Interrconnecting Peace Traditions: Blue Vigil in Solidarity with Okinawa on April 25 after Peace & Planet Event • Relaunch of The Golden Rule, a Quaker sailboat that protested US nuclear test bombing of the Marshall Islands in 1958

Blue Vigil in Solidarity with Okinawa in NYC on the coldest day of 2015.

(Photo: Blue Vigil in Solidarity with Okinawa in NYC)

Via our good friends, Blue Vigil in Solidarity with Okinawa in NYC:

With Reverend Kamoshita who has been praying in Henoko and Takae, we will have our monthly peace vigil for Okinawa! Please come and join after the Peace and Planet event.

The Okinawa vigil is part of supporting events  for the Peace and Planet Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just, and Sustainable World gathering in the NY this weekend, April 24-26. The focus of the gathering at Cooper Union in Lower Manhattan is to discuss how to encourage their governments more effectively for nuclear disarmament. Okinawan peace activists and global hibakusha (nuclear bomb and nuclear test bomb survivors) from Japan, Korea, Australia, and the Marshall Islands will participate.

Jun-san Yasuda and Peace Walkers. 

They walked from San Francisco to NYC for the Peace and Planet event. 

(Photo: Wabi Sabi: One earth, one sky, entirely at peace)

The Peace and Planet event precedes the ninth Nuclear Non Proliferation Review Conference which meets at the UN every 5 years. More than180 nations ratified the NPT 40 years ago, including the US, Russia, France, Great Britain and China, all nuclear states.  Article 6 of the treaty called for nuclear states to begin good faith negotiations toward the complete abolition of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately the nuclear states of Israel, North Korea, India and Pakistan have refused to the NPT.

While NPT member nuclear states have made some progress in reducing the number nuclear warheads, they [notably President Obama, as demonstrated in his 2009 Prague speech] have strengthened their commitment to "nuclear deterrence" as the cornerstone of their respective foreign policy platforms, and have turned their focus to developing a "new generation" of  "smarter" and more powerful nuclear bombs. Moreover, despite overwhelming evidence of causation of birth defects and cancers, the US government has increased the testing and use of radioactive depleted uranium weapons worldwide.

This Nuclear-Free Movement is now a 70-year old global peace tradition. For decades, downwinder survivors of nuclear test bombing began joining Japanese survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, global atomic soldiers, indigenous peoples whose lands are used for uranium mining,  nuclear test bombing, and nuclear waste storage, together in dialogue and psychological healing.  They have witnessed together at the Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the Nevada nuclear bomb test site, the former USSR nuclear bomb test site at Kazakhstan, the Marshall Islands.  Although the struggle to abolish nuclear weapons started as a one-issue campaign, the movement is increasingly integrating at the global level with overlapping peace, environmentalist, indigenous, women's, and faith-based movements.

Albert Bigelow; Bert Bigelow; architect, former Navy commander, and Quaker, 

who sailed the ketch Golden Rule into the U.S. nuclear bomb test site

 in the Marshall Islands in 1958. This act of civil disobedience resulted 

in the arrest of Bigelow and his shipmates and their imprisonment in Honolulu. 

(Photo: Swarthmore Archives)

This year, at Peace and Planet, Ann Wright, a supporter of the Okinawa Movement, will tell the story of The Golden Rule, a crew of 4 Quakers in a 38-foot sailboat who attempted to sail from Hawaii to stop U.S. nuclear test bombing of the Marshall Islands in 1958. The U.S. Coast Guard jailed the crew twice to stop them. The Golden Rule inspired the formation of Greenpeace International, a longtime NGO supporter of Okinawa, which used boats to attempt to stop nuclear test bombing in the Pacific.

The Golden Rule was renovated by chapters of Veterans for Peace, another NGO supporter of Okinawa, in northern California. She will be launched on April 22, 2015 in Humboldt Bay, CA and sailed down the coast of California to arrive in early August in San Diego for the national Veterans for Peace conference.

Global Hibakusha will lead a workshop at the NY event at Cooper Union Great Hall on April 25. Participants include Japan Council Against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo): Japanese Hibakusha; Shim Jin Tae (Korean A-bomb survivor); Peter Watts (aboriginal nuclear test victim, Australia); Abacca Anjain-Maddison (Marshall Islands); Manny Pino (Acoma-Laguna Coalition for a Safe Environment). Their testimonies reveal and illuminate the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons.  The over 2,000  nuclear test  bombings worldwide have devastated indigenous peoples and their ancestral homelands in the American Southwest, the Asia-Pacific,  Xinjiang,  China,  and Kazakhstan.  This personal level of understanding  is now recognized and discussed in the mainstream debate on nuclear weapons.

The late Western Shoshone leader Corbin Harney

praying at the Nevada Test Site on January 1, 2007.

The nuclear bomb test site was located on sacred indigenous grounds. 

NYC: Potluck dinner with Peace Walkers for a Nuclear-Free Future on April 24 • Global Hibakusha Workshop @Peace & Planet Mobilization for a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just, & Sustainable World - April 24-26. 2015

POTLUCK DINNER WITH PEACE WALKERS 

FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE FUTURE

Jun‐san Yasuda and other Peace Walkers are completing their 500-mile walk from nuclear laboratories and uranium mines to reactors across the country uniting activists who are affected on all phases of the nuclear chain.

Join them with their urgent prayer to the United Nations where the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty Review Conference is scheduled.

Let’s meet Peace Pilgrims and think about how we can create Peace from here.

Date and Time: Friday, April 24  - 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Place: Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 1576 Palisade Ave. Fort Lee, NJ 07024

For more info, please see visit the FB page of ABLE, a human rights, environmental, and peace advocacy organization:

Guri Mehta's post, "One Earth, One Sky, entirely at peace" is a great description of Jun-san and the 2015 walk:

Jun-san Yasuda

(Photo: Guri Mehta: One Earth, One Sky, entirely at peace)

Jun-san Yasuda is a member of the Nipponzan Myohoji, an order whose mission is to walk and pray for peace.  Guri Mehta's One Earth, One Sky, entirely at peace)  post at her Wabi-Sabi blog is a great description of the Engaged Buddhist nun and the 2015 Peace Walk:

 Jun-san Yasuda, the fearless leader of this initiative is a 66-year-old Japanese Buddhist nun. She is about 4-foot-11 inches, 100 pounds, and nothing short of a force of nature. She has walked cross-country three times.

 As we pass the Aztec dancers, who were dancing on the street for another event, she ran over and joined them in the dance. Her energy rivals that of a teenager...the elder from the Aztec group came forward with white sage incense, and blessed every-single-one-of-the-walkers before we moved on. There’s something stirring about an elder from one tribe, embracing another from a completely different tradition, who lives half-way around the world from them.

Jun-san’s teacher Nichidatsu Fujii, teacher of her Buddhist order, met Gandhi in India in 1931. Fujii was greatly inspired by the meeting and decided to devote his life to promoting non-violence. In 1947, he began constructing Peace Pagodas as shrines to World peace. They were built as a symbol of peace in Japanese cities including Hiroshima and Nagasaki where the atomic bombs took the lives of over 150,000 people. By 2000, eighty Peace Pagodas had been built around the world in Europe, Asia, and the United States. They are a symbol of non-violence dating as far back as 2000 years ago, when Emperor Ashoka of India began erecting these throughout the country.

70 years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and 5 years after the Fukushima disaster, Jun-san believes that we must never let such disasters happen again. Carrying this urgent prayer, she and 23 others will walk from San Francisco to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference at the United Nations in New York City.

