Interfaith Witness for Peace - September 19th

The costs of war are too high. Together we can build a world of peace. Join us at Heritage Park and St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Palo Alto on September 19th from 3pm to 5pm. Visit the World Peace Village in Heritage Park, participate in activities for children and adults, building a world of peace. Then, at 4pm, there will be an interfaith peace service in the church with music, prayers, and speakers from Palestine/Israel, Iraq, and Afghanistan, sharing their hopes for and concrete ways we can create, a world of peace.

Click here to download a flyer in Microsoft Word format

Read more for details.

The World Peace Village - at Heritage Park in Palo Alto from 3pm to 5pm

The World Peace Village is designed as an intergenerational event, one where children and parents as well as individuals walk together the path toward peace, tolerance and understanding. With its interactive elements, it has been used by churches, universities, schools, museums, conferences and retreats as a way of bringing diverse cultures together in a spirit of peace. The World Peace Village can be the tool to spotlight peace and tolerance in a setting where all generations can have access to its prayerful atmosphere.

At each center participants learn through experience and come to respect unfamiliar faith traditions. Each of the six centers is made up of a banner on a stand (3ft by 6ft) depicting a center of worship for each tradition. Displayed in front of the banners are sacred items from the traditions used in worship. Visitors can touch the sacred objects displayed, read about the tradition, say a prayer of peace, learn a word for peace and make a spiritual practice from each tradition.

The Golden Rule, found in the sacred teachings of each tradition, anchors and underscores the shared core values of all the spiritual practices.

As individuals journey through this path of peace surrounded by the spiritual tools and places of each tradition, a gradual awakening occurs. There can be peace.

You can do a virtual walk through the village here:

http://www.worldpeacevillage.org/wpv_main.htm

 

Interfaith Peace Witness Service - St. Thomas Aquinas Church 4-5pm

The service will include interfaith prayers, music, speakers, and silence. During the service child-care / activities will be available in the church's garden. 

Speakers:

Rana Tomaira

Rana Tomaira was born in Baghdad, Iraq.  She attended high school in Saudi Arabia, and university in Amman, Jordan.  Rana came to the U.S. in 1997 to do graduate study in architecture and City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley, where she has also worked as a part time lecturer.  She has volunteered for over 2 years with a project sponsored by Palestine Children's Relief Fund to help Iraqi children come to the United States to receive medical care unavailable to them in Iraq.  She facilitates obtaining the necessary visas, acts as translator, and offers care and support for the children. In 2008 her family hosted Ahmed Ali Hani, age 14, who lost his leg in a Baghdad suicide bombing that killed his father and many others.  While living with Rana in the U.S., Al Hani was outfitted with a prosthetic leg.  Rana lives in Berkeley with her husband and two children.

Len and Libby Traubman - Jewish/Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group

Len and Libby Traubman, individual peacemakers living in the San Francisco Bay Area, are ordinary people doing extraordinary acts of peace. They have been dedicated to the reconciliation of Jewish and Palestinian people one person at a time. They have a deep commitment to peace through listening, their Jewish Palestinian Dialogue Group, their Peace Camps in the Sierra Nevada that are now being replicated around the world, their film documentaries, and their amazing energy and devotion to peace and peace building. 

Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers

Youth and College-age Afghans are working to raise awareness about the impact of the war in Afghanistan in the hopes of bringing an end to the violence.  Their motto is "Love is the way we'll ask for peace".  In May of this year their request for visas to come share their story with people in the United States was denied, so while they cannot be with us in person, we will hear their words through videos they have made and words they have written. To learn more, click here for their blog and videos or click here for their website.

 

 

Sponsors and Participants:

This event is sponsored by Multifaith Voices for Peace and Justice, American Muslim Voice, West Bay Chapter of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship, the American Friends Service Committee, MicahsCall.org, Reach And Teach, with participation and support from First Presbyterian Church Palo Alto, First Congregational Church Palo Alto, St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, Palo Alto Friends Meeting, First United Methodist Church Palo Alto, Beyt Tikkun Synagogue and the Network of Spiritual Progressives.