Vigil Wednesday for Kidnapped Peacemakers

Editor's Note: Kathleen O'Malley is a long-time peace activist who has traveled to Iraq three times as part of the Christian Peacemaker Teams and Voices in the Wilderness. As many of you may recall, she gave a moving talk about her experiences in Iraq at our DFA-DFNM Albuquerque Meetup this past September. She sent out the following email urging participation in a vigil in support of the peacemakers who were recently kidnapped in Iraq.

Dear All,
As many of you know by now, 4 Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) people were kidnapped last week in Iraq by an insurgency group. Last Friday, the group released a videotaping threatening that if the U.S. did not release all detainees by December 8, the hostages would be killed.

I have travelled and worked in Iraq with two of the people taken, Jim Loney and Tom Fox. Two others, Norman Kember and Harmeet Sooden, were delegates on their first visit to Iraq. They came to learn about the situation there and then return home to tell others about their experiences.

This is a horrendous situation, one of many in Iraq that reveal the desperation of those who would threaten the lives of innocent people - in this case, people who are there in opposition to the occupation and in support of the Iraqi people.

Please join in a vigil this Wednesday, December 7, from 5:15 to 6:00 PM at the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center, 212 Harvard St. SE (corner of Silver and Harvard). Feel free to forward this message to others interested in joining the vigil. Also, bring a candle if you have one. For those living out of town or otherwise unable to attend, please join the vigil by lighting a candle and sending your prayers or other thoughts for a peaceful resolution of this dire situation and the war that spawned it.

In Hopes for Peace,
Kathleen O'Malley