A short report from from the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva.

We are pleased to present you with this short report outlining how our engagement with issues of small arms demand has led to recent work on the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development. The Declaration’s unique approach will be of interest to Quaker service organizations and our other partners working in fields as seemingly diverse as arms control, public health, development and poverty eradication. It is our aim to consolidate an understanding of the links between armed violence and development across these various communities, and we are eager to hear from colleagues with relevant experiences to share.

Download the full report below as a PDF:

DISARMAMENT AND DEVELOPMENT - QUNO REPORT

I said I would give you Tbilisi’ Meetings Clerk’s email address so that you could send messages of greetings in this difficult time for them.

Misha Elizbarashavili’s email address is

diabetikon@yahoo.com

(Misha runs the diabetics NGO in Georgia: hence the address)

I have included the visit report I had at our meeting just in case anyone wants to print it off.

A link to an overview of recent events is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sozar_Subari

Best wishes,

Peter

Tbilisi Visit 2007:

A General Overview: Peter Dyson.

From June 30th to July 3rd Julia Ryberg (Woodbrooke / FWCC-EMES / Sweden YM), together with Sergei Grushko (Friends House Moscow/ Moscow MM) and Peter Dyson (Friends House Moscow / Moscow MM) visited F(f)riends in Tbilisi, Georgia with the specific purpose of interviewing those members of the Tbilisi Group who had applied to IMC for membership of the Religious Society of Friends. The opportunity was also taken on Saturday June 30th and after Meeting for Worship on Sunday July 1st to share spiritual journeys and experiences amongst this gathered group and to talk about Quaker principles and practises with them.

****************

Sergei and I arrived after midnight (Saturday morning) and we were met by Misha and taken to our Hotel (a mini-hotel with ten en-suite bedrooms – no other facilities) Julia’s flight did not arrive until 0350! In the hotel we had three rooms, one of which proved to be large enough to hold the entire assembled group. The Hotel staff could not have been more helpful in providing extra chairs and letting us take over their space for three days. The corridor/reception area became our waiting room whilst individual interviews were held.

After a midday café breakfast across the street, we held a preliminary meeting with Misha and Bagrat to clarify the agenda for the next three days.

Our first mini-Woodbrooke session commenced at around 3pm when everyone arrived. To those names shown on our interview list, a number of first time enquirers needed be added who came to meet us. This shaped the content of our First Workshop Session which ran until around 6pm with a break for tea in the middle. We agreed an outline timetable for ten interviews over the weekend.

We left the hotel to eat in a restaurant with Bagrat’s family near their home with the firm intention of conducting four interviews but by midnight had only conducted two! Bedtime became 0130!

Sunday morning: 1000: simple breakfast after shopping first. Timetable: First interview at 1100; Meeting for Worship at 1200; Second Workshop session 1300. I missed this session as I was typing up the first interview. We continued the practice Sergei and I established in Barnaul of reading and translating interviews back to applicants so that they could fine tune the language used and so that we were all satisfied with the end-documents produced.

At the end of this session an opportunity was given for individual questions to be taken as some individuals had expressed this wish to talk to us privately. Further interviews were conducted from 1430 until around 1900 when we went back across the road to the café to eat.

A most pleasant evening walk round the centre of Tbilisi with Misha and Jimsher gave us an opportunity to wind down after a very intensive day.

Monday: 0900: simple breakfast again!

More private questions at 1000.

1100 Meeting with Sozar Subari, Public Defender of Human Rights in Georgia, and Beka Mindiashvili, Senior Expert of the United Nationals Development Programme Tolerance Centre. Venue: Office of the Public Defender.

We spent two hours with Sozar and Beki and their interpreter in a meeting organised by Bagrat who accompanied us. The position of Public Defender is one appointed by the Georgian Parliament and Sozar was elected three and half years ago. His term of office continues for a further 18 months. When he presented his first report in 2005 a large number of Members of Parliament walked out in protest because they did not want to hear the painful truth about torture in police station and attacks in public on members of religious minorities. The protection of freedom of religious practice has been a particular focus of Sozar’s work. The Centre for Tolerance he set up to document abuse is headed by Beki and occupies accommodation on the top floor of the building with other NGO’s.

