International Peace Teams
MPT
Michigan Peace Team places violence reduction teams into places of conflict when invited. We use third party nonviolent internvention as a way to reduce and prevent violence.
Reflections of Summer Peace Team Member
Glimpse of Life in an Occupied Country Life in an occupied country is an experience no one should have. It is like living in a potential war zone night and day. One is continually alert and tense regarding one's every action. Three of us from Michigan Peace Team were sleeping at night in the outpost camp to maintain their claim on Palestinian land illegally taken by the Israelis for building settlements. This land case was soon to be decided by...
Wedding Day in Occupied Palestine
Friday, July 14, 2006 Today, the Michigan Peace Team attended the weekly nonviolent demonstration in the village of Bil'in, West Bank, Palestine. Bil'in has received international attention for its consistent nonviolent demonstrations every Friday against the illegal wall that Israel is building on its land. Internationals from many countries, as well as Israelis, attend the demonstrations. Holocuast survivors have also joined them. Last week, the group was joined by famous dancers and musicians from the Basque region of Spain. They...
O Little Town of Bethlehem
July 9, 2006 By Jill, summer peace team member I have spent the past few days in Bethlehem, working with some fabulous people at a conflict resolution center called Wi'am, and seeing the city through the eyes of its residents. I put together materials for camps and workshops next week and was able to discuss the current events in Palestine with the staff. Bethlehem has been cut off from almost all access. Though Jerusalem is only about 6 miles away,...
Prayer Seen as a Threat?
Friday, July 07, 2006 2:38 PM Some of the peace team is in Beit Ommar, West Bank. They joined the people of Beit Ommar in the fields today for the Friday prayers. At about 8 pm (Palestinian time), our team reported that Israeli military jeeps pulled into Beit Ommar and began firing sound bombs and tear gas at the people praying. Soldiers invaded at least one house. There are 8 internationals in Beit Ommar, including two of our team. They...
4th of July in Occupied Land
From Jill and Liz, members of Michigan Peace Team 6 July 2006 A few days ago, on July 4th, we marked the 230th year of independence from British rule (and occupation) in the United States of America. Yet to observe this occasion from (Occupied) East Jerusalem and the West Bank causes us to question how we understand 'independence' and what would independence look like for the Palestinians? On the surface, life proceeds "as usual"-people work and laugh and play, shop,...
Israeli Military Uses Live Ammunition Against Unarmed Demonstrators
The bulldozer was initially peacefully stopped by many Palestinians and 4 internationals who put their bodies in front of the bulldozer. Upon doing this it was reported that the military fired live ammunition. Fortunately, no one was injured. After this the bulldozer retreated, and a stand off between the Israeli Army and the protesters proceeded. During this time two Palestinians were briefly detained. The stand off lasted for about an hour and a half.
Peace Team Sits in Front of Bulldozer; Palestinian Run Over
July 3, 2006 MPT accompanied farmers from Beit Ommer and Halhul, along with international and Israeli supporters, to stop its illegal destruction by the Israeli state. The army is building two barriers with a patrol road in between them in order to expand the Israeli settlement named Karmi Tsore. The Palestinians, Israeli supporters, and internationals including MPT members, stopped the bulldozers from illegally destroying acres of crops and orchards. They sat down in front of the bulldozer! All MPT members...
Palestinian Nonviolent Direct Action
Reflecting on one of our experiences in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: On Friday June 30th our Summer 2006 Peace Team to Palestine/Israel participated in a large non-violent action in the Palestinian village of Bil'in. It was organized by Bil'in's Popular Committee Against the Wall. Local Palestinians, Internationals, and Israeli peace activists joined in solidarity for this action. The goal of the action was to open the annexation barrier and reclaim Palestinian land. The action included a march to the gate,...
Peace Team Responds to Israeli Incursion
PEACE TEAM RESPONDS TO VIOLENT INCURSION OF BI'LIN Both Palestinians and Jewish Israelis have invited MPT to work with them. This is a critical time, as the presence of internationals is needed to help deter further violence. You have probably seen in the news that the Israeli military has invaded Gaza and other towns in West Bank. We are very proud of the work that our team has done in the last 24 hours. They were in the village of...
