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The following is a short reflection by Sandhya Mudumbi, who took Mark Chmiel's Social Justice class in the fall of 2006. During that semester, Jesuit Father Jon Sobrino visited from El Salvador and spoke in the College Church. Sandhya was one of hundreds who gathered to hear the Salvadoran theologian share some of his thoughts.
Father Sobrino's speech seemed to revolve a lot around the poor. He believes that in the poor is where the mystery of God becomes clear and profound. Why all this emphasis on the poor though? Don't normal people need help? People with money can be happy, too. That's probably not very common though. Thinking about it now, I probably was happier when I didn't have any money of my own. I think it depends. I watched the new movie with Will Smith called Pursuit of Happyness. It seemed all his troubles stemmed out of not having money. Maybe there was more to it.
Father Sobrino stated that our fraternal civilization is dehumanizing. It is dehumanizing because of selfishness at the level of groups such as nations, the European Union, and sports teams. He believes that globalization is filled with ambiguity and if can be used to oppress, it will be used. In any social process, there are winners and losers. And we in the wealthy nations don't care or don't know. People blame us Americans over and over again for not knowing what is going on in the world or not caring, but I just realized how hard it is to even get accurate information in this country. The TV's, magazines, and newspapers are all skewed. I pick up a paper and read, but knowing that it might be skewed information, I don't really have interest anymore.
The next part of his speech explained how we can get out of this problem of selfishness. We live in an inhuman world, but without the poor, there is no salvation. If we look at the poor from the outside, we can only see the negatives. But if we see from the inside, we'll discover a lot. They work hard, help each other, sing, and write poetry. Life means a lot to them. In the poor there are positives. In the world of the poor, you get a chance to know yourself. So one should participate in the reality of poverty. Give them all you have which is not necessarily money, give them your knowledge and your time. Take risks to defend them and participate. It is not enough to give your food or money away; give yourself away, your wholehearted company and presence.
We invite you to join us this Sunday 4 February for an evening's reflection on Hajj: A Young Muslim's Perspective.
 | Romaytha Abdullah, co-president of the Muslim Students Association at Saint Louis University, will speak about her recent hajj, or pilgrimmage to Mecca this past December. Please bring friends to learn about this one of the Five Pillars of Islam. We begin at 7:00 pm at our Center on 1077 South Newstead. |
We have reached a critical juncture. The administration is escalating the war in Iraq while making ominous threats against Iran. Staying in Iraq is not an option. The safe and expeditious withdrawal of U.S. troops needs to begin immediately.
Congress will soon receive a request for an additional $100 billion. Saying NO to that request is the most effective way we have to voice opposition to any escalation and to demand immediate withdrawal.
Our message to our U.S. Representatives and Senators is simple: If you vote in favor of any further war funding, we will occupy your office. And we will return again and again!
The case is clear:
There is already enough money in the pipeline to bring all U.S. troops home safely and expeditiously. A vote to approve an additional $100 billion will lead to escalation and expansion rather than withdrawal.
JOIN US: Affinity group formation and nonviolence training will be held on Saturday, February 3, from 10AM until 1PM in Tegeler Hall on the campus of Saint Louis University at the corner of Grand and Lindell.
Download this flyer and encourage others to join the project. For further information email occupation@ctsastl.org
The Occupation Project was initiated by Voices for Creative Nonviolence in Chicago. Read about the project and see what is happening elsewhere in the country.
Download a short background document that might help you think about why cutting off funding for the war is so critical.
Do you feel you need to know more about alternatives to the Bush plan? An excellent place to start is by reading a cogent piece by George McGovern and William Polk that appeared in Harper's Magazine in November: The Way Out of War. You can also find their plan in a book entitled Out of Iraq. Read it before coming on Saturday and you'll feel much better informed.
In a recent talk, McGovern posed what he called some Impertinent Questions for this administration about its war plans.
Reps. Lynn Woolsey, Maxine Waters, and Barbara Lee have introduced H.R. 508 "The Bring Our Troops Home and Sovereignty of Iraq Restoration Act." While it leaves open some possibility of further funding, it goes a long way to address the issues of immediate withdrawal, serious alternative peacemaking moves in Iraq, and care for returning veterans. Lacy Clay (D-MO) is a co-sponsor of the bill. H.R. 508 makes many of the same arguments that McGovern and Polk advance in their article and book.
