Free the Christian Peacemaker Team - Please Sign Petition

[Wind Dancer]

Blessed are the Merciful in Baghdad

Please sign petition on behalf of releasing the CPT members:

www.freethecpt.org

Edited to add Sapphire Blue's petition:

Another petition: Help Release Christian Peacemaker Team Members: http://ga3.org/campaign/releasehostages

See post #6.

Excellent article on the Christan Peacemaker Team

-snip-

Now Christian Peacemaker Team has entered the mainstream media with headlines telling about a previously unknown Iraqi group called Swords of Righteousness, which has been holding four CPT members since November 26th. The group demands the release all Iraqi detainees held in <U.S.-> and Iraqi-run prisons. They've threatened to kill the four CPT men if this demand isn't met. A painful irony is that CPT has worked so fervently on behalf of Iraqi detainees.

Our friends in the CPT are learning first hand the agonizing experience of over 5,000 Iraqi families whose loved ones have been abducted over the past year. The lives of other westerners who've been abducted, a German archaeologist, a French engineer, and an American security contractor are also in jeopardy.

Throughout the past week, CPT made clear that their prayers include loving care and concern not only for their own team members but also for all of the people in Iraq afflicted by the sad and tragic realities of warfare, including those who call themselves Swords of Righteousness.

By living outside the Green Zone and traveling without armed guards, CPT has risked a great deal to educate us about the plight of people living through the strains of war and occupation. Now they are helping us learn at deep and challenging levels about embracing the teachings of Jesus, who urged his followers, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Their courage helps liberate the essential Christian call to take serious risks on behalf of bringing liberty to the captive, relief to the oppressed and good news to the poor. With CPT members in the public eye, and as we enter the season when people will ostensibly celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who was crucified under Roman Occupation, I hope we can still hear that call, above all, to pursue the works of mercy and end the works of war.

http://www.counterpunch.org/kelly12082005.html

[Wind Dancer]

1. Kick!

Blessed are the Merciful in Baghdad

Please sign petition on behalf of releasing the CPT members:

www.freethecpt.org

[Blue_In_AK]

2. I hope these folks make out better than Ron Schulz

the industrial electrician hostage from Anchorage, working for the Iraqi housing ministry, who has apparently been killed...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10382110/

[Wind Dancer]

3. That is tragic news!

I'm so sorry this happened, my thoughts and prayers are with the family.

:cry:

[Blue_In_AK]

4. It seems the Christian Peacemakers

have more international support, which may work to their benefit. The capture and threatened execution of Mr. Schulz didn't seem to receive quite as much publicity, except here at home.

[Wind Dancer]

5. Too many innocent people have died!

I hope and pray the lives of these peacemakers are spared.

[Sapphire Blue]

6. K & R! (w/additional links - petition, demonstrations, vigils)

Another petition: Help Release Christian Peacemaker Team Members: http://ga3.org/campaign/releasehostages (more info from Faithful America @ http://ga3.org/campaign/releasehostages/explanation )

Prayer Vigils and Demonstrations: http://www.cpt.org/iraq/response/PrayerVigils.htm

[Wind Dancer]

7. Sapphire Blue,

thanks for sharing those important links - prayer vigils are scheduled throughout the country.

Signed and forwarded the petition, too!

:hug:

Thoughts and prayers for the peacemakers!

[Sapphire Blue]

8. You're welcome!

I've signed both & will be attending a vigil this evening.

:hug:

Yes, thoughts & prayers for the peacemakers!

[nofurylike]

16. great information, thank you, Sapphire Blue, for helping me find a vigil

in our area!

pouring out peace and justice energy with you all!!


peace and solidarity!

[Wind Dancer]

9. K & R!

Free the Christian Peacemaker Team - Please Sign Petitions

[usedtobesick]

10. I signed both as well

recommended :prayer:

[Wind Dancer]

11. Thank you!

Total signatures: 31196 as of 8pm EST



From 12/5

"Calls have come from all over the world calling for the release of the hostages. More than 13,000 people including Noam Chomsky and Arundhati Roy signed an online petition urging their release. The petition reads in part "They are people who have dedicated their lives to fighting against war and have clearly and publicly opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq." The petition is online at the website freethecpt.org.