Summer Peace Team in West Bank Now
Michigan Peace Team has a six person peace team in the West Bank currently to work with Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals in the nonviolent movement to end the occupation. The team is made up of women and men from Detroit and Lansing and range in age from 27 to 67 years old. Both Palestinians and Jewish Israelis have invited MPT to work with them. This is a critical time, as the presence of internationals is needed to help deter further...
Summer Peace Team Preparing to Leave
Michigan Peace Team is sending a summer peace team to the West Bank to join Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals who are working nonviolently to end the conflict. Both Palestinians and Jewish Israelis have invited MPT to work with them this summer. This is a critical time, as the presence of internationals is needed following both the Palestinian election in January and the Israeli election in March. The MPT summer peace team will watch checkpoints to deter human rights abuses; help...
Feminist Peace Conference in Jerusalem
MPT sent three women from Michigan to the international Coalition of Women for Peace conference in Jersualem from Aug 12-16, 2005. Read more about the work of Palestinian and Israeli Women who refuse to be enemies, and have been working for a just peace.
MPT Team Member Abducted & Released
In an as yet unexplained incident, at approximately 7:00 A.M. on Sunday, July 24, a member of the Michigan Peace Team, 75-year-old American citizen, Father Harry Bury, was taken from the MPT Rafah apartment at gunpoint by a group of four men wearing military fatigues. Fr. Harry was blindfolded, put in a vehicle and driven to an undisclosed location where he was questioned about his affiliations and later released unharmed. Currently, all Team members are safe.
Summer Team 05: Tension Grows in Gaza
Tension grows as Hamas and the Palestine National Authority have clashed, Israel threatens an incursion into Gaza, and Israeli settler supporters have joined in a march in Gaza to join the settlers resisting removal and relocation.
Summer Team 05: Illegal Settlements in Gaza
Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas on earth. In some ways Gaza is home to the world's largest prison because the State of Israel controls all external borders, crossing points, and some internal roads. In the Gazan sky there are Israeli fighter jets and Apache helicopters.
Summer Team 05: Visiting Refugees
We had stunning views of the devastation from a rooftop. I was struck by the number of bullet holes in the buildings. The damage was especially vivid in a white building peppered with black holes.....On the rooftop I played MacFerson's Lament on my violin in honor of all the suffering that has occurred there. Then I played "Hine ma tov u-ma nayim shevet achim gam yahad" hoping that some IDF soldier in one of the watchtowers might be listening. The Hebrew words mean "Behoold, how good and how pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity."
Summer Team 05 Report from Palestine
MPT has a summer peace team in Gaza. June 2005 "Please try to understand the reality of what has happened here. Something awful happened here. We are homeless. Our homes are destroyed and our land is taken," pleads a father of seven that MPT visited.
Spring Team 05 Report: "Raid in the Night"
April 19, 2005 by Mary Tonight we are in a small village outside of Ramalah. The day began with a gathering of internationals at a vacant apartment, where signs protesting Caterpillar (the tractor maker) are made. Caterpillar, an American-based company, supplies bulldozers to the Israeli government, which then in turn uses them to either tear down the homes of Palestinian families they suspect of being "terrorist sympathizers", or to uproot centuries-old olive groves as they work to build an ugly...
Spring Team 05 Report: "Uncertain Future"
April 18, 2005
by Kim
Qawawis, Palestine
"This is the place where a couple of internationals were recently beaten by
masked settlers and where an elderly shepherd and his sheep were held to the
ground with knives to their throats by settlers who released the man only after
slitting the throat of one of his sheep. "
Spring Team 05 Report "Encounter with Armed Settlers"
April 17, 2005
by Henry
"The village has been subjected to wanton violence from local settlers, and internationals have been beaten recently, and suffered insult to injury when the "police" showed up -only to arrest the internationals!"
Spring Team 05 Report: "Constant Gunfire"
April 12, 2005
9:45 p.m.
by Mary
Gunshots! I am startled out of reading the newspaper by the sound of gunfire.
The sound is unmistakable and relentless.
