Claire Schaeffer-Duffy's blog

Medea Benjamin is a petite woman with enormous courage and energy. She co-founded the California-based human rights organization Global Exchange and the women's peace group Code Pink. She has just written a book on drones, a task that inspired her to co-host a drone summit in Washington, D.C., last weekend.

The United Methodist Church General Conference, which has been meeting in Tampa Bay, Fla., this week, is considering a resolution calling for the divestment from three companies that facilitate the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Almost 300 delegates listened during lunch Wednesday as a Palestinian Christian and Israeli Jew talked about what is needed to end the Israeli occupation, writes journalist and activist Pam Bailey, who is posting reports on the divestment initiative for the blog Mondoweiss.

Bailey writes:

Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is beginning the 10th week of a hunger strike at a military prison hospital in Bahrain. Family members and his lawyer fear he could be close to death.

Al-Khawaja, 52, was arrested and tortured last spring amid a government crackdown against a popular uprising calling for reform of Bahrain's Sunni-led monarchy. In June, a military court convicted him of "organizing and managing a terrorist organization" and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He launched his hunger strike -- the fourth since his detention -- to demand his release and the release of all Bahraini political prisoners of conscience.

Al-Khawaja is a highly regarded human rights leader, and news of his deteriorating health has intensified the international campaign for his release. From 2002 to 2008, he co-founded and served as the first president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, and most recently worked as the Middle East and North Africa project's coordinator for Front Line Defenders. The Irish-based human rights organization has created a video to publicize his case:

More than 1200 international activists are scheduled to arrive at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, this Sunday for a "fly-in," protesting Israeli isolation of the West Bank.

The travelers, who include families with children, are participants in Welcome to Palestine 2012, a Palestinian-organized initiative that has invited people to openly visit the West Bank during the second week of Easter.

"The vector of violence that converts a lot of interpersonal conflict into something much more fatal than an argument, or fistfight, is the gun," said pediatric surgeon Michael Hirsh in his address March 22 at the annual meeting for the Center for Nonviolent Solutions here in Worcester, Mass.

When Hirsh gave his address, the news reports and reactions to the shocking shooting of Florida teen Trayvon Martin were contradictory and raw. The pediatrician pointed out that while there were many unknowns concerning Martin's death, Florida's permissive gun laws are an established fact.

A recent article in the Tampa Bay Times supports Hirsh's observation. The Florida daily reported that the "Gunshine" state is serving as a proving ground for pro-gun legislation.

"From bring-your-guns-to-work laws to all-out bans on local gun restrictions, Florida has become a haven for Second Amendment enthusiasts. Statistics show the pro-gun agenda has triggered more gun sales, more permits, and a sharp rise in justifiable homicides," writes journalist Toluse Olorunnipa.

Declaring victory, students fasting for a living wage at the University of Virginia ended their hunger strike Thursday but vowed to continue their campaign.

The students, who began the hunger strike Feb. 18, are advocating for a pre-benefit salary of $13 an hour for all entry-level employees of the university.

Here's an excerpt from the strikers' statement posted on the Living Wage at UVA website:

With 11 days down, members of the Living Wage Campaign at the University of Virginia say they will continue their hunger strike.

No resolution in the dispute over the school's compensation for its lowest-paid workers was reached in Monday's two-hour meeting between the living wage protesters and officials at the University of Virginia.

The protesters are pushing for the university to pay its employees, direct and contract, a living wage of $13 per hour plus benefits, demands officials say are unrealistic.

Although a number of students quit the strike for health reasons, others have joined. Nineteen activists are now fasting, including UVA football player Joseph Williams, who wrote about why he is participating in a blog for the Huffington Post.

Eighteen students and their supporters at the University of Virginia, my alma mater, are on day six of a hunger strike calling for a living wage for the university's lowest-paid workers.

Members of Living Wage at UVA campaign are demanding the university pay their employees at least $13an hour, provide job security, "safe, just and humane working conditions" and create a Living Wage Oversight Board.

In a letter to friends and supporters, hunger striker Hunter Link gives background on the campaign and explains why he is participating. Link, who is Catholic, says Catholic social teaching and Dorothy Day inspired his decision to join the hunger strike. Interestingly, University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan is also a Catholic and has written in favor of a living wage.

Here is an excerpt from Link's report:

On a Saturday morning in late January, I received a phone call from Kathy Kelly, coordinator for Voices for Creative Nonviolence, inviting me to join a human rights delegation to Bahrain. The need was immediate, she said. Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, was requesting international observers to arrive before Feb. 14 -- the one-year anniversary of the country's anti-government protest.

