A year ago last Saturday, the Friends Meeting I’m part of took a big step, for us: we rented a booth at the Alamance Pride Festival, held in a large park in downtown Burlington NC. Outwardly, our booth was not particularly eye-catching. Amid the fluttering of a thousand floating rainbows, the yellow table banner we … Continue reading The Shadow at the Pride Festival
Gaza death toll nears 40,000 — who cares? Gwynne Dyer — 29 Jul, 2024 Many people around the world are calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war and its huge toll of civilian casualties. But Gwynne Dyer argues that this chorus does not include the handful of key actors in the bloody drama. The … Continue reading Dyer: Gaza Civilian Deaths: Who Really Cares?
‘We all share the same pain’: can the Israeli-Arab peace movement rebuild after 7 October? As the conflict in Gaza continues, reconciliation may seem a distant dream, but on both sides there are those working for peace Caitlin Kelly — Tue 21 May 2024 Supported by theguardian.org On the morning of 7 October, as news … Continue reading “You May Say, They Are Dreamers – But They’re Not the Only Ones” — Israeli-Palestinian Peace Movement Reviving, Expects a Long Haul
Israel, Hamas and the elusive cease fire GWYNNE DYER — PUBLISHED: 7 MAY 2024 Hamas did not need a ceasefire. It had already demonstrated that Israel could not eradicate it. It had achieved its primary goal of wrecking the anti-Iran alliance that was brewing between Israel and the major Arab Gulf states. And it doesn’t … Continue reading Gwynne Dyer: Cease-fire?
Last month I attended two presentations by the new AFSC Director of Quaker Engagement, Brian Blackmore, at Durham and Chapel Hill Meetings here in North Carolina. Blackmore, just a year in the job, is the successor to Lucy Duncan, a longtime AFSC staffer who was unceremoniously fired in early 2022 when she tried to start … Continue reading AFSC: When the Slides Went Awry, And The Key Questions Weren’t Asked . . .