10/27
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| world peace conference |
I recently participated in the ICPB in Barcelona. Not having previously known much about the ICPB, I was impressed by its breadth, depth, reach and potential. The Congress, led by ICPB’s Rainer Braun, featured a vast array of speakers including philosopher activist Noam Chomsky, UK Labor leader Jeremy Corbin 
Jeremy Corbin
and former (future?) Brazil leader Lula as well as indigenous leaders like Binalaksmi Napram from the Manipur Gun Survivors Network as well as a truly diverse number of others. Like Bob Dylan, the Congress could well say I contain multitudes.
Undaunted by Covid, the Congress provided a highly creative hybrid model with 900 present (divided between auditorium and outdoor plaza) and some 1700 virtual attendees all linked in various ways through the Whova app facilitating plenaries and workshops and facilitating communication among participants.
In the final plenary, both a stirring declaration and pointed Action Plan were delivered. A commitment was made to take these forward to the upcoming World Social Forum in Mexico City and to meet next in an indigenous area in the global south.
I was there specifically to participate in a workshop on Religion, Peace and Sanctuary coordinated by our own Susan Smith of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the International Sanctuary Declaration work team. The other panelists were our friends Maglaha Hamma, a Western Sahara Refugee and Activist with the Nonviolence Association of the Western Sahara (NOVA), currently resident in a refugee camp in Algeria; Runbir Serkepkani, Kurdish Activist with Christian Peacemaker Teams, and the Aegean Migrant Solidarity Program and Chrissy Stonebraker-Martinez, Co-director of the Inter-Religious Task Force on Central America and FOR-USA Co-Chair. 
our workshop leaders
The Congress was committed to a wholistic view of peace, close to the Biblical vision of shalom, not simply absence of overt violence but with the establishment of as a necessity, in short an affirmation of no justice, no peace. It was clearly evident that economic injustice, worker exploitation, prejudice and discrimination on any basis whatsoever, male supremacy, white privilege and the predatory consumption of creation and its resources are all forms of violence,]. Any peace work has to have a practice with an intersectional ethic and analysis.
This understanding has a direct bearing for those of us who work in Sanctuary as well. It is the various forms of violence explored by the Congress that force people into exile, often for their very lives. Ultimately the work of sanctuary must take into account the works of economic justice, social and political inclusion and a sustainable relationship with creation if we are to truly engage the global issues creating people on the move.
As for our ISD group, the need for more ongoing communication among ourselves is clearly evident. Beyond that we need to expand the circle. The IPB has recently endorsed the Statement. We should request the IPB to publicize the endorsement …and the Statement’s content…through their network and encourage others to endorse as well. We should study their Action Plan and see which of its recommendations relate to our work. As soon as the documents and videos from the Congress are available, we need to make these available to our network.
This of course calls on us to upgrade our social media and communications capacity as soon as possible to establish a platform for the sharing of information regarding actions, practices and opportunities to move the principles of our Statement into action and provide a space for ongoing dialogue and reflection.
The Congress provided a moment of hope in what can feel like a season of growing despair. We have an important role to play in moving that work forward.
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