BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS

Tom Fox, one of four activists taken hostage last November, was killed in Iraq.

Fox worked with Christian Peacemaker Teams, "an organized, nonviolent alternative to war and other forms of lethal inter-group conflict."

According to the group's mission statement, "CPT provides organizational support to persons committed to faith-based nonviolent alternatives in situations where lethal conflict is an immediate reality or is supported by public policy. CPT seeks to enlist the response of the whole church in conscientious objection to war, and in the development of nonviolent institutions, skills and training for intervention in conflict situations."
As was documented in photos, Fox protested against Israeli actions.

Apparently, it didn't matter to his captors, Swords of Righteousness Brigades, that he was in Iraq to assist "those who continue to suffer under occupation, whose loved ones have been killed or are missing," and to "hasten the day when both those who are wrongly detained and those who bear arms will return safely to their homes."

Fox considered the United States forces to be occupiers. Nevertheless, his objection to U.S. actions in Iraq and the Middle East did not immunize him from the wrath of Muslim militants.
They granted him no mercy.


WASHINGTON (AP) -- An American who was among four Christian activists kidnapped last year in Iraq has been killed, a State Department spokesman said Friday.

The FBI verified that a body found in Iraq Friday morning was that of Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va., spokesman Noel Clay said. He said he had no information on the other three hostages.

..."This guy was not after martyrdom by any means," said Paul Slattery of McLean, Va., who was a member of Fox's U.S.-based support team. "He actually believed in his heart that he would better them by his conviction and his beliefs and his skills, and I think largely succeeded.

"What he leaves behind is a tremendous challenge for the rest of us and a guiding force."

Fox was the one American among four Christian Peacemaker activists kidnapped last year in Iraq.

On Tuesday, Al-Jazeera television aired footage of the three other activists purportedly appealing to their governments to secure their release.

...The previously unknown Swords of Righteousness Brigades claimed responsibility for kidnapping the four workers, who disappeared Nov. 26.

...Iraqi and Western security officials repeatedly warned the activists before their abduction that they were taking a grave risk by moving around Baghdad without bodyguards.

Christian Peacemaker Teams had been working in Iraq since October investigating allegations that U.S. and Iraqi forces abused Iraqi detainees. Its teams host human rights conferences in conflict zones, promoting peaceful solutions.

Fox was in Iraq to investigate wrongdoing by U.S. forces. Part of his mission was to discover abuses perpetrated by Americans against Iraqis.

It seems to me that Fox was sympathetic to the agenda of the militants that kidnapped him, condemning both Israeli and American actions in the Middle East.

Why would Fox be taken hostage? He was there as an activist against the mission of the U.S. military in Iraq.
Does that make sense?
The organization that Fox worked for commented on his death.
Statement from Christian Peacemaker Teams on the death of Tom Fox
(Excerpts)
In grief we tremble before God who wraps us with compassion. The death of our beloved colleague and friend pierces us with pain. Tom Fox’s body was found in Baghdad yesterday.

Christian Peacemaker Teams extends our deep and heartfelt condolences to the family and community of Tom Fox, with whom we have traveled so closely in these days of crisis.

We mourn the loss of Tom Fox who combined a lightness of spirit, a firm opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone.

We renew our plea for the safe release of Harmeet Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember. Each of our teammates has responded to Jesus’ prophetic call to live out a nonviolent alternative to the cycle of violence and revenge.

In response to Tom’s passing, we ask that everyone set aside inclinations to vilify or demonize others, no matter what they have done. In Tom’s own words: "We reject violence to punish anyone. We ask that there be no retaliation on relatives or property. We forgive those who consider us their enemies. We hope that in loving both friends and enemies and by intervening nonviolently to aid those who are systematically oppressed, we can contribute in some small way to transforming this volatile situation."

...Through these days of crisis, Christian Peacemaker Teams has been surrounded and upheld by a great outpouring of compassion: messages of support, acts of mercy, prayers, and public actions offered by the most senior religious councils and by school children, by political leaders and by those organizing for justice and human rights, by friends in distant nations and by strangers near at hand. These words and actions sustain us. While one of our teammates is lost to us, the strength of this outpouring is not lost to God’s movement for just peace among all peoples.

At the forefront of that support are strong and courageous actions from Muslim brothers and sisters throughout the world for which we are profoundly grateful. Their graciousness inspires us to continue working for the day when Christians speak up as boldly for the human rights of thousands Iraqis still detained illegally by the United States and United Kingdom.

Such an outpouring of action for justice and peace would be a fitting memorial for Tom. Let us all join our voices on behalf of those who continue to suffer under occupation, whose loved ones have been killed or are missing, and in so doing may we hasten the day when both those who are wrongly detained and those who bear arms will return safely to their homes. In such a peace we will find solace for our grief.

Although CPT expresses its profound grief at the death of Tom Fox, this is clearly a very political statement.

There is no question that the United States is viewed as the enemy by CPT. It cites the U.S. as detaining Iraqis illegally. It considers U.S. forces to be occupiers, not liberators. It labels the activities of the U.S. military as systematic oppression.

It's ironic that the very forces that were looking out for Fox are the ones that CPT calls oppressors.

I think it should be noted that Fox wasn't "detained illegally" by those evil U.S. forces. In fact, Iraqi and Western security forces repeatedly told him not to move around Baghdad without bodyguards, but he ignored the warnings.

His kidnappers and killers, the ones suffering under what CPT calls "occupation," are the bad guys here, not U.S. forces.

I think it's tragic that Fox, a man who believed that he was called to be a peacemaker and acted on those beliefs, would be murdered by the people he sought to help.

I also think that Christian Peacemaker Teams should open their eyes.

While I greatly admire their mission to help the suffering, I don't admire their dismissal of the violence carried out by the Muslim militants at the very same time that they decry the actions of the United States and the United Kingdom.

If Fox's organization is truly interested in taking on the role of peacemaker, then it doesn't make sense to advance a specific political agenda and advocate for the militants.

My heart goes out to Fox's family, friends, and colleagues.

I pray that they find comfort in their faith during this time of grief.

I pray that Tom Fox is at peace.