We spent an enjoyable and very informative time with Sozar and Beki who charted the progress made and changes taking place now in Georgia. They listened to our exposition of Quaker values and their roots and asked many questions about Quakers and Quaker work; building on a firm foundation of knowledge obtained from Bagrat over the previous two years. They had hoped we might have been able to arrive earlier in order to attend a Conference of Religious Minorities that had taken place earlier in the week with 60 delegates. Bagrat had represented The Religious Society of Friends at that gathering and taken the opportunity to distribute our newly translated Booklet on The Quaker Testimonies. (Perhaps I should add the comment that I have no hesitations whatsoever about Bagrat’s capability to act as an effective advocate for Quakers in Georgia and that he has established an important working relationship that will be a vital link in the future).

We were very impressed by what we found and heard and this was an important connection to make and a unique opportunity taken. Sozar is clearly a fearless principled protector of human rights. It is clear that both he and Beka have clear expectations of the values an active Quaker Group might bring to improving tolerance in Georgian society. I was glad Julia asked him the question if his work was dangerous; to which he had replied that some people wanted to kill him. We affirmed him most firmly in his work

The meeting was but one of a number of humbling experiences that took place during this visit. Part of the reason of Beka’s presence had been in preparation for what followed.

The Tollerance Centre publish a bi-monthly(?) magazine called “Solidarity” By being present, Beka was able to frame a set of questions for his colleague Mariam Gavtadze to pose during the interview that took place over the following hour. Their objective was to raise the profile of Quakers in Georgia so that people will learn about us, about our work and what we stand for! The next issue with us in it will come out at the end of August.

After a late lunch in our regular cafe we returned to the hotel to conduct our final two interviews with Bagrat and Misha. Mission accomplished.

Our flights home were not until 0400 on Tuesday morning. We spent a leisurely late afternoon visiting the old capital of Georgia and driving up the winding road that leads to the Church on the very top of the rugged mountainside on the opposite side of the valley. And then a final evening wandering round the centre of Tbilisi looking at old and new churches, not forgetting the outside of the Mosque and the Synagogue.

During the previous twelve months, Dublin Peace Committee has been building a programme of seminars. The first three of these focused upon the question of the Other and how this idea affects and infects our ways of thinking about people different from us.

These seminars evolved to address particular peace-related concerns and also to offer Friends and others a forum to speak and think. Friends at the Special Interest Group on Peace at 2006 Yearly Meeting had expressed a sense of individual isolation, which compromised their ability to build peace witness.

The first seminar was Fear of the Other, 18th November 2006, at Churchtown Meeting House. 42 people attended this. We considered the question of fear and the other as engendered within ourselves, then projected onto others. We then moved to hearing from people who had to deal with this problem in themselves, as part of moving to public witness.

The second seminar was Power and the Other, 26th February 2007, at the Irish School of Ecumenics in Belfast. 32 people attended this. It is important to state that peace is an island-wide concern. Seminars connected with peace must happen island-wide. Three speakers, a member of the Islamic Community in N Ireland, a member of QCEA, Brussels and the Ambassador of Lesotho, spoke about small groups’ building presence in much larger structures.

The third seminar, Religion and the Other, 26th May 2007 at Quaker House, Dublin, was originated and facilitated by John Darcy May, of the Irish School of Ecumenics, Dublin. 36 people attended this. This was a day of reflection on the nature and presence of the word religion and its cultural impact. This was a day of quiet and considered discourse.

To this point, Peace Committee had been thinking through how it perceived its role in terms of providing access to discourse. It had originated the seminars and their themes. Particularly at Yearly Meeting 2007, Friends approached members of Peace Committee, seeking a seminar, which would move from discourse to public witness. This concern continued to be clear subsequently amongst Friends. This is important, because it marks a move for Peace Committee moving to becoming facilitator for peace-related concerns stated by Friends.

Peace Committee is a small group. It can organise and facilitate seminars in response to the broad needs of Friends, but it cannot engage in Friends’ individual concerns. There are too many of these and it is for Friends to move to public witness on them. Peace Committee has been very careful in considering what it can do well and also what it would do badly. It can organise seminars and similar events and bring these to succesful conclusion.

The fourth seminar, Conferring Together: From Discourse to Public Witness, was held on 20 October 2007 at Churchtown Meeting House. It was attended by 36 people, including one from Cambridge, five from N Ireland and two from elsewhere in Ireland.

In the morning, individuals were invited to bring written material, posters or write texts on the spot. These were all put up so that participants could read others’ concerns. Friends were then asked to speak to their concerns briefly, if they felt moved. Twenty-one did. After each concern, there was a short time for quiet reflection. Peace Committee at lunch break then placed these concerns into five groups. In the afternoon, participants then broke into groups to discuss these topics. These reported back to a concluding session involving all participants. The day discussed how Friends might move to public witness and also the problems at many levels which confront this intention.

