By MYRTLE OSNER

Brian Watson, an activist with the Ground Zero Center for Non-violent Action, made his first stop in Modesto on a tour of the west, visiting people concerned about our country’s direction.

Brian lives in Bremerton, Washington, near the submarine base in Bangor (most of us thought Bangor was in Maine!) Bangor, in Kitsap County; now holds one of the largest concentrations of nuclear weapons in the world. Kitsap County (the third largest nuclear power in the world if it were a country), holds more missiles than there are in all of six or more other countries put together, including China and India.

Brian Watson was clear about the potential for disaster which these weapons present. Even if they don’t explode, the escape of plutonium from the missiles could still greatly contaminate the area. Missiles are loaded and unloaded right there. These missiles are "like gas chambers without walls," he said.

Describing the submarines, Brian told us that each sub is 4 stories high and contains 24 highly accurate missiles, each four stories high. Forty eight percent of the missiles in the U.S. are on submarines and their movements are highly secret. They can be launched between 4000 and 6000 nautical miles from their expected target.

The continued presence of this arsenal on hair-trigger alert is a threat to the entire world and, he believes, a violation of International Law. Indeed, when Brian and his cohorts in Ground Zero were arrested for blocking the entrance to the sub base, they were tried and found not guilty. The judge ruled that international law supersedes the charges which had been brought against the protesters, and the jury voted "not guilty."

Brian has masterminded a number of unique protests. The one that got the most laughs was accompanied with slides of the "creature" the group created. Out of plastic tablecloths and some kind of hoops they made a replica of a missile which stretched completely across 4 lanes of highway at the entrance to the missile base. With protesters walking inside it, he described it as looking something like a giant "worm." It stopped traffic cold.

Ground Zero Center for Non-Violent Action, the protest group based in Bremerton has been around for 23 years. It is part of the international Abolition 2000 movement to abolish nuclear weapons based in England and Scotland.

Brian Watson, a talented artist;treated his audience to slides of his work, now mostly done on wood. He also reminded us that the peace movement here has much to work on. Livermore Lab, for instance, makes parts for the missiles he was talking about.

By TINA ARNOPOLE DRISKILL

The Modesto faith community will have the opportunity to come together once again for the annual Inter-Religious Community Thanksgiving Celebration Monday November 20 at 7:15 p.m. in the Modesto Church of the Brethren, 2301 Woodland Avenue.

Representatives from many faith groups will offer inspirational music, words and dance to honor the thanksgiving theme. The community will be introduced to Congregation Beth Shalom’s new Rabbi Paul Gordon, who will offer words of inspiration and do a traditional call to worship blowing of the rams horn or shofar. Other groups likely to lend a note to the celebration are a Methodist handbell choir, Sikh dancers and members from the Bahá’í, Muslim, Buddhist, Catholic, Unitarian, Brethren, Native American and Unity traditions.

By MARY BAUCHER

The 10th annual Alternative Faire at the Church of the Brethren will be held on Sunday, November 26, from noon until 2:00 p.m. This is an opportunity to give a gift twice — one to have something special to give to a friend or loved one and the other to help recipients of agencies who offer basic services to persons in need.

Among the agencies who will be represented are Church World Service Blanket Program, Habitat for Humanity, Heifer Project International, SERRV International Gift Shop, and Inter-Faith Ministries. Some will offer items for purchase to wrap and present. Through others contributions can be made in the name of a special person.

The purpose of the Alternative Faire is to provide an option to gift giving when the recipient has "everything" and to help people around the world and in the United States — including our own neighborhood — who struggle to meet life’s basic necessities.

At the Heifer Project booth, for example, shoppers might purchase a sweat shirt or greeting cards or make a donation of an animal (or partly pay for one) that will be presented to a family to provide food and income. At Habitat for Humanity donations can be made toward purchase of a square of shingles or a box of nails to help a qualifying family build a house along with volunteers. At SERRV there is a wide variety of lovely and useful hand-crafted items from developing nations that can be purchased. A contribution of $5.00 will send a wool blanket to someone who needs warmth and shelter as the result of a natural disaster or war. A contribution to Inter-Faith Ministries will help persons in our own community who need food, clothing, or nutritional education.

ACTION: A light lunch of soup and sandwiches will be served until 1:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome to puruse, learn about agencies and to get some Christmas gift-giving taken care of. You’ll feel great for the experience and fellowship. For information, call Mary Baucher at 523-5178, bauchermb@juno.com

More news of Nicaragua: Merced-Somoto Sister Cities

A delegation from Merced spent a week in Nicaragua this summer as part of the Merced Somoto Sister Cities committee.

