

but please don’t read into what i say, and what i think is a great truth, things i didn’t say:

i didn’t say lie down; altho i do believe in turning the other cheek, i think it’s essential to call abuse and violence what they are as well as to ask for justice.

just what is justice in a case like this?? you know any way to bring back to life the 300 firefighters, the thousands of people smashed or burnt in their offices? know anything that takes away the trauma of a kid whose parents never came home from work or those who watched bodies and buildings fall from the sky? i don’t and i’ve lived thru things like this. it’s a popular lie that revenge puts people’s anguish to rest. it doesn’t "pay back" anyone. those who witness death penalty executions find they usually have two deaths to have nightmares about... that’s what the press hides from you. don’t let yourself be jingoed by the mass media stupidity.

what do we as AMERICANS (or at least people from the USA, because Canadians, Cubans, Mexicans, Costa Ricans, Argentines, Brazilians, Guayanians, and millions of others may not get asked or approve...) HAVE to do. what is required? well... it’s inhuman not to mourn. it’s unnatural not to feel a little fear. it’s stupid not to examine our security and protection systems –not in order to point fingers at the $6.75/hr airport rent-a-cops who let 12 guys with knives onto 4 planes in a well coordinated clandestine operation– rather to notice the false sense of safety provided by the Maginot Line of our expensive and fatally flawed military defenses: they can maybe keep out an army, a fleet, an air wing, perhaps even a missile or two, but not a terrorist. for 30 years experts in the field have been warning the US military-industrial-penal system that two briefcases could bring in a nuclear bomb that would decimate our infrastructure and that we needed to (1) be more vigilant of small things, important details, and (2) understand why someone would be mad enough at our country and the global economic empire, the impunity of the transnational corporations and our invading forces, that they would undertake a suicide mission and hate hate hate all people from our Nation.

if you’re typical of most people in the USA, you don’t think of yourself as responsible for the idiot mistakes of your government, especially from time before you were born; but outside our country, a great majority of people think we’re a democracy (ha!) and hold us responsible, even if we didn’t vote for the current ego. i’ve had a rule for years: never attack people who believe in revenge. and there are lots of cultures where revenge is the norm (including many within mainstream USA). it’s violent. it’s stupid. every religion ever has taught against it. smart people for millennia have known that it is an emotion that leads you to make irrational mistakes and to step into traps. a majority of battles in past wars have been lost because of it. so why was it you suggest that we should "ride the enemy"? what does that mean?

i hear you’re angry. there’s good reason. probably you knew people who died or whose relatives died. reason to grieve with them and feel sad. rightly you want to protect your city and country from such attacks again so you don’t feel such fear. but think about where you focus those feelings.

we sent the world’s strongest superpower into a pitifully poor little swamp and jungle hill country called Viet Nam 40 years ago to ride that enemy. we’re still mourning and paying the price. you’re just the right age to be drafted or (God forbid!) volunteer to go get shot at, be traumatized, be wounded, kill somebody more innocent than you, and otherwise make the world a worse place than it already is by "serving" in the military. if you don’t die. (do you know what Afghans do to enemies they capture? butchering pigs is nicer...) is that what your parents taught you was a good use of the life you have? and don’t think that if you were in the army or air force or marines you’d be different from everyone else... war is hell; it does not ennoble anybody, it provides few opportunities for beauty and glory. it’s not even as nice as Saving Pvt. Ryan in reality. and don’t think you’d get to be an officer with the comforts that brings... nor that you’d sit back in some GameBoy type cushy seat and kill Wogs without having to see them or hear their children’s screams or see the women’s blood... sorry, you’re not a graduate of the right schools for that. and it still wouldn’t make doing it OK.

read the article that follows, from a man who has been where most of the guns are pointing right now, and see if you think what i’m saying is from some "lily field". it takes a lot of courage to fight for what is right. serving in such an effort provides opportunities for team building and fellowship, overcoming hardships, facing challenges, growing, experiencing unforgettable emotions, even occasionally sacrifice and helping others, maybe a little doing good. but you don’t have to make a war and kill anyone to make that fight for justice. it takes more courage to stand and say, "that was wrong. no one deserves to die like that for what others did. by that token, we also admit that we understand why others are angry. we admit that our country’s armed forces and businesses have killed and injured many thousands of people who were likewise not responsible for their county’s mistakes. it is time to look at this and find a new way to resolve the conflicts that brought us this far." as Martin Luther King said 33 years ago: "War today leads to but one choice: nonviolence or nonexistence." so now we must work for justice a better way so that no one will feel so angry they’ll attack us ever again and so that those who plotted this terror will be incarcerated and punished. i trust that you are young and creative and energized enough to come up with some solutions...