Following this, Friends and Peace Committee are moving to a new phase of considering how they can move to peace-related witness. Peace Committee will consider its changing function. Friends need to reconsider how they see Peace Committee related to themselves. For Peace Committee, this marks a move to becoming integrated into facilitating Friends’ expressed concerns.

As part of this, Peace Committee’s website is now functioning and open to access and use as a means of discourse.

Peace Committee participated in:

Institute for European Affairs

National Forum for Europe

Pax Christi; meeting with Tony D’Costa, March 2007

20th October, 2007, 10.00am-4.00pm.

Thirty-six Friends, including one from Cambridge, five from N Ireland and others from outside Dublin region, including Ballitore and Limerick, were present.

You can read the full report here (PDF).

From Discourse to Public Witness

Dublin Peace Committee

20th October, 2007 at

Churchtown Meeting House

10.00-4.00pm

Dublin Peace Committee has held 3 seminars during the previous 10 months. These were Fear of the Other, Power and the Other and Religion and the Other. Reports on these are on our website dublinquakerpeace.org

These seminars raised many questions about peace-related concerns.

We were able to consider these matters and build our thinking from each other’s presence together.

During the last number of months, Friends have individually expressed their wish to move foreward from discussion of local and international concerns to public witness.

Through Conferring Together, we as a Peace Committee now seek to facilitate this expressed need.

Conferring Together is a day in which we ask Friends and everyone concerned with peace witness to share their concerns with others.

Conferring Together is a space in which to share concerns and move forward to witness.

Friends and others have expressed many concerns. They are all important. Witness is equally varied.

To help Peace Committee in its facilitation, we ask individuals and Meetings to tell us about concerns which move them.

We offer the time to speak briefly to your concern.

You may wish to prepare a poster.

You may simply wish to write your concern on a sheet of paper, which we will put up.

The Dublin Peace Committee is a small group of individuals. We can provide facilitation to assist in moving peace witness forward. We need to know what your concerns are island-wide. We can then assist further actions. Friends island-wide have moved us to this day. It is now for Friends to build peace witness.

TIMETABLE

10.00-4.00pm

10.00am Coffee

10.30. Time to look at concerns written, or shown through posters. These will be put up on the wall, to give an opportunity to others to see the range of concerns expressed, which are wide. If you feel moved to include your concern then, we hope that you will do so.

10.45. You are invited to speak briefly to your concern, if you feel moved to do so. There will then be a short time for others to consider your concern. Then we will consider another concern. This is an opportunity for participants to become aware of the range of concerns and also to see which concerns relate to their own.

12.30pm Lunch [Please bring your own]. Peace Committee provides tea, coffee and biscuits.

12.45. We break into groups of people with the same or similar concerns. This allows time to discuss and build from concerns expressed during the morning.

12.30. We come together again to hear reports on each group’s thinking and decisions.

We hope that this will provide a forum fro developing discourse to public witness. This is individual, but it is an expressed wish of Friends.

4.00 Worship followed by coffee.

Please contact us for more information.

It will take place at The King’s Hospital School, Palmerstown, Co Dublin, and of the 325 who will attend many will be from among the substantial numbers of Friends that live in sub-Saharan Africa and in South and Central America.

The prime emphasis of the Triennial will be on worshipping together, but getting to know Friends from other countries, and widening friendships will also play an important part in the programme.

The theme of this Triennial meeting will be “Finding the prophetic voice for our times” with a sub-text from 1 Corinthians 14.1 “It is love, then, that you should strive for. Set your hearts on spiritual gifts, especially the gift of proclaiming God’s message”.

Dublin Peace Committee has held 3 seminars during the previous 10 months. These were Fear of the Other, Power and the Other and Religion and the Other. Reports on these are on our website dublinquakerpeace.org

These seminars raised many questions about peace-related concerns.

We were able to consider these matters and build our thinking from each other’s presence together.

During the last number of months, Friends have individually expressed their wish to move foreward from discussion of local and international concerns to public witness.

Through Conferring Together, we as a Peace Committee now seek to facilitate this expressed need.

Conferring Together is a day in which we ask Friends and everyone concerned with peace witness to share their concerns with others.

Conferring Together is a space in which to share concerns and move forward to witness.