Until three weeks ago, I knew nothing about the tiny island kingdom or the government crackdown on its Arab Spring revolution. The title of the one of the latest human rights reports on the country sounded ominous: "Bahrain: A Gathering Storm."

The Interrupters, an award-winning documentary by director Steve James and author Alex Kotlowitz, is generating quite a buzz this month.

The movie tells the story of three violence interrupters who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed. All three work for Ceasefire, an innovative organization founded by Gary Slutkin, an epidemiologist who believes violence mimics the spread of infectious disease and requires similar treatment: attend to the most infected and stop the infection.

The documentary, which received Official Selection at Sundance 2011, is scheduled to be aired at 9 p.m. Eastern time Feb. 14 on PBS's "Frontline," followed by a special panel discussion on WTTW's Chicago Tonight.

For those who despair that the American political scene is irredeemably polarized, here is a small, intriguing tale of hope. Occupy Worcester in Massachusetts and the Worcester Tea Party have found a common cause in opposing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). On Friday, the two groups demonstrated in the city's federal building as part of a national day of protest against the act, which passed Dec. 31, 2011.

The Occupiers and Tea Partiers rightly fear the NDAA marks yet another erosion of our civil liberties. The bill allows for the use of military detention and military trial for any person -- U.S. citizen or foreigner -- suspected of terrorism.

Writing for the political newsletter Counterpunch, military veteran Brian Trautman called the bill "one of the greatest threats to civil liberties in our nation's history":

The end of 2011 marked the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. In mid-December, I listened, while I baked Christmas cookies, to the various reports on NPR about a war that wheezed to an end without the signing of a treaty.

Here in my warm kitchen, where heat and electricity are a given, the destruction of Iraq seemed a distant event, a bit of news that I could take in or turn off with the flick of a switch.

Reports about the war's conclusion brought on a flood of memories. I remembered the many demonstrations I attended during the winter of 2002/2003. Worcester. Washington, D.C. New York. It was a time of frenetic peace organizing and hope.

I remembered the first time I cried for what we were doing to Iraqis. It was while watching Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's scathing documentary about the lies that led up to the war. In one scene, the camera lingered on an Iraqi woman undone with grief because a U.S. bomb had killed her loved ones. The woman wailed, prayed and cursed all in the same sentence. Flailing her hands heavenward, she beseeched God to rain fire down on the Americans and show us no mercy.

Last year, artists and children from St. Paul's Anglican Church in Aukland, New Zealand, got together and produced a charming and exuberant video of the Christmas story.

I know videos of cute kids lisping through the Gospel tale abound on YouTube, but this one is professionally rendered and well worth viewing. It is the project of St. Paul's Arts and Media (SPAM), a collective of individuals interested in exploring art and media in the context of contemporary spirituality, and St. Paul's Arts and Kids (SPANK).

The early evening sky was streaked with pink clouds as I hustled in to attend the vigil Mass at the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Takoma Park, Md. The church sits tucked between a bewildering array of shopping plazas, gas stations and auto repair stores that line New Hampshire Ave.

It was clearly an immigrant crowd, who had gathered in the brightly lit sanctuary to mark the start of the Church's new year. Aside from the pastor Fr. Raymond Wadas and my family, the 50 or so people attending were various shades of brown. The dress and demeanor of some suggested they had come from distant lands where English, let alone Latin, was not the mother tongue. There were tired-looking Latino men sitting alone in their pews, small clusters of Africans, and sweet-faced, elderly African-American women.

At the front of the church were laminated cards with the newly scripted prayers. The wording of the Mass had changed, the lector said, and he reminded us to use the guide. Even with this cue, some of us occasionally lapsed into the old utterances.

Rita Corbin, whose line drawings graced the pages of Catholic Worker journals across the country for many decades died last night due to injuries from a car accident. She was 81 years old.

An accomplished artist, Corbin had the ability to see the holy and the beautiful among the disregarded and disdained. I first saw her artwork when I began reading the Catholic Worker as a college student. I have long forgotten the articles, but Corbin’s tender depictions of the poor and outcast continue to influence my understanding of Christian solidarity.

Devoid of ego, Corbin generously provided her artwork free of charge to Catholic Worker communities, including our own. In her quiet, unassuming way, she exemplified the bold and audacious claim of Peter Maurin, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, who often said we are called to "be co-creators with God."

Married to the late Marty Corbin, one-time editor of the Catholic Worker, Rita leaves behind five children, five grandchildren and countless individuals who take inspiration from her art and life.

Look for a full obituary in coming days.

