As of today, 5/1/2024, the war on Gaza has gone on for 29 weeks.
We join the many voices in the US and abroad who are protesting the war, the atrocities, and our government’s complicity in the devastation by defending and funding the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.
We also call for Peace and we call for:
· An Immediate, Permanent Ceasefire.
· Release of all hostages held by Hamas, and 9,000 Palestinians held in prisons and detention
· Safe Shelters for the 1.7 million displaced and unhoused people in Gaza
· Immediate Humanitarian Aid:
o Access, security and protection of people providing life-sustaining aid.
o Nutritious Food, Clean water, sanitation facilities and hygiene products for all survivors
o Restoration of US funding for UNRWA
· Medical Care:
o Protect Existing Hospitals; create Auxiliary hospitals, mobile units, fuel/electricity, medical supplies and equipment
o Access, security and protection for medical providers, ambulances and EMTs.
o Trauma Centers and mental health services for survivors, children and families of victims.
· Recovery and proper burials of the dead.
· Access and Security for Journalists in Gaza and the West Bank.
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/30/omer_bartov
https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147921
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/29/rabbis_for_ceasefire_erez_crossing
https://www.yahoo.com/news/diplomatic-push-israel-hamas-war-131410678.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/12/18/israel-starvation-used-weapon-war-gaza.
https://www.vox.com/world-politics/24140794/gaza-nasser-hospitals-al-shifa-graves-idf-hamas
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/29/lyd_sci_fi_documantary_1948_nakba
Kirby Edmonds, DCI Human Rights Day Gala, Dec. 2018; photo by Kathy Morris
Ithaca – Kirby V. Edmonds, 69, of Ithaca, New York died peacefully on August 22, 2020 in the company of his loving family. He was born on August 17, 1951 in Huntsville, Texas. As a youth he was educated in Glastonbury, Connecticut, Nairobi, Kenya, and Beirut, Lebanon. He held two degrees from Cornell University, a B.A. in History and an M.P.A.
Kirby was a mighty river that flowed through our community and far beyond, watering the positive seeds of possibility. He led in countless ways: as Managing Partner of TFC Associates (Training for Change), as Senior Fellow and Program Coordinator of the Dorothy Cotton Institute (DCI), co-founder of the Building Bridges network, and as lead facilitator in development of the City of Ithaca Comprehensive Plan. He functioned behind the scenes as a coach, mentor, encourager, and backbone in several collective impact initiatives, for example, as Coordinator of the Cradle to Career, as Chair of the Ultimate Reentry Opportunity Advisory Committee and by supporting the Childhood Nutrition Collaborative, community involvement in Ithaca’s Green New Deal, and family engagement in My Brother’s Keeper Ithaca.
Early in his career Kirby set up a drug and alcohol crisis hotline and became a trainer in prevention and treatment systems. He developed a deep understanding of groups, the dynamics of oppression, and the challenge of getting well in an unhealthy society. He worked on the cutting edge of education and training for people in recovery becoming community-based practitioners equipped to lift up and assist others struggling with addiction. A foundation of his practice in whatever action was at hand was to champion people most directly affected by oppression and inequity.
In 1981, Kirby co-founded Training for Change (TFC Associates) to support healthy organization development, collaborative leadership, and to eliminate racism and all forms of oppression. Over a 33-year creative partnership in TFC and later DCI, Kirby Edmonds and Laura Branca built a far-reaching practice and shared mission, true to the taproots of anti-oppression, social justice, human rights, educational equity, cultural competency, and the power of collective endeavor. Kirby was brilliant at interweaving and operationalizing these ideas. Between 2007-2015 Kirby and Laura designed and facilitated the original Multicultural Resource Center’s Talking Circles on Race and Racism. For three decades, Kirby volunteered as a mediator and coach for the Community Dispute Resolution Center. As a Senior Fellow at DCI, he championed a vision of a global human rights movement achieving the full realization of human dignity, justice, and freedom for all.
In 2014 Kirby and a cadre of community leaders attended Tamarack Institute’s Collective Impact (CI) Conference in Toronto and brought back models for achieving big audacious community goals. Right away Building Bridges took up leadership, often without compensation, to get powerful and lasting CI initiatives going. Only days before his death, Kirby was on Zoom calls from his hospital bed, fulfilling his long-term commitment to these and other initiatives as organizer, facilitator, and coordinator.
Kirby was everywhere. Kirby worked with indigenous people in the Northwest Territories and was a co-founder of Human Rights Educators USA (HRE USA). In the 1980s he led anti-oppression workshops for Cornell’s Human Relations Training Program. Kirby was bravely willing to go toward conflict situations, as when he mediated a volatile land use dispute in Ghana for World Vision. He was a close colleague and champion of civil rights leader Dorothy Cotton, co-founding the Dorothy Cotton Institute and doing everything in his power to promote her legacy of non-violent direct action. In 2012 he helped DCI bring a delegation of 23 civil and human rights activists and scholars to Israel-Palestine to meet with Palestinians and their Israeli allies non-violently resisting the Occupation in the West Bank.