Last week, The Association of Muslim Scholars, a group of influential Sunni scholars said that the captives should be granted their freedom. This group has helped mediate the release of kidnapped foreigners in the past. And this weekend Members of the Christian Peace Team working in the West Bank town of Hebron also called for the release of their colleagues." Democracy Now

[nofurylike]

12. signed signed kick and nominated. thank you for alerting us to this

petition, and for all your work on this, FrustratedDemInNC!
thank you for all you do!!


"Blessed are the Merciful in Baghdad"

yes yes yes...!!


peace and solidarity!

[Wind Dancer]

14. nofurylike, thanks for keeping this topic active.

I hope and pray these brave souls will be released unharmed.

The kidnappers have extended the deadline until Saturday - pleas for their release are being heard worldwide.

Peace!

[nofurylike]

18. the least.... it is heartbreaking, these peaceful, generous-spirited

people, the *last* to ever 'deserve' to pay for this country's insanity...


aaiiieeeeee....


peace

[Sapphire Blue]

13. KICK! Please... 2 more recommendations for greatest!

[FreedomAngel82]

15. Signed!

I hope something works to get them out. :\

[nofurylike]

17. just one more nom needed. someone? vitally important! thank you! eom

[Wind Dancer]

19. An Urgent Appeal

An Urgent Appeal: Please Release Our Friends in Iraq

Four members of Christian Peacemaker Teams were taken this past Saturday, November 26, in Baghdad, Iraq. They are not spies, nor do they work in the service of any government. They are people who have dedicated their lives to fighting against war and have clearly and publicly opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq. They are people of faith, but they are not missionaries. They have deep respect for the Islamic faith and for the right of Iraqis to self-determination.

C.P.T. first came to Iraq in October 2002 to oppose the US invasion, and it has remained in the country throughout the occupation in solidarity with the Iraqi people. The group has been invaluable in alerting the world to many of the horrors facing Iraqis detained in US-run prisons and detention centers. C.P.T. was among the first to document the torture occurring at the Abu Ghraib prison, long before the story broke in the mainstream press. Its members have spent countless hours interviewing Iraqis about abuse and torture suffered at the hands of US forces and have disseminated this information internationally.

Each of the four C.P.T. members being held in Iraq has dedicated his life to resisting the darkness and misery of war and occupation. Convinced that it is not enough to oppose the war from the safety of their homes, they made the difficult decision to go to Iraq, knowing that the climate of mistrust created by foreign occupation meant that they could be mistaken for spies or missionaries. They went there with a simple purpose: to bear witness to injustice and to embody a different kind of relationship between cultures and faiths. Members of C.P.T. willingly undertook the risks of living among Iraqis, in a common neighborhood outside of the infamous Green Zone. They sought no protection from weapons or armed guards, trusting in, and benefiting from, the goodwill of the Iraqi people. Acts of kindness and hospitality from Iraqis were innumerable and ensured the C.P.T. members’ safety and wellbeing. We believe that spirit will prevail in the current situation.

We appeal to those holding these activists to release them unharmed so that they may continue their vital work as witnesses and peacemakers.

www.petitionspot.com/petitions/freethecpt

[nofurylike]

20. these are people who put their lives at DIREST RISK to repair harm this

- 'our,' as in WE are financing that devastation! - country is doing!!

to be the living embodiment of PEACE!

PLEASE sign the petition and put this on the greatest page!!


peace, all!

[nofurylike]

21. they are not missionaries. they do not proseletize. they work to END WAR

and to ease the suffering it causes!!

they do that, they sacrifice all that

signing those petitions, maybe getting out to a vigil, must be the least we will do for them and their devotion!

sign kick and nominate, please!!


peace!

