PEACE ADVOCATE

September 2016

Gandhi Alliance for Peace Newsletter

Elise Lazar to Receive the Gandhi Peace Award

he Gandhi Alliance for Peace is

honored to present this years
Gandhi Peace Award to Elise Lazar.
Elise has been a tireless activist for
peace, on many fronts.
She likes to quote Alice Walker:
Activism is the rent I pay for living
on this planet. And she is passionate about paying her own rent. Ive
found it to be very enriching to be an
activistempowering, and very
frustrating, she says.
Elise and her husband moved to
Utah from Baltimore in 1986 for
two years onlybut they have
stayed. From the first, she felt that
she had something to offer and immediately joined an organization
working to avoid nuclear war called
Women Concerned. In 1987 she
joined an all-woman peace delegation to the Soviet Union.
Elise was just getting started.
Since then, she:
Spearheaded a curriculum to help
children understand the Soviet
Union. She organized inservice
trainings and volunteers who taught
about Russian culture.

others for two years about environmental issues.

Heads up the Salt Lake Move to
Amend movement, working to roll
back Citizens United and get public
funding for political candidates.
Works with Elders Rising on
climate justice issues.
Has produced public art projects
to foster community, empower
children, and create sacred space.
Protested with people of Kazakstan against nuclear weapons tests.
Founded Women to Women, an
interfaith group that worked to promote respect among women of different religions and to dialogue with
the LDS church.
Helped found Salt Lake County's
annual Diversity Dinner.
Co-chaired the Salt Lake City
mayors Green Team.
Organized a Funeral for the
Future outside the federal building
when Orrin Hatch voted in favor of
the Keystone Pipeline.
Dialogued with LDS leaders and

Elise, having been raised Jewish,

was taught to question authority and
to be someone who helps heal the
world. If you have a vision and
chutzpah, in this state theres nothing
you cant do.
When people thank me for what
Im doing, I say, Dont thank me;
join me! As Edmund Burke said, the
forces of evil prevail when good
people do nothing.
We do thank Eliseand we
encourage all to join her in working
for a more peaceful world.

Writing for Peace:

Horizonte students win honors

n June 1, students and teachers

at Horizonte Instruction and
Training Center, Salt Lake City,
crowded into a room at the school.
These students had worked hard
writing essays about peace, and they
had come to see who had won top
prizes in the Peace Essay contest
sponsored by the Gandhi Alliance
for Peace.
Horizonte is a multicultural
school and training center, serving
students with diverse backgrounds
and experiences. The students
essays reflected their thoughts and
feelings about their lives. Students
also wrote about the world, about
deportation of immigrants, discrimination, poverty, profiling, gender
equality, drug abuse, alcoholism on
the reservation, and education for
girls in the Middle East.
One student talked about times she
had been treated differently because
of the color of her skin or because
she was a girl. Another spoke of
dealing with violence in her home.
One student spoke of becoming
apathetic and adopting toxic behaviors, then turning his life around.
The Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai had inspired him to not only
personally change but also create
social change within my community. One student decided to write a
skit to present to others about racial
and gender equality.
Ninth and tenth grades

1st - Shannon Kivalu

2nd - Daysha LuJan
3rd - Michelle Batalla
Hon. mention - Daisy Garcia

Gandhi Alliance president Deb Sawyer, left, and Jennifer Newell of the Salt
Lake City School District, right, and some of the winners of the annual Peace
Essay contest.

Eleventh and twelth grades

1st - Jocelyn Batalla

2nd - Haven Hadfield
3rd - Leroy Whitebird
Hon. mention - Ibrahim Kassim
Hon. mention - Emilia Torres
GAP congratulates these students
and all students who participated in
the contestfor thinking hard about
what brings about peace, and for
being a force for peace themselves.

You can't fight violence with

violence without someone getting
hurt.
I want to make a difference for
peace. Even when my dad was deported, I didn't become bitter or
angry; he didn t want me to. I will

always seek peaceful solutions to my

problems and will be the change I
want to see in the world.
The real difference makers are
those people who get their message
across with love. Explosive behavior may reach a few, but kindness
changes the world.
On drug abusers: We can forgive
and love them, but we don t have to
forgive the choices they have made. I
can be a role model for the children
that have been neglected and make
positive choices.
We are all equal. We should be
treated equal too.

