MPT Positions
MPT
Statement on Violence at the US-Mexico Border
MICHIGAN PEACE TEAM STATEMENT ON THE VIOLENCE AT THE US-MEXICO BORDER: As people of conscience, we are opposed: - to the structural violence of our current militarized border enforcement strategy, - to the violence by armed civilian patrol groups, and - to the use of weapons by both civilians in vigilante patrols, such as the Minute Men and the Yuma Patriots and the Border Patrols to intimidate and harm others and we are deeply concerned about: - the suffering and...
How Peace Teams Work
TAKING CHANCES TO HELP PEACE Nonviolent interventions are risky but they show promise and deserve support Third-party nonviolent intervention, as researchers call it, is not a panacea. Its small scale successes do, however, raise the question: Why not expand to large scale? I knew African American civil rights pioneers James Farmer and Bayard Rustin, who led small-scale sit-ins in the 1940s. They didn't call for federal enforcement of civil rights in public accommodations. Calling out the military would have done more harm than good. Instead, they experimented with a nonviolent methodology that was at once more subtle and more powerful than military action. Their experiments became, in time, the movement that ended segregation in public facilities.
Role of Peace Teams
WHY PEACE TEAMS RISK THEIR LIVES Adapted from op-ed in Toronto Star, March 29, 2006 by Lyn Adamson of the Nonviolent Peaceforce The rescue of James Loney, Harmeet Singh Sooden, and Norman Kember in Iraq, and the death of Tom Fox, has focused attention on the Christian Peacemaker Teams. Not all the attention has been flattering. There have been questions raised about the role of nonviolent peacemakers in a conflict zone. Critics have suggested that peacemakers are naive and cannot...
Perspective on Mideast Conflict
Michigan Peace Team Perspective on the Conflict in Palestine/Israel We recognize and affirm nonviolence as a way of life and as a strategic tactic that can serve a central role in the resolution of the conflict(s) in the current situation. We do not advocate any particular solution to the crisis but support a just solution agreed upon by both Palestinians and Israelis. We support an end to violence by all parties in all forms so that peace can take root....
Vision and Mission
Michigan Peace Team's vision is to pursue peace through active nonviolence in places of conflict. We provide trainings in active nonviolence designed for the specific needs of the participants. We convene, support, and participate with local peace action groups and gatherings. We place violence reduction teams in places of conflict. We educate the public to the vision and practice of active nonviolence....
