here is Tom's blog
http://www.waitinginthelight.blogspot.com/and this is the press release sent out by his Quaker meeting. It has been circulating on several lists.
(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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