UPCOMING EVENTS
December 10, Friday
Human Rights Day, Annual community gathering 5:30 PM Downtown United Presbyterian Church 121 Fitzhugh St. Community in Conversation "Are Immigrant rights human rights?" January 18, Tuesday Being the Change Workshop 5:30-8:00 PM Introduction to meditation and nonviolent communication. Pizza! Interfaith Chapel,UR River Campus | 
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Volume 1, Issue 10
December 10, 2010
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Dear Friends,
It's been a joyful season for meeting and making new friends from around the world. In late October Vadivu Govind from Singapore visited and participated in our monthly Being the Change event. Read or listen to part of our conversation at http://bit.ly/i7FpQu.
For the last six weeks we have been joined by Guy Frishman from Jerusalem-see Guy's interview below. Guy attends school in a small community in Tuscany that brings together young people from conflicting countries in the Middle East, Caucuses, Africa and elsewhere. His presence and stories remind me that the act of seeing the humanity of another person when it's challenging to do so-because of race, religon, nationality, or when someone acts in ways you don't like, is the most concrete step we can take to embody and serve nonviolence.
In peace and hope,
Kit Miller
Director
M. K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence
We dedicate this issue to Robert Muller, who died on September 20, 2010. For 40 years, Robert worked on world peace in his position as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. After retiring from the United Nations, Robert Muller founded and developed the United NationsUniversity for Peace in Costa Rica.
P.S. We are grateful to the six people who contributed to our appeal last week for a total of $85.00. We would very much appreciate if anyone else would like to make a contribution in any amount at all. Every dollar is valued and used carefully. 
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Interview with Guy Frishman
George Payne | | |
Guy Frishman, an Iraeli college student, has been interning with Gandhi Institute for the last six weeks through the University of Rochester's connection with Rondine, Italy.
 Please tell us a little about Rondine. What exactly goes on there? Rondine is an Italian peace NGO based on traditions of catholic social activism and in particular the spirit of St. Francis. Since 1997 Rondine has been offering scholarships for young students coming from conflicting countries in order to allow them to come to Italy, study for a first or second academic degree and in the same time live with their 'enemy'. Rondine currently hosts students from the Caucasus and Russian Federation, the Balkans, The Middle East, Africa and India. Students and staff together work on different projects, both in Italy and in students' home countries, for promotion of peace.
As an Israeli citizen and current peace activist interning at the M.K. Gandhi Institute, what have you learned or discovered about Americans? Being in America for this short period made me see in a clearer way what was obvious from the beginning. The concept of 'America', the values that stand behind it and the message it brings for the future has much varied and shifted from 1776 until today. In different parts of the world it means very different things. People envision this country to be the "Land of the Free" or a colonialist empire seeking expansion and hegemony according to their personal paradigm. My experience was meeting people - most of them aspiring to change and to better their home communities, to make their city a better place to live in. They were mostly this way because I came to research a specifically active community of people - in and around the Gandhi Institute. This gave me hope, even if the majority is unaware or uninterested in the matters on hand. For me, America is the same as every other country - it has hopes and dreams, it is home to endless diversity, it has its share of political and social turmoil, but most importantly it is composed of people - all alike in their diversity. It can come in different forms, shapes and colors, but in the end, to my opinion, the human experience is equal for all. We all laugh and cry in the same language.
What is your present impression of America 's attitude towards violence and nonviolence? Many people, myself included at times, do not fully comprehend the deeper meaning of Nonviolence. I think Americans, as most other peoples, feel that nonviolence as expressed by Christ, Gandhi, King and others as just philosophical concepts but believe them to be unrealistic to live by. In this point of view, violence is justified as a necessary evil and condoned. In truth a violent action is as harmful to the offender as it is to its victim - this is the complex nature of reality and no scientist has yet been able to explain what lies under what we can see. Religions approach these issues but for the most part they remain difficult to understand on a purely rational level. It is only by experiencing our own humanity and the humanity of others that we feel (even if not fully comprehend) that nonviolence is in fact a real possibility, and the best possibility for action. This understanding, that it is always better to act out of love rather than hate and fear is what I hope to carry with me for my future work in Israel, Italy and in any other place I may find myself.
You recently attended a Veterans Day event at a nearby homeless shelter. Would you be be willing to share how this experience was for you? I am especially interested in your perspective as a former soldier of the Israeli Army. I have learned that the best way to know a people is by sharing in their moments of joy and of sadness. This makes it clear that the similarities in human behavior can overcome the differences. As a veteran myself, I can strongly sympathize with my American sisters and brothers who step forward to serve their society. I can feel the pain and anger expressed by those who feel that lives were sacrificed in vain because of bad political decisions. It is often said that a war is not between peoples but between governments. Yet, the people are the ones who fight and die - therefore it's the responsibility of the people to stop their governments from going to war.
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Season for Nonviolence Jan 30 - April 4 | |  The M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence is extending its invitation to organizations, schools, businesses, groups and individuals to join the Frederick Douglass Institute, Rochester Center for Community Leadership, Greater Rochester Community of Churches and others in supporting A Season for Nonviolence. It is a time to reflect upon the nonviolent practices of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. and to pay homage to these two great men by actively demonstrating the effectiveness of nonviolence within our own communities. The Season, launched at the United Nations in 1998, marks the sixty-four (64) calendar days between the memorial anniversaries of the assassination of Mohandas K. Gandhi on January 30 and that of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4. Please help promote nonviolence in the greater Rochester community by becoming a sponsor of A Season for Nonviolence. Inquiries about sponsorship can be made by calling 273- 3933. Join us for A Season of Nonviolence and become part of a solution to a problem that affects our families, our employees, our students and community.
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| | | | An exciting element of the Season for Nonviolence will be the nationally shown potrait exhibit "Americans Who Tell the Truth" by painter Robert Shetterly coming to Rochester February 7-25. It will be at the Central Library Link Gallery. We're excited that it will be adjacent to the Teen Center and college prep areas in the library, a chance to expose hundreds of young people to this exhibit and its message. http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/
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Swadeshi Now
