New York Quakers from Friends Committee for National Legislation (FCNL) Advocacy Groups in New York met with Senator Gillibrand’s staff, Ben Lebowitz, Legislative Aide for Defense, Foreign Policy, and Homeland Security, on June 29, 2023. It was a short meeting, only 15 minutes, but it seemed to make an impression.
Delegation members included Nadine Hoover, Buffalo; Charlotte Tay Tahk, Orchard Park; Spee Braun and Dee Duckworth, East Chatham; Connie Knapp, Ossining; Mary Ellen Blakey, Clinton; Sue McVaugh, Hamilton; Orelle Feher and Brook Nam, New Paltz; Nancy Bermon, Nyack; and Sally Campbell, Margery Cornwell, Robert Renwick, and Kathy Stackhouse, NYC.
Nancy Stackhouse thanked Sen. Gillibrand for her support for women’s health in light of the Dobbs decision. Then, Sally Campbell expressed our gratitude for Sen. Gillibrand’s support for spending for peace building in the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) budget, specifically for the Atrocities Prevention, the Complex Crises Fund, and Reconciliation Funds. She asked the senator to speak to her colleagues on the SFOPS subcommittee about how essential and effective these funds are and to ensure they do get eliminated or reduced.
Staffer, Ben Lebowitz, reported that the appropriations are in markup, so he doesn’t have any information right now. He urged us to meet with members on the SFOPs subcommittees. He said they agreed with the way we framed these issues and their effectiveness, but explained they don’t have jurisdiction over these issues. It is in committee. But he expressed interest in meeting with us again later on the process, which was encouraging.
Nadine Hoover, Buffalo, NY, shared her story:
I attended a Quaker College in the late 1970s. I became a nonviolence trainer in Attica in 1978, then worked on the Demilitarized Zone in Korea, and then moved to Indonesia in 1980. For over forty years, I’ve worked with communities recovering from violence and armed conflict. You can see the work we’re doing now at FriendsPeaceTeams.org.
I’ve worked with many extremist, militant Islamic communities, which are very closed communities. Having grown up in western NY in a very closed community of northern Appalachia, I understand them. As long as I’m invited in by someone in the community and meet them with respect, they allow me to stay.
The Director of Disaster Relief in Indonesia, Indrawadi Tamin, wrote to us saying, “Where we consistently fail is where you succeed – reestablishing education and livelihoods, healing traumas, and reducing violence.” From young children to adults, we are able to train people in to create dependable livelihoods and just, peaceful societies.
We are also bringing our experience back to the US through the Alternatives to Violence Project, which you can see at avpusa.org. In Buffalo, our training supports the Peacemakers and PUSH Buffalo, who are effectively reducing violence in the city.
I just completed a 5,000 mile speaking tour in the US. One of our team was a former member of the Islamic State. She grew up in West Nusa Tenggara, one of the three largest militant Islamic training and recruitment areas of SE Asia. She and our whole Indonesian and Filipina team spoke about how this training has transformed their lives and communities. They say, “Our faith and traditions teach peace, we just never experienced it or knew HOW to do it!”
People do what we’re trained to do. Investing in violence may have short-term gains, but cannot create or develop societies. After working in numerous war zones, I can say with certainty that peace is possible. People want peace, not war. Human beings are resourceful but need to heal, develop skills, and feel capable, or they will revert to war and violence. The only path to a viable future on this planet is to invest in peace NOW, and we know how.
Peace building and conflict prevention programs reduce violent conflict and human suffering while saving taxpayer dollars. Underfunding this work is unwise and immoral.
Spee Braun, East Chatham, NY, shared her story:
These State Dept funds are mostly focused on fragile and conflict-affected states (35 ctries/territories).
I’ve seen how effective they can be in anticipating and preventing conflict and mass atrocities committed by armed non-state actors.
These include Islamic Jihadist groups, which are spreading in Mali and other parts of the Sahel most quickly now – but the young men signing up are much less driven by religious motives and more by economic ones – recruitment is effective in this low-income environment.
I’ve also seen the effects of the raids, abductions, rape, and murder committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army and other violent groups in Central Africa and how these can be prevented or at least reduced.
I was working with a program based out of Uganda that was sending in helicopters from which they were dropping leaflets warning villagers of possible attacks or telling them how to report the presence of those fighters, having:
already provided radios.
formed local peace committees in villages.
supported coordination between them on peace and security concerns.
developed a Crisis Tracker – online mapping platform that monitors violent events
This prevents abductions and murder and therefore reduces recruitment. Peace committees have grown to addressed root causes, like lack of economic opportunities.
Such programs are ready for use when crises emerge quickly. They are targeted and don't take a lot of funding for "quick strike tools" to have significant impact to prevent or slow conflict.
Resources:
FriendsPeaceTeams.org
AVPUSA.org