Peace Report

It was one of the most monumental elections in US history.  November 4, 2008, will be remembered by many as one of the most memorable days of their lives.  For many, Barack Obama’s victory is symbolic of a new era in this country’s history.  One where race is no longer an issue.   Thousands of people were seen on televisions across the nation rejoicing and celebrating our new president-elect.  America had overcome one of it’s ugliest hurdles, racism.

But in some parts of the country, Obama’s win has not been well-received.  America’s racist shadow has been awakened.

An article from the AP reports that from California to Maine, police have documented crimes ranging from vandalism and vague threats, to at least one physical attack.  It seems like all age groups are in on the action, from adults, to college students, to second-graders.  Many are not happy with an African-American president.

There have been “hundreds” of incidents since the election, many more than usual, said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate crimes.

Here are some of the reported incidents, to read the article in it’s entirety click here.

_Four North Carolina State University students admitted writing anti-Obama comments in a tunnel designated for free speech expression, including one that said: “Let’s shoot that (N-word) in the head.” Obama has received more threats than any other president-elect, authorities say.

_At Standish, Maine, a sign inside the Oak Hill General Store read: “Osama Obama Shotgun Pool.” Customers could sign up to bet $1 on a date when Obama would be killed. “Stabbing, shooting, roadside bombs, they all count,” the sign said. At the bottom of the marker board was written “Let’s hope someone wins.”

_Racist graffiti was found in places including New York’s Long Island, where two dozen cars were spray-painted; Kilgore, Texas, where the local high school and skate park were defaced; and the Los Angeles area, where swastikas, racial slurs and “Go Back To Africa” were spray painted on sidewalks, houses and cars.

_Second- and third-grade students on a school bus in Rexburg, Idaho, chanted “assassinate Obama,” a district official said.

_University of Alabama professor Marsha L. Houston said a poster of the Obama family was ripped off her office door. A replacement poster was defaced with a death threat and a racial slur. “It seems the election brought the racist rats out of the woodwork,” Houston said.

_Black figures were hanged by nooses from trees on Mount Desert Island, Maine, the Bangor Daily News reported. The president of Baylor University in Waco, Texas said a rope found hanging from a campus tree was apparently an abandoned swing and not a noose.

_Crosses were burned in yards of Obama supporters in Hardwick, N.J., and Apolacan Township, Pa.

_A black teenager in New York City said he was attacked with a bat on election night by four white men who shouted ‘Obama.’

_In the Pittsburgh suburb of Forest Hills, a black man said he found a note with a racial slur on his car windshield, saying “now that you voted for Obama, just watch out for your house.”

Is racism in this country something that will always exist, regardless of what progress we seem to be making?  Will it ever be defeated?  Or is it like a bad seed, that once planted in the subconscious of this nation, no matter how hard it is suppressed, eventually it will rear it’s ugly head?

Some are wondering if this wave of hate has been incited by the dirty campaign run by the Republicans.  Specifically, the Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

According to Secret Service agents, Palin’s repeated questioning of Obama’s patriotism sparked off the death threats from white supremacists.

According to The Telegraph of London, Palin attracted criticism for accusing Obama of “palling around with terrorists”, citing his association with the 1960s radical William Ayers.

In this article from The Standard Online:

The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling “terrorist” and “kill him” at Obama until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.

But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further.

The Secret Service warned the Obama family last month that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Palin’s attacks.

Intelligence analysts Stratfor have already warned that Obama is a high-risk target for racist gunmen.

“Two plots to assassinate Obama were broken up during the campaign season, and several more remain under investigation. We would expect federal authorities to uncover many more plots to attack the president that have been hatched by white supremacist ideologues,” it said.

Maybe the hatred was already there, maybe Obama’s win would have had the same consequences even if Palin had played a clean game.  But I don’t doubt that she came along and stoked the fires of hatred with vitriol and slander.

In October I wrote a post about my fears of a Sarah Palin Vice-Presidency, I referred to her as an arch-enemy of peace.  I am afraid this is her legacy, to us in the lower 48.

