Uganda: The Challenge of Forgiveness

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There’s no such thing as instant forgiveness or easy grace, but there are super-human efforts underway in some of the most hopeless situations. The deliberate and intentional commitment to forgiveness in Uganda is beyond my comprehension.

On April 20, Daniel Philpott, Associate Professor of Political Science and Peace Studies at Notre Dame and Fetzer Advisor, sat down to discuss “Uganda: The Challenge of Forgiveness” with Fox News correspondent Jonathan Hunt. Watch their compelling discussion here.

Please share this with your friends, and Leave a Reply here.

Former Backers Of California Death Penalty Now Advocate Its Abolition

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Re-thinking mandatory sentencing and the death penalty proceeds across the U.S., as states face prison overcrowding and unsustainable costs of incarceration.

On April 7, the New York Times ran a front-page story about how key backers of the 1978 initiative that expanded the death penalty in California, including Sacramento attorney Donald Heller, now support a November 2012 initiative to abolish capital punishment in that state.  (Blogger John Balazs, an attorney in Sacramento, California, specializing in criminal defense, commented on the legislators’ change of heart at the Eastern District of California Blog.)

Former advocate of expanded death penalty, Ron Briggs has changed his mind.

Ron Briggs rethinks the 1978 move to expand the death penalty in California.

The 1978 campaign to expand the California Death Penalty was run by Ron Briggs, today a farmer and Republican member of the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors.  It was championed by his father, John V. Briggs, a state senator at the time, and written by Donald J. Heller, a former prosecutor in the New York district attorney’s office who had moved to Sacramento.

(Many teachers and supporters of LGBT rights will recognize John V. Briggs’ name in connection with the infamously homophobic 1978 Briggs Initiative —  Proposition 6 — which would have banned gays and lesbians, and possibly anyone who supported gay rights, from working in California’s public schools.  Opposed by then Gov. Ronald Reagan, “Prop 6” was not passed. It is notable that politicians as diverse as Reagan, Gerald Ford, and (at the end of the campaign) then-president Jimmy Carter all opposed the initiative.)

Former California Senator John V. Briggs reconsiders his support of expanded death penalty.

Former California Senator John V. Briggs, who also supported the state's infamous anti-gay "Prop. 6," reconsiders his 1978 support for expanding the death penalty.

Thirty-four years later, another initiative is going on the California ballot, this time to repeal the death penalty and replace it with mandatory life without parole. Two of its biggest advocates are Ron Briggs and Donald Heller, who are trying to reverse what they have come to view as one of the biggest mistakes of their lives.

Partly, they changed their minds for moral reasons. But they also have a political argument to make:

“At the time, we were of the impression that it would do swift justice, that it would get the criminals and murderers through the system quickly and apply them the death penalty,” Mr. Briggs, now 54, said over tea in the kitchen at his 100-acre farm in this Gold Rush town, where he grows potatoes, peppers, melons, cherries and (unsuccessfully, so far) black Périgord truffles.

“But it’s not working,” he said. “My dad always says, admit the obvious. We started with 300 on death row when we did Prop 7, and we now have over 720 — and it’s cost us $4 billion. I tell my Republican friends, ‘Close your eyes for a moment. If there was a state program that was costing $185 million a year and only gave the money to lawyers and criminals, what would you do with it?’ ”

“It’s been a colossal failure,” Mr. Heller said in his Sacramento office. “The cost of our system of capital punishment is so enormous that any benefit that could be obtained from it — and now I think there’s very little or zero benefit — is so dollar-wasteful that it serves no effective purpose.”

A free book on bringing Restorative Justice to schools, just for helping Fairnessworks grow. Read on…

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You may win a free, autographed copy of this book about Restorative Justice by Jeannette Holtham.

Here is a Thank You to subscribers to Fairnessworks, and a Welcome to new subscribers.

Starting today, April 4, Fairnessworks.com offers you a very high chance to win a FREE copy of this book, autographed by the author, Jeannette Holtham.  (We offer special thanks to Ms. Holtham for her contributions in support of Fairnessworks.com.)

Current subscribers may also win a $25 gift card for amazon.com.  Please read on.

Refer a new subscriber to fairnessworks.p1r8.net and get a chance to win an Amazon.com gift card.

