05/14/08:A ‘Voice from the Wilderness’ to speak at Ascension Church - Peace North
A ‘Voice from the Wilderness’ to speak at Ascension Church
Sawyer County Record
by Paul Mitchell, Managing Editor
Kathy Kelly, three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and peace activist, will be present at the third-Friday Iraq Moratorium gathering at the intersection of highways 27 and 63 this Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. She is the guest of Peace North and Veterans for Peace.
At 7:30 p.m., she will speak about her work and activism at Ascension Episcopal Church, 10610 California Ave., Hayward. Other speaking engagements include 6 p.m. Saturday, May 17 at Peace Church in Duluth, and 10 a.m. Sunday, May 18 at the Blue Hills Unitarian Universalist Church, 230 W Messenger St., Rice Lake.
Committed to peace
Kelly is a founding member of Voices in the Wilderness, a group which has campaigned since 1995 for the end of warfare and sanctions against the Iraqi people. The original intent of the group was to use non-violent civil disobedience to provoke a confrontation with the powers the group’s members considered to be behind war with Iraq.
She is currently co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence which, according to the organization’s Web site, “has deep, long-standing roots in active nonviolent resistance to U.S. war-making. Begun in the summer of 2005, Voices draws upon the experiences of those who challenged the brutal economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and U.N. against the Iraqi people between 1990 and 2003.”
“We’re at the midpoint of what could be a long stretch of war,” Kelly said, noting that she thinks this is a critical time to utilize the right of free speech.
National Guard members from Wisconsin continued to be called up to go to Iraq, she said, “and they could continue to call up more, which will mean the loss of life and people returning maimed and traumatized.”
Kelly has experienced life in Iraqi war zones firsthand. In 1991, during the Gulf War, she was part of a peace encampment on the Iraq-Saudi Arabia border called the Gulf Peace Team. After being evacuated to Amman, Jordan in February 1991, members of the team stayed in the region for the next six months to help coordinate medical relief convoys and study teams.
She said she was present after “shock and awe bombing” and comforted Iraqi mothers grieving for their dead children.
After telling Iraqi students that she would continue to do what she could to bring about an end to the bombing and warfare in their country, a 16-year-old student stood up and said that although people say things like that, nothing ever changes. Why, the student asked her, is the life of a 16 year old in your country more important than my life?
The memory of that conversation, Kelly said, motivates her to continue to speak out against war.
“People invite me to come because they know I’ll speak from firsthand experience,” she said. “It’s one point of view, but it deserves to be heard.
“I’ll try to tell stories of people whom I have encountered,” she said, noting that she has spent time with average people in war-torn countries, not officials or wealthy citizens.
For more information on Voices for Creative Nonviolence, see http://vcnv.org/
Sawyer County Record
by Paul Mitchell, Managing Editor
Published: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 10:16 AM CDT
A founding member of Voices in the Wilderness is eager to share her message of peace with residents of the Northwoods this weekend.Kathy Kelly, three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and peace activist, will be present at the third-Friday Iraq Moratorium gathering at the intersection of highways 27 and 63 this Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. She is the guest of Peace North and Veterans for Peace.
At 7:30 p.m., she will speak about her work and activism at Ascension Episcopal Church, 10610 California Ave., Hayward. Other speaking engagements include 6 p.m. Saturday, May 17 at Peace Church in Duluth, and 10 a.m. Sunday, May 18 at the Blue Hills Unitarian Universalist Church, 230 W Messenger St., Rice Lake.
Committed to peace
Kelly is a founding member of Voices in the Wilderness, a group which has campaigned since 1995 for the end of warfare and sanctions against the Iraqi people. The original intent of the group was to use non-violent civil disobedience to provoke a confrontation with the powers the group’s members considered to be behind war with Iraq.
She is currently co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence which, according to the organization’s Web site, “has deep, long-standing roots in active nonviolent resistance to U.S. war-making. Begun in the summer of 2005, Voices draws upon the experiences of those who challenged the brutal economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and U.N. against the Iraqi people between 1990 and 2003.”
“We’re at the midpoint of what could be a long stretch of war,” Kelly said, noting that she thinks this is a critical time to utilize the right of free speech.
National Guard members from Wisconsin continued to be called up to go to Iraq, she said, “and they could continue to call up more, which will mean the loss of life and people returning maimed and traumatized.”
Kelly has experienced life in Iraqi war zones firsthand. In 1991, during the Gulf War, she was part of a peace encampment on the Iraq-Saudi Arabia border called the Gulf Peace Team. After being evacuated to Amman, Jordan in February 1991, members of the team stayed in the region for the next six months to help coordinate medical relief convoys and study teams.
She said she was present after “shock and awe bombing” and comforted Iraqi mothers grieving for their dead children.
After telling Iraqi students that she would continue to do what she could to bring about an end to the bombing and warfare in their country, a 16-year-old student stood up and said that although people say things like that, nothing ever changes. Why, the student asked her, is the life of a 16 year old in your country more important than my life?
The memory of that conversation, Kelly said, motivates her to continue to speak out against war.
“People invite me to come because they know I’ll speak from firsthand experience,” she said. “It’s one point of view, but it deserves to be heard.
“I’ll try to tell stories of people whom I have encountered,” she said, noting that she has spent time with average people in war-torn countries, not officials or wealthy citizens.
For more information on Voices for Creative Nonviolence, see http://vcnv.org/
Submitted by wnpj on Fri, 05/16/2008 - 12:56pm.