Highlights of the trip were a day in Managua, learning some of the history, politics and cultures of the country. Shirley Olson, a retired nurse, and her granddaughter, who plans to pursue a medical career, spent mornings in the hospital observing and assisting. This was so successful that a delegation of nurses plans to return in the summer of 2001.

Another delegate, Betty Stewart, visited rural schools and a day care center to distribute school supplies and entertain the students with a hand puppet show.

They met with the mayor of Somoto and visited the community of Santa Isabel to check on the project that is bringing clean water to 210 families.

APRODES (Assoc. for the Development of Somoto) reaffirmed its commitment to continue working with the Merced committee. Merced’s scholarship program with them provides financial help to six Somoto students attending university, a program in its seventh year. One is already a physician and another in medical school. Others are studying physics, agriculture, and computers.

In spite of economic hardship and political turmoil, the two cities have strengthened their friendships over the years and both groups deeply appreciate the commitment of each other.

Another delegation to Somoto is planned for the summer of 2001.

ACTION: For further information on the trips to Nicaragua call Betty Stewart 209-722-0401 or Shelley Scribner, 209-521-6304. They are particularly interested in finding nurses and other medical personnel who wish to spend time in Somoto.

El Porvenir means "the future"

When thinking about third world countries, such as Nicaragua, it’s hard to realize that diarrhea and dysentery are the principal causes of death among children under 5 years of age.

This is directly traced to the fact that 80% of Nicaragua’s population has no reliable, clean, safe, source of water. Water borne diseases are a scourge that could be wiped out with clean wells and latrines.

And so it is that El Porvenir concentrates its work on water. Work parties are invited to go there to help build simple, clean wells, latrines, and lavanderos (laundries and bathing stalls). Reforestation is also done since much contamination comes when the forests are cut or burned and not replaced. Reforestation restores the ability of aquifers to become clean over time. Work camps are now being advertised for next summer.

The neat thing about El Porvenir is that the people going there from U.S. and other countries work with the people, live in their villages, and have a bi-lingual translator at all times. The spirit of optimism springs from our experience of the creativity and strength of ordinary people to change the life and health of their communities through their own efforts.

But they can’t do it alone. Nicaragua is a very poor country with few materials for this work. Also, the expertise of those who have gone before and have designed facilities that really work in a very basic way of life is needed. The devastating El Niño floods have further destroyed the people’s access to materials to rebuild their homes.

Prior to a group’s arrival, El Porvenir’s in-country staff make all necessary reservations for lodging, meals, special events. They purchase and deliver project materials, tools, and equipment and arrange interviews with groups in which the visiting delegation may be interested.

Most El Porvenir worksites are in rural areas without electricity or running water. Participants should come prepared to camp out, usually sleeping in a school or local home. Simple meals are prepared for the group. At all worksites El Porvenir provides clean water. Anyone who gets sick or injured gets prompt medical attention.

ACTION: If you are interested in working with El Porvenir in Nicaragua, call (916) 736-3663. Planning is underway by Dave Hetland of College Ave. Congregational Church for a delegation in July 2001 (open to all). Or visit www.elporvenir.org. Email to info@elporvenir.org.

By ED HOWARD

Four years after their last ambulance drives across European battlefields in search of wounded, dead, and injured soldiers at the end of World War II, American Field Service veterans from World Wars I and II gathered to reminisce. It wasn’t long before they determined that their quest to promote world peace had a better chance to succeed if they did not wait for another war. These veterans, mostly conscientious objectors or physical rejects from active service, realized that war is usually an ineffective road to peace.

They began an international exchange program to promote world peace through the exchange of students who would live in a family in a country for a year to learn the language and culture by actively participating in the lives of their hosts. How can people go to war with those they have learned to love and respect, they reasoned.

The program has evolved today to include not only high school-age students but older young adults and teachers, all who first apply and then are closely screened before being chosen to live and study or work in another country for up to a year. In addition to year programs, others are for summer or single semester. More than 60 nations take part in the exchanges. In over 50 years, tens of thousands of American high school students have experienced the program each year.

American Field Service Intercultural Exchange both sends and receives. Outstanding high school students, other young adults, and teachers apply to go abroad, usually before the school winter break. Some choose to go after their sophomore or junior years; most choose to have a break between high school and higher education. Many colleges and universities give priority to AFS returnees. Most returnees feel their exchange year was easily worth, in maturation, experience, and understanding of the world, two years of college/university study. Many students get college credit for language skills, and scholarships are available for students going abroad.

