Note #9123 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06083 Feb. 13, 2006
Quaker organization nominates Israeli, Palestinian for Peace Prize
by Michele Green
JERUSALEM - A Quaker human-rights group has nominated two peace activists, one Israeli and the other Palestinian, for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.
The American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker humanitarian service organization that won Peace Prize in 1947, nominated Jeff Halper and Ghassan Andoni.
Halper, a U.S. native, is a co-founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), one of the first Israeli groups to collaborate with Palestinians. Andoni is a physics professor at Birzeit University who lives in the Christian town of Beit Sahour and fights for the rights of fellow Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.
Halper's group, established in 1997, tries to prevent the Israeli government's demolition of Palestinians' homes. It has since expanded its activities to advocate for Palestinians whose crops are damaged by militant Jewish settlers and Palestinians harmed by a 300-kilometer-long barrier that Israel is building in the West Bank.
Israel claims it is building the wall to stop suicide bombers from infiltrating its cities. In many cases it cuts through Palestinian land and communities.
The two activists are working together on a book about non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation.
"The nomination is not merely of two individuals, but, through them, of the critical voices they represent - voices loud and clear in the cause of universal human rights, yet only faintly heard in the corridors of power or in the mainstream media," Halper said.
The American Friends Service Committee sends representatives to the Palestinian territories to help local residents, and also lobbies the U.S. government to moderate its support for Israel.
You are currently subscribed to the PCUSANEWS listserv of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to
mailto:PCUSANEWS-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org.
To update your email address, send your old email address and your new one to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
For questions or comments, send an email to mailto:PCUSANEWS-owner@halak.pcusa.org.
To learn more, visit http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 100 Witherspoon Street Louisville, KY 40202 (888) 728-7228