118 Days: Christian Peacemaker Teams Held Hostage in Iraq

The kidnapping of four Christian Peacemaker Teams, or CPT, workers in Iraq in 2005 and the killing of one of them brought international attention to the work of nonviolent activists in war zones. This edited collection of reflections, interviews, stories and letters about the hostage event offers a sometimes uneven but always moving insiders’ account of those days. The authors address the controversies head on: the opinion of some that the CPTers had “martyr complexes”; the rescue of the CPTers by armed forces; and the need for secrecy regarding one of the captives who is gay and whose sexual identity could have placed him in greater danger. The volume also contains stories of CPT’s human rights work in Iraq and Palestine and other countries, its training of Muslim Peacemaker Teams and information about the many Islamic leaders who joined Christians around the world in calling for the hostages’ release. A deep current of nonviolent spirituality runs throughout the chapters, including the most memorable one: an eloquent, harrowing account by Jim Loney of his time in captivity that is worth the price of the book. (Feb.)