Circling together for Restorative Justice

estorative Justice: What is

it? According to Dr. Fania
Davis, RJ is founded on a principle that Gandhi lived by
ahimsa, or do no harm to anyone. It is also founded on the
African principle of ubuntu, the
interconnectedness of all. And it
is founded on love. RJ is love
correcting that which stands
against love.
This spring, GAP helped sponsor
lectures by Dr. Davis on the important work of restorative justice. She
spoke at Utah Valley University, the
U of U, Westminster College, and
Calvary Baptist Church.
RJ brings together everyone affected by wrongdoing to address their
needs and obligations, and to heal
the harm as much as possible. In
contrast with traditional justice, RJ
asks, Who was harmed? rather
than Who broke the law? RJ asks,
What are the needs and responsibilities of all impacted? rather than
How do we punish?
Circles are key to RJin these,

students, family members, teachers,

law enforcement, and anyone affected by the wrongdoing come together.
In the Circle, everyone has an equal
voice. In an atmosphere of calm and
optimism, participants pass a talking piece around and listen to each
person. The goal is to come to consensus on how to best heal the harm,
without causing more harm.
Studies have shown that schools
using RJ have far fewer suspensions
and incarcerations and higher graduation rates. As Davis points out,
even one suspension from school for
a child prior to grade 10 makes that
child three times more likely to be
incarcerated. She sees the criminal-

NO to the "Just War" theory

hroughout history, religious

people have often supported,
perpetrated, or condoned violence:
wars, Crusades, torturing or burning
women and heretics, persecuting or
killing those of other religions,
holding slaves, conquering and
exploiting others, building weapons,
and more.
In April, a groundbreaking conference took place at the Vatican,
bringing together Catholic peace
leaders from Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda,
Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, the

Philippines, Japan, and other countries.

Pope Francis enthusiastically
supported their discussions. In a
message to participants, he voiced
support for active nonviolence and
said, In our complex and violent
world, it is truly a formidable undertaking to work for peace by living
the practice of non-violence. Equally
daunting is the aim of achieving full
disarment by reaching peoples very
souls, building bridges, fighting fear
and pursuing open and sincere
dialogue.

ization of children as a dangerous trend, and interrupting the

school-to-prison pipeline is one
of RJ's greatest outcomes.
Fania Davis came to the work
of RJ quite understandably.
Growing up in Alabama in the
social ferment of the Civil
Rights era, she knew the terror
and trauma of poverty, racism,
and violence. She devoted her
life to fight against these. However,
she grew weary of fighting against
and is happy with her current work
in fighting for.
The Gandhi Alliance for Peace is
looking for ways we can join with
and support efforts to establish
Restorative Practices and Restorative Justice in our schools and
communities.
Want to learn more? You can find
a lot of information on the Internet
by searching for Restorative Justice
or Restorative Practices. And do
contact us if you are interested in
this work!

At the end of their discussions,

participants in the conference called
upon the Catholic church to:
Continue to teach nonviolence and
integrate it into the life and work of
the church; promote nonviolence
practices and strategies; cease to use
or teach the "just war" theory; and
take other steps.
GAP welcomes this call for nonviolence. We all might consider how
we might influence other churches
and organizations to likewise engage
with this crucial issue.

Gandhi Alliance for Peace

549 Cortez Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
return service requested

and peace. We will provide

Buzz from the board Gandhi
books about peace, and the teachers

It had to happenwere now on

Facebook!! Stay in touch with us at
facebook.com/gandhialliance. You

can keep up to date on happenings

and also receive and share inspiration and information. We're new at
this, so if you like our page, well be
so happy. If you share our posts or
comment, well be so honored!
Were pleased to announce that
this year we will be working with
Lincoln Elementary, Granite School
District, to help children learn about

http:gandhialliance.org

and staff will involve the children in

peace-fostering activities. We have
been working with schools this way
since 2006. If you would like to contribute to this effort, please contact
us at dsawyer@xmission.com.
Beat the Bomb! We hope to see
you, your family, and your friends at
Beat the Bomb, a joyful, positive
celebration of a nuclear-weapon-free
world. There will be Burundi, Japanese, Congolese, and West African
drumming. See you September 23 at

facebook: @gandhialliance

the NE corner of Liberty Park, 6:00.

See the film Nuclear Savage. In
August, GAP helped sponsor the
screening of this enlightening and
heartbreaking film about nuclear
bomb testing near the Marshall
Islands. We will be organizing more
screenings and will announce them
on our Facebook page and website.
Watch for them!
Want to learn more about what the
Gandhi Alliance for Peace is all
about? Or get involved? Visit
gandhialliance.org. Or contact us.
Were delighted to get your ideas.