and in the end (tho it will take years probably) we all have to forgive, because it takes the most strength and courage of all. because it requires us to grow and improve first. not for our enemies’ sake (it does not relieve them of responsibility), but for the sake of ourselves, so that we do not let their actions continue to rule our lives and twist us with their hate. we can rise above that level of sick thinking, we are better than those who attack us. we can make the buck stop here.

en paz,

~~ Tío Pablo

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Pablo's friend replied:

"I’m tired of Politics. The fact is this, we got attacked on our home turf.  In MY home turf, the borough I last lived in when I was in N.Y. IF there is  a war and the U.S. needs troops I will serve for I feel that Freedom is worth defending…I don’t want to go to war, but i don’t want my kids, wife, family to be  scared of walking down fifty ave, broadway, or their own block. I’ll be willing to sacrifice my life.  People between the ages of 18-26 have made a choice, and most choose to  stand up and fight. My grandfathers both faught in a time similar to this, I don’t want to be home if a war breaks out, I’m not scared, sad, but not  scared.

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Pablo responded:

Dear Friend,

i didn’t expect you to be scared to stand up for what you believe in (todo al contrario). i just want you to realize that the war has been going on for many years, that war IS Politics, including the actions of the lowliest foot grunt, and that the war will not be fought on your turf (despite this attack on it): it will be fought on others’ ground, destroying others’ freedoms, killing others’ wives/children (i didn’t know you had any yet!), and others who are not responsible for the deaths in NYC or the Pentagon. It will probably not reach Bin Laden or the people who trained & financed him (US: CIA). It will not protect the USA but make it more dangerous as more people resent and hate our country. Unfortunately, whether you love or hate politics, you are part of the politics of the media and you are being manipulated... if you let them do that to you, you become part of the problem.

as for the freedom to "walk fifty ave, broadway, or their own block", most females in the USA are already afraid to do that, especially at night, but if they do go, it’s with fear and bravery. that will not change. the war in this country has been going on against non-mainstream people (straight, white, middle-class, college educated, land-owning) for centuries. war will not change that either.

i suggest if you want to get the authors of this attack, start a search and destroy mission on the CIA. (we haven’t needed those shit-kickers’ dirty tricks forever) also try pummeling the fundamentalist millionaires (Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Adolf Coors, on and on) who’ve joined with the fundamentalist Jews and Arabs to try to provoke Armageddon by funding terrorists all over the Middle East (and in the USA in their constant attacks on the poor, people of color, sexual minorities, the ACLU, and people of faith who disagree with their violent tactics). They are in league with Osama, who wants to provoke a World War III between the Moslem world and the "Western World". They’ll all come out rich and you’ll come out dead. so much for your wife and kids.

There is much that needs to be done. Much that merits defense. There is so much to stand up for and so many good people in our country who need sacrifices made to save their lives. To sacrifice means to make holy: dying is not what makes something holy, altho when we carry on in someone’s name after their death, when we bear suffering to protect the ones we love there is holiness there. What makes things holy is the life and love energy they carry. It is their adherence to Truth, to freedom and righteousness and beauty – this is whole, this is healing, this is holy. "Just to live is holy; just to be is a blessing." There are so very many kids of Puertorrican ancestry who have not had the advantages you got and who will join the Army just cuz it’s the only way they’ll get 3 meals a day for sure. but that does not make it right.

it’s hard to think now. it’s hard not to let emotions rule. but it’s imperative that you think better than the average because you’re smarter than the average. you’re smarter than our president (altho that’s also an insult if taken wrong). and your whole generation is not decided. there were 100’s of GEN-Y young people at tonight’s candlelight march for peace here in Seattle... many of them wearing mourning bands for friends and relatives in NY.

it’s hard to think of alternatives, especially ones an individual can take when 90% of the people are talking about acting for revenge. if you’ve got energy, go down to lower Manhattan and help dig out the rubble. carry food and candles and messages to the old folks and handicapped in the Village who need things and can’t get them. give blood. volunteer in a hospital or clinic. go vigil at a mosque on Friday so that there will be no attacks on fellow Americans during Jumah. ask Colin Powell and the Chiefs of Staff how they’d respond to Noam Chomsky’s arguments (see attached). because Freedom does deserve protecting, ask someone to explain how killing aghani kids protects anyone’s freedom, especially yours.

en paz,

pablo

Interviewing Chomsky, Radio

* Why do you think these attacks happened?

To answer the question we must first identify the perpetrators of the crimes. It is generally assumed, plausibly, that their origin is the Middle East region, and that the attacks probably trace back to the Osama Bin Laden network, a widespread and complex organization, doubtless inspired by Bin Laden but not necessarily acting under his control. Let us assume that this is true. Then to answer your question a sensible person would try to ascertain Bin Laden’s views, and the sentiments of the large reservoir of supporters he has throughout the region. About all of this, we have a great deal of information.