A school building in the hills of Haiti’s capital has collapsed killing at least seven people and injuring many more, according to a report from CNN.

Aid workers fear that the death toll could rise.

It was a typical school day at the school in Petionville, near Port-au-Prince.  There could be as many as 700 students in the building.  The students range from ages 10 to 20, but there could be younger ones as well.

At about 10:00am this morning, the second story of the three-story building collapsed, bringing down the building with children inside.

“Michaele Gédéon, president of Haiti’s Red Cross, said she heard the voices of distraught children as rescuers tried to calm them down while she was on the phone attempting to coordinate emergency rescue efforts.

“On the phone you can hear so many children, you know, crying, crying and saying, ‘This one is dead, that one is dead,’ ” Gédéon said.

Claudon said hundreds of bystanders and rescue workers were digging through the rubble. But he said, “What we need right now is heavy search-and-rescue equipment.”

Survivors have been extricated, officials said.

Along with the Red Cross and bystanders, government, medical and humanitarian groups and U.N. and U.S. officials are helping”

The cause for the collapse is yet unknown.  Most of the students came from the surrounding shantytown.

Haiti has been hit by several natural disasters over the past few months.  In this already impoverished nation, tropical storms have wiped out food crops, damaged irrigation systems and pumping stations, raising the spectre of acute hunger for millions.

I found this on the Huffington Post and I think it is one of the coolest things I’ve seen.  Check out the videos and watch the artists at work.  There’s something touching about an art made entirely of pollution.  I don’t know why but I really love this.  It’s kind od random but I hope you enjoy.

I’ve always believed that art serves as another form of communication, like any other language.  A work of art can produce feelings of anger or pain, or feelings of joy and peace, and anything in between.  Art is a language that speaks directly to the soul.  And so much can be expressed through visual images, as with music and words.  Just like Pablo Picasso’s Guernica is a reminder of the horrors of war, art for the promotion of peace can be just as moving, and even healing.  Which is what this world needs right now.

I was inspired by these two bloggers recently, when I was pondering the question of how to begin to get people inspired to be peace-conscious.  A Peace of… is a really cool blog where artists can contribute images of their work for an on-going on-line exhibit of art inspired for peace.  So far, the work I’ve seen, which also includes some poetry, is very thought-provoking and beautiful.  This is worth checking out.

Another blog I found is called the Hill Billy Artist, this artist is creating a work of art a day centered around the topic of peace.  The art is whimsical and fun, and each piece has accompanying commentary from the artist.  I especially love the “peace hero” dolls of Gandhi and Jesus.

It’s amazing to see people from all over, finding the inspiration and drive to remind us of the importance of peace.  And it’s refreshing to see artwork that goes beyond the superficial, and straight to the depths of the soul of the world.

Never have I been so afraid.

At the mere mention of Sarah Palin’s name I start to panic.   You see, the passion that this woman has ignited in this nation is astronomical in proportion.  From those who whole-heartedly defend and support her to those who oppose her views and her candidacy for Vice Presidency, it is what’s fuelling this election.  No matter which way you cut it, there is a lot of hate going on.

And that is where I see the biggest problem: Sarah Palin inspires hate.

Sarah Palin has single-handedly revived the hate culture of this nation, which even President Bush wasn’t able to do, even accidentally, though he was close.

The thing is that it’s not just her foreign policy we should be worried about in this country, but it’s her fundamental beliefs about life.  Being pro-life does not equate to being PRO-LIFE, as in for those who are already alive.  Part of what makes Sarah Palin popular among many Americans is her stance on abortion rights and war.  Both very delicate matters that require more than hair-trigger reactions and sound bites.  These issues demand careful analysis and a deep understanding in order for her to make informed decisions, should she were to become the commander in chief.

Those are legitimate issues for which she should be scrutinized, without a doubt.  Especially since she has demonstrated a lack of even basic understanding of the superficial facts related to them. But what really scares me is that we are already getting a taste of what she has to offer, IF she were to be elected as Vice-President.