Spring Team 05 Report: "Someday We Will Be Free"
April 12, 2005 by Mary - It's early evening in Ramalah, and Ahmed (not real name for security reasons) & I are sitting on the tiny balcony of the apartment building the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). He lights up a cigarette from his pack of Marlboros and smiles as he tells me in his think accent that he has cut down to only a pack of cigarettes a day. Nearly all the men I've met in Palestine smoke heavily, and...
Spring Team 05 Report: "First Entry"
April 10, 2005 by Mary (Lansing webdesigner on MPT's spring peace team) It is a beautiful monring in Aman. A. (my Michigan Peace Team companion) and I step into the taxi that will take us to the Hussein Bridge - out entry point into Palestine. The dawn reveals a verdant green landscape of peaked hills and rounded valleys. Springing from the mountains are homes of rough hewn rock and sparkling glass that look as though they've been pushed through the...
Spring Team 05 Reports: "Taste of Occupation"
April 10, 2005
Kim, a teacher and mother of four, is a second time team member with MPT
"For someone who loves to write, I am sitting at this computer without the words
to express what is happening here in Occupied Palestine. No metaphors. No
imagery. No hearttugging stories. Just the visceral, gut-wrenching knowledge
that we cannot continue to live our lives as we do while this continues in our
name and with our tax dollars."
Spring Team 05 Report "Replace Correctness with Reality"
April 8, 2005
by Henry
Bil'in, Occupied West Bank
"Today produced an image that will forever be imprinted on my mind, and possibly on the camera held by a nearby peace worker. Supporting the community members of this beautiful hillside village, about 20 internationals and a dozen Israeli peace activists joined 120 villagers in their demonstration against the wall and illegal settlement one-mile away. "
Spring Peace Team 05 Report "Poisoned Sheep"
The spring team gathered with Israeli, Palestinian, and international peace activists to confront settler violence.
Spring 04 Reports: Barb
It's around 11:15 a.m. here and I'm counting my misshapful blessings. We thought we'd be traveling to the West Bank to see the Wall today. However, travel impediments (from our escourt here) are giving us a free day. A Franciscan priest from the midwest popped in for a visit and gave us some valuable tips, such as recommended reading. He is studying Palestinian society/culture/politics/language here. The heady analysis resources include: Dishonest Broker by Nasaar Aruri which is about U. S....
Spring 04 Reports: Easter Reflections
SPRING TEAM 2004 REPORTS: Easter Reflections Holy Saturday and I'm sitting alone on the top level of the convent's roof which looks down on much of the Old City. A remarkable view from which to watch the sunset. Birds are singing and circling over the red tile roofs while children laugh and mothers take down laundry from adjoining rooftop terraces. The sounds in Jerusalem are not subtle. Roosters crowing, birds chattering, ambulances howling, and calls to prayer echoing through the...
Spring Peace Team 2004
The Michigan Peace Team's Spring Team has arrived safely in Jerusalem! Over the next 2 weeks they will be attending the Sabeel Conference on the threat of Christian Zionism, attend the release of Mordechai Vanunu (an Israeli peace activist imprisoned for 17 years for exposing Israel's nuclear weapons program) and helping to lay the ground work for MPT's summer team. Below is a brief introduction to each of our peacemakers along with updates sent by them from Jerusalem....
A Summer Peace Team Report
MPT sent an eight person peace team to Palestine/Israel from June-July 2004: they included four IHM nuns and one MSU law student. Below is just one report from an IHM nun. Dear People of All Faiths, It is a June Sunday and I had a multi-cultural worship & prayer experience this morning! Hearing the glorious invitations of the Christian bells and Muslim and Jewish Calls to Prayer, I went to Mass at the Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre;...
Fall 2004 Fall Olive Harvest Peace Team Report from Palestine
Michigan Peace Team deployed a peace team to Palestine/Israel for the fall olive harvest in mid-October. The team, composed of five members ranging in age from 22 to 70 years old, worked alongside Palestinian farmers, internationals and Israeli peace activists, to reduce violence during the olive harvest. Palestinian farmers have difficulty getting into their orchards to harvest their crops because of violence from Israeli settlers. The economic consequences of a missed harvest can be devastating for a family and their...