Bin Laden has been interviewed extensively over the years by highly reliable Middle East specialists, notably the most eminent correspondent in the region, Robert Fisk (London _Independent_), who has intimate knowledge of the entire region and direct experience over decades. A Saudi Arabian millionaire, Bin Laden became a militant Islamic leader in the war to drive the Russians out of Afghanistan. He was one of the many religious fundamentalist extremists recruited, armed, and financed by the CIA and their allies in Pakistani intelligence to cause maximal harm to the Russians – quite possibly delaying their withdrawal, many analysts suspect – though whether he personally happened to have direct contact with the CIA is unclear, and not particularly important.

Not surprisingly, the CIA preferred the most fanatic and cruel fighters they could mobilize. The end result was to "destroy a moderate regime and create a fanatical one, from groups recklessly financed by the Americans" (_London Times_ correspondent Simon Jenkins, also a specialist on the region). These "Afghanis" as they are called (many, like Bin Laden, not from Afghanistan) carried out terror operations across the border in Russia, but they terminated these after Russia withdrew. Their war was not against Russia, which they despise, but against the Russian occupation and Russia’s crimes against Muslims.

The "Afghanis" did not terminate their activities, however. They joined Bosnian Muslim forces in the Balkan Wars; the US did not object, just as it tolerated Iranian support for them, for complex reasons that we need not pursue here, apart from noting that concern for the grim fate of the Bosnians was not prominent among them. The "Afghanis" are also fighting the Russians in Chechnya, and, quite possibly, are involved in carrying out terrorist attacks in Moscow and elsewhere in Russian territory. Bin Laden and his "Afghanis" turned against the US in 1990 when they established permanent bases in Saudi Arabia – from his point of view, a counterpart to the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, but far more significant because of Saudi Arabia’s special status as the guardian of the holiest shrines.

Bin Laden is also bitterly opposed to the corrupt and repressive regimes of the region, which he regards as "un-Islamic," including the Saudi Arabian regime, the most extreme Islamic fundamentalist regime in the world, apart from the Taliban, and a close US ally since its origins. Bin Laden despises the US for its support of these regimes. Like others in the region, he is also outraged by long-standing US support for Israel’s brutal military occupation, now in its 35th year: Washington’s decisive diplomatic, military, and economic intervention in support of the killings, the harsh and destructive siege over many years, the daily humiliation to which Palestinians are subjected, the expanding settlements designed to break the occupied territories into Bantustan-like cantons and take control of the resources, the gross violation of the Geneva Conventions, and other actions that are recognized as crimes throughout most of the world, apart from the US, which has prime responsibility for them.

And like others, he contrasts Washington’s dedicated support for these crimes with the decade-long US-British assault against the civilian population of Iraq, which has devastated the society and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths while strengthening Saddam Hussein – who was a favored friend and ally of the US and Britain right through his worst atrocities, including the gassing of the Kurds, as people of the region also remember well, even if Westerners prefer to forget the facts.

These sentiments are very widely shared. The _Wall Street Journal_ (Sept. 14) published a survey of opinions of wealthy and privileged Muslims in the Gulf region (bankers, professionals, businessmen with close links to the U.S.). They expressed much the same views: resentment of the U.S. policies of supporting Israeli crimes and blocking the international consensus on a diplomatic settlement for many years while devastating Iraqi civilian society, supporting harsh and repressive anti-democratic regimes throughout the region, and imposing barriers against economic development by "propping up oppressive regimes." Among the great majority of people suffering deep poverty and oppression, similar sentiments are far more bitter, and are the source of the fury and despair that has led to suicide bombings, as commonly understood by those who are interested in the facts.

The U.S., and much of the West, prefers a more comforting story. To quote the lead analysis in the _New York Times_ (Sept. 16), the perpetrators acted out of "hatred for the values cherished in the West as freedom, tolerance, prosperity, religious pluralism and universal suffrage." (Serge Schmemann) So U.S. actions are irrelevant, and therefore need not even be mentioned. This is a convenient picture, and the general stance is not unfamiliar in intellectual history; in fact, it is close to the norm. It happens to be completely at variance with everything we know, but has all the merits of self-adulation and uncritical support for power.

It is also widely recognized that Bin Laden and others like him are praying for "a great assault on Muslim states," which will cause "fanatics to flock to his cause" (Jenkins, and many others.). That too is familiar. The escalating cycle of violence is typically welcomed by the harshest and most brutal elements on both sides, a fact evident enough from the recent history of the Balkans, to cite only one of many cases.

What consequences will they have on US inner policy and to the American self reception?