[nofurylike]

22. kick

[Wind Dancer]

23. K & R!

[elshiva]

24. I did it. Thanks!

[nofurylike]

25. whew. on greatest! please, folks, SPREAD THE WORD ON THIS!!! eom

[nofurylike]

26. 81,500+ DUers. where? where even 100? it makes no sense to me! eom

[NYC]

28. I signed both petitions.

Thanks for linking to them.

[nofurylike]

59. thank you for signing, NYC! please pass the word.

i'm sorry i missed your post last night!


peace!

[NYC]

76. Better you should see it tonight.

Keeps the post near the top so others will know to sign.

[Wind Dancer]

30. Slowly adding more sigs.

Total signatures: 31509 10:45pm

There are so many passionate pleas being made on the petition - hopefully all the positive energy and prayers will free these peacemakers.

Many vigils taking place tomorrow night in hopes of a safe release.

We must not give up!

[nofurylike]

31. thank you for that update. yes, "We must not give up!"! eom

[bigwillq]

27. Done X2

:bounce:

[nofurylike]

29. cute, the bounce thing! please spread the word! kick

[nofurylike]

32. kick

[nofurylike]

33. kick

[Wind Dancer]

34. K & R!

Please sign petitions on behalf of releasing the CPT members:

www.freethecpt.org

Help Release Christian Peacemaker Team Members: http://ga3.org/campaign/releasehostages

(more info from Faithful America @ http://ga3.org/campaign/releasehostages/explanation )

Prayer Vigils and Demonstrations: http://www.cpt.org/iraq/response/PrayerVigils.htm

[nofurylike]

35. kick

[nofurylike]

36. kick

[nofurylike]

37. i do not get it. where are all the DUers? maybe someone can drop a

line in the lounge.

this is sad...


peace

[nofurylike]

38. kick

[Sapphire Blue]

39. Please sign... please help these peacemakers. Thank you!

Please sign petitions on behalf of releasing the CPT members: www.freethecpt.org


Help Release Christian Peacemaker Team Members: http://ga3.org/campaign/releasehostages

(more info from Faithful America @ http://ga3.org/campaign/releasehostages/explanation )


Prayer Vigils and Demonstrations: http://www.cpt.org/iraq/response/PrayerVigils.htm

[cry baby]

40. kick

[nofurylike]

41. kick

[nofurylike]

42. kick

[stickdog]

43. K&R

Bless the Peacemakers.

[nofurylike]

44. kick

[nofurylike]

45. kick

[nofurylike]

46. kick

[nofurylike]

47. kick

[nofurylike]

48. kick

[Sapphire Blue]

49. Please sign & keep kicked!! (And recommend!)

[entanglement]

52. Will do, sapphire

n/t

[RepublicanElephant]

50. done. n/t

.

[entanglement]

51. Signed

Hope they make it

:(

[Sapphire Blue]

53. 12,000 Faithful Americans' Urge Release of Captured Christian Peacemakers

12,000 Faithful Americans' Urge Release of Captured Christian Peacemakers

Washington, December 8, 2005 -- In less than 24 hours more than 9,000 persons added their names to a letter distributed by the National Council of Churches USA and FaithfulAmerica.org. The letter, issued by U.S. religious leaders, calls for the release of the four Christian Peacemaker Team members abducted last week in Iraq.

By Thursday, that number had grown to 12,000 persons.

<snip>


On Monday (Dec.5) the National Council of Churches issued an alert through its interfaith advocacy ministry, FaithfulAmerica.org., calling for the release of the four peace activists. FaithfulAmerica.org plans to forward the letter with the signatures to Al Jazeera, the leading Arab News agency in hopes that its message will reach those holding the four men.

The letter states, “Like us, they too (members of the CPT) opposed the US attack. They came to serve the Iraqi people. They came not only to urge peace but also to live peace. We who have opposed the US invasion and occupation of Iraq call on all who live in Iraq to seek the release of these people into safety and freedom. And we call on all people of good will everywhere to join in this call.”