Many Native Americans have been present throughout these walks. And I was initially unclear on the connection, but soon realized that many nuclear power plants have historically been built on indigenous lands not just in US, but also in Canada, Australia, South and Central America, Africa, and many others. The areas are rich in uranium, which is the fuel of these power plants...Instead of focusing on other types of energy or actually reducing our own consumption, we’re heading into something that is destroying the planet.

In these times, peaceful walks like these become a symbol of people’s voice. When nuns and monks who consciously try to live peaceful lives, leave the comfort of their monasteries and hit the streets, it’s a calling to take a close look at where we might be off...

Going back to my friends understandable concern: will this walk make an impact? A group of people peacefully walking and spreading their message, made a bigger impact on me than anything I could have ever read in the news. People that are not necessarily “against” but “for.” They’re standing for peace. They’re standing for better quality of life for all of earth’s inhabitants. They’re standing for making global decisions from a space of love and not greed. They’re standing for taking responsibility for how we treat the planet. How can I not stand with those people who are doing so much on behalf of all of us? Their very existence is making as impact.

The potluck for the Peace Walkers is one of the many supporting events for the Peace and Planet Mobilization for a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just, and Sustainable World events being held in NYC (and around the world) from April 25 to 26 .

Global Hibakusha will lead a workshop at the NY event at Cooper Union Great Hall on April 25. Participants include Japan Council Against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo): Japanese Hibakusha; Shim Jin Tae (Korean A-bomb survivor); Peter Watts (aboriginal nuclear test victim, Australia); Abacca Anjain-Maddison (Marshall Islands); Manny Pino (Acoma-Laguna Coalition for a Safe Environment). Their testimonies reveal and illuminate the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons.  The 2,083 nuclear test  bombings worldwide have devastated indigenous peoples and their ancestral homelands in the American Southwest, the Asia-Pacific; the Tarim Basin in China; Kazakhstan; and India.  This personal level of consequences  is finally recognized and discussed in the mainstream debate on nuclear weapons.

Continued Witness for Peace in Jeju Island, South Korea

Around 500 people participate in a Catholic Solidarity for Peace in Jeju Island protest at the entrance to the construction site for the naval base in Gangjeong Village, Jeju Island in Seogwipo opposing the construction of the naval base, Sept. 30.  As of Oct. 10, Catholic Solidarity for Peace in Jeju Island will have held mass every day there, and announced that they will continue the daily masses as long as the construction continues.

 (Photo by Kim Tae-hyeong, staff photographer, The Hankyoreh)

Police officers carry nuns from Catholic Solidarity for Peace in Jeju Island away from a mass being held in front of the main gate to the Gangjeong Village naval base construction site in Seogwipo, Oct. 1. 

A police force staffed by young women was mobilized to move the nuns. 

(by Kim Tae-hyeong, staff photographer, The Hankyoreh)

Via Save Jeju Island

Prayer for Peace in Syria: "Let the cry for peace ring out in all the world."

Via Time.com: "WATCH LIVE: Pope Francis’s Vigil for Peace in Syria"; and Catholic World Report: "Pope Francis’ Vigil for Peace homily [Full text]"

How many conflicts, how many wars have mocked our history?  . . . Even today we raise our hand against our brother... Even today, we let ourselves be guided by idols, by selfishness, by our own interests ...We have perfected our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to justify ourselves. As if it were normal, we continue to sow destruction, pain, death! Violence and war lead only to death, they speak of death! Violence and war are the language of death!

At this point I ask myself: Is it possible to change direction? Can we get out of this spiral of sorrow and death? Can we learn once again to walk and live in the ways of peace? ...Yes, it is possible for everyone! From every corner of the world tonight, I would like to hear us cry out: Yes, it is possible for everyone! Or even better, I would like for each one of us, from the least to the greatest, including those called to govern nations, to respond: Yes, we want it!

...This evening, I ask the Lord that we Christians, and our brothers and sisters of other religions, and every man and woman of good will, cry out forcefully: violence and war are never the way to peace! Let everyone be moved to look into the depths of his or her conscience and listen to that word which says: Leave behind the self-interest that hardens your heart, overcome the indifference that makes your heart insensitive towards others, conquer your deadly reasoning, and open yourself to dialogue and reconciliation. Look upon your brother’s sorrow and do not add to it, stay your hand, rebuild the harmony that has been shattered; and all this achieved not by conflict but by encounter!

May the noise of weapons cease! War always marks the failure of peace, it is always a defeat for humanity. Let the words of Pope Paul VI resound again: “No more one against the other, no more, never! … war never again, never again war!” ...Forgiveness, dialogue, reconciliation – these are the words of peace, in beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the world! Let us pray for reconciliation and peace, let us work for reconciliation and peace, and let us all become, in every place, men and women of reconciliation and peace! Amen.

Via AP, "100K of all faiths rally to Pope's call for non-military response to Syria":

Francis spent most of the vigil in silent prayer, but during his speech he issued a heartfelt plea for peace, denouncing those who are "captivated by the idols of dominion and power" and destroy God's creation through war.

"This evening, I ask the Lord that we Christians, and our brothers and sisters of other religions and every man and woman of good will, cry out forcefully: Violence and war are never the way to peace!" he said.

"May the noise of weapons cease!" he said. "War always marks the failure of peace, it is always a defeat for humanity."

...leaders from a variety of Christian and non-Christian denominations joining cardinals, politicians and ordinary folk for the evening of prayer, hymns and meditation.

"This is already a success, the fact that all of us are here, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, atheists," a Hindu believer named Anata said. Pilgrims "made an effort to fast, not to do many things, and come here from all over Italy and Europe.

Via Waging Nonviolence, Ken Butigan of Pace e Bene, outlines the historical context of Pope Francis' appeal in "Peace on Earth lives on in Pope Francis’ call for nonviolent solutions in Syria":

John XXIII’s Pacem in Terris — Peace on Earth — was atypical in many ways, not least because it was intended not only for Roman Catholics...but to persons of good will everywhere. If peace was to be achieved, the letter implied, it naturally must be the work of everyone everywhere, and so the search for this elusive potential must include all of us. Thus the document was not weighted down with shrill dogma or theological obscurities. It was, instead, a gentle but determined plea for the world to come to its senses...

Pacem in Terris [published in 1963] was a love letter to humanity, but one that sprang, not from a sentimental naïveté or a groundless optimism, but from a profound meditation on the horrendous dangers that the Cold War in those days posed to all life, with which the pope had grappled in a direct way during the then-recent Cuban Missile Crisis...

As the historical record now shows, Pope John XXIII played a profound role in creating the conditions for an 11th hour agreement. The pope actively took part in back-channel communications, in which he agreed to deliver on Vatican Radio an urgent call for both parties to pull back from the edge. As historian Ronald J. Rychlak puts it, “With his plea, Pope John XXIII had given [Soviet Premier] Khrushchev a way out. By withdrawing now, he would be seen as a man of peace, not a coward.”

...In the spirit of the precedent of Pope John’s peacemaking during the Cuban Missile Crisis, I imagine Francis working tirelessly behind the scenes, offering his good offices to the actors on all sides of this conflict to negotiate a just and peaceful settlement.

I even dream of the pope audaciously traveling to Syria and staying put, in the spirit of spiritually grounded, nonviolent action, until this deadlock is broken and the potential for peace is established.

But I most vividly envision millions of people around the globe gathering this Saturday and beyond to say with one voice, “There are nonviolent options — let’s use them!”

