What would you like to know about St. Joan of Arc? Do you have a story about our parish or of general interest that you think others would like to hear? For story ideas, contact Jeff Rholl, jeff@stjoan.com.
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On November 29th of this year, a small news item appeared on the Internet, “Ela Gandhi joins new peace force.” The article goes on to say that Ela Gandhi is the granddaughter of 
Mahatma Gandhi and that she joined other peace activists from 45 countries in New Delhi to help launch a major new peace movement. Serving as a staff member to organize that event was Saint Joan of Arc’s parishioner Mary Lou Ott. Mary Lou did not make the New Delhi papers but she had been mentioned in Doug Grow’s column of the Minneapolis Tribune as the originator of the idea for the “NO WAR IN IRAQ” signs springing up around the Twin Cities. Mary Lou missed the article because she had flown to India to finish organizing and then staffing the first Nonviolent Peaceforce International Convening Event.
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| Mel Duncan |
In organizing this event, Mary Lou made an interesting comment about e-mail and the Internet. This modern communication tool made it possible for us to link up with people around the world and to share ideas and organize around a common goal. It is something to think about that simultaneous with those who organize for war using the latest of technology, the same technology is allowing the armies of women and men separated by culture and distance to connect people from everywhere who are opposed to this violence. Mary Lou said that they could never have put on an event such as this without the rapid response technology of the Internet.
Talking to Mary Lou Ott is an educational experience. I learned that the term ‘third world’ is on it’s way out because countries identified as third world felt it that it put them in second class category. The new term that was less of a putdown is to refer to countries as being from the global south or global north. Whereas these terms may seem somewhat ambigous, the way things stand the global north countries generally are the wealthiest and more powerful. The conference planners wanted the conference held in a nation that was globally south. They also knew that leadership had to come from somewhere other than the United States. Anyone traveling in other countries today tells you the same thing; America is viewed more and more as a bully nation whose policies are seen as arrogant and only for the benefit of itself.
At this first convening event in New Delhi history was repeating itself. Mahatma Gandhi had begun organizing a conference to create what he called “Shanti Sena,” literally Peace Army, when he was cut down by an assassin’s bullet in 1948. Now in the year 2002 this group of women and men from five continents were taking up the same cause. Their first task was to name an international governing committee and then to select two co-chairs. Two people, one from Guatemala and the other from England were selected to lead this emerging organization. The idea created less than four years ago, now has a governing body and a growing membership. This idea of a Nonviolent Peaceforce had the endorsement of seven Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. It is also part of the goals of the United Nations and it has many joining organizations such as: Pax Christi International, The Peace Brigades, The Michigan Peace Teams, Global Exchange from San Francisco, the Mennonite University, and the International Fellowship of Reconciliation. Among those speaking at the meeting was the group called “Peaceful Tomorrows” which is made up of relatives or survivors of 9/11 who want to help build a world of peace not revenge.
A key action step was taken when after speeches and much discussion, the delegation chose a location for their first pilot project. They chose Sri Lanka, a country of eighteen million that has been struggling with violence and bloodshed between ethnic groups for almost twenty years. During this time an estimated 65,000 have been killed. Mary Lou talked about the struggle to come to this decision because there were other areas whose need is just as dramatic: Palestine, Guatemala, Columbia, and Korea, just to name a few. The Non-Violent Peace Force plans to train fifty women and men this Spring and up to two hundred by the end of the year. Their training may take up to six weeks. These trained members will not be volunteers, but paid. The concept of volunteer is found in affluent nations where people have personal resources. In nations that are part of the global south individuals need to work and everything they do must be paid for so that they can survive. Leadership and staff of the Non-Violent Peace Force have their work cut out for them, since they estimate that they need to raise two-and-half million dollars to fund this late summer training and pilot project.
Mary Lou explained that a trained unarmed Peaceforce will only enter a country by invitation and in the case of Sri Lanka both sides of the conflict have extended an invitation. What is new about the Nonviolent Peaceforce is that it is internationally broad-based in membership and will work in partnership with local groups to provide large-scale nonviolent protective services to people in conflict situations. Diversity of staff and competencies will be one of their trademarks. Depending on the situation, there is a range of actions that could be implemented. Actions will focus on accompanying activists and leaders, returning refugees, creating peace zones with international presence, monitoring elections, cease-fires, treaties, and protective interpositioning.
Certainly like all peace groups, world awareness is a deterrent to violence. We were back talking about the Internet because it can be used to alert the world of the rise of violence and it can point out who is causing it. When the world is watching, there is less a chance to want to risk international condemnation. The Internet may also be the tool used to expose the media for its control of news and influence. This contemporary means of communication makes it possible for people who are like-minded to connect and to join forces against individuals and governments that rule by violence and force.
Much of the learning that took place, according to Mary Lou was her own. “I once again become even more aware of the universality of God and I was humbled and stretched by other beliefs. It was a great joy to find how united we are in wanting the same thing for our families and for our nations. We have to remember that in the last 50 years, leaders have risen up and used nonviolence to end segregation in this country, prevent bloodshed in South Africa, and gain freedom for an oppressed people in India. We see people like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi, and we believe them to be our true heroes.”
| As the delegates and staff solemnly filed by the spot in the garden where Gandhi died, they gathered near for a period of prayer and reflection. One of the Indian delegates chanted Gandhi’s favorite Hindu prayer, followed by a Pakistani delegate who led the group in an Islamic prayer. Others followed in their own traditions, including a Tibetan Buddhist chant, the Hail Mary in Spanish, and the Lord’s Prayer in both French and English. Ms. Gandhi ended the reflection with a short reading from her grandfather’s writings. | - Press Release for Nonviolent Peace Force, December 2, 2002 |
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