US policy has already been officially announced. The world is being offered a "stark choice": join us, or "face the certain prospect of death and destruction." Congress has authorized the use of force against any individuals or countries the President determines to be involved in the attacks, a doctrine that every supporter regards as ultra-criminal. That is easily demonstrated. Simply ask how the same people would have reacted if Nicaragua had adopted this doctrine after the U.S. had rejected the orders of the World Court to terminate its "unlawful use of force" against Nicaragua and had vetoed a Security Council resolution calling on all states to observe international law. And that terrorist attack was far more severe and destructive even than this atrocity.

As for how these matters are perceived here, that is far more complex. One should bear in mind that the media and the intellectual elites generally have their particular agendas. Furthermore, the answer to this question is, in significant measure, a matter of decision: as in many other cases, with sufficient dedication and energy, efforts to stimulate fanaticism, blind hatred, and submission to authority can be reversed. We all know that very well.

Do you expect U.S. to profoundly change their policy to the rest of the world?

The initial response was to call for intensifying the policies that led to the fury and resentment that provides the background of support for the terrorist attack, and to pursue more intensively the agenda of the most hard line elements of the leadership: increased militarization, domestic regimentation, attack on social programs. That is all to be expected. Again, terror attacks, and the escalating cycle of violence they often engender, tend to reinforce the authority and prestige of the most harsh and repressive elements of a society. But there is nothing inevitable about submission to this course.

After the first shock, came fear of what the U.S. answer is going to be. Are you afraid, too?

Every sane person should be afraid of the likely reaction – the one that has already been announced, the one that probably answers Bin Laden’s prayers. It is highly likely to escalate the cycle of violence, in the familiar way, but in this case on a far greater scale.

The U.S. has already demanded that Pakistan terminate the food and other supplies that are keeping at least some of the starving and suffering people of Afghanistan alive. If that demand is implemented, unknown numbers of people who have not the remotest connection to terrorism will die, possibly millions. Let me repeat: the U.S. has demanded that Pakistan kill possibly millions of people who are themselves victims of the Taliban. This has nothing to do even with revenge. It is at a far lower moral level even than that. The significance is heightened by the fact that this is mentioned in passing, with no comment, and probably will hardly be noticed. We can learn a great deal about the moral level of the reigning intellectual culture of the West by observing the reaction to this demand. I think we can be reasonably confident that if the American population had the slightest idea of what is being done in their name, they would be utterly appalled. It would be instructive to seek historical precedents.

If Pakistan does not agree to this and other U.S. demands, it may come under direct attack as well – with unknown consequences. If Pakistan does submit to U.S. demands, it is not impossible that the government will be overthrown by forces much like the Taliban – who in this case will have nuclear weapons. That could have an effect throughout the region, including the oil producing states. At this point we are considering the possibility of a war that may destroy much of human society.

Even without pursuing such possibilities, the likelihood is that an attack on Afghans will have pretty much the effect that most analysts expect: it will enlist great numbers of others to support of Bin Laden, as he hopes. Even if he is killed, it will make little difference. His voice will be heard on cassettes that are distributed throughout the Islamic world, and he is likely to be revered as a martyr, inspiring others. It is worth bearing in mind that one suicide bombing – a truck driven into a U.S. military base – drove the world’s major military force out of Lebanon 20 years ago. The opportunities for such attacks are endless. And suicide attacks are very hard to prevent.

"The world will never be the same after 11.09.01". Do you think so?

The horrendous terrorist attacks on Tuesday are something quite new in world affairs, not in their scale and character, but in the target. For the US, this is the first time since the War of 1812 that its national territory has been under attack, even threat. Its colonies have been attacked, but not the national territory itself. During these years the US virtually exterminated the indigenous population, conquered half of Mexico, intervened violently in the surrounding region, conquered Hawaii and the Philippines (killing hundreds of thousands of Filipinos), and in the past half century particularly, extended its resort to force throughout much of the world. The number of victims is colossal.

For the first time, the guns have been directed the other way. The same is true, even more dramatically, of Europe. Europe has suffered murderous destruction, but from internal wars, meanwhile conquering much of the world with extreme brutality. It has not been under attack by its victims outside, with rare exceptions (the IRA in England, for example). It is therefore natural that NATO should rally to the support of the US; hundreds of years of imperial violence have an enormous impact on the intellectual and moral culture.

It is correct to say that this is a novel event in world history, not because of the scale of the atrocity – regrettably – but because of the target. How the West chooses to react is a matter of supreme importance. If the rich and powerful choose to keep to their traditions of hundreds of years and resort to extreme violence, they will contribute to the escalation of a cycle of violence, in a familiar dynamic, with long-term consequences that could be awesome. Of course, that is by no means inevitable. An aroused public within the more free and democratic societies can direct policies towards a much more humane and honorable course.

Note from MN: Reading Chomsky’s comment on the CIA-organized "Afghanis" in Chechnya, it occurred to me to look back at the campaign of terror bombings in Russia attributed to the Chechen rebels in 1999. I remember at