We cannot predict what will transpire in the coming days. But, perhaps, the world will once again breathe a profound sigh of relief if millions of people of faith and conscience, including the pope, mobilize their spiritually-rooted people power to help create the conditions for pulling back from the brink — and for beginning to establish the foundations for a more just and nonviolent outcome.

Mairead Maguire: "The World Should Join in Call to Stop US War in Syria"

Nobel Peace Laureate and Global Article 9 supporter Mairead Maguire, is calling for the Obama administration to rethink its plan to bomb Syria and is asking people everywhere to join her  in the September 7, 2013 worldwide day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria:

I would like to add my support to Pope Francis’ appeal and pledge to pray and fast for peace on September 7th. I encourage people of all faiths and none to join that global day of fasting and prayer for peace, and to act for peace and against U.S. military intervention by the United States in Syria.

...Every act has its consequences and every violent act, like the proposed U.S. military intervention, has its violent consequences which will cause the death of further Syrian civilians and result in many more refugees.

In the last decade, the world has watched in horror as the U.S., the U.K. and NATO have used military intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and other countries. Now President Obama has promised a military intervention on Syria “with teeth.” In Iraq, we were promised military intervention with “shock and awe.” We have also been promised that he will continue to support the armed opposition in Syria (a majority of which are Jabhat al-Nusrah-Victory Front, and other such al Qaeda groups).

Such U.S. military action, which will probably involve trying to destroy the Syrian army, will leave the civilian population unprotected from the onslaught of armed opposition forces. It will embolden and strengthen the thousands of Islamic extremists from all over the world who have poured into Syria. They are financially supported and trained by some western governments, and their intent to remove the Syrian Government and kill all those who oppose them.

Their mission and aim coincides with that of the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Israel—all of whom refuse to support Geneva II and a peaceful solution to the proxy war being perpetrated for oil, resources and control.

There is still time to stop this mad rush to war. The people of America can do it. As the British people put pressure on their members of Parliament and insisted “enough is enough” and said “No to military intervention,” so too can the American people mobilize and act to stop this proposed illegal war. (Without a U.N. Security Council resolution, any U.S. government military action is illegal.)

...Together, let us fast, pray and send a clear message to President Obama, the U.S. Senate and Congress—“No war, no military attack, no support for armed opposition, no support for al-Qaeda, no bombings.”

Give peace a chance!

Read Mairead Maguire's entire statement at the Peace People.

Humanitarian Aid or "Humanitarian Bombs"?; Pope Francis initiates interfaith, global "Prayer for Peace for Syria"

Zainah Ismail lives in a tented settlement with 3 families in Lebanon. 

“We used to hear hear extremely loud sounds from bombs and firing.” 

(Photo: Luca Sola, Oxfam: Don't let Syria down: Join the call for Syria Peace Talks now)

As a result of the prolonged civil war between the Syrian government and al Qaeda-affiliated rebels, four million Syrians have fled their homes to safer parts of the country. Two million Syrians have take refuge in neighboring countries. Iraqi refugees (who left their country for Syria because of over a decade of US bombing) are now trying to return to Iraq.  However, Iraq and Turkey have set limits on the number of Syrians allowed to enter their borders.

If the Obama administration bombs Syria as "punishment", fewer Syrians will be able to escape the escalation in violence that will ensue. Many Syrian Christians say they fear becoming victims of the same kind of targeted violence that accompanied the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

At the start of Syrian conflict in March 2011, many members of Syrian minorities supported the movement for reform and more political freedoms. But the movement was hijacked by violent, radicalized members of Syria's Sunni majority and foreign jihadists (trained, armed, and paid by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France, UK and the US).   The interests funding these mercenaries want to use the rebellion to destabilize and overthrow the Assad government, for selfish aims.

 There has been no evidence hat the Syrian government was responsible for the chemical attack that took the lives of hundreds of civilians.

David Swanson, quoting a friend who works in humanitarian aid, questions how US bombing will help Syrians  in "Who the Missiles Will Hurt" at Warisacrime.org:

"Before we contemplate military strikes against the Syrian regime, we would do well to carefully consider what impact such strikes would have on our ongoing humanitarian programs...These programs currently reach hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people throughout Syria, in areas controlled both by the regime and the opposition.  We know from past military interventions, such as in Yugoslavia and Iraq, that airstrikes launched for humanitarian reasons often result in the unintended deaths of many civilians.  The destruction of roads, bridges, and other infrastructure, which such airstrikes may entail, would significantly hamper the delivery of humanitarian aid in Syria.

"The provision of this assistance in regime controlled areas requires the agreement, and in many cases the cooperation, of the Asad government.  Were the Asad regime, in response to U.S. military operations, to suspend this cooperation, and prohibit the UN and Nongovernmental Organizations from operating in territory under its control, hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians would be denied access to food, shelter, and medical care.  In such a scenario, we would be sacrificing programs of proven effectiveness in helping the people of Syria, in favor of ill considered actions that may or may not prevent the future use of chemical weapons, or otherwise contribute to U.S. objectives in any meaningful way."

In other words, the U.S. government is not just considering investing in missile strikes rather than diplomacy or actual aid, but in the process it could very well cut off what aid programs exist and have funding.  Humanitarian war grows more grotesque the more closely one examines it.

A nonviolent (and humanitarian) alternative to bombing and supporting rebel militias (largely comprised of radical Islamists and al Qaeda members, according to McClatchy and other media outlets): Call for an immediate ceasefire and the immediate ban of supplying arms to either the Syrian government or the rebels; close the borders to arms traders; remove foreign fighters from Syria; and spend the money the Obama administration would like to use for bombing on humanitarian assistance for refugees.

---

Since the end of the Second World War, Washington has bombed one third of the world in the name of "democracy", "humanitarian" interventions, and  "peace." These bombings have never achieved professed aims. Instead they have only resulted in millions of deaths and injuries of innocent civilians; cancer and genetic mutations from nuclear radiation, Agent Orange, and depleted uranium; untold destruction; heartbreak and trauma for generations. 

China 1945-1946

Korea and China 1950-53

Guatemala 1954

Indonesia 1958

Cuba 1959-1961

Guatemala 1960

Belgian Congo 1964 

Laos 1964-73

Vietnam 1961-73

Cambodia 1969-70

Artwork  in Vientiane, Laos depicting a cluster bomb discharging "bombies", submunitions

(each contain enough explosive and shrapnel to kill or injure a roomful of people).

 (Photo: "HEALING CHILD VICTIMS OF CLUSTER BOMBS",

Where the Wars Were: Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia

"For Laos, the secret war goes on." "Land of the Bomb" photo series by Andrew McConnell

Guatemala 1967-69

Grenada 1983

Lebanon 1983, 1984 

Syria, 1983, 1984

Libya 1986

El Salvador 1980s

Nicaragua 1980s

Iran 1987

Panama 1989

Iraq 1991 (Persian Gulf War)

Kuwait 1991

Somalia 1993

Bosnia 1994, 1995

Sudan 1998

Afghanistan 1998

Yugoslavia 1999

Yemen 2002

Iraq 1991-2003 (US/UK on regular basis)

Iraq 2003...

2013: Ten year anniversary of "Shock and Awe" 

The United Nations estimates that  2.2 million Iraqis have fled Iraq since 2003, 
with 100,000 fleeing to Syria and Jordan each month between 2003 and 2006.  
The civil war in Syria has forced tens of thousands of people to seek shelter in Iraq,
including Iraqi refugees who fled there after the U.S.-led invasion. 