Continued @ http://www.faithfulamerica.org/display_article.php?article_type=homepage&article_id=256&PHPSESSID=93106accdc3f3fcab6975660306326af

[Wind Dancer]

54. People of all faiths coming together!

Thanks for posting this passionate letter - hopefully the sigs will continue to grow and the peacemakers will be released unharmed.

:hug:

[nofurylike]

60. thank you for that news, Sapphire Blue. we must persist. eom

[hippywife]

55. Signed and kicked!

I have had the opportunity to meet people in the CPT and learn of their work. They deserve our full support.

[newyawker99]

56. Done. n/t

[wixomblues]

57. Done

[Wind Dancer]

58. Please sign petitions for the peacemakers!

Please sign petitions on behalf of releasing the CPT members:

www.freethecpt.org

Help Release Christian Peacemaker Team Members: http://ga3.org/campaign/releasehostages

(more info from Faithful America @ http://ga3.org/campaign/releasehostages/explanation )

Prayer Vigils and Demonstrations: http://www.cpt.org/iraq/response/PrayerVigils.htm

[nofurylike]

61. please, everyone, sign and pass the word! maybe find a vigil to

attend tonight?

urgent


peace

[Wind Dancer]

62. Inspirational article on the peacemakers.

I just finished reading this inspiring piece:

On a Thanksgiving visit home two years ago to his family in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Jim Loney tried to explain to his father why he wanted to go to Iraq with Christian Peacemaker Teams. He told his Dad about a grade school chum, Rick, sent to Afghanistan with the Canadian Armed Forces, who narrowly escaped death from a roadside bomb.



“If Rick was being asked to risk his life as a soldier then I, as a pacifist Christian who believes that war is not the way to peace, should be prepared to take the same risks,” he recalled trying to reason with his father.



Jim returned from Iraq safely, but on a return trip this year, his father’s worst fears were realized. On November 26, Jim was taken hostage in Baghdad, along with three CPT colleagues, Harmeet Sooden, also from Canada, Norman Kember, from England, and Tom Fox, from the U.S.



Millions of people around the world are learning for the first time about these peace warriors. But what few people know is that CPT members go to conflict zones like Iraq expressly stating that if they are abducted they do not want to be rescued by the military or any violent means. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=9289

[nofurylike]

66. "...expressly stating...not want to be rescued by... any violent means."

i just cry.
and get chills.

what an amazing example they set!!!

could i be so devoted?!! how many of us could?

thank you so very much for that, yes, inspiring piece, FrustratedDemInNC!

everyone should read that!!!


peace and solidarity!

[nofurylike]

69. "But what few people know..." please read that moving article! wow

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=9289

:kick:

[nofurylike]

63. "Blessed are the Merciful in Baghdad" please sign the petitions! eom

[nofurylike]

64. kick

[nofurylike]

65. kick! please sign the petitions, everyone! thank you! eom

[Sapphire Blue]

67. Sunni party calls for hostage release

Sunni party calls for hostage release

Sunday 04 December 2005, 9:41 Makka Time, 6:41 GMT

(excerpt)

The main Sunni political party in Iraq has called for the release of four Western hostages who are opposed to war and calling for the end of the occupation.

The Iraq Islamic Party described Tom Fox, an American, Norman Kember, a Briton, and James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden, both Canadians, as "activists in a movement opposing the war in Iraq".

The statement released on Saturday said: "The party calls on the captors to free them because their kidnapping is a dream opportunity for the supporters of the war against our country who say that Iraqis cannot tell the difference between those who support them and those who oppose them."

The Committee for Muslim Scholars, a powerful Sunni organisation, has also called for the release of the hostages.