The hate-mongering in which she has been participating the last few days of the election campaign are trully alarming.  Sarah Palin is capable of spewing lies and hate, unsubstantiated claims about her opponents, and those who don’t agree with her.

Mrs. Palin, equating herself to a pit bull, is a dangerous thing.  Take for instance at a political rally where she was recently campaigning, she referred to Sen. Barrack Obama as a terrorist.  One of her supporters in the audience yelled out:  “Kill him!”  Surprisingly, Sarah Palin displayed no contempt for such a crude outburst of hate.  She seemed satisfied by the hate that she ignited in her followers. It is never a good thing for a political leader to condonethe blind contempt some of her supporters display.

Hate leads to violence.  Isn’t that what we are dealing with today with the terrorists.  These are people who promote a hate of the US so intensely as to kill and destroy with no discrimination.  Sarah Palin is engaging in a similar tactic with a fellow American because he is her competition.  What does this say about her?  Should we not be afraid?

Maybe we shouldn’t be afraid, as the polls show that she and John McCain are behind in numbers, but it is still a thought that keeps me up at night.  The idea that our Earth will be plundered for the rich to line their pockets, that my reproductive rights be taken away because of a Christian zealot, and the idea that an uneducated, uninformed, emotionally charged administration has any access to nuclear weapons…well, yes, I am afraid.

The Middel East is rife with conflict and violence, but there are rumors of peace talks in Israel.  What would these negotiations entail, and would they really be effective.  What we know is that there are a lot of thougts on the subject.  Check out these stories for a little clarification.

Israels’s Nonsensical Rush to Peace by Barry Rubin

Olmert: Israel Must Withdraw from West Bank by Matti Freidman

Olmert Resigns, But Peace Process Trudges on with Livni by Mitchell Bard

Peace is not the product of terror or fear.
Peace is not the silence of cemeteries.
Peace is not the silent revolt of violent repression.
Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution
of all to the good of all.
Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity.
It is right and it is duty.

– Bishop Oscar Romero (1917-1980)

Here are some words to remember as International Peace Day approaches.  This quotes comes from Bishop Romero who was assasinated by the Salvadoran military for wanting to spread the word of peace in a country that had none.

“The essence of love and compassion is understanding, the ability to recognize the physical, material, and psychological suffering of others, to put ourselves “inside the skin” of the other. We “go inside” their body, feelings, and mental formations, and witness for ourselves their suffering. Shallow observation as an outsider is not enough to see their suffering. We must become one with the subject of our observation. When we are in contact with another’s suffering, a feeling of compassion is born in us. Compassion means, literally, “to suffer with.”"

-Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk

Here are some beautiful words to meditate about as you go about your daily lives. It’s a simple, yet profound truth that needs to be put into practice by more people.

If only our world leaders could put into action what these simple words are saying.

Mark your calendars peace-lovers, International Day of Peace, or Peace Day, is this September 21st. For those of you who don’t know, Peace Day was established as a way to give individuals and organizations a voice for the promotion of peace around the world.

Peace Day is in it’s 25th year and still growing. The world is in so much turmoil and Peace Day is a reminder to our government leaders that we want peace in the world. People need to become aware that the world we are being sold is not the absolute truth, change can come about, but everyone has to be involved! You don’t have to stage a sit-in or march the streets to celebrate Peace Day. Anyone can light a candle and meditate about the meaning of peace.

Check out the International Day of Peace website for more info.

The elimination of poverty could lead to world peace. At least that is what some people believe. But are the problems facing humanity today as simple as that? Not that poverty is a simple problem, but with one problem tackled is the question of world peace solved?

Maybe not, but poverty-stricken countries are a breeding ground for extremism, so says a new report about the lack of foreign aide to impoverished nations. Check out this in-depth story about how money, or lack there of can have a domino effect in nations where poverty along with social injustice can lead to oppressive government action, and the formation of extremist groups.

It seems like a hopeless task to achieve peace on this planet. Our governments seem to be missing the point about what needs to be done in order for the senseless killing to end. Here’s an organization that has been dedicated to the peace movement for 50 years. It’s nice to know there’s still people out there ready for the biggest challenge facing our species.