Kirby described himself as a community organizer. He was that in practice and through the strategies he used, seeking funds to pay other community-based organizers to engage and empower their neighbors. He was a master network manager, able to weave together many strands of relationship through his persistent willingness to show up with a shared purpose on his mind. Everywhere that people of good will united to tackle problems or cultivate opportunities, Kirby was quickly pulled into the center. He took on many roles– contributor, connector, or designated leader, but always encouraged folks to plan actions that would get more power and resources into the people’s hands. Soft spoken and kind, Kirby was skilled in the art of posing incisive questions, ever asking folks to consider who else should be at the table. He had a keen understanding of power and the courage never to shy away from issues of violence, racism, poverty, hunger, and intergroup conflict.
Kirby was a builder of movements and a peaceful warrior for human rights. He had almost limitless vision, determination, and optimism. He sought and created possibilities for many people, paved avenues for positive change, and drew others in with his quiet, unflappable confidence. He was an exceptional singer-songwriter who had three bands in Ithaca. He loved music, enjoyed dancing, jig-saw puzzles, reading sci-fi, and watching baseball and football games with his son. And in his off hours, he was often painting and renovating houses. He was a valiant leader and a giant in his community.
He is survived by his wife, Judith Scherer and sons, Quincy J. Edmonds, and Ramsey M. Edmonds of Ithaca; his mother, Doris Edmonds, his sister Katree Edmonds, and was pre-deceased by his father, George Freddie Edmonds of Albuquerque, New Mexico. And, by his partner and comrade, Laura Branca of Ithaca.
Information will be shared in the future about a memorial celebration of his life. All who were blessed to know, admire, and love him miss him greatly.
Cards and notes may be sent to the Dorothy Cotton Institute, PO Box 321, Ithaca, NY 14851. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made by check payable to The Center for Transformative Action with “DCI” in the memo line, and mailed to Dorothy Cotton Institute PO Box 321, Ithaca, NY 14851
or you may donate online at https://www.givegab.com/donations/new?group_id=dorothy-cotton-institute
 On Nov 15, 2018, Dr. Carson was recognized for his work on nonviolence as the Director of the King Institute. The award is named after Jamnalal Bajaj, a major Indian industrialist and Indian Independence activist who was an adopted son of Mahatma Gandhi. The ceremony took place at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, India. Past recipients of the International Award include Dr. Mary E. King and Desmond Tutu.Dr. Carson delivered a brief speech in front of an audience that included members of Jamnalal Bajaj’s family as well as the current Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah NaiduDr. Carson receiving his award from the Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu. Photo Credit: Shubhangi Karkannavar Rahul Bajaj, Chairman of the Bajaj Foundation, said of the recipients of the award:
“It is always a moment of pride for us to honour such individuals who have relentlessly worked towards making the world a better place. These individuals are shining examples of working selflessly and they reiterate the philosophy of Gandhian principles. They truly represent the ethos and fundamentals of the Gandhian way of life”Dr. Carson is a National Advisor to the Dorothy Cotton Institute.
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Deal struck with Israel after intense talks hailed as ‘victory’ for Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike for 40 days
A mass hunger strike staged by Palestinian prisoners over conditions in Israeli jails was suspended on Saturday after a deal with Israel, officials said. About 1,500 inmates launched the action on April 17, in one of the largest such strikes. Read more
Rabbi Brian Walt, Co-chair of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council, will share his experiences in Hebron with Palestinian Youth Against Settlement leader Issa Amro and Israeli Breaking the Silence leader Yehuda Shaul and the reality of apartheid in the West Bank.
Ariel Gold, CODEPINK Campaign Director and Youth Against Settlements International Advocacy Coordinator, will provide an an update of the work CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace, Jewish Voice for Peace, Amnesty International, and others are doing with Joint List Knesset members, State Department officials, and members of the US Congress to support Issa Amro as he faces 18 charges in Israeli military court. She will provide an eye witness account of Youth Against Settlement’s annual “Open Shuhada Street” campaign that took place this past February in Hebron.
Kirby Edmonds, Senior Fellow and Program Coordinator of the Dorothy Cotton Institute (DCI), will discuss his experience in Hebron, when helping to lead the DCI’s delegation to East Jerusalem and the West Bank with leaders from the U.S. Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, younger civil and human rights leaders, social justice activists, and peace builders. Kirby will share how the oppression in Hebron and the Palestinian grassroots nonviolent resistance movement relate to the US struggles for racial justice and human rights.