And here's an idea from Sacramento that might get you thinking about possibilities we may want to consider for the Occupation Project here.
CTSA is happy to support the work of SLU Solidarity with Palestine in the first ever Palestine Awareness Week. Please come to SLU for any of these events!
Jan. 29 – Feb. 2 2007
THE OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE is a cornerstone conflict in the Middle East. It affects the lives of U.S. citizens every day. This week, find out what the media aren't telling you and get your questions answered through eye Witness accounts, noted scholars, and original theater.
Come. Listen. Question. Criticize.
Monday 29th 7:00 pm Palestine is Still the Issue
Documentary by award-winning journalist and film-maker, John Pilger that examines the story of how almost a million Palestinians had been forced off their land in 1948, and again in 1967. The film includes first hand accounts by Palestinians caught in a terrible limbo -- refugees in their own land, controlled by Israel in the longest military occupation in modern times.
Davis-Shaughnessy Hall 173
Tuesday 30th 7:00 pm Norman Finklestein - Israel and Palestine: roots of conflict, prospects for peace
Bringing to bear the latest findings on the conflict and recasting the scholarly debate, Finkelstein points to a consensus among historians and human rights organizations on the factual record. Why, then, does so much controversy swirl around the conflict? Finkelstein's answer, copiously documented, is that apologists for Israel contrive controversy. Whenever Israel comes under international pressure, another media campaign alleging a global outbreak of anti-Semitism is mounted.
Anheuser Busch Auditorium, Cook Hall
Wednesday 31st 7:00 pm Palestine 101: A crash course
All the basics on the conflict in 60 minutes. Topics include history, international law, US involvement, and pictures and stories from ordinary Palestinians currently living under occupation.
Davis-Shaughnessy Hall 173
Thursday 1st 7:00 pm Jennifer Presson: Witness to Occupation
Jennifer is a 2004 graduate of Saint Louis University School of Nursing. In her junior year she co-founded SLU Solidarity with Palestine. Jennifer traveled to Palestine in 2004 where she lived with families in Balata Refugee Camp, while working with the International Soladarity Movement (ISM). Through ISM, she spent her time harvesting olives with Palestinian farmers and joining in nonviolent acts of resistance against the Israeli occupation. In 2006 Jennifer returned, this time to the southern part of the West Bank, where she joined a group of internationals and Palestinians to establish the Palestine Solidarity Project. www.palestinesolidarityproject.org She will be sharing her experience through photos and testimony and also discussing recent and current events.
Davis-Shaughnessy Hall 173
Friday 2nd 7:00 pm Beautiful Resistance: Confessions of a Human Rghts Hoosier in Palestine
"beautiful resistance" is an interactive, multi-media theatrical presentation that uses photos, video, animation, theatre, and music to tell the story of the Occupation of Palestine as well as the story of a hoosier from Ohio who decided to take peace into her own hands.
Carlo Auditorium, Tegler Hall
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Busch Student Center 171
Saint Louis University
7:00 - 9:00 pm
Two alumni of SLU and Wash U traveled to Palestine this summer to join an international non-violent resistance movement. Come hear their stories and what the news will never tell you about the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Magan Wiles, an alum of Saint Louis University, and Sebastian Raul, an alumnus of Washington University, travelled to the Occupied Territories of Palestine this past summer with the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles.
Magan is a professional actress and teaching artist in St. Louis. She stayed in the West Bank for 3 months. Her work included non-violent direct-action demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall and the illegal checkpoint system, road-block removal, farmer accompaniment to lands frequently targeted with violence by Israeli soldiers and settlers, solidarity visits to villages to hear the stories that don't make the news, and teaching theatre in Balata Refugee Camp.
Sebastian Raul is a journalist currently living in Kansas City. He graduated summa cum laude from Washington University with concentrations in economics and philosophy. In Palestine he witnessed the abridgement of a host of Palestinian human rights, including the right to hold property without Israeli settler or government theft, the right to freedom of movement, and the right to freedom from bodily harm, including assault and murder. In addition, he witnessed and participated in the efforts of ordinary Palestinians nonviolently resisting the Israeli occupation.
