Q & R: Witnesses for Peace

Here’s the Q:

Thank you for sharing the “conflict of narratives” piece over Israel/Palestine! How inspiring to hear about folks doing this difficult work!
As I’ve been praying about this, I often hear about members of the armed forces putting their lives on the line, defending their country. They go to the place of conflict, and they fight. They get into the mess.
I am thinking that if I believe in peace– if I reject violence as a means of “salvation,” then I should be willing to go to the place of conflict and fast and pray and listen. I should be willing to put my life on the line. I should be willing to enter the mess, especially if I believe that this is what Christ calls us to do!
Do you know of any groups like “Witness for Peace” (in the Central American conflicts) that are doing this work in Israel/Palestine? It seems like if we can make progress in this one central conflict, then we can make a lot of headway towards a wider peace in the world. What if we raised up a non-violent “army” that waged peace? What if we had a “tipping point” number of people who laid it on the line? There are no guarantees. But what if a sizable group took this step of faith?
Stay in One Peace (Christ’s)

R: There are a number of excellent groups doing this sort of work … One of the best is
Christian Peacemaker Teams
By the way, here’s a wonderful group of Muslims in Iraq doing parallel work: Muslim Peacemaker Teams.