Friday, July 25, 2003

From the Desk of Bernie Glassman [Bernie is the Co-Founder and President of Peacemaker Circle International and Peacemaker Circle Foundation. Bernie serves as the primary vision holder for the Peacemaker Circle, providing high level leadership and overall direction. He also leads our outreach efforts to other groups and spiritual leaders around the world.] I write you on the eve of another departure to the Middle East, this time to Jordan and Israel. Much of our attention and energy has recently focused on this part of the world. With the assistance and support of our friend and partner, Richard Gere, we are opening a hub in Amman to support the development of peacemaker circles in Palestine (known as the Palestinian Authority in Israel) and Jordan. We hope to expand this work to other Arab countries in 2004. Richard is just one partner in this work; we are identifying and talking to others, too. We will then go to Israel to launch circle projects there. As of May 1, we officially became Peacemaker Circle International in place of Peacemaker Community. This was the culmination of a long process by staff of honing and clarifying our vision and mission. My dream is to build an "Internet" of social activists all over the world who are linked to each other and can access information, support, and resources, not just through on-line technology but also through a system of representation that connects them. The basic element of this net of global activists is the peacemaker circle. Individuals and organizations come together in peacemaker circles, and with the support of a trained coordinator, create their respective mission and work plan that calls for collaborations and joint efforts. Peacemaker Circle International, based here in Montague, Massachusetts, trains those coordinators and develops new hubs for supporting that work in various countries, such as Jordan. The science of social networks is only five years old and is already gaining prominence through such books as Linked and Nexus, but the not-for-profit sector has been the last to recognize opportunities that lie in connections and linkages. I believe that here at PCI we[base ']re not just building networks, but a self-governing, self-awakening structure that will generate new ideas for social transformation that we can[base ']t begin to imagine or guess at. As it comes together, it points to our interdependence and interconnectedness, which are the things I[base ']ve been teaching all my life. Your continued support, financial and otherwise, remains vital to our success. We hope that you received a recent mailing from Bud Delphin, Peacemaker Circle Foundation's new Executive Director, describing important PCI initiatives in the Middle East. Please give what you can, and let us know of others who would like to receive information about our work. 10:06:27 AM

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