Sahar Vardi is AFSC's Israel Program Director and has worked closely with youth who refuse to serve in Israel's military. Here, she explains the politics behind Israel's new "Draft-Dodgers Law."  Learn more about AFSC's Israel program here.

Note: Mati Gomis-Perez is the director of AFSC's office in east Jerusalem. Here she writes about what it's like to live there, especially now as the tension and violence has heightened in the aftermath of the Gaza bombardment and the confiscation of 1,000 acres of land in the West Bank. - Lucy

Since August I’ve seen banners, signs, Facebook statuses, and Tweets with the message “Pray for peace in St. Louis.” I’ve heard prayers for peace as people of faith gather in response to events in Ferguson, MO. In recent days I’ve seen an increase in the calls to pray as people waited for the Grand Jury announcement. I’m tired of hearing the calls for peace. Let me be clear: I do not want violence, destruction, or death. I care about the well-being of all parties from police to protesters. However, when I see some call for peace I don’t think they understand it to mean what I understand it to mean.

Note: This is the second installment of a series of three interviews with people who are living out Quaker values through their healing justice work. The first, an interview with Philadelphia Quaker and organizer J. Jondhi Harrell, can be read here.

Note: In this post I tell just a bit of the story of the commutation of the death penalty sentence of Randy Reeves. I drew from many sources for this piece, including an excellent article that was in PeaceWork magazine and an article published by Common Dreams.

Liz Oppenheimer is a Conservative Friend and member of Bear Creek Meeting in Iowa. She worships with Laughing Waters Friends Preparative Meeting and volunteers at the AFSC office in St. Paul. Liz occasionally blogs about Quakerism at thegoodraisedup.blogspot.com and edited Writing Cheerfully on the Web.  Liz is thoroughly enjoying watercoloring, which she began exploring last year.

Note: Liz Oppenheimer is a Quaker who has been very involved in supporting AFSC's Healing Justice program in Minneapolis. During Ferguson October she traveled to St. Louis and participated in protests and in supporting activists on the ground. The experience opened her eyes and led her to wonder about Quaker readiness to lend support to the communities of color most impacted by police brutality and other injustice. These are some of her reflections on her time in Ferguson, with an invitation to Quakers to become engaged and activated as allies in this movement.

Bassem Masri is a Palestinian American who grew up in St. Louis and Jerusalem and has been documenting the protest movement in Ferguson since Michael Brown's killing.