Swords into plowshares
About this blog
Swords into Plowshares is the blog of the Peacemaking Program and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations of the General Assembly Mission Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Seeking peace. Striving for justice. Together.
Seeking peace. Striving for justice. Together.
Recent posts
- Palestinian prisoners, Israel agree to end of hunger strike
- A call from the Madagascar Council of Churches
- Authorize a Violence Against Women Act consistent with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) policy
- Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike
- Celebrating Europe Day
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Palestinian prisoners, Israel agree to end of hunger strike
Here are a number of reports about the end of the hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners. Thanks are in order for this development and for all who helped make it possible. Prayers are in order for those who have been on the hunger strike – for their health and wellbeing – for their nonviolent witness. Work is in order to recognize and respect the human rights of Palestinians. The effort to establish a just and durable peace for Palestinians and Israelis continues.
Agreement Signed Between Palestinian Prisoners and Israeli Prisons’ Administration – Palestinian News Network
On Monday, 14th May, Head of Palestinian Prisoners' Society, Qadura Fares, announced that an agreement between the Prisoners' Committee in Ashkelon Prison and Israeli Prisons' administration has been signed.
Fares confirmed that all the parties signed the agreement to end the open hunger strike that 1600 Palestinian prisoners have started since 28 days, with the presence of the representative of the Egyptian government.Palestinian prisoners end hunger strike as agreement reached with Israeli officials – Haaretz
Israel Prison Services reported on Monday that Palestinian prisoners have agreed to end their hunger strike. Senior sources within the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club told Haaretz that an agreement was forged between the Israel Prison Services and the prisoners, containing three main chapters concerning administrative detainees, solitary confinement policy, and visits from family members residing in Gaza.Lawyer: Administrative detainees agree to end strike – Ma’an News Agency
Prisoners on long-term hunger strike agreed late Monday to join a deal ending the strikes in exchange for improved conditions, a lawyer said.
The Egyptian-brokered deal to end the mass hunger strike in Israeli jails will see the prisoners -- including Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla on a 77-day strike -- released at the end of their administrative detention term.
Ofir Gendelman, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Ma'an that all prisoners must end the hunger strike within 72 hours, and not later refuse food, for the deal to hold.Palestinian inmates in Israel end mass hunger strike – BBC
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have agreed to end a mass hunger strike, which has been going on for more than two months.
More than 1,500 Palestinians have been refusing food to demand an improvement in conditions.
Under a deal, Israel conditionally agreed not to renew detentions without charge, which had been a key grievance.Israel, Palestinian prisoners ink deal to end strike – Jerusalem Post
Israel and Palestinian security prisoners on Monday signed an Egyptian-mediated deal to end a 28-day hunger strike by inmates.
According to the terms of the agreement, Palestinian prisoners committed to refrain from involvement in “activities against security” within prison walls. In exchange, previously suspended benefits will be reinstated by the Prisons Service, including the renewal of familial visits and allowing inmates held in separate cells to return to the general prison population.Deal reached over Palestinian hunger strike – Al Jazeera
Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike have agreed on a deal with Israel to end their fast in return for an easing of their conditions, officials on both sides said.
The deal was reached after talks mediated by Egypt and the Palestinian Authority and made possible by the agreement of Palestinian groups "outside the prisons," Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency said in statement on Monday.
May 15, 2012
A call from the Madagascar Council of Churches
The Malagasy Christian Council of Churches (FFKM) released a declaration on the crisis in Madagascar. The PC(USA) works in partnership with the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), which was formed by the union of three churches in 1968. The FJKM is a member of the Malagasy Christian Council of Churches. The following is the English translation of the declaration. Pray for the people of Madagascar.
Malagasy Christian Council of Churches (FFKM)
English Translation
May 12, 2012
May the grace and peace of God be with you.
After the numerous pleas to the churches within the Malagasy Christian ...