Today, October 17, George Bush signs into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Its promulgation will grant amnesty to torturers and eliminate habeas corpus for those detained as enemy combatants.
We invite you to listen to and share this haunting Requiem for Habeas Corpus, composed and sung by Suzanne Renard.
We will use it as part of our Teach-In/Speak-Out and Rally today at Bonhomme and S. Hanley.
Bring your voice and join us! 1PM for the Teach-In/Speak-Out and delegations to Senator Bond's office. 5PM for the Rally and March through Clayton.
On Tuesday, October 17, George Bush is expected to sign the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Among other things, the legislation will expand the definition of "enemy combatant" and deny them a right to habeas corpus. The administration will be allowed to designate anyone, anywhere as an enemy combatant and then hold them indefinitely without charge.
Join us TUESDAY at Bonhomme and S. Hanley from 1:00 until 5:00 for a Teach-In around the issues of habeas corpus rights and torture followed by a Rush Hour Rally.
Check back here for further details. We are looking for teach-in participants as well as those who would like to leaflet, banner, and visit the office of Senator Kit Bond.
A planning meeting will be held Saturday, October 14 from 3-5 at CTSA, 1077 S. Newstead.
You can download a flyer, modify it as you wish, and distribute.
At the weekly peace vigil at College Church, we had an opportunity to hear from Zeina Kiblawi, who has family in Lebanon. We interviewed her after the vigil and invite you to hear a voice of someone affected by what is happening.
Listen to Zeina.
Mark Chmiel and Andrew Wimmer have written a short piece, "Israel's Rampage and Our Complicity" on the deepening humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and our local connections with the war. Read it on our publications page.
Meet the members of the CTSA Core Community. Here are some short bios. You can reach us by email at core@ctsastl.org.
We invite you to participate actively in our ongoing projects. Learn more about them:
Palestine Solidarity Project
Our work is to oppose the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip through nonviolent direct action, grass roots education, and sale of Palestinian-made olive oil.
Here is the last paragraph of Dahr Jamail’s book, Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq:
If the people of the ... read more
And here are a few of our other recent featured essays. We invite you to further the conversation by leaving your own comments after reading.
Jimmy Carter and Rachel Corrie 3/16
I'm Tired of Debating 1/11
A Letter to Sister Helen Prejean 1/10
A Letter To Donnie Jones 1/9
A Semester at Karen House 1/7
Towards a Post-Civilizational Praxis
Mark Chmiel | July 30, 2007
A Reflection on John Dominic Crossan, God & Empire: Jesus against Rome, Then and Now [2007]
In the past few awful, maleficent years of the Bush ... read more
Here are some other recent reviews of other films and books by CTSA members and friends.
The Power of Example 7/1
Dialogue and Solidarity 1/21
Fear and Hatred in Postwar Poland 11/30
The Politics of Shame 6/20
The Christian Contribution to Ethnic Cleansing 6/4
Power versus Conscience
Mark Cmiel | May 29, 2007
I’ve been reading Ali Abunimah’s book, One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. He quotes an Israeli Arnon Soffer who in 2004 ... read more
And some additional recent short pieces written by members of the CTSA Core Community and friends. We invite you to add your own comments and thoughts.
Gratitude/89 4/30
"Something Is Building Inside of Me" 4/4
Magan Wiles, Outrider 2/2
Hoping On 1/29
Calling Power to Account 1/22
by Dunya Mikhail
And other poems featured recently:
America 1/21
Calling Allen Ginsberg 3/27
Draft-Dodgers vs. Poetry-Dodgers 12/9
Much Madness is divinest Sense – 11/25
I Hear It Was Charged against Me 11/18
The Turn of the Century 11/11
What Issa Heard 11/4
The CTSA Core Community is pleased to announce Mark Chmiel's newly published work, The Book of Mev, about his late wife, St. Louis native, photojournalist and activist, Mev Puleo.
Listen now to Mark reading a passage.
Read a review of the book.
The book is available for purchase directly from Mark, at Left Bank Books, and online at Amazon.
CTSA is a member of Justice and Peace Shares. Visit the websites of some of the other member groups.
Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America