Continued @ http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C9F67A1B-0DAB-4713-8277-7DBB6CB763E9.htm

[nofurylike]

70. THANK YOU for that news and for the next post news, SB!!!! eom

[Sapphire Blue]

68. Statement about the missing CPT members by Palestinian political parties

Statement about the missing CPT members by Palestinian political parties

Following the disappearance of four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq, Palestinian political factions gathered in Hebron to issue a statement in Arabic about their experiences of seeing the CPT working in Palestine, and their personal knowledge of the three kidnapped members and their important work on behalf of the Palestinian people. Original Arabic version provided by CPT Hebron

(excerpt)

The Islamic and National forces in the governorate of Hebron/Palestine express their deep regret for the kidnapping of four members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Iraq.

The Islamic and National forces in the governorate of Hebron/Palestine have had long experience confronting Israeli crimes and violations with the CPT since 1995, and wish to confirm that the members of this group have had and still have a major role in confronting Israeli crimes and violations, and in the protection of the property and the lives of the Palestinian citizens.

More than once they placed themselves in front of the occupation's tanks, and they confronted Israeli occupation bulldozers with their bodies defending Palestinians' homes against destruction. They accompanied our children when they were threatened and attacked by Israeli settlers on their way to and from their schools. Because of what they were doing, the CPT members were subjected to arrest, beating and pursuit by the Israeli soldiers and settlers in more than one location in Palestine. Many of them were denied entry to Palestine, or deported by the occupation authorities because of their activities in confronting the occupation.

We appeal to our brothers in the resistance and all those with alert consciences in Iraq, with whom we consider ourselves to be in the same trench confronting American aggression and occupation, to instantly and quickly release the four kidnapped persons (two Canadians, one Briton and one American) from CPT, in appreciation for their role in standing beside and supporting our Palestinian people and all the Arab and Islamic peoples.

http://www.cpt.org/iraq/response/palstatement.htm

[nofurylike]

71. please keep signing on this! their Peacework is touching the world to

come to their rescue!!

it is so powerful!!


Peace

[nofurylike]

72. kick!

[nofurylike]

73. kick!

[Wind Dancer]

74. K &R!

Deadline fast approaching!

[Ladyhawk]

75. Signed. :(

This stupid occupation has cost too many lives already.

[Sapphire Blue]

77. kick

:kick:

[nofurylike]

78. "Blessed are the Merciful in Baghdad"

:kick:

[nofurylike]

79. kick

[nofurylike]

80. please sign, folks! eom

[nofurylike]

81. "to pursue the works of mercy and end the works of war." eom

[nofurylike]

82. kick

[Wind Dancer]

83. K & R!

[nofurylike]

84. "Blessed are the Merciful in Baghdad" have you heard anything at all? eom

[Wind Dancer]

87. Nothing being reported on the news!

Since the deadline is today, I hope this is a good sign.

[nofurylike]

88. thank you! i hope so too, so very much! such devotion to peace, theirs! nt

[Pushed To The Left]

85. Signed it! n/t

[karlrschneider]

86. Signed and

:kick:

[nofurylike]

89. "..let them be free and let them spend the holidays with their families"

Calls grow for release of hostages held in Iraq
Saturday, December 10, 2005 10:10:55 AM ET
By Omar al-Ibadi and Paul Tait

http://www.metronews.ca/reuters_international.asp?id=114853

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An influential Sunni cleric joined growing calls on Friday for the release of Western hostages being held...

-snip-

"I ask those who have an influence ... to release these hostages. I understand they are in the hands of one of the groups that are defending Iraq and Islam," Sheikh Ahmed al-Samaraie told worshippers at Friday prayers in the Abu Hanifa mosque, one of main Sunni places of worship in Baghdad.

-snip-

"I want to remind you that people around the world are trying to pressure their governments to withdraw from Iraq," (Cindy) Sheehan told Al Jazeera television from London. "It would be inhuman to kill them."

-snip-

"Those of us who have dealt with the CPT workers know they are very honest, very clean. We know they never had any evangelist goals," he (Ehab Lotayef, of the Canadian Islamic Congress) told reporters.

-snip-

***


peace

[nofurylike]

90. kick

[nofurylike]

91. kick

[proud patriot]

92. kick