May 15, 2012
Authorize a Violence Against Women Act consistent with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) policy
From the Office of Public Witness:
Call the House to authorize a Violence Against Women Act that is consistent with Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) policy:
On May 8, the House Judiciary Committee marked up and passed the Adams (R-FL) version of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization, HR 4970. This bill fails to live up to the bipartisan Senate-passed bill (S 1925), which provides improved protections for particularly vulnerable populations. In fact, this House bill turns back the clock on the Violence Against Women Act and is NOT a real VAWA reauthorization.
The full House is expected to vote ...
May 9, 2012
Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike
Amnesty International has issued a call for urgent action that asks individuals around the world to contact Israeli authorities concerning Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh, two Palestinian men who are at immediate risk of death as they engage in the nonviolent action of a hunger strike. Both are being held without charge or trial by Israel.
Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons are staging a mass hunger strike to protest prison conditions and the practice of administrative detention. CNN reports:
As of May 6, Bilal Diab and Tha'er Halahla entered the 70th day of their strike. CNN uses the headline ...
May 9, 2012
Celebrating Europe Day
This evening, I am joining a celebration with Ambassador, Head of Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations Thomas Mayr-Harting to celebrate Europe Day. Europe Day celebrates European peace and unity on the anniversary of the founding of the European Union (EU).
The Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations joins other nongovernmental organizations and UN member states in giving thanks for the peace and unity exemplified by the EU and wishing the organization continued success in the future.
May 7, 2012
Passport to Zero: U.S. Fund for UNICEF 2012 Annual Meeting
Last week, I joined our partners from the US Fund for UNICEF for the 2012 Annual Meeting. Partners from across the UNICEF spectrum including UNICEF field personnel, corporate donors, individual donors, and other NGOs met together in New York City because we believe in zero.
Zero is UNICEF’s goal. Five years ago, 25,500 children died from preventable diseases each day, today that number is 21,000. UNICEF’s goal is to bring that number to zero.
May 7, 2012
The Tragic Legacies of Lebanon’s Phalangists
The Tragic Legacies of Lebanon’s Phalangists
A conversation with
Jonathan Randal
Author of
The Tragedy of Lebanon: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers, and American Bunglers
Friday, May 11, 2012
10:30 – Noon
Hardin Room, 11th Floor
Church Center for the United Nations
777 UN Plaza –corner of 44th St. and 1st Ave.
In 1975, Phalange Party hardliners from Lebanon’s Maronite Christian community responded to their sense of vulnerability by unleashing a wave of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian violence that peaked with 1982’s massacres at Sabra and Shatila. Veteran Washington Post foreign correspondent Jonathan Randal was one of the first ...
May 7, 2012
A conversation on human trafficking
The Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations invites you to
A Conversation on Human Trafficking with
Noelle Damico
Associate for Fair Food, Presbyterian Hunger Program
Thursday, May 10
10:30 AM – Noon
Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations
777 UN Plaza, 7th Floor
Noelle Damico brings extensive experience and expertise to the topic. She has been a keynote panelist at the US Department of Justice’s National Human Trafficking Conference in 2010, a keynote speaker at the Houston Rescue and Restore National Conference in 2011, and a keynote speaker at the Freedom Network USA’s 2009 conference. She has also ...
April 30, 2012
Christians from Sudan visit UN community
Today, the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations hosted with Caritas Internationalis partners from the Diocese of El Obeid who spoke about their work in the Nuba Mountains region of Sudan. A briefing with nongovernmental and governmental partners was hosted this afternoon followed by an appointment with a UN agency.
The partners brought the message forward for three advocacy priorities:
1) Immediately cease all military operations, including aerial bombardment
2) Allow safe and unhindered access for international humanitarian actors to all civilians and to provide prompt humanitarian assistance to all those in need
3) Demand that all parties of the ...
April 24, 2012
Taking a stand against land grabbing
Today, I joined the Oakland Institute and other protestors outside of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. We were outside the hotel because “nearly a thousand representatives of pension funds, university and foundation endowments, private equity firms, hedge funds and other high rollers have gathered together to figure how to make huge returns through grabbing land and water rights in the developing world.”
In our Food and Hunger Working Group statement issued in September 2011, we said:
The world food crisis is decades old, but now it is gravely worsening. Food prices have risen rapidly, reaching historically high ...