No Word on Fate of Four Kidnapped Peace Activists - Sign Petitions

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Amy Goodman interviews family members of the peacemakers on Democracy Now.

The kidnapped are members of the humanitarian group The Christian Peacemaker Teams, a non-missionary organization that has been documenting the abuse of Iraqi detainees, working with the families of prisoners and promoting peace. They have been operating in Iraq since 2002, and have had a presence in Gaza and the West Bank for the past decade. It has previously operated in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Bosnia.

More than 35,000 people have signed an online petition urging their release and support from Muslim activists has been especially significant. Recently, the Association of Muslim Scholars, a group of influential Sunni scholars said that the captives should be granted their freedom.

Moazzam Begg, a British citizen, who was detained at Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba for nearly three years also called for their release.

* Moazzam Begg, former Guantanamo detainee.

The four hostages first appeared in a video broadcast by Al Jazeera. The station then aired another video in which the kidnappers threatened to kill the four unless all prisoners in US and Iraqi detention centers were released by December 8th. The deadline was extended by 48 hours. That deadline has now passed. There has been no word of their fate. Last Wednesday, a video was released of two of the captives, Tom Fox and Norman Kember, making this plea. http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/12/1447207

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

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1. Please Release Our Friends in Iraq

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.freethecpt.org

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2. Statement

To those who are holding the Christian Peacemakers Team in Iraq, and to people everywhere of all Traditions of Faith and Peace:

We who write you affirm what all the traditions teach that trace their spiritual origin to Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all teach explicitly that to kill even one human being - even more strongly one who is doing no harm, most especially one who is seeking peace and nurturing human bodies and communities -- is to destroy a world. All other religious traditions agree about the holiness of human lives.

This teaching applies to all innocent Iraqis and foreigners who have been killed or taken away in Iraq out of anger against the US occupation - and it applies with special clarity and strength to the members of the Christian Peacemakers Team who are being held in Iraq. Like us, they too 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.

No doubt, those who planned and executed the US invasion and occupation of Iraq will cite this action as evidence for the rightness of their action. We utterly reject this logic, and affirm that the war undertaken by the US has multiplied the violence it pretended to oppose.

We hold morally responsible for the lives of these Christian Peacemakers both those in Iraq who have taken them, and those who have brought about the deaths of thousands of Iraqis and Americans by pursuing this war.

Once again, we call for a swift end to the US occupation of Iraq and for peaceful action by the entire human community to assist Iraqis to achieve their own self-government. And we send our loving prayers to those who have become victims of their own loving commitment to peace, justice, and healing.

http://ga3.org/campaign/releasehostages

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3. K & R!

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4. K & R!

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5. thank you for posting this, FrustratedDemInNC. thank you for persevering

through the sorrow of this tragedy.

please keep on.


peace and solidarity

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6. please sign, everyone! peace... eom

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7. kick!

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8. kick! please sign!

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9. kick

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10. kick

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