Families generally notify AFS volunteers shortly after the new year about their interest in hosting. After intensive screening, accepted families make connections with their new family member by exchange of letters and photographs. The students arrive in the U.S. about August 10-12 each year; year program exchanges return home about July 10. Host families usually not only get a new member of their own family, but also have connections with natural families for foreign visits. Many host families feel one of the greatest values of hosting is to learn about their student’s accomplishments after the student returns home. Many become national leaders in business, government, and education. They all are disciples of peace. Unlike many exchange organizations, AFS-USA is run by unpaid volunteers at the local level.

ACTION: Anyone wishing to learn more about sending or hosting opportunities may call Ed or Nancy Howard, 529-5328. We are also able to arrange student or volunteer presentations at service clubs, churches, or other organizations.

By DR. FOUAD MOUGHRABI

Ed. note: we thank the writer for sharing his personal views. Connections invites various viewpoints on the difficult searce for peace and justice in the Middle East

Trying to record one’s thoughts under siege is something new to me. I usually write in the comfort of my home or office. Today, however, as I write in my office in besieged Ramallah, I have this strange feeling that these could well become my last words. Living in such circumstances makes things clearer in one’s mind and yet, words do not come easily. Language does not fully capture what one sees and what goes through one’s mind. The images are so horrendous, evil so great and injustice so stark that words simply cannot measure up. Most of the time, I look at pictures on television, in the newspapers or in real life and I am totally stunned and speechless.

I cannot get out of my mind the picture of twelve-year old Mohammed al-Durra lying dead in the lap of his father whose body was riddled with bullets. To me, this picture is exactly like that of the Vietnamese child whose body was burned by napalm and who was running terrified. A few days ago, when kids began to go back to school, the local newspaper ran a picture of Mohammed’s classroom. His classmates drew Mohammed’s picture and placed it at his empty desk.

We have begun to hear stories about children’s reactions to the events: a five- year old kid was putting on jewelry and girls clothing in his parent’s bedroom. Asked by his mother what he was doing, the child said that the Israelis only shoot boys and he does not want to be a boy any more. In a first grade classroom, a six year old says to his teacher: "We are nice kids so why are the Israeli soldiers trying to kill us?" On Thursday, October 12, panic hit the city following rumors that Israeli soldiers had entered the city. When I reached the school to fetch my six year old to take him home, the kids were in a state of shock, crying hysterically and saying that the Israeli soldiers and the settlers were coming to kill everyone.

For several days already, Jewish settlers in nearby settlements had gone on a rampage, with the help of Israeli soldiers, destroying Arab homes and property and killing people. On the road to Birzeit, Jewish settlers killed a man, after torturing him, breaking his arms, gouging his eyes, fracturing his scull and burning him. Two days later, on that fateful Thursday, Israeli undercover soldiers were caught in the heart of Ramallah with weapons and were killed by an angry mob. What were these Israeli undercover agents doing near a crowd getting ready for the funeral of eleven-year old Sami Abu Jezar who had been shot two days before in the forehead by Israeli soldiers? How could they have entered a city that is so tightly sealed by Israeli tanks?

Nothing excuses the horror of death and mutilation by Palestinians or by Israelis. But it is quite clear that after more than fifty years of this deadly conflict, people still fail to understand the injustice in the Middle East. People still belabor under illusions fed by sophisticated propaganda machines and readily accepted by a pliant international press corp. As usual, there are still a few voices that have the courage to tell the truth. Amira Hass, an Israeli correspondent for Haaretz, (11 October, 2000) chronicles the lies of the Israeli government and of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces). She shows how official Israeli propagandists have succeeded in giving the false impression that Israel is "being attacked, besieged, victimized and humiliated" and that Israeli forces are acting in "self restraint" — one hates to think what they would do if they were not so restrained - or that Israeli soldiers "shoot only when they are shot at." Was Mohammed al-Durra shooting at Israeli soldiers as he and his father were cowering in fear behind a short concrete block?

YOUNG BOYS

Your young boys -
roam the streets of their claimed city
feeling righteously justified,
singing songs of hate.

The young boys -
wear yarmulkes or shaved heads,
wander dusty alleys,
Hunt in green forests.

Those young boys -
sharpen their aim
alongside their mothers
to practice self defense.

These same young boys -
must become their fathers
who lay the groundwork
for insuring the future of hate.

Your young boys and ours -
learn their lessons well,
quoting from a common bible
to justify their holy wars.

All the young boys -
sheltered within sacred bunkers
know with certainty
their g-d is on their side.

Bless the young boys -
Dissipate their war cries.
Envelop those sparks deep within.
Expose the fathers‚ hate as lies.

- Tina Arnopole Driskill