We are dealing with a psychopathic situation. And all of us, including myself, we can’t do anything but keep being reasonable, keep saying what needs to be said. But that doesn’t seem to help the situation, because, of course, as we know, after Iraq, there’s been Libya, there’s Syria, and the rhetoric of, you know, democracy versus radical Islam. When you look at the countries that were attacked, none of them were Wahhabi Islamic fundamentalist countries. Those ones are supported, financed by the U.S., so there is a real collusion between radical Islam and capitalism. What is going on is really a different kind of battle.

And today, you have the Democrats bombing Pakistan, destroying that country, too. So, just in this last decade, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria—all these countries have been—have been shattered.

- Arundhati Roy, "Iraq War’s 10th: Bush May Be Gone, But "Psychosis" of U.S. Foreign Policy Prevails", Democracy Now

Afghanistan 2001-present

"11 Afghan Children Among Dead in Latest US/NATO Bombing: 

Civilians 'killed when an air strike hit their houses' 

(Photo: Common Dreams via Reuters, April 7, 2013)

Pakistan 2004-present

"Leaked Pakistani report confirms high civilian death toll in CIA drone strikes"

(Story and 2006 Photo: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, July 22, 2013)

Somalia, 2011

Libya 2011

Yemen 2013

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Pope Francis has called for an interfaith, non-sectarian (including non-believers) Day of Prayer for peace for Syria to be held worldwide on September 7 from 19:00 to midnight:

May the cry for peace ring out loud around the world...Never has the use of violence brought peace in its wake...

The Grand Mufti of Syria, Ahmad Badreddin Hassou, spiritual leader of the majority Sunni  in Syria is instructing his community to "welcome the appeal that the Pope extended to all religions to pray for peace" in all Syrian mosques during the Saturday vigil. 

Gregory III Laham, Melkite Greek - Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, of all the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem announced that all parishes of the Greek Melkite Church in the Middle East and around the world have  begun preparations to respond to prayer initiative." "In Syria, we will keep our churches open until midnight to allow everyone (Catholics, Orthodox and Muslims) to pray." For Gregory III , the spiritual closeness of Francis and the Church is central to all the Syrian people - Christian and Muslim - who without support are likely to lose hope. 

Save Jeju Island: Fr. Mun Jung-hyun receives prestigious Gwanju Prize for Human Rights

(Fr. Mun in yellow "Save Jeju" t-shirt accepts Gwanju Prize. Photo: vop.co.kr)

Father Mun Jung-hyun, a Catholic priest and leader in the Save Jeju Island movement, accepted the Gwanju Prize for Human Rights, an award given by the May 18 Memorial Foundation to recognize "individuals, groups or institutions in Korea & abroad that have contributed in promoting and advancing human rights, democracy & peace through their work."

The award commemorates the spirit of the May 1980 Gwangju Democratization Movement (also known as "518" for its 18 May start) during which pro-democracy citizens battled soldiers in protest of the reign of Chun Doo-hwan, ROK Army general, military dictator of South Korea from 1980 to 1988: "Gwangju received valuable help from others while undertaking the struggle to examine the truth behind the May 18 uprising, and while striving to develop true democracy. In response, we would like to give something back to those who supported our cause for peace and democracy." The prize includes $50,000.

Fr. Mun is the first Korean recipient since the establishment of the award in 2000. This may reflect the concern of many in South Korea about the deterioration of human rights, especially infringements of freedom of assembly and free speech, including press freedoms. In Jeju Island, Gangjeong villagers have been arrested for simply praying in public, for the return of the homes, farms, and community that the South Korean government seized from them, without following due process of law, to make way for a navy base. Instead of sustaining and developing the democratic society established through the Korean democracy movement of the 1980's, South Korea, under the repressive and corrupt Lee administration, is going backwards: resurrecting practices common during its period of military dictatorship.

Fr. Mun was critically injured on April 6 of this year in a fall during a struggle when a policeman tried to stop him from completing "Stations of Jeju," a variation of "Stations of the Cross," a walking devotional. Although his physicians said he would have to stay in the hospital for at least six months to heal multiple fractured spinal vertebrae, he was able to leavel after only two weeks. Immediately after his release, he visited Dr. Song Kang-Ho, a fellow clerical peace activist, in prison and the villagers and activists’ sit-in protest site in front of the Jeju Island government hall, and then returned to the village where everyone joyously welcomed him.

(Gangjeong villagers in sit-in protest at the Jeju Provincial Government office. Although banner reads "The world comes to Jeju and jeju goes to the world," the office is always closed to the Gangjeong villagers, despite Jeju being their ancestral homeland. Photo: Emily Wang)

We join human rights and democracy supporters around the world in a heartfelt congratulations to Fr. Mun, the Gangjeong villagers, and the Save Jeju Movement for this outstanding recognition of their work to further human rights and democracy,

(Supporters celebrate. Photo: Peaceberry Han at Save Jeju Island on FB)

(For more background on Gwanju and the Korean democracy movement of the 1980's, investigative journalist (one of the best on Cold War Korea and Japan) Tim Shorrock's website includes in-depth reportage.)

Buddhists, Christians, Shintoists, Rightists, Leftists, Centrists Join to Co-create Nuclear-Free Japan

(Photo: The Ehime Shimbun)
Buddhists and Christians in Japan have long collaborated on peace (Article 9), justice, and environmental issues. At the 2008 Global Article 9 conference in Tokyo, rightists and leftists joined the mainstream in a call to protect the Japanese Peace Constitution, abolish nuclear weapons, and to support related peace, justice, environmentalist causes. Japanese civil society is v. cooperative, collegial; groups and individuals work together in established networks now standing together for a nuclear-free Japan...
This great post (and comments) at EXSKF on an article from The Ehime Shimbun reveals the depth of shared concern across diverse groups in Japan, "Buddhist Monks Sit-in, Calling Christians to Join Them; Ultra-Right Joined by Ultra-Left in Hunger Strike Against Nuclear Power Plants:

Buddhist monks in Matsuyama City in Ehime Prefecture in Shikoku are staging the sit-ins to protest against the prospect of restarting Ikata Nuclear Power Plant, which sits just outside the largest active fault in Japan (Median Tectonic Line)　and part of the plant is built on the landfill. The monks are calling out to Christian churches to join them in the protest.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) reports that the Interfaith Forum for Review of National Nuclear Policy (IFRNNP), an interfaith (Christian, Buddhist, Shinto) group that formed after 3/11, is now questioning the adequacy of radiation protection standards, charging industry bias:

International radiation protection standards have historically weighed radiation risks and cost-benefit considerations in such as way as to protect the nuclear power industry at the expense of radiation victims, a Japanese interfaith network has said.

The Interfaith Forum for Review of National Nuclear Policy held a meeting from April 17-19 in Fukushima to debate claims by the Japanese government regarding the effects of radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, which took place in March 2011. The government, following standards set by the International Commission on Radiological Protection, a Canadian organization of scientists and policy makers, has said “there is no immediate [radioactive] impact on human bodies” from the disaster.

The Tokyo-based IFRNNP ― an 800-member anti-nuclear network co-led by 40 Japanese Buddhists, Christians, and Shintoists ― invited Kozo Inaoka, a Japanese physicist and author of a book about radiation exposure, to the meeting to lecture about the ICRP’s history and “ideological character.”

In his book, A History of Radiation Exposure, Inaoka claims the radiation protection standards are “scientifically disguised social standards” allowing the industry to impose exposure levels that suit its needs as it develops nuclear plants.