Subscribers would get a chance to win a $25 Amazon.com gift card just for referring a new subscriber or "liking" our fan page on Facebook.

Subscribers, motivate a friend to sign up as a new subscriber by May 1, 2012, and gain TWO chances to win special “Thank You” gifts.  So, please, keep on reading.

If you are one of the next 10 new subscribers to sign up by May 1, 2012, you may win an autographed book, signed by  Jeannette Holtham.

OR, if you are a current subscriber who refers someone new, who then subscribes to Fairnessworks.com by May 1, 2012, you will be entered into TWO drawings.   You may win a FREE copy of Taking Restorative Justice to Schools:  A Doorway to Discipline, autographed by the author, a guest blogger at Fairnessworks.com.  AND, you may win a $25 gift card for amazon.com.

Jeannette Holtham, a Fairnessworks guest blogger, donated an autographed copy of her book. One of our readers could win the book in a drawing.

For new subscribers, simply provide your email address in the SUBSCRIBE panel at the top-right corner of my blog page.  I’ll immediately add your email address into the drawing for Jeannette Holtham’s autographed book.

For current subscribers, whose referrals subscribe by May 1, 2012, your name will be entered into a SECOND drawing for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from amazon.com.  For each new subscriber you refer (who subscribes to Fairnessworks by May 1)  your name will be entered into the drawing for an amazon.com $25 gift certificate, just as soon as your referral confirms his/her subscription by May 1, 2012.
Here’s what to do:

For current subscribers, go to Leave a Reply (right below this post), including your own email address and the name and email address of the person you invited to subscribe.  (This information will NOT be posted.  I must review every comment and approve it before it is published.  I will NOT post any information about you or your referral.  I WILL send you a private email acknowledgement.)  When the person you refer actually subscribes to Fairnessworks.com (by May 1, 2012), I will add your name to the drawing, along with the name of the new subscriber. [pullquote]‘… a practical resource for those wanting to rethink their approach to wrongdoing and conflicts in schools…’ — Howard Zehr, renowned RJ pioneer.[/pullquote]

There is one more way to win.

If you are a Facebook member, visit www.facebook.com/fairnessworks and “like” the page.  If you immediately tell me you “liked” the Facebook fairnessworks page by sending me a message at Leave a Reply at the main www.fairnessworks.com blog site, you will be entered a second time into the drawing for a $25 gift card from amazon.com.

Why is Fairnessworks doing this?

We value your readership and would like to be more than a voice crying in the wilderness. These offers demonstrate our commitment to reaching a steadily increasing number of readers interested in peacemaking and Restorative Justice.

This is a Thank You to current subscribers to Fairnessworks, and a Welcome to new subscribers.

‘Bully’ premieres in NY and LA this weekend…an unabashed request that you spread the word

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Documentary "Bully" premieres in NYC and LA

"Bully" premieres in NYC and LA this weekend. Please help spread the word to make the grand opening a success.

At long last, Bully premieres this weekend in New York and Los Angeles, although the producers’ dispute with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) over its rating of the documentary has not been resolved.

Fairnessworks has been covering the documentary, Bully, for many months.

Here is an appeal from Lee Hirsch, director and producer of the Bully Project.  Contact all your friends in NYC and LA and urge them to make the premier a success:

Struggles over ratings of the documentary have not been resolved.  Lee Hirsh and his supporters have been pleading with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)  to give the documentary a PG-13 rating, so the people whse lives have been most affected by a bully can get in to see it on their own, without parental permission or presence.  So far, MPAA has only been willing to declare it “Unrated.”

Here is the appeal from Lee Hirsch.  Please forward this posting to social media (Facebook, Twitter, Digg and LinkedIn) and help build a large audience for this powerful documentary.  With a nationwide rollout coming quickly, the rating issue presents a serious impediment to the documentary in reaching its target demographic.

From the producer and director:

“When I began work on Bully, the documentary film confronting the bullying crisis in America, I never imagined it would start a movement as big as this.

This week alone, millions of people across the globe connected over the film’s anti-bullying message, and thousands more signed the pledge to stand up for the 13 million kids who are bullied each year in the U.S.

