I have had the privilege of spending almost six months living between Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip working for the Michigan Peace Team. I am well aware of the violence and suffering experienced on all sides of this conflict, and it has deeply touched my life.

Daniel Grimm ("Palestinians aren't sole violence victims" SN 4/2) suggests in his letter that MPT has a "distorted viewpoint that impinges on its ability to generate peace" and that we do nothing to protect Israelis. While my viewpoint continually evolves as I study this issue more deeply and spend more time in the region, one thing I continually grow more certain of is that for the cycle of violence to end, Israel must end its military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

My work with MPT has led me to work with many Israeli peace groups, including Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, B'Tselem Women in Black and Israeli Refuseniks, as well as American Jewish peace groups, including Jews Against the Occupation, Refuser Solidarity Network and Jewish Voice for Peace. What all these groups have in common is a belief that in order to end the horrendous cycle of violence in Palestine/Israel today, Israel must withdraw its colonies and military from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Thus, as we work to end the occupation, we are working for the peace and security of both Israelis and Palestinians.

Murray Gross, in his letter "Peace Team actions promote more death" (SN 4/2), suggested that the Michigan Peace Team supports suicide bombers due to the fact that our volunteers have stayed in the homes of families of those who have committed suicide operations.

We do not support suicide bombings. Family homes in Palestine are typically multi-level with several generations living under one roof. Families are large, with seven or eight children not being uncommon. Hence, when the Israeli military says it is destroying the home of a "suicide bomber," it is often the home of dozens of family members who knew nothing about what was going to happen. To destroy the homes that these bombers may have one time lived in is an act of collective punishment. Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, in article 33 of the fourth convention, collective punishment is a war crime.

During my stays in Occupied Palestine, I had deeply personal, political conversations with many Palestinians suffering under occupation. These conversations inevitably turned to the discussion of suicide operations. Some Palestinians I talked with support them, feeling it is the only weapon they have to fight against the continual expansion of Israeli colonies into their lands, some abhor them for the suffering they cause and believe they hurt the Palestinian cause. In all of these conversations, I consistently argued strongly against their use. I consistently, along with my MPT colleagues, advocated for the power of nonviolence and supported Palestinians and Israelis who were using nonviolent civil disobedience to struggle for change. MPT has trained Israelis, Palestinians and internationals working in the region in the theory and practice of nonviolent social struggle in the tradition of Martin Luther King and Gandhi. At MPT, we back up our stance against suicide operations with concrete alternatives for a people trapped in the horrors of a brutal military occupation.

Mike McCurdy
team deployment committee coordinator for the Michigan Peace Team