Note #9155 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06117 Feb. 21, 2006
Rabbis for Human Rights to receive '05 Niwano Peace Prize
by Ecumenical News International
GENEVA, Switzerland - Rabbis for Human Rights of Israel, a Jerusalem organization that promotes peace and social justice for Israelis and Palestinians, is to be awarded the 23rd Niwano Peace Prize, the Japan-based Niwano Peace Foundation announced on Feb. 21.
"This unique organization of rabbis and rabbinical students in Israel is committed to promoting human rights, justice and compassion for all the people in the region," said the Peace Prize Committee. "In a critical moment in the Middle East and elsewhere, it is of great relevance to highlight such values that are at the heart of Jewish tradition but are marginalised for 'security.'"
The executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, Rabbi Arik Ascherman, has faced the wrath of Israeli authorities and prosecution in Israeli courts for working with Palestinians to protect their property and homes from expropriation and demolition, sometimes to make way for Israeli settlers, under Israeli occupation.
In March 2005 US-born, Harvard-educated, Ascherman was convicted of interfering with police performance of duties on two different occasions in 2003, and of intending to commit acts to prevent police from performing their duties during the demolition of Palestinian homes.
"For us, this trial really was about the people who have no voice here, the victims of home demolition," Ascherman said. "And that's why we're going immediately from the courthouse ... to begin the rebuilding of one of these homes."
The presentation of the Niwano Peace Prize will take place in Tokyo on May 11. In addition to the award, Rabbis for Human Rights will receive a medal and about $195,000.
Previous winners include the Rev. Philip Potter, former general secretary of the World Council of Churches; the Community of Sant'Egidio, a Roman Catholic lay association based in Rome; the World Muslim Congress; and the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland. The prize is sometimes called the Nobel Peace Prize of the faith-based community.
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