[kan-l] Tufts panel

[Teresa Crawford]

**** Kosova Action Network Discussion List ****
If anyone is interested in having a table on Kosova at this meeting please contact Dan Perez, who will be speaking on Kosova <danpbi at uclink4.berkeley.edu>.  He is great and it would be a good way to get more people involved.  

I will be out of town from the 15th to the 26th of Jan but you can email me of you have questions.  Otherwise Alice Mead is back soon from Kosova and can be reached at alooscnon at aol.com or get in touch with Mentor Cana at cana at alb-net.com.

Teresa

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

"Face to Face in Conflict: Peace Teams in Kosovo, Hebron, and Guatemala."

When: Thursday night, Jan. 28th, 7 p.m., 
Where: Cabot Auditorium, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.  >

A brief description of the program from the convenor:

An official welcome will be extended to you and
>the audience by Fletcher School Assoc. Dean Maria Judge, herself a Witness
>for Peace team member in the late '80s to Nicaraqua.  I will also say more
>about the "Year of Non Violence" and further set the context for your presentations.
>Last, Prof. Eileen Babbitt, Director of the Program on International
>Negotiation and Conflict Resolution will be a respondent to the panel.
>Then Q&A.  Afterwards, we may be having a reception for students and
>faculty to speak with you.  We may have local HR groups tabling, and room
>for book sales.
>
These are the topics and the speakers: Liam Mahony from Peace Brigades International and Dan Perez who traveled to Kosova in March of 1999 with Peaceworkers and Albert Cevallos and Teresa Crawford.
>
>>From Liam:
>
>I strive to link the more formal topic of human rights protection with the
>broader aspects of nonviolent activism, stressing the importance of both
>rigorous academic analysis and civilian activism in the field. My own
>experience as human rights field worker, peace activist and researcher
>help create this linkage.
>
>>From Dan:
>
> My role as a student will, as you and Liam expressed, serve to show
>students the  kind of peacework that is available to us while we are
>still within the university community.  We play a crucial role in 
>peacework: students from around the world share unique experiences that
>serve to establish ties and break through communication and cultural
>barriers.  In my experiences in Kosovo, my close relationships with Serb
>students helped me to rehumanize Serbs despite my imprisonment and develop
>a clearer picture of the situation there today; those relationships took
>me above the dehumanization level that the western media at times adheres
>to.  In Kosovo, Albanian students took the initiative in beginning an
>active nonviolence strategy, going against the wishes of their own
>political representation. As students, we can create deep connections to
>peace movements in the US and around the world with other young
>participants working for global change, such as Serb and Albanian students
>in Kosovo and the rest of Serbia.  With a large networking and knowledge
>base (the university), we have a great advantage in taking on this 
>challenge.
>
>Additionally, I can speak on the various roles that my organization played
>in Kosovo, as well as those of other NGO's.  Our roles included advocacy,
>mediation, violence deterrence, education, and publicity, and giving voice
>to the marginalized.  Questions arise as to how these roles are played out
>in Serbia, an anti-American sovereign state, and the risks involved.  I
>can also  discuss how NGO's can help strengthen the local government
>opposition forces in Serbia, and provide space for them to continue their
>work.
>
>
>I realize this is a rather awkward way to proceed.  Short of my telling
>you what I want from each of you, I thought it best to have a little
>dialogue to see what we think would make for a good panel.  Obviously we
>want to emphasize the potential role of nonviolence in conflict matters.
>And we believe Dan will strike an obvious chord with students.  But it may
>not be that that is the focus of your prepared remarks.  In other
>words, if the roles of NGOs is best to first describe, I can arrange for a
>question to be posed that addresses the student relevancy.
>
>As for Prof. Babbitt's response, my only concern is that her remarks may
>shift the perspective to the IGO and diplomacy levels.  She has been
>involved in the UN in such capacities.  (I can find out more about that if
>we feel it useful info.)  I will ask her to not limit her remarks to these
>institutional responses.  Ideally she will be able to address the
>complementarity and further legitimize the place of nv accompaniment for
>strategic purposes.
>
>Okay, this has gone long enough.  My fingers are tired, as your eyes may
>be.
>
>Please reply to everyone so we can begin.
>
>Thanks.
>
>Peace,
>
>Dale
>




The Advocacy Project
<http://www.advocacynet.org>

contact information:
teresa at advocacynet.org
(315) 471-7790 voice mail
510 Greenwood Place
Syracuse, NY 13210






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Submitted by: Teresa Crawford <tmcrawfo at mailbox.syr.edu>