Peace Indicator: 119

This week's Peace Indicator is 119, the number of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates since the prize was first awarded in 1901.

A complete list is available on the Nobel Prize's web site. The prizes have been given to a wide variety of people and groups for a wide variety of reasons. AFSC shared the 1947 prize with the British Friends Service Council for the work of Friends over 300 years with a special focus on the work done after the two world wars to feed the starving populations of Europe. We have stories posted online that talk about our work over the years, including the work that led to our prize.

If you have suggestions for a Peace Indicator please feel free to share.

Peace Essay #3

This week's Peace Essay comes from Erin Polley, a Program Associate for AFSC's Eyes Wide Open Exhibit in our Great Lakes Region:

There was a time when I was younger that the word peace conjured up images of a hippie generation made mythic through television and film. I had only a vague notion of what peace meant, and I certainly didn’t think I would end up working for it every day of my life.

Now when I think about what peace means to me, I see people. I see the faces of people I’ve marched alongside in protest of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think of those first few people who nurtured my anger over the wars into activism through peacemaking. I recall the 10 or so volunteers I worked with each Monday night for a year as we dreamed up the Eyes Wide Open exhibit. And of course, I see most vividly some of my closest friends and colleagues at AFSC. Peace, to me, is my community.

I never considered myself an activist until I was arrested protesting the start of the Iraq war back in 2003. I knew what was taking place was not right and that war would not settle anything, at home or abroad. I felt powerless, frustrated and sad as I watched “Shock and Awe” unfold on my TV screen. It wasn’t until I was arrested, along with about a thousand other people, did I really feel like there was power in my opposition. For hours I sat in a detention room with 30 women, many of them seasoned activists, and made friendships that endure today.

Through my work with AFSC, I’ve been given the opportunity to work for peace and to provide opportunities for others to engage in peacemaking. For years I was able to organize with a network of folks in Chicago and now I am building my peace family in Indianapolis, where I live now. Being a part of a community that strives for a better, more peaceful tomorrow has changed my life in ways I could have never imagined. Each person that I have met in this work has informed and shaped my own beliefs and practices in peace. I’ve discovered, most importantly, that we cannot have peace without those that seek to attain it.


All essays on this theme are the work and opinion of their authors, even those who are AFSC staff. The authors (including staff) are free to disagree with AFSC's positions, and therefore these essays should not be seen as statements by AFSC. We share them in the hope of sparking conversation about the true meanings of peace.

Peace Indicator: 1

Photo credit: gregoryjameswalsh's
flickr stream.

This week's peace indicator came from my friend Johanna. When I asked her if she had ideas for peace indicators she replied "One, because peace begins with me."

Since several of the essays on peace that I've received so far have focused on the personal efforts required for peace, this seemed like the perfect indicator for this week. To reach a true state of peace in the world, we all have to work to make a difference.

If you have ideas of a peace indicator you would like to share, please leave a comment. If you would like to submit an essay about the meaning of peace, send contact us at oneminute@afsc.org.

What is Peace Essay #2

This week's essay comes from Nora Khouri, Middle East Peace Program Associate in AFSC's San Fransisco office:

Peace itself is a little more than a word, and a theory that begins to take hold in the mind of the individual, until the commitment is made by one, to begin to practice peace within their own life. Peace on earth can only be manifested when inner peace is practiced on a large scale. Inner peace is realized when the harmonious union of mind, body and spirit are aligned in one’s life through a purposeful and intentional practice. Harmonious union and alignment are only manifested when there is a willingness and commitment by the individual to take an honest look within and begin the process of unraveling the many contradictions that create disharmony or disease within human beings. Their may be many paths to attaining inner peace but in Buddhist principles, the path to inner peace is to be attained through a practice of mindfulness and silent meditation.

In an attempt to further the understanding of peace, Martin Luther King Jr. who was the embodiment of a harmonious mind, body and spirit taught us, that “Peace is not merely an absence of violence, rather the presence of justice.” Like peace, justice is a mental concept created based on moral rightness. Just as the concept of peace can not be fully realized when simply defined in the mind, peace without justice is incomplete.

It is the presence of inner peace, which effects the way we treat one another and translates into peace on earth. It is this grounding in of peace within, which makes us realize we are one with all living things, nature and the earth that makes us feel connected to the world around us. It is this practice in our daily lives which reminds us and gives us the strength to take action in the face of massive injustice and human suffering. It is this practice which also reminds us and gives us a deep innate understanding that, in the words of MLK ‘no one is free, unless we are all free.’ It is precisely the practice and commitment of peace with justice, which is the ultimate expression of harmony, love and compassion for humanity that will end all wars in the traditional sense of the word “peace.”




All essays on this theme are the work and opinion of their authors, even those who are staff for AFSC. The authors (including staff) are free to disagree with AFSC's positions, and therefore these essays should not be seen as statements by AFSC. We share them in the hope of sparking conversation about the true meanings of peace.

