Greg Mortenson Embodies Peace in Action

Greg Mortenson is one of the best examples of peace and service in action.

His book "Three Cups of Tea, One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time" has now been a NY Times bestseller for 101 weeks and is published in 28 countries!

The Central Asia Institute which he directs has built and is helping to run 78 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Greg recently won the 2009 Austin College Leadership Award. You can read more about this at:
http://www.austincollege.edu/NewsDetail.asp?NewsID=1764&ItemID=6985

The Young Adult version of "Three Cups of Tea" and a children's book "Listen to the Wind" will be released on January 22nd, 2009. (For more info see: http://www.threecupsoftea.com/)

Greg and Amira Mortenson (his daughter) will be on the NBC Today show on Thursday January 22nd to talk about the two new books that are being released that day. On 1/22/2009, you can watch it online at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032633

Israel Kills Peace Advocate's Children

I am greatly saddened by the news that Israel killed 3 of the daughters of a Gazan peace advocate. I can barely fathom the grief he must be feeling. If either of my children were killed in a similar situation, I would probably be on a warpath lusting for blood. Yet, I sincerely hope that his pursuit of Peace continues and that his daughters' deaths were not in vain.

For more, please read: Gazan Doctor Loses Family

"Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish has devoted his life to reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. Now he is struggling to hold on to the humane philosophy that has guided his life."

at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/world/middleeast/18doctor.html

Israel Is an Oppressor

A tragedy is taking place in Gaza. Jimmy Carter recognized that Israel was committing a human rights crime in Gaza last year May 2008 if not earlier (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/08/israelandthepalestinians).

This year there are calls for a UN court ruling against Israel (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/14/israel-gaza-un-court-palestine).

People in Gaza are trapped and this situation was caused by Israel (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/opinion/08khalidi.html?scp=11&sq=gaza&st=cse)

It's a very hard problem yet Israel and Palestinians must make peace or be doomed to war forever. The US could do much more to encourage peace. Under Obama, I hope it will.

Department of Peace

Yoko Ono supports a Department of Peace, see:
http://imaginepeace.com/news/archives/5520

I've posted the following to the "Department of Peace" discussion:

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The State Department really is the current Department of Peace. It's mission as stated in it's current strategic plan (see http://www.state.gov/s/d/rm/rls/dosstrat/2007/) is:

"Advance freedom for the benefit of the American people and the international community by helping to build and sustain a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world composed of well-governed states that respond to the needs of their people, reduce widespread poverty, and act responsibly within the international system."

I believe that doing the above is the best way to accomplish Peace. Economics has a huge part in Peace as does helping other sustainable governments succeed. This all best belongs in the State Department. I'm a very strong believer in Peace and have been demonstrating in Peace Rallies since the Iraq war began.

So my vote for a Department of Peace is really a vote to better staff and fund the Department of State (rather than the "Defense Department" or "Department of War").

For more about my efforts to support Peace, please see http://SunnyvalePeace.org, http://timoey.com, and http://timoey.blogspot.com.

Thanks!

Sincerely,
Tim Oey