Kalid Amayreh, correspondent for Al Jazeereh, on
Democracy Now! yesterday, on the kidnapped members of the Christian Peacemaking Team:
Yes. Well, actually, almost everybody in the West Bank knows those people. Those people have been active here for the last ten years. And they have used non-violence; they have tried to help the Palestinians withstand the Israeli army tactics they use. They escort Palestinian kids to their schools, through Israeli check points and roadblocks. So, their work is actually greatly appreciated by all Palestinians. And everybody is really concerned about what is happening in Iraq to those four people. I personally know Tom Fox and James Loney, and I told them several times, they are doing wonderful work [inaudible] to prevent the demolition of Palestinian homes.
So the last few day actually, Muslim religious leaders, teachers, ordinary people have been making efforts to appeal to the kidnappers to release those people. Today I understand there was a press conference in Ramallah where the religious leader of the Palestinian Authority has made a passionate appeal to the kidnappers to release those innocent people. So, yes, there is very much concern about this, and the entire community is being mobilized to bring about their safe release.
And
in Palestine, two demonstrations have been called for, to demand the release of the 4 CPT members:
Today in Ramallah, Ikram al-Sabri, the head Mufti of Palestine, along with several other notable Palestinians called for the immediate release of all civilian hostages in Iraq, with particular reference to the four Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) hostages.
Ikram al-Sabri said that “there is a duty for all Palestinian people, institutions and factions to commit to sending a call to release these people who have been kidnapped. They are very important for us to help continue our struggle, whether here in Palestine or in Iraq, to gain our country’s freedom. We repeat our call to release all the civilian people who have been kidnapped all over the world, not only these four.”
Dr. Wasif Abu-Yousef, a representative of the National and Islamic Forces in Palestine (an umbrella group representing all Palestinian political parties) described the four activists and CPT in general as: “soldiers for peace” and “real heros” and talked about the role of international activists like the CPT: “they were chaining themselves to homes that were threatened with demolition. Some of them were even martyrs, like our friends Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall. Some were injured or denied entry, some of them have been deported. They have suffered side by side with us … they have challenged the Israeli occupation in Palestine and the settlers in Hebron”. He strongly condemned the kidnappings saying: “from the heart of Palestine, we condemn and are completely against the process of kidnapping these four people in Iraq. This state of chaos, killings, and criminal acts that have been happening in Iraq will not help the Iraqi people. On the contrary, there are people who will make use of this. The occupation will use this as an excuse to continue.”
As Farid Alan Schintzius, a fellow Quaker and friend of Tom Fox from Richmond, Virginia, said on Democracy Now!:
You know, if you had asked me when I first heard he was abducted that -- what would I expect to be hearing and seeing in the papers here in Richmond, Virginia, I’m seeing pictures of protests in Palestine in demand for Tom's release. He really knew what he was getting into when he went, and the work that he chose to do is one that speaks volumes about who he is.
People like that are certainly deserving of our prayers; and our help. There is a petition available through
Street Prophets. These people need all the support we can give them.
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