Now the film faces a critical opening weekend in LA and New York City. Will you help make the film’s opening a huge success by spreading the word to everyone you know?

Please take action here:  http://action.thebullyproject.com/spread-the-word

The film has become a challenge to the status quo and given voice to those who struggle with bullying every day. But we need to make sure the film reaches the kids and communities who need to see it the most. This is your chance to act.
Bully opens in New York and LA today — Friday, March 30 — so we need you to act now and make sure everyone you know in those cities goes to see it…
You can also read and share articles about the film and find out when it will come to your city.  I hope you will help us by using this powerful resource to get others involved. This film means so much to me — thank you for your support.
Lee Hirsch
Director/Producer
The Bully Project”

 

Here is the trailer for the documentary:

 

Gun-lovers at Starbucks boycott: ‘Stand your grounds’

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What? People are packing at Starbucks?  Who knew?  You mean, the nervous, close-talking guy behind me in line for his third grande-whatever wasn’t just glad to see me, he was actually carrying a gun in his pocket?

Somehow I missed the Valentine’s Day launch of a Starbucks boycott protesting pistol-packing patrons.  I usually start my days on MSNBC watching Morning Joe, which used to be “Brewed by Starbucks”, with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist and a cast of Starbucks-caffeinated politics junkies. If Mika had tried to mention the Starbucks boycott and was, as usual, drowned out by former Gingrich Congressman, Redneck Riviera Frat Boy Joe Scarborough, it had escaped my notice.  Maybe I was too busy being irritated with Joe.

Boycott of Starbucks allowing customers to carry concealed weapons in their stores

The Starbucks boycott offers stickers for storefront windows, identifying the location as a "Gun Free Zone." See end of posting below.

News of the boycott arrived via snail last week. It came in a renewal reminder from the Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF), and it included a nifty storefront sticker (pictured at left), “Gun Free Zone,” for me to share with my local small business.  [Transparency Disclaimer: I have been a supporting member of this organization for the past two years.]

Amid the speculative torrent of vigilante justice stories about George Zimmerman and his alleged victim, Trayvon Martin, I admit to an elevated level of interest in our nation’s patchwork quilt of gun laws.  Florida’s so-called “Stand your ground” law has been especially troubling to me, in light of the 911 recording and the dispatcher’s instructions to Zimmerman that he not continue his pursuit of the young African-American man wearing the hoodie.

But a boycott of Starbucks over their acceptance of “concealed carry”?  No way.  I have a family member who manages a Starbucks in San Diego.  Could it be?  Is she and her staff unknowingly serving caffeine to gun-hiding patrons?  Say it ain’t so, Morning Joe.

Imagine how clueless I felt as I read the EPF renewal letter:

“While states have rightfully forbidden weapons inside taverns for decades, Starbucks is alone among major retail outlets in allowing customers to bring their gun(s) – open or concealed – into its coffee shops,” said the Rev. Jackie Lynn, executive director, in the Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF) press release.  She continues:

“We know guns and alcohol don’t mix. Why allow guns and caffeine? We stand with the National Gun Victims Action Council, the Fellowship of Reconciliation and many other groups working to reduce gun violence in the United States,” (the EPF) Rev. Lynn added.

 

According to EPF’s Bob Kinney (bob.kinney@gmail.com), “Despite numerous pleas to ban weapons in Starbucks, the iconic Seattle-based coffee giant upholds the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) pro-gun agenda, which was stymied most recently by a conservative U.S. federal judge in the Northern Panhandle of Texas.”

Yes, improbable as it may seen, even the Texas U.S. District Court Judge Sam Cummings – who, according to Texas Civil Rights Project director James Harrington, is one of the most conservative judges in the state of Texas – ruled against the request of three NRA-backed Texas minors to get a concealed weapon license even though the plaintiffs were under 21-years-old.

When the boycott was launched, supporters of the right to carry guns in public organized and went to Starbucks locations to support the coffee company’s pro-gun policies.  According to a report in the Los Angeles Times:

‘Those who prefer to drink their lattes packing protection on their hip turned out at Starbucks across the country on the first day of a “buycott” organized by gun owners — countering the Starbucks boycott called this week by the National Gun Victims Action Council.’

