Peace Train arrives in Ottawa
For Winnipegger Gordon Matties, being part of the November 15-23 Peace Train from Vancouver to Ottawa was about imagining “a hopeful future, a future without war, a future of peace with justice for all of creation.” Gordon was one of four people from River East Church, which is affiliated with Mennonite Church Manitoba, who went…
The path to peace includes Hamas
I am not, and have never been, a supporter or apologist for Hamas. I am a Christian, and Hamas is an avowedly Muslim organization. I am a pacifist, and Hamas believes in armed struggle as the path to liberation. Yet, I know that there is no path to peace that does not involve Hamas, as…
Beyond revenge: The story of Maoz Inon
Maoz Inon is an Israeli Jewish social entrepreneur and peace advocate. During a February online event—Part I of the Peace & Possibility events—he shared the story of his parents being murdered by Hamas and his family’s astonishing journey to peace. The following excerpts are from an online event with Inon that Canadian Mennonite convened in…
A prayer for impossible peace
The gulf appears impossible to bridge. As bombs continue to fall onto Gaza and rockets somehow continue to fly out of Gaza, a conflict nearly as old as time and as entrenched as the Jordan River spirals to depths unthinkable. To listen to people on either side is to hear vastly different narratives about the…
Jewish perspectives
An interview with Gustavo Zentner By Will Braun Gustavo Zentner will never forget visiting areas attacked by Hamas. “We walked into the homes where you can still smell the smell of burned flesh,” he recalled. “That smell will always accompany me.” Zentner travelled to Israel last November as part of a solidarity mission comprised of…
Making peace with policing
Mennonite teachings tend to promote complete nonviolence, stating or implying that all else is wrong. Officially, we live by nonviolence alone, but in reality, we live about the same as others. The more dangerous or violent circumstances become, the more pragmatic we become. Most of us think practical steps should be taken to protect people…
Peace on the screen
A rant is taking shape in your brain, anger is seething in your gut, your finger is poised over the “post” button. What could possibly go wrong? One option is to step away from your device, take a deep breath, and think “reconciliation.” That is the advice offered in the new book, Posting Peace: Why…
Peace award recognizes young artist
Dona Park, a young Korean-Canadian artist, is one of the first two recipients of Mennonite Church U.S.A.’s #BringthePeace Award, sponsored by the denomination’s Church Peace Tax Fund. Park, who affiliates with Emmanuel Mennonite Church of Abbotsford, B.C., and Michelle Armster of Wichita, Kan., received the awards, recognizing the work of denominational peacemakers. The two winners…
Learning from the wisdom of children
“I’ve had many teachers, most of them children,” says Patricia Erb. “The best ones.” It could be seen as a surprising assertion from Erb, who, at 63, has been involved in human-rights work since her early teens. She has three decades under her belt at Save the Children Canada—the Canadian arm of the development organization…
Conscientious (tax) objectors
Like other Canadians, every year Ernie and Charlotte Wiens file their taxes. Unlike others in Canada, the La Salle, Man. farming couple doesn’t send the federal government everything it says they owe—the part that violates their conscience. For Ernie, 72, and Charlotte, 69, that’s the estimated 10 percent of Canada’s budget spent on the military.…
