wfn.org | Sept. 11 family group asks Bush to aid Afghan victims

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Feb. 14, 2002      News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York
10-21-71B{057}

NEW YORK (UMNS) - Family members of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks have launched a new organization and dispatched a Valentine's Day
message to President Bush asking for help in establishing a fund for
innocent Afghan victims of the U.S. bombing campaign.

Founding members of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows
explained their goals during a Feb. 14 press conference at the Church Center
for the United Nations in New York. The American Friends Service Committee
was a co-sponsor of the event.

David Potorti of Cary, N.C., whose brother died at the World Trade Center,
said one of the group's main purposes is to open a nationwide dialogue on
how to respond to the terrorist threat. "We are all seeking effective
alternatives to war," he noted. "We do not want the war in Afghanistan or
wherever it might spread to be conducted in our names or the names of our
loved ones."

Phyllis Rodriguez of White Plains, N.Y., acknowledged the loss and pain that
followed the death of her 31-year-old son, Greg, in the trade center
bombing. Despite that pain, she and her husband, Orlando, soon posted a
letter on the Internet, calling for restorative justice instead of violence.

David Wildman, a United Methodist Board of Global Ministries executive who
attended the press conference, pointed out that the call for restorative
justice also could be found in the Social Principles of the United Methodist
Church. Those principles state that restorative justice "seeks to hold the
offender accountable to the victimized person and to the disrupted
community. Through God's transforming power, restorative justice seeks to
repair the damage, right the wrong and bring healing to all involved,
including the victim, the offender, the families and the community."

A delegation of family members recently returned from a trip to Afghanistan,
where they met families who had lost loved ones because they were in the
wrong place at the wrong time during when the U.S. bombs fell. Kelly
Campbell of Oakland, Calif., who participated in the delegation, said
Peaceful Tomorrows wants the U.S. government to conduct a study of civilian
casualties in Afghanistan and then provide compensation for affected
families.

"We would like to extend the spirit of compassion and understanding to those
families of Afghanistan," the organization wrote to President Bush. "We
believe that this is an important way that we can illustrate to the people
of Afghanistan and the people of the world that Americans are a caring and
generous people. We are eager to help in the fight against terrorism by
promoting this spirit of compassion and understanding."

A number of organizations, including the United Methodist Committee on
Relief and Church World Service, already are working to assist those in need
in Afghanistan.

Peaceful Tomorrows is inviting other family members and friends of Sept. 11
victims, as well as general supporters, to join the call for dialogue on how
to address terrorism.

"We have a voice that can break through the barriers on what the response
should be," said Ryan Amundson of Hartville, Mo., who serves as the
organization's Midwest coordinator. His brother Craig died in the Pentagon
attack.

Wildman noted that the appeal by Peaceful Tomorrows for dialogue is the
element that has been missing from discussions about the response to the
terrorist attacks. Such dialogue can begin at the local church level, he
said.

The organization has a Web site, www.peacefultomorrows.org, for more
information. 

# # #

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org