 

The likelihood of the conflict going away after a little time seems low, according to supporters of the boycott at EPF:  ”The multi-faith and secular boycott will continue until Starbucks forbids weapons in their coffee shops, noted now for a mellow ambiance within a favorite meet-up spot, and casual web-surfing without the fear of saying the wrong thing to someone packing a Glock pistol who is at a neighboring table and finishing her third espresso, the Rev. Lynn said.”

I’ll acknowledge, I’m a little ambivalent about boycotting a family member’s current source of income, but I am certain I don’t want her co-workers to be at risk for a java-jiving customer.  As I picture that customer, the lyrics of Paul Simon’s “My Little Town” come to mind, “Twitching like a finger on the trigger of a gun.”

As I boycott this coffee giant, I will spend a few minutes writing to the company, to explain why.  Maybe a few more messages from customers will change their decision.

Window stickers supporting a “Gun Free Zone” are available at EPFNational.org.  Donations are welcome, too, for their Starbucks boycott and for many other global peace initiatives.

Gun Free Zone side 2

Gun Free Zone window sticker backside.

 

 

Camp David Accords, signed 33 years ago by Israel and Egypt, now seem like a quaint memory

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Carter-Sadat-Begin-Camp-David-Accords

President Jimmy Carter (center), Egyptian Prime Minister Anwar Sadat (left) and Israeli PM Menachem Begin (right) sign Camp David Accords at White House on March 26, 1979.

Today, they’re a distant memory — Middle East peace talks, sort of quaint.  On March 26, 1979, 33 years ago, Israel and Egypt signed a Peace Accord at Camp David, Maryland, at meetings convened and actively conducted by then President Jimmy Carter.

Earlier, on September 17, 1978, Israel and Egypt had signed two agreements, the first between Israel and any of its Arab neighbours. The Camp David Accords were negotiated by the Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat under the mediation of U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the government retreat at Camp David, Maryland.

The documentary below is not a polished mainstream network production, but an example of a Texas student’s history fair submission.  (Seat-of-the-pants peacemaker.)

The peace treaty that Israel and Egypt eventually signed on March 26, 1979 closely reflected the earlier agreements hammered out as the Camp David Accords in September of the preceding year at the presidential retreat in Maryland.

Egypt and Israel had technically been at war since Israel’s founding in 1948, and Israel had occupied the Sinai Peninsula (Egyptian territory) during the Six-Day War of 1967.  War had again broken out in 1973 on the Jewish Holy Day of Yom Kipur.  The Accords had their origin in Sadat’s unprecedented visit to Jerusalem — the first visit ever by the chief of state of an Arab nation to Israel –on November 19 through 21, 1977, to address the Israeli government and Knesset (parliament) on the subject of peace.

The treaty formally ended the state of war that existed between the two countries, and Israel agreed to withdraw troops from the Sinai Peninsula in stages. The treaty also provided for the establishment of normal diplomatic relations between the two countries. These provisions were duly carried out, but Israel failed to implement the provisions calling for Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza areas.  The conflict involving these territories continues to this day.

Menachem Begin’s decision to participate in the historic peace process was largely unexpected.  As Israel’s first elected right-wing prime minister, he was hawkish in his views toward Egypt and Israel’s other Arab neighbors.  His decision brought him the contempt of his conservative constituency.

Anwar Sadat was later assassinated by fundamentalist army officers on October 6, 1981. His risks for peace cost him his life.

In the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt, the foundation of the Camp David Accords was placed in jeopardy.
[amazon_enhanced asin="0788425153" /]
Egyptian public anger towards the Jewish state mounted after Israeli troops, in pursuit of suspected militants, inadvertently shot dead five Egyptian border guards, leading to a riot on September 9, 2011 at the Israeli embassy in Cairo.

In mid-September 2011, the new Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf suggested that the 32-year treaty could be revised, which prompted disbelief in the Israel.

“The Camp David agreement is not a sacred thing and is always open to discussion with what would benefit the region and the case of fair peace,” Sharaf told Turkish television. “We could make a change if needed.”

In light of the dramatic changes in much of the Arab world, and the reluctance of the U.S. to put its reputation on the line by risking a new round of failed peace talks, the anniversary of the Camp David Accords seems like a quaint memory from long ago.