Jeju for the World Peace Island

Buddhist monks in attendance at the Jeju for the World Peace Island gathering in Feb 2012.
( Photo: Wooksik Cheong)

Lee Myung Bak administration's March of Folly continues in S. Korea: Four Rivers & Jeju Island

29 civil society representatives and peace activists including Gangjeong villagers and Father Moon, a Catholic priest, were arrested on Dec. 26, 2011 for obstructing the entrance to the naval base site, located on residential and farm property forcibly seized by the state from the villagers

In her 1984 book, The March of Folly, historian Barbara Tuchman charted how governments have acted against their own best interests from Troy to the Vietnam War. It would be interesting to see her perspective on the Lee Myung Bak administration's massive destruction of what's left of South Korea's natural environment, from rivers to wetlands to the most beautiful coastline on Jeju Island.

S. Korea ranked the second worst nation in environmental degradation in proportion to natural resources, just behind Singapore, in a 2010 study based on seven indicators: natural forest loss, habitat conversion, fisheries and other marine captures, fertilizer use, water pollution, carbon emissions from land use, and species threat. The professor leading the study noted that, “The environmental crises currently gripping the planet are the corollary of excessive human consumption of natural resources. There is considerable and mounting evidence that elevated degradation and loss of habitats and species are compromising ecosystems that sustain the quality of life for billions of people worldwide.”

Lee may be compared to former Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka, a former construction company executive remembered for his 1970's-era construction boondoggles. Lee, also a former construction company executive, never met a river or coastline that didn't need to be dredged, demolished and paved over, by means of transfer of public funds into private construction company coffers. His "Four Rivers" project will cost S. Korean citizens nearly $33 billion and will, if completed, destroy what's little left of habitat for critically endangered wildlife dependent on shallow rivers and wetlands. His Jeju Island military base plan would, if completed, destroy a soft coral habitat; the Korean peninsula's only natural dolphin habitat; and an indigenous farming (tangerine groves) village.

To achieve his policies, which are not supported by the majority of citizens who want a clean natural environment and democratic society, Lee has relied upon violent tactics reminiscent of South Korea's military dictatorship era, routinely using state power to violate private property rights, democratic process, and individual freedom of expression.

SoonYawl Park, a research fellow at Seoul National University, provides a recent analysis, "Korea's rivers take brunt of 'shoveling' politics," at Asia Times (originally published at The Asia-Pacific Journal):

The Four Rivers project is far from its original goal of developing the regional economy and the rivers into a nature-friendly zone. Instead, it has produced environmental degradation and cultural and ecological destruction, while channeling super profits to the big construction companies.

Security analyst Matt Hoey charts the latest at Jeju Island in this commentary for The Hankyoreh: "Is S.Korean navy finally backed into a corner on the Jeju Base project?"'.

Velcrow Ripper charts "humanity's immune response to a planet in crisis" in Fierce Light & Evolve Love

Velcrow Ripper  has been charting psychological resilience and nonviolent faith-based social change movements since the start of the millennium, as if anticipating the Occupy Movement, which he has been filming from its start. This year, the Canadian filmmaker has been sending out major soul force along with Naomi Klein and the millions of others who support the Occupy Movement.

Here's a recent interview from his latest website, Occupy Love
.

ALIVE MIND: Occupy Love is the third film of the “Fierce Love Project.” It comes after Sacred Scared (Special Jury Prize of the Toronto Film Festival), an uplifting pilgrimage through war-torn places around the world, followed by Fierce Light, a film about bringing together spirituality, and activism. Is there a logical progression to these films? How would you relate Fierce Light to Sacred Scared and Occupy Love?

VELCROW RIPPER: Indeed there is - the films are about about the “Heart of the Times” of this unique period in human history, from the millennium to 2012. It is a time of enormous crisis, and enormous possibility. The overall theme is, how can the global crises that we are facing lead to the evolution of humanity?

Scared Sacred takes us on a journey to ground zero’s of the world – places like New York City during 9.11, Afghanistan, Hiroshima, Bosnia, Cambodia, Israel and Palestine. In each of those places, I discovered some of the most remarkable individuals I have ever met. I found that there were two things that the survivors all had in common, that helped them get through the crises they faced with their spirits transformed, not crushed: having a source of meaning, which was different for each of them, and taking action.

This lead to the second film, Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action, which explores the relationship between spirituality, and activism. There has long been an artificial divide between these two important aspects of human society, and this film explores the power that is released when the two come together.

In Occupy Love I ask the question: how is the economic and ecological crises we are facing a great love story? I have gone beyond the word “spiritual” to the deeper, and more universal word, “Love.” The last lines of “Fierce Light” are, “Another world is here, right now: listen.” On the sound track you can hear the rumblings of a volcano, the sleeping woman – who is now wide awake.

Occupy Love explores this awakening, this revelation of our shared heart, and our shared oppression, and the process of working together to transform the bankrupt system of today into a world that works for all life. The Occupy movement, and the related movements that are erupting around the world, from the Arab Spring, to the European Summer, are all a part of this awakening.

I recently showed Fierce Light at Occupy London and people were really struck by how the movie predicted the arising of Occupy. The films truly have their finger on the pulse of the times. In fact, Fierce Light was a little ahead of it’s time...

ALIVE MIND Commenting on the protest that spurred in Quebec City in 2004 against the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, you are asking “What would I do if I did not have a camera in my hands? Would I want to pick up a rock and throw it right back at these dehumanized Plexiglass faces?” What stance do you adopt when you shoot in the midst of demonstrations? Does being an engaged filmmaker mean taking a step back from neutrality in those situations?

VELCROW RIPPER I don’t believe in neutrality. That comment, which was a rhetorical question, was answered by the film: I would do what Carly Stasko does at that moment – she dances.

My response to repression, violence and corporate dominance is to be as contrasting to that as possible – liberated, non-violent, and creative. That is the way to transform violence, not by speaking it’s language back at it...

ALIVE MIND On Sept 17, 2011, at Zuccotti Park, the epicenter of Occupy Wall Street, you’ve asked a giant FDR dime, “How could the global crisis we are facing become a love story?’ You made a short-film out of it, entitled Summer of Change: Occupy Wall Street.

Have you been personally involved in the movement since then? What are your future plans?

VELCROW RIPPER I have fallen in love with the Occupy Movement. I was at Occupy Wall Street since day one, travelled to Occupy Oakland for their epic general strike and just returned from Spain, where I was filming with the Indignados, Egypt, where I was covering Tahrir Square and the Egyptian Revolution, and Occupy London. I was looking at the roots of the movement, tracing it back from the European summer, to the Arab Spring, and looking at where the movement has evolved. The film is now called “Occupy Love.” The original project, Evolve Love, may come out after, or will be integrated into this movie.

Two years ago I asked writer Naomi Klein, “How could the crisis we are facing on the planet become a love story?” And she laughed, and said that her and I do the opposite – she points out how bad things are and I look for the love. Last week I saw her at an action and she gave me a big hug and said, “History has re-arranged itself to prove your thesis.”

The Occupy Movement, and the much bigger, and deeper global spirit of transformation from which it arises, is the love story I have been looking for, all my life. In Fierce Light I reference Paul Hawken, who in his book Blessed Unrest, talks about a global movement of movements that is emerging all over the world, what he calls “humanity's immune response to a planet in crisis," the largest movement in history. And the remarkable thing about that movement is that it is self organizing, and it didn’t even know that it existed. The Arab Spring, The European Summer, and now the Occupy Movement, is that movement standing up, looking around, and discovering itself.

