Statement Of Langley Hill Friends Meeting On The Death Of
Our Friend, Tom Fox, In Iraq
(McLean, VA, 3/11/06) Langley Hill Monthly Meeting of the
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) mourns the passing of our beloved member
Tom Fox. In the months since the kidnapping of the four members of the
Christian Peacemaker Teams, we have held Tom, his fellow captives, and their
captors in our prayers. We express our deepest wish that the kidnappers will
release Norman, Jim, and Harmeet unharmed so that they may return safely to
their families, and continue the work of peace and understanding that CPT was
undertaking in Iraq.
Tom was a member of our faith community for over 15 years.
He was a former Clerk (lay leader) of the Meeting, and loved working with
children and young people. When he last returned from Baghdad in the summer of
2005, he spent time serving as head cook at a Quaker camp near Winchester. His
death is especially hard on the children who knew and loved him. We express our
love and concern for them, and particularly for Tom’s own children who grew up
in our Meeting.
In a statement of conviction Tom wrote in October 2004, he
said “We reject violence to punish anyone who harms us. We ask for equal
justice in the arrest and trial of anyone, soldier or civilian, who commits an
act of violence, and we ask that there be no retaliation on their relatives or
property. We forgive those who consider
us their enemies. Therefore, any penalty should be in the spirit of restorative
justice, rather than in the form of violent retribution.”
It was an act of courage for Tom to travel to Iraq, to live
in an ordinary Baghdad neighborhood, and to try to give voice to the concerns
of ordinary people with friends and family members held in prison, out of
sight, and with no avenue for communication.
The loss of Tom is personal to those of us at Langley Hill
who knew and loved him. We need to remember that personal loss has also
happened to thousands of Iraqis – indeed to tens of thousands of families
around the world – who have lost loved ones in acts of violence just in the
past year. Tom’s story is being shared widely; the stories of these other
losses have not been. We at Langley Hill will honor Tom’s courage by ensuring
that the work to which he was dedicated continues, and that all the stories of
loss – not just Langley Hill’s – are told.
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CONTACT: Marge Epstein, 703-525-0998, e-mail: mcoxepstein@yahoo.com