[pullquote]‘The last thing President Barack Obama, or his possible Republican replacement, would want is yet another costly military engagement in the region.’[/pullquote]Added to that, the current 2012 presidential campaign in the U.S., dominated by candidates’ attempts to outdo one another in their support for Israel, raises questions about the ability of the U.S. to serve as an honest broker.  Current discussions are more focused on preventing Iran from developing its nuclear capacity, and on preventing Israel from launching a pre-emptive strike against Iran, or on weighing the global repercussions of such an attack by Israel.  Efforts to negotiate Palestinian autonomy or an end to new Israeli settlements on disputed territories have taken a low place on the agenda.

The nature of American influence in the Middle East has significantly changed since the late 1970s.  Several of the repressive regimes the U.S. supported have been toppled since the Arab Spring, and the newly emerging governments are not as amenable to American influence. A new round of Camp David talks may not be practical or appropriate, but the U.S. still has a great interest in seeking peaceful relations in the region.  The last thing President Barack Obama, or his possible Republican replacement, would want is yet another costly military engagement in the region.

Where will the next peacebuilders emerge?

Next year in Paris? Amman, Jordan? Doha, Qatar? Jerusalem or Cairo?

Please share  your thoughts in the Comments section below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Rwanda genocide, Women’s Opportunity Center will help survivors in a sustainable environment

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Saron Davis Design's sustainable Women's Opportunity Center in Rwanda

Rwanda's Women's Opportunity Center will feature a sustainable structure by Sharon Davis Design.

The Women’s Opportunity Center in Kayonza, Rwanda, will not be a place for victims, but for survivors, writes Benita Hussain in her report to the GOOD Foundation.  When the facility opens in 2013, it will train women who lived through the Rwanda genocide of 1994  to help rebuild their country, literally brick by brick.

[pullquote]‘…the effects of the organized massacres and sexual assaults against the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutus were especially devastating for women and girls.”[/pullquote]The project is the result of a collaboration between Washington, D.C.-based non governmental organization (NGO) Women for Women International, which aids women who have lived through wars around the world, and New York architecture firm Sharon Davis Design. Since 2008, the two groups have focused on building a community center to help educate and prepare the women of the Rwanda genocide for economic independence.

Writer Benita Hussain describes Rwanda's Women's Opportunity Center

Writer Benita Hussain

It’s a much-needed effort in Rwanda, where the effects of the organized massacres and sexual assaults against the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutus were especially devastating for women and girls. The resulting emotional trauma, unintended pregnancies, and HIV infections led to massive economic losses and financial instability, especially for those who lost their husbands and children to imprisonment, death, or militia recruitment.

Since the conflict ended, Rwanda’s democratic leadership, now led by President Paul Kagame, has mandated 30 percent female representation in government and has been outspoken about the need to empower women as part of Rwanda’s reconciliation efforts. That mission inspired the creation of the Women’s Opportunity Center, conceived as a sustainable space for vocational and agricultural training that will be built by local women survivors of the Rwanda genocide as part of the educational process. The design won 2nd place among planned projects and 1st place in the education subcategory in last November’s World Architecture Festival.

“We approached the design of the project to be an educational tool in itself,” says project manager Bruce Engel. “For example, water scarcity is a huge issue, but no one collects rain. Designing some of the roofs in the shape of big leaves that collect rainwater was meant to express this idea, to teach it.”

The hopeful story of survivival of the Rwanda genocide emerges at a moment when social media are still aflame with stories about Ugandan Joseph Kony and an historic web-based “Make Joseph Kony Famous” campaign to apprehend the infamous 1990s child abductor and mass murderer, who now hides out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Unfortunately, the Joseph Kony viral video has drawn far more global attention than less dramatic efforts, such as the ongoing recovery and forgiveness successes in Uganda.

Also occurring outside the global spotlight is the fact that the holistic, survival-oriented women’s center in Kayonza, Rwanda will also include earth-friendly designs such as a water purification and filtration system, compost toilets, and a demonstration farm that will produce food and animal waste for methane-based biogas—an imperative considering the region’s over-harvesting of timber for fuel.  This project embodies empowerment of women, sustainable practices and recovery from horrific abuses.