And right now, this is the greatest love story on earth. This movement is rooted in interdependence, and is the opposite of the selfish, lifeless, dog eat dog-eat-dog world promoted through the vast capital of the corporations. We need to do everything we can to nurture this evolving movement, our ever-evolving global society, and keep it moving always in the direction of love, in the direction of life. Love is the movement. We are the 100%

Read the interview and see videos (including Summer of Change: Occupy Wall Street at Occupy Love: Global Revolution of the Heart.

Interfaith Pilgrimage for Peace for Jeju island & the Korean Peninsula earlier this year

Interfaith Pilgrimage for Peace for Jeju island and the Korean Peninsula earlier this year:

 

March 1, 2011 - Benediction for the Life, Peace, and Community in Korea Interfaith 100-day Pilgrimage from Jeju Island to the DMZ—for Life, Peace, & Community in the Korean Peninsula. The benediction was made in Gangjeong.

Dobub, a Buddhist monk who was born on Jeju Island, led the pilgrimage benediction on March 1. He engaged in dialogue with Fr. Kang Woo-Il, Chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, & the bishop of the Catholic Jeju district, during the designation of Jeju as a "Peace Island" in 2007.

After the ceremony, the Life and Peace Fellowship visited Gangjeong village, to meet with the villagers and to spend the first night of the pilgrimage in the Gangjeong village.

Reverend Jeon of the Life and Peace Fellowship said, “Our organization opposes those things related to war. We oppose the naval base plan with the thought that the peace in the Korean peninsula and North East Asia will be threatened if it is built on Jeju Island." He added: “We are walking with our praying hearts.”

Christian Conference in Asia (CCA) call for worldwide ecumenical solidarity, advocacy, & prayer for Jeju Island

(Thursday mass for peace for Jeju Island)

CHRISTIAN COUNCIL OF ASIA (CCA) DELEGATION TO JEJU ISLAND

AUGUST 8-10, 2011 STATEMENT

On June 15, 2011, in response to Christian Council of Asia (CCA) information about a Consultation to be entitled ‘Peace and Security in Asia: Ecumenical Response’ and held in conjunction with the CCA Area Committee on Justice, International Affairs, and Development (JID) meeting in Bangkok, August 1-6, the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCCK) requested consideration of a solidarity visit to be made from CCA to Jeju Island.

The main focus of the solidarity visit was to witness the ongoing resistance of residents of Kangjeong village at the southern tip of Jeju Island to the construction of a Korea-United States Naval Base in the area and to understand the concerns about this construction with the aim of strengthening the international support to the resistance.

The CCA received the invitation with interest, set the date for Aug. 8-10 and determined their delegation as:

Rev. Dr. Roger Gaikwad, General Secretary, National Council of Churches in India
Rev. Dr. Alistair Macrae, President of National Assembly, Uniting Church in Australia
Mr. Carlos Ocampo, CCA Executive Secretary, Justice, International Affairs, Development & Service

The delegation was accompanied by NCCK representatives:

Rev. Lee Hun Sam, Executive Secretary of the NCCK Justice and Peace Dept
Rev. Shin Seung Min, Ecumenical Officer of PROK (Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea)
Rev. Shin Bog Hyun, Methodist Church Ecumenical Officer
Rev. Catherine Christie, Ecumenical co-worker with PROK and NCCK

During the visit the delegation visited Gangjeong Village, participated in worship with the community, saw first hand a confrontation between villagers and the police, met with Christian leaders, visited the 4.3 Peace Park and Memorial and participated in a community Candlelight Vigil.

During the visit we identified the following concerns:

1. Militarization.

The proposed Jeju Island base would constitute an additional military base outside the mainland of the Korean Peninsula. Jeju, like Okinawa, will represent an expansion of the geopolitical influence and military control of the USA, countering China's growing economic and military influence in north-east Asia. The new Aegis fleet being prepared will add to the arms race taking place in this region. Jeju Island will potentially become a target of military attacks from contending powers in the region.

The violent history of Jeju Island, within living memory makes this particularly poignant. At the 4.3 Museum we saw evidence of massacres and scorched earth policies that led to the 2005 designation of Jeju as the Island of Peace as a gesture of apology for the events of 1948-54.

2. Destruction of environment and community.

Gangjeong is a farming and fishing village and the naval base will destroy the livelihood of the farmers and fisherfolk of the area. Residents will be dislocated and social problems will emerge. The marine environment will be severely impacted. In Jeju there are rare plants, animals, corals which led to the designation of Jeju as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. These treasures will be threatened, possibly lost.

We heard that environmental scientists claim that no credible environmental impact studies have been conducted. There is clearly a need for such study and a need for the results to be available for scrutiny.

We also see an urgent need for a comprehensive social impact study.

3. Concerns about Government policy, processes and Police presence.

We heard reports that among the villagers more than 90% are opposed to the Base. Authorities claim a mandate on the basis of a meeting with a small non representative group at which only 80 of the 1,800 villagers were present. In a democratic nation, a proper consultative process must be followed in any major decision like this one.

We observed an overwhelming police presence. We are concerned about the intimidating nature of this presence. We are also concerned about cases of arrest and fines. We read an article saying "about 15 villagers have been charged with obstruction of official business and 3 are in jail. 14 villagers have been sued for 290 million won in damages". We met people currently facing such charges.

4. We from CCA come from countries which have experienced similar situations through the establishment of military bases, mining projects and other transnational projects where local people have suffered a loss of sovereignty, disempowerment in relation to use of their land and their ability to make decisions affecting their lives (e.g. POSCO development in Orissa, India).

Recommendations:

In light of the aforementioned observations we call upon:

1. The South Korean Government to stop construction of the base.

2. The US and other governments to support peace in northeast Asia and promote human rights and security in the Korean Peninsula; and to protect the environment and seek alternative models of wholistic development.

3. Churches and NGO's to pray with Korean people, to offer advocacy and solidarity support in terms of this issue.

Conclusion

We heard the cries and pain of the people in the village. We are encouraged by the passion and courage of the people to resist outside forces of destruction.

We are encouraged to witness the increasing awareness and solidarity support throughout Korea and the international community.

As Christians we believe that God the Creator calls human beings to be stewards of creation, carers of God's garden, not destroyers.

We believe that God's will is for peace in the world based on justice, and that we should pursue paths that lead to peace between peoples rather than relying on militarization for security.

We believe that God intends that communities, as far as possible, have power and influence over the direction of their lives.

We therefore commit ourselves to working for a just peace. <제주투데이>

<강정태 기자 / 저작권자ⓒ제주투데이/ 무단전재 및 재배포금지>

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아시아교회협의회 "제주해군기지 건설 중단해야"
2011년 08월 11일 (목)
강정태 기자

아시아교회협의회(CCA) 대표단이 제주해군기지 건설 중단을 요구했다.

아시아교회협의회는 11일 성명을 내고 "제주해군기지는 한반도 이외의 섬에 추가적으로 건설된 군사기지"라며 "새로운 무기의 경쟁의 시대가 이 지역에서 일어날 것이고 제주도는 잠정적으로 군사적인 공격목표가 될 것"이라고 우려했다.

또 "제주 서귀포시 강정마을은 농민들과 어민들의 마을이지만 해군기지의 건설은 이들의 생존권을 파괴할 것"이라며 "제주의 해양 생태계 등 귀한 보물들을 잃게 될 것"이라고 했다.

이어 "마을주민의 90%가 해군기지의 건설을 반대하고 있다"며 "정부는 정책결정의 근거로 내세우는 마을회합은 마을 주민 1800명중 결코 전체의 대표성을 가질 수 조차 없는 소수그룹 80명만을 중재자로 선정했다"고 지적했다.