Israeli commandos intercepted a two-boat flotilla in international waters Friday afternoon as the vessels attempted to challenge the blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Using warships and water canons, Israeli forces seized the Canadian-owned Tahrir and the Irish MV Saoirse approximately 45 miles from the Gazan coastline, then hauled the vessels' 27 passengers, including Irish parliamentarians, journalists and human rights activists, to Israel.

Seven were deported Saturday. Twenty remained imprisoned in Israel over the weekend, among them Americans Kit Kittredge, a peace activist from Quilcene, Wash., and Jihan Hafiz, a correspondent for the radio/TV news program Democracy Now!

Released Monday night, Hafiz arrived in New York early this morning and was interviewed on Democracy Now!

In a one-minute phone call from Givon Prison on Sunday, Fintan Lane, an Irish historian and writer traveling on the MV Saoirse described the abduction of the Irish vessel as "violent and dangerous."

Tomorrow is Bank Transfer Day, and if online pledges reflect actual commitment, nearly 40,000 Americans plan to move their money out of the "too big to fail" banks and into small, customer-friendly credit unions or community banks.

Bank Transfer Day, the brainchild of Los Angeles artist Kristen Christian, is the latest manifestation of the Move Your Money movement.

The grassroots initiative, which was conceived during a 2009 Christmas dinner conversation between Arianna Huffington, economist Rob Johnson and filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, has picked up steam thanks to the Occupy movements going on around the country. Many "occupations," including the one here in Worcester, Mass., are promoting Bank Transfer Day as a practical response to popular fury with lecherous banks.

"Can't pitch a tent at Zucotti Park?" writes Lynn Parramore, a contributing editor for Alternet. "Not to worry. There's something meaningful you can do to stand up to vampire banks that bleed the economy -- and your wallet. The feeling of satisfaction amply rewards the inconvenience."

Two civilian boats carrying 27 people are currently in international waters making their way to the beleaguered Gaza Strip in an attempt to challenge Israel's ongoing blockade of the Palestinian territory.

Passengers aboard the Canadian Tahrir (Liberation), and the Irish Saoirse (Freedom) say the message they carry is one of unity, defiance and hope in spite of Israel's policies that have separated Palestinians from each other.

Organizers of the initiative, known as "Freedom Waves to Gaza," say they chose not to publicize the boats' departures in advance because of Israeli efforts to block and sabotage a flotilla that attempted to depart for Gaza from Athens, Greece, last July.

The two boats, which set sail from Fethiye, Turkey, on Wednesday, are expected to arrive in Gaza on Friday afternoon, sailing from international waters straight into Gaza's territorial waters. The vessels are carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid -- $30,000 in medicines -- along with a diverse group of passengers, all committed to nonviolent defense of the flotilla and Palestinian human rights.

Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd visited Occupy Oakland on Monday, where they expressed support for California prisoners on a hunger strike in protest of their prolonged solitary confinement.

Bauer, Fattal and Shourd were arrested in July 2009 while hiking along the Iran-Iraq border. Shourd was released last year. Bauer and Fattal, who were originally sentenced to eight years in an Iranian prison, were released a month ago.

The prisoner hunger strike, the second such strike in California this year, began Sept. 26. At its peak, the strike involved thousands of prisoners, including inmates from Pelican Bay, a high-security prison where the average length of time spent in solitary confinement is 6.8 years. Some California prisoners have been held in isolation for decades.

Addressing the Oakland "occupiers" from the steps of City Hall, Bauer said he was proud to see an occupation happening in his hometown.

Demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street campaign hold signs as a protest march enters the courtyard near the New York Police Department headquarters last month. (CNS photo/Lucas Jackson, Reuters)Wednesday, Oct. 5

Approximately 40 domed tents are tucked into the green space of Dewey Square, located in the heart of Boston's Financial District.

Two boardwalks made of wooden pallets intersect through the middle of the tents, giving an air of permanency to the arrangement. An American flag flaps above one entryway. Nearby, a sign reads "Capitalism is slavery." This is propped in front of a placard touting Ron Paul for 2012.

Although only six days old, the Occupy Boston encampment appears fairly well established. There is a medical tent, a logistical tent, an information tent, a media tent, a food tent and a meditation tent with "sacred space guidelines." At the food tent where I get a free cup of coffee, a young man tells me food and medical donations for the camp are "pouring in."

Chris Bowers of DailyKos, a Democratic blog, has posted a map and list of some 200 “solidarity events and facebook pages” across the country that are inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement. You can view them here.

