This from Justin Alexander in Iraq: "Christian Peacemaker Teams' guiding principle in conflict situations, a corollary of Jesus' Golden Rule, is never to dehumanise people.... One might think it strange that an avowedly pacifist Christian organisation receives such heartfelt support [over the hostages] from jihadist Muslims such as Hamas and the Al-Asqa Martyr's Brigade. Perhaps it is because they can see that CPTers like Tom Fox are among the few in the West who, while disagreeing with their actions, still treat them as precious human beings. My Iraqi friends tell me that people in Baghdad are beginning to refer to the CPT-four as the "mujahadeen" -- of course that is a term that they would all reject because of its connotations of violence; but it is nonetheless a deep affirmation that Iraqis recognise them as being radically aligned with the struggle for freedom and justice."Two articles out of the thousands published over the last week jump out. One is one of Jim Loney's final releases, describing one of our dear mutual Iraqi friends, a friend who has suffered unimaginably as a war-resister and yet retains a soft heart. The other focuses on Tom Fox, whose steady radical faith has been a firm support to me much of this year in Baghdad and I'm sure will be sustaining the whole group through this trial. Inshallah when I will see Tom free in a few days I'm sure he will give me his shy half-smile and ask in those gentle, measured tones what all the fuss has been about during his little hiatus, given than dozens of Iraqis go through a similar experience each day."
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