Friends and others have expressed many concerns. They are all important. Witness is equally varied.

To help Peace Committee in its facilitation, we ask individuals and Meetings to tell us about concerns which move them.

We offer the time to speak briefly to your concern.

You may wish to prepare a poster.

You may simply wish to write your concern on a sheet of paper, which we will put up.

We ask you to contact us by 1st September.

The Dublin Peace Committee is a small group of individuals. We can provide facilitation to assist in moving peace witness forward. We need to know what your concerns are island-wide. We can then assist further actions. Friends island-wide have moved us to this day. It is now for Friends to build peace witness.

• FEAR OF THE OTHER - 18th November 2006, Churchtown Meeting House, Dublin
• POWER AND THE OTHER - 24th February 2007, Irish School of Ecumenics, Belfast.
• Religion and the Other - A Quaker Day of Reflection, 26 May 2007

A Day of Reflection,
Led by
John D’Arcy May, Irish School of Ecumenics
at
Quaker House, Stocking Lane, Dublin
26 May 2007
10.00am-4.00pm

All Welcome!

We intensify the Problem of relating to the Other
when
the Other to be acknowledged
the Stranger to be welcomed
the Enemy to be reconciled
are religiously different from us.

Why is this? What gives religion its power to exacerbate conflict, but also to transform it?
What counts as `religion’ in general and `a religion’ in particular ?
Is Religion a Western invention imposed on many other cultures ?
Why does it still cause conflict and misunderstanding today ?
The problem of religion as the putative cause of violence is one of the main reasons for rejecting religion as such.
Why are non-Western perceptions, such as Buddhism, sources of violence too ?
Does this make religion necessarily alien, or can religion still be home to very different people without alienating others whose spiritual homes are elsewhere?

Schedule:

9.30 sharp : We are providing lifts from Windy Arbour Luas stop to Quaker House for anyone who does not have their own transport. The journey by Luas takes 15 minutes from St. Stephen’s Green terminus.

10.00-10.30 coffee
10.30-11.00 John ‘Arcy May introduces the theme.
11.00-12.30pm open discussion / this depends on you!
12.30-1.45pm, Lunch - please bring your own lunch - we provide tea, coffee and biscuits
1.45-2.00pm, divide into small groups to discuss points which arose in morning as concerns.
2.00-3.00pm, small groups / discussions
3.00-4.00pm, reassemble into single group. Feedback from each group into plenary session, then discussion and summing up.
4.00pm short time of silence
Coffee.

About John D’Arcy May
Biographical Details

b. Melbourne, Australia, 1942.
STL Gregoriana, Rome, 1969;
Dr. theol. (Ecumenics) Münster, 1975;
wissenschaftlicher Assistent at Catholic Ecumenical Institute, Faculty of Catholic Theology, Univ. of Münster, 1975-1982;
Dr. phil. (History of Religions) Frankfurt, 1983;
Ecumenical Research Officer with Melanesian Council of Churches, Port Moresby, and Research Associate at the Melanesian Institute, Goroka, Papua New Guinea, 1983-87;
Director, Irish School of Ecumenics, Dublin, 1987-1990;
now Associate Professor of Interfaith Dialogue, ISE, and Fellow of Trinity College Dublin. Visiting professor in Fribourg, Switzerland (1982);
Frankfurt, Germany (1988);
Wollongong, Australia (1994);
Tilburg, Netherlands (1996);
Australian Catholic University, Sydney (2001);
Istituto Trentino di Cultura, Centro per le Studie Religiose, Italy (2006).

Publications include:
Meaning, Consensus and Dialogue in Buddhist-Christian Communication: A Study in the Construction of Meaning (Berne: Peter Lang, 1984)
[ed.] Living Theology in Melanesia: A Reader (Goroka: The Melanesian Institute, 1985)
Christus Initiator. Theologie im Pazifik (Düsseldorf: Patmos, 1990)
[ed.] Pluralism and the Religions: The Theological and Political Dimensions (London: Cassell, 1998)
After Pluralism: Towards an Interreligious Ethic (Münster-Hamburg-London: Lit Verlag, 2000)
Transcendence and Violence: The Encounter of Buddhist, Christian and Primal Traditions (New York and London: Continuum, 2003)
[ed.] Converging Ways? Conversion and Belonging in Buddhism and Christianity (St Ottilien: EOS Verlag, 2006)

For further information, please contact:
www.europeanslavery.com info@europeanslavery.com