Peace Indicator: $312,885,119

This week's Peace Indicator is $312,885,119, the current size of the total portfolio of the United Nations Peace Building Fund.

In 2006 the United Nations created the Peace Building Fund. The fund aims to address immediate needs of countries as they emerge from conflicts.

Currently they provide support to nine different counties. One of the first was Burundi, which they targeted for support just days after the fund was formed. They have worked on projects ranging from human rights to government to property and land issues.

Peace Essay #1

A few weeks ago I asked a few of my friends to write essays to answer the question: What does "peace" mean? Starting today we're going to publish one essay a week answering that question. If you would like to submit an essay, please contact us at oneminute@afsc.org for more information. Essays are the views of the author, who are free to disagree with AFSC.

This first essay was submitted by my friend Pamela (who also provided one of our first Peace Indicators):

Peace

I sat with this question of what peace means to me for a couple of days, testing whether what came to mind would hold true both for individuals and communities, for spiritual as well as temporal life. It was a good challenge, and here’s what I came up with as conditions for peace:

• Knowing that there are others who wish you well, that your life and well-being matter;
• Having some predictability in the larger environment; not being on edge about what might happen next, or at the mercy of forces that are too large to control and not at peace themselves;
• Have some reason to believe that your efforts will yield results;
• Having some confidence in your goodness—and the goodness of others;
• Not holding tightly to more than your share, or protecting yourself against those with less.

Since I’m suspicious of ideas and beliefs that aren’t rooted in practice, the next challenge was to consider how all this relates to my experience.

I thought immediately about all the attempts that people make to reach peace by eliminating or muting what seems to threaten it. So we have peace through drugs and numbness, peace by the iron fist, peace in a vacuum, ultimately peace through death. I know the attraction, but am looking for more.

I thought of the deeply conflict-averse family I was raised in, and what a struggle it has been to embrace conflict as survivable even, much less something that could bring growth. I’ve fought hard to understand the roots of anger and fear, and develop the skills and confidence to engage in and get to the bottom of conflict.

I thought about the appearance of peace—and all the rubber band wars, hand-made toy weapons, contact sports, and noise in our family over the years. I’m pleased with our focus on supporting our boys’ natural growth in goodness rather than setting up a hedge of prohibitions against anything that could be associated with the evils of violence.

I thought about the relative security that comes with being defended versus being connected. Our choice to live and raise a family in the city, rather than going for the more protected suburbs, has had its costs for sure. But it has given us access to many wonderful people whom others miss in their choice to put more resources into protection. Following that path to its ultimate end—the gated community—seems like a deeply misguided search for peace.

I thought of how deeply any true and lasting peace is intertwined with economic and political justice. I’ve looked for ways to lend my weight to those struggles, and fought for respectful peer connection with people who have less—and every step I’ve taken, every connection I’ve made, makes me feel more at home, more secure in this world.

I have to say that I also love quiet. I love the stillness of Quaker meeting. I am always striving to clear out the bustle and noise that keeps me from listening for and hearing what I’m called to. I love my early morning walks and time spent with the earth, yielding up beauty and bounty. But the peace I’m most excited about is lively and full of conflict, with all the risk, surprise, and joy that come with hard-won connection.

Peace Indicator: 77

This week's Peace Indicator is 77 warheads. That's the number of deployed nuclear warheads removed from the U.S. arsenal between February and May of this year.

The Federation of American Scientists noted back in February that it appeared that the arsenal had dropped below the 2,200 mark (which we were required to do by treaty by 2012). Then in July the State Department confirmed FAS's figures.

2,200 is still a huge number of nuclear warheads, and that doesn't count the ones kept in reserve. Still, progress should be appreciated when it happens.

Stopping for Peace

There are many things you can do at a stoplight: balance your checkbook, clean out your purse, check your teeth for food particles. Be aware though, that while engaging in these mundane acts the military is buying missiles to fuel it's wars. Our latest and final video offers a way to counterbalance the military's spending spree.



But wait, there's more. We're excited to be participating in this year's Bridge Film Festival. We'll be sharing entries related to One Minute for Peace as they are submitted (see film festival's site for more information about participating). Also, starting next week, we'll be starting a series of essays about what "peace" means. These essays will be from both members of our staff, and other AFSC supporters. We'll be taking submissions from anyone who would like to submit them; check back here for instructions next week.

Peace Indicator: 11

This week's Peace Indicator is 11: the number of men on the Lebanon Landmine survivor soccer team.



You can find a larger version of the video on Time.com

These men are both finding ways to overcome their injuries and do the things they love, but they also bring attention to the issue of land mines and cluster bombs, which impact millions of lives around the world. This past spring that won a match against a team of diplomats, earning them both admiration and gaining attention for their cause.

You can read more on Common Dreams