Peacemakers Trust Newsletter December 2016
2016 Highlights: Peace work in a “post-truth” world
Media in a “post-truth” world
Peacemakers
Trust’s work monitoring news from around the world has taken on new importance in
2016 as attention has been riveted on dramatically polarized discourse about Syria’s
conflict and refugees, the Brexit vote and the US election. Peacemakers Trust
directors Ernie Fraser and Catherine Morris continue to search out “conflict
sensitive” news that examines sources of conflicts and peace initiatives. Peacemakers
Trust has developed some criteria
for evaluating the quality of news reporting on conflict.
Teaching our kids about peace: New list of books for children
Teaching our kids about peace: New list of books for children
Veteran
educator Patricia Morris worked with Peacemakers Trust in 2016 to create a new
bibliography of books
on peace for young children. Launched
in December, this is the latest page in the Peacemakers Trust bibliography. The
resource
website continues to be popular worldwide and
received more than 160,000 visits in 2016.
Southeast Asia research
On 8 November 2016, Peacemakers Trust director Catherine Morris spoke about her human rights research in Thailand at the University of Victoria’s Centre for Asia Pacific Initiatives. In September 2016, her chapter, “Justice Inverted: Law and Human Rights in Cambodia” was published in Katherine Brickell and Simon Springer’s edited book, The Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia published by Routledge.
On 8 November 2016, Peacemakers Trust director Catherine Morris spoke about her human rights research in Thailand at the University of Victoria’s Centre for Asia Pacific Initiatives. In September 2016, her chapter, “Justice Inverted: Law and Human Rights in Cambodia” was published in Katherine Brickell and Simon Springer’s edited book, The Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia published by Routledge.
Indigenous
peoples in Canada
Peacemakers Trust work in response to the Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) included facilitation of an educational event on 4 October 2016 hosted by Emmanuel Church, Victoria. The event responded to the TRC call to churches to repudiate a 15th century church and legal doctrine called the "Doctrine of Discovery" which was used historically to justify European sovereignty over Indigenous lands and peoples around the world. The event featured the screening of a film that explains and denounces the Doctrine of Discovery from a contemporary Christian perspective. Following the film, Tl'ul'thut, Robert Morales, a lawyer and Chief Treaty Negotiator for the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group explained how the Doctrine of Discovery was involved in giving legal cover to a massive corporate land grab on Vancouver Island over a century ago.
Peacemakers Trust work in response to the Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) included facilitation of an educational event on 4 October 2016 hosted by Emmanuel Church, Victoria. The event responded to the TRC call to churches to repudiate a 15th century church and legal doctrine called the "Doctrine of Discovery" which was used historically to justify European sovereignty over Indigenous lands and peoples around the world. The event featured the screening of a film that explains and denounces the Doctrine of Discovery from a contemporary Christian perspective. Following the film, Tl'ul'thut, Robert Morales, a lawyer and Chief Treaty Negotiator for the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group explained how the Doctrine of Discovery was involved in giving legal cover to a massive corporate land grab on Vancouver Island over a century ago.
Conflict Resolution Experts’ Open Letter to US officials
After the US election there were hundreds of reports
of race-based discrimination, vandalism, beatings and threats, with significant
spillover into Canada. The post-election violence prompted Peacemakers Trust to
convene 60 experts in conflict resolution in the US, Canada to sign an open letter to all US government
officials urging them to them to make
public statements to build respect and to prevent violence based on gender,
religion, race, ethnicity or political views. The letter also provided
educational information on the US Constitution and asked for concrete
steps to prevent acts of hatred and foster mutual understanding, respect and
civility within the USA.
Thank you donors! Your
gifts make it possible for Peacemakers Trust:
- To update our free, online resources for students, academics, practitioners and the public;
- To help our volunteers with travel expenses to conduct education or research including planned case studies on business, human rights and conflict and planned training in negotiation for human rights defenders in Asia;
- To respond to invitations to conduct education on dispute resolution, conflict transformation and reconciliation.
- Thanks for your tax-deductable gifts by cheque or through CanadaHelps https://www.canadahelps.org/dn/11293.
