Interview with Bruce A. Barrett
Editor, I Wage Peace . Org and Sponsor of the Billboard from Bethlehem.
Q1: Why did you choose Memorial Day weekend to go to Bethlehem?
Bruce: We chose Memorial Day Weekend because we believe there is not greater way to honor our fallen soldiers than by working for Peace.
Q2: Who came up with the idea?
Bruce: It was quite by accident. The Idea for the Billboard from Bethlehem originated inside the walls of Temple Emanuel in Orange CT. The Palestinian, Sulaiman Al Hamri and the Israeli, Elik Elhanan were sharing their stories of their life as combatants and their decision to join forces non-violently to end the suffering of their people. I was moved by their words and invited them to come to our sign shop and paint a sign promoting their organization, Combatants for Peace. Quite unexpectedly, they asked me if they could paint the sign in the West Bank. I surprised myself by answering, “yes, we will find a way”. And so the project was born.
Q3: Isn’t Peace a pipe dream? Isn’t war just the way of the world?
Bruce: Peace is not a pipe dream; it is earned through hard work. For Americans who study and practice war from a distance, peace seems far away, a little impractical, and even optional. I think we have studied war from a distance for so long that we have neglected the powerful tools of active non-violence. The weapons industry in the United States feeds hundreds of thousands of employees across the nation. We make money building war machines, but we make no money building the machinery of Peace. The Peace Corps, for example, has only seven thousand seven hundred and twenty-five personal on the ground worldwide. In this market driven economy, we have created no incentives for learning Peace, only war.
Q4. How is Peace possible in the Middle East?
Bruce: For the Children of Israel and Palestine, peace is a matter of life and death in the here and now. They have practiced active close up war for fifty years. I think after fifty years of active war, the tools of active non-violence start becoming attractive and practical, and I believe we are seeing in these places a growing desire to wage peace non-violently. This means that the Israeli and Palestinian People who are mistreated and abused, be they victims of suicide bombers or land confiscation, must study the tools of active non-violence as practiced by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but adopted to their own culture and circumstances. Most importantly, it means the United States must encourage fair treatment of all people, oppose torture, land confiscation, suicide bombers, and oppressive trade restrictions. If we study and work hard for peace, then peace will come to us.
Q5. I’m not convinced, are you saying that by being “peaceful”, all war will stop?
Bruce: No. I’m saying that Peacemaking demands active, creative, purposeful action, and that war should be a last resort because war is a very inaffective response to threats of attack or injustice or violence. I’m saying our options are greater than mere “fight or flight”, but that we have failed to study peace, failed to learn these options, and limited ourselves to War as the only tool of our foreign policy. I’m saying if we dedicate to active peacemaking some of the vast resources we have dedicated to war making, then we will find ourselves filled with allies, options, and opportunities for peace that evade us under our current way of dealing with conflict.
Q6. Why have you become a Peacemaker?
Bruce: I'm a pragmatist; I beliveive our current war policy has failed. I am also an idealist; I believe all God's children are called to become peacemakers. Jesus taught us to love our enemies, and he said "Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God". I suppose that says is all.