Last weekend, a national gathering of Catholic Workers in Las Vegas, Nevada concluded with a demonstration protesting nuclear weapons and drones.

About 100 people held an interfaith liturgy at the entrance to Nevada’s nuclear testing grounds on Sunday. After the prayers, the group walked towards the Nevada National Security Site, formerly known as the Nevada Test site. Thirty-seven men and 22 women crossed the white line delineating one of the test site’s boundaries and were promptly arrested by Nye County sheriffs.

Upon release, many of the activists went to nearby Creech Air Force base where 18 were arrested by Clark County police. Those arrested at the Nevada site received citations and were released, but at the Creech site the activists were charged with jaywalking, unlawful assembly. Most of those were given court dates of Dec. 5

The high-profile case of Troy Anthony Davis has once again focused national attention on the death penalty with new voices weighing in. Among the most compelling are those of former department of correction officials who oversaw executions.

Like combat veterans recounting the realities of battle, they provide details about an execution that are unknown or ignored whenever capital punishment is discussed in the abstract.

Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has submitted a bid to the UN to admit Palestine as a member state, despite U.S. threats to veto the move.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) currently has observer status at the UN which allows representatives to attend meetings, deliver speeches, but not to vote resolutions on other subject matters.

Late last night, I stayed up to watch Democracy Now!’s live feed of the news conference held outside the Georgia Diagnostic Prison just minutes after the execution of Troy Davis.

At the mike were three media observers who witnessed Davis’ killing inside the prison. Perhaps in an attempt to appear professional, the journalists described with clinical precision the details of his killing.

My friend Art Laffin, a Catholic peace activist and member of Murder Victims Families for Reconciliation, is among the growing chorus of voices pleading for the life of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis who is scheduled to be executed Wednesday.

Davis appears before Georgia’s Board of Pardon and Parole today and Art is requesting that people call the Board and ask for clemency.

“We have to save Troy’s life,” Art wrote in an email circulated late last night.

Davis was convicted in the 1989 killing of a Savannah off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail, Sr., but has always maintained his innocence. The case against Davis has “fallen apart” says Amnesty International. There is no physical evidence linking him to the crime. All but two of the state’s non-police witnesses have recanted and many have stated in sworn affidavits they were pressured into testifying against him.

Davis’ high-profile case has not only attracted the attention of anti-death penalty activists but those who believe there is too much doubt about his guilt to allow an execution to go forward.

Early yesterday morning, Israeli soldiers attacked the Jenin Freedom Theater in the northern West Bank city of Jenin and arrested two of its employees.

According to the theater's press release about the incident, Ahmed Nasser Matahen, a night watch guard and technician student at the theater, was awakened by the sound of stones being hurled at the theater's entrance. Matahen said when he opened the door, he found masked and heavily armed Israeli Special Forces outside.

Late last week, a group of California prisoners, many of them kept in maximum isolation units, ended their extraordinary 20-day hunger strike waged in protest of the cruel conditions of their confinement.

The strike, which began July 1 among inmates in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) at Pelican Bay State Prison, transcended the gang and geographic affiliations that typically divide prisoners. At its height, as many as 6600 prisoners from 13 California prisons were refusing food, leading some to describe the mass fasting as the largest inmate uprising since the 1971 revolt at Attica Prison in upstate New York.

Kip Tiernan, Boston’s much-loved and gritty advocate for social justice, who once described herself as "an angry daughter of Christ," died of cancer in her apartment on Saturday. She was 85 years old.

The founder of the nation’s first shelter for homeless women, Tiernan went on to create a myriad of agencies to assist the disadvantaged in Massachusetts. Daniel Berrigan and Dorothy Day were among her inspirations. After hearing Berrigan speak at a church in 1968, Tiernan said she felt as if a voice inside her head was saying, "‘I have just passed through a door and there is no going back.’”

Her words on how we treat the poor, spoken two decades ago, are still terribly relevant today:

“We should atone for what we have allowed to happen to all poor people in this state, in the name of fiscal authority or plain mean-spiritedness. . .We have as citizens too much to repent for, for what we have and have not done, to ease the suffering of our brothers and sisters who have no lobby to protect them.”

You can read her Boston Globe obituary here.

Concerned about the cruelty of U.S. detention policy, fifteen anti-torture activists entered the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday afternoon and interrupted a vote on a 2012 defense appropriations bill.

The activists, who are members of the group Witness Against Torture say the version of the bill, under consideration yesterday, undermines U.S. Federal courts, keeps the detainment center in Guantanamo open, and attempts to expand the use of indefinite detention for terrorism suspects.