아시아교회협의회는 "한국 정부는 제주 군사기지 건설을 중단하기 바란다"며 "미국과 주변국들은 동북아시아의 평화와 한반도의 인권, 안보의 증진을 위해 무엇보다 환경을 보전하고, 발전을 위한 대안 모델을 찾아야 한다"고 밝혔다.

아시아 교회협의회는 동서로는 인도에서 한국에 이르는 축과 남북으로는 중국에서 뉴질랜드에 이르는 아시아권의 100여개 교단이 가맹되어 있는 기독교(개신교)에 있어서는 아시아의 UN과도 같은 기구다. 한국기독교교회협의회(NCCK)의 요청에 의해 지난 8∼10일에 걸쳐 제주 강정마을을 방문한 바 있다.

다음은 성명서 전문

Saving Jeju Island: "It is about love for the people who cannot speak now. It is about love."

(Sung-Hee Choi in detention for holding a banner expressing concern for flowers and rocks)
Korean peace activist Sung-Hee Choi, arrested on Jeju Island, a "World Heritage Site" just south of the Korean Peninsula, for holding up a banner reading ""Do not touch even one stone, even one flower!" remains spiritually strong despite over two months of imprisonment, much of which she has spent on hunger strike.

David Vine, an American University anthropology professor who researches issues of overseas U.S. militarism and imperialism, interviewed Sung-Hee in prison last week. Here is an excerpt from the interview published at Foreign Policy in Focus today:

SUNG-HEE CHOI: The United States and South Korea use military exercises in the Asia-Pacific region that are aimed against China, not North Korea. There is big evidence that the United States will want the Jeju naval base, even though this is officially denied every time: They say, “This is not a U.S. naval base. This is a South Korean base.” So this is really a trick. They are really deceiving people. There is no problem for the U.S. military to use it. First, the U.S. and South Korean mutual defense treaty, which was signed in 1954, allows the United States to use of all South Korean military facilities. Second, the SOFA [Status of Forces Agreement] facilities are really meant for the U.S. military. Third, the U.S. military strategic flexibility policy under which South Korea has allowed U.S. forces in Korea to assume expanding regional and global roles beyond deterring North Korea.

The United States military can clearly use any South Korean base.

It is not only the military, but also corporations like Samsung and Daerim that are benefiting from the building of the base. It is not only a military part, but also the commercial part. What I am afraid about is the entrance of fascism in the whole island.

DAVID VINE: Fascism?

SUNG-HEE: Yes, fascism. Yes. In the mainland, and now Jeju island is being dominated by Samsung.

A base on Jeju would be a tragedy for Jeju Island and its people, because of what they have already experienced in 1948, when the South Korean military massacred 40,000 [accused communists].

Jeju’s people’s history is one of struggling against outside powers: the United States and Japan. U.S. military weapons [were involved in the massacre] just a few years after the South Korean liberation from Japan. Jeju's own identity is constant. Jeju has been the victim of the outside powers.

Why are we still struggling? Not only for the environment, but also for the history of the Jeju island and South Korea, which have been struggling against the powerful countries.

Another thing that I am thinking is that, day by day, Jeju island is a red button for the United States military. The United States already occupies all of the region that it covets. The United States already occupies Hawai’i, Okinawa, Philippines—or, they used to. Now they want to occupy Jeju island. This is a peace island. This is for peace. Now the vision of the peace activists here is for keeping the island as a real peace island.

Brother Song [a fellow activist] and [former Jeju Governor] Shin Goo-beom have tried to find alternatives for villagers for how to develop Gangjeong village for our future generation. One option is to build a UN Peace School. They are all talking about this. And also the chairman and the villagers’ committee, they are all talking about this. That needs to be our vision. That needs to be our ultimate goal. That is a concrete vision to create a real peace school for future generations in Jeju island.

And I really hope that you can talk about how the villagers are suffering. How they love their hometown. I really hope that you will please communicate how the islands in the Asia-Pacific region are now a target of an empire base for the United States.

DAVID: Why do you think there are so many people who are so dedicated to the struggle? Like yourself. People willing to go to jail. People willing to go on hunger strikes. There are many anti-base movements but people seem to be very passionate, and I wonder why—either personally for yourself or for others—you think people are so dedicated, so strong in their opposition?

SUNG-HEE: As I have written before, I feel a responsibility to talk for the voiceless animals and creatures who cannot speak. Second, for our future generations who will be the victims of war if we don’t stop the base. I think the villagers love their hometown so much. It is their hometown. They love it so much.

It is about love. It is about a love that cannot speak. It is about the sea that cannot speak. It is about the creatures who cannot speak aloud. We are basically talking about, we are basically talking….

And then, an automated voice and background music abruptly cut Sung-Hee off, announcing that our time had expired and instructing visitors to leave quickly. Sung-Hee grabbed her pen and the scrap of paper next to her and furiously wrote a few final words. She held the paper briefly up to the glass between us before a guard took her away. The paper read:

It is about love for the people who cannot speak now.

It is about love.

A poignant message of solidarity from Sung-Hee sent on behalf of the Spring Love Harukaze peace festival held in Tokyo in April 2010 may be read here.

For information on how you can support the Gangjeong villagers of Jeju in their struggle to preserve their beautiful, peaceful island, as well as how you can help release Sung-Hee and the others imprisoned for their nonviolent actions (and love for their community, the sea, dolphins and other sea creatures), please see this previous TTT post.

Japanese interfaith group headed by Kyoto temple seeks closure of Futenma air base & cancellation of proposal for new U.S. base in Henoko

On June 21, 2011, a new Japanese interfaith group comprised of Protestant and Catholic Christians and Buddhists (represented by a temple located in Kyoto) announced their support of the Okinawan prefectural and local governments in their goal for the unconditional closure of U.S. Marine Air Station Futenma and the abolition of plans to destroy biodiverse Oura Bay to make way for a new U.S. military base.

Berard Toshio Oshikawa, the Bishop of Naha made a similar announcement on June 27, 2011, calling for the closure of US military bases in the Japanese prefecture. The Conventional Franciscan declared, “Japan has enjoyed peace for over 60 years, but the war has still not ended in Okinawa."

This follows a 2010 appeal from the National Christian Council in Japan (NCCJ) urging U.S. churches to gain awareness, pray and appeal to their government about the impact of U.S. plans for military expansion in Henoko and Oura Bay. Rev. Isamu Koshiishi, the moderator of the NCCJ, explained, "The beautiful coral reef, which had provided a livelihood for the villages and which was the seabed home of the endangered dugong, would now be destroyed with landfill for the purpose of constructing a military base for waging war."

An estimated 12,500 US troops, 95,000 Japanese troops, and up to 150,000 civilians lost their lives in the Battle of Okinawa, which took place in 1945.

Japanese interfaith group opposes U.S. bases on Okinawa
By Hisashi Yukimoto
ENI News
21 June 2011

Tokyo (ENInews): A new interfaith group in Japan has joined local opposition to the U.S. military presence on the southern island of Okinawa as the two countries announced on 21 June that they have postponed the 2014 deadline for relocating a U.S. Marine base there, due to the plan's unpopularity.

"The lives of Okinawan people are still threatened [by the bases]," said the Tokyo-based group composed primarily of Buddhists and Christians. "We as religionists have the same resolution in caring for life and protecting peace," the group said in a statement adopted at its launch on 17 June. "We will address the problem of U.S. military bases in Okinawa," it said.

In Washington, D.C. on 21 June, a joint statement by the two countries said plans for the relocation would not meet the 2014 date, but would be carried out "at the earliest possible date" after 2014. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa are in the U.S. capital for talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Under a 1996 agreement between the U.S. and Japan, the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station, currently based near the densely-populated area of Futenma on the main Okinawa island, was to be relocated to an offshore coral reef area near the village of Henoko.

In 2006, the relocation plan was to be completed by 2014 as part of a U.S. military realignment, but the plan has been strongly opposed since 1996 by local residents and supporters nationwide, including Okinawan Governor Hirokazu Nakaima and many Okinawan residents. The local government has said that the bases hinder regional development and that there are concerns with crime, aircraft operations, noise pollution and environmental pollution.

The interfaith group is led by Tainen Miyagi, a Buddhist Abbot of Seigoin temple in Kyoto; the Rev. Isamu Koshiishi, moderator of the National Christian Council in Japan and Bishop Daiji Tani, president of the Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace. The group's name in Japanese is: "Religionists Group for Okinawa Without Bases - To Seek Removal of Futenma Base And Cancellation of the Construction of New Base in Henoko."

The site of a significant World War II battle, Okinawa hosts about half of the nearly 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan. After the war, the Okinawa bases were used to dispatch U.S. troops to conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Religious leaders see forced seizure of Jeju farms as attack on life, peace & community; arrests of priests, nuns, & ministers

In 2006, during a conversation about the movement to save what is left of the spirit of the Japanese Peace Constitution, Jean Stokan of Pax Christi (the Catholic peace organization) compared the grassroots struggles of ordinary people in Asia against militaristic state encroachment to similar struggles of people living in Latin America military dictatorships during the 1980's. In both hemispheres, faith-based groups have long been at the center of movements for democracy and peace.

Christians and Buddhists have come together to challenge the abuse of state power to force construction of military bases in both Jeju Island and Okinawa. Their interfaith effort is part of a tradition dating back to Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Desmond Tutu's frameworks for nonviolent action to bring about peace and social justice.

Benediction for the Life, Peace, and Community before a 100-day Korea Peace Pilgrimage that began March 1, 2011 at the Jeju April 3rd Peace Park (which memorializes the lives of tens of thousands of indigenous inhabitants killed on Jeju Island on April 3, 1947, during the South Korean government's violent repression of demonstrations calling for humane living conditions) and ended at the Demilitarized Zone.

In the following article, Claire Schaeffer-Duffy details the engagement of Catholics and other Christians opposing the South Korean government's attempts to forcibly seize and destroy the property of the indigenous farmers at Gangjeong to make way for a proposed naval base targeting China. Proceeding on base construction would destroy Gangjeong's beautiful coastline (one of most beautiful places on Jeju Island) and make a mockery of S. Korean democratic process.

The base also makes no strategic sense: the S. Korea's Ministry of National Defense stated that the base is not needed for national security. Incongruously, the South Korean government is collaborating with Beijing in developing policies to draw wealthy Chinese tourists to Jeju Island at the same time it is building this base to militarily target China.

Koreans resume hunger strikes opposing proposed naval base

by Claire Schaeffer-Duffy
The National Catholic Reporter
June 15, 2011

The gutsy and persistent campaign to oppose the construction of a South Korean naval base on Jeju Island continues.

Bruce Gagnon reports that Professor Yang Yoon-Mo, former chair of the South Korean Film Critics Association, and Sung-Hee Choi, a member of the Korean peace organization SPARK, have resumed their hunger strike in protest of the base.
Gagnon, a Maine-base peace activist and founder of Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, has been chronicling the Jeju campaign on his blog, http://space4peace.blogspot.com...

...Activists over the past week have daily tried to block construction at the naval base which is ongoing despite strong local opposition. Protestors have held banners, prayed, laid in front of machines at the construction site, and even gone out in inflatable rafts to demonstrate aboard ships clearing the Gangjeong coastline.

A self-governing province of South Korea, Jeju Island lies south of the Korean mainland and between China and Japan. Because of the island’s strategic location in Northeast Asia, the South Korean government wants to build a base here that will port South Korean and U.S. Aegis destroyers equipped with missile defense systems.

Jeju is a designated World Heritage site. Critics fear the base will damage the island’s unique eco-system, escalate a naval arms race in Northeast Asia, and place Jeju residents in the crosshairs of a U.S./China stand-off.

Catholic religious have been at the forefront of the no-base campaign, according to the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN). A quick perusal of the news agency’s reports reveal a remarkable account of Catholic leaders speaking out against militarism and environmental destruction, and speaking up for those whose voice has been ignored for the sake of national security interests [ROK officials have admitted there is no national security interest for the base, according to The Hankyoreh].

Nuns and priests have been arrested during no-base protests, some repeatedly. Priests have also gone on hunger strikes. In June 2007, the year the South Korean government announced plans to build the navy base at Gangjeon (two other villages had successfully fought locating the port in their environs), the Jeju diocese launched the Special Committee for the Island of Peace to actively oppose the port’s construction...

More recently, Jeju’s Special Committee hosted Christmas Mass at the construction site for the navy base. Bishop Peter Kang U-il of the Cheju diocese presided. Three days later, four priests, two Protestant pastors, and twenty-nine activists and villagers were arrested during a demonstration there.

In January, the Catholic Priests Association for Justice held their three-day annual plenary assembly on the island and issued a statement calling for an end to the base’s construction. UCAN reports that the statement highlighted the examples of Okinawa, Guam and Saipan as beautiful islands with military bases whose native culture declined after the establishment of military bases. There were more arrests of priests later that month.

Catholic involvement in the Jeju conflict prompted the National Council of Churches in Korea (NCKK) to join the no-base campaign in May. Last week representatives of hundreds of civic and religious leaders in South Korea held a press conference in Seoul to express their solidarity with the residents of Gangjeong. Among those present was Reverend Kim Young-ju, secretary general of the NCCK.

Shortly after his release for one of his arrests during a no-base demonstration, Fr. John Ko Byeong-soo, chair of Jeju diocese’s Special Committee for the Island of Peace, told UCAN that he felt obliged to continue the anti-base campaign “as we need to follow Catholic teaching to be a peacemakers . . . Since the Gangjeong villagers have decided to maintain their opposition to the plan, we will accompany the people to the end.”

Read the entire article here.

On June 19, Sung-Hee Choi stopped her most recent 10-day fast. Read her letter from jail at her blog.

For background on the Korean Peninsula interfaith peace pilgrimage, see "In Solidarity with the Gangjeong Villagers of Jeju Island and the Peace Pilgrims for Life, Peace, and Community in the Korean Peninsula" (Reverend Jeon of the Life & Peace Fellowship said, “Our organization opposes those things related to war. We oppose the naval base plan (in Jeju Island) with the thought that the peace in the Korean peninsula and North East Asia will be threatened if it is built on Jeju Island. “We are walking with our praying hearts.”), TTT (March 2, 2011)

Action suggestions in support of residents of Jeju Island:

• SPARK and Pax Christi Int: Call for Solidarity & Action for Gangjeong Village & Sea, Jeju Island, South Korea

• Please contact the Embassy of South Korea in your country and ask them to stop the construction of the Navy base for U.S. warships on Jeju Island.

• Organize a prayer vigil.

• Write a letter of solidarity to Bishop Peter Kan-U-Il, president of the Bishops Conference of South Korea. e-mail: catholic-cheju@hanmail.net

For information, you can contact Regina Pyon in Korea: reginapy@hanmail.net

Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea (SPARK) is a member organisation of Pax Christi International