Article Title: After Attacks, Joseph Gainza Ponders Justice, Non-Violence

Edition: March 2002
Category: General Interest
Author: Jake Brown
Article:

Joseph Gainza is the Vermont field secretary of the American Friends Service Committee. The committee, a Quaker organization, was founded in 1917 to provide conscientious objectors the opportunity to aid civilian victims during World War 1. Today the multi-faith, Philadelphia-based group works for peace, demilitarization and justice across the globe. Gainza lives in Marshfield and his office is at 73 Main Street in Montpelier. He is 58 and has been at his current post since 1995.

What is the source of your conviction that keeps you doing what you're doing today?

I grew up in Brooklyn, and my father was involved in a labor organization.

He worked in a sugar refinery in Brooklyn. I've always had a keen interest in history and when you study American history you find that power relationships have often worked to the detriment of great numbers of people. My sympathies have always been with people who seem to be getting the short end of the stick. And I'm enough of a student of history to know that ultimately, violence does not work to solve problems.

Are your ethics challenged by the reality of recent terrorist attacks against the United States, and other violence perpetrated against innocent people?

It's a continual effort. I struggle when I see terrible things happening, when I see children dying. I feel anger and I don't blame anybody who turns to violence. But I know that violence over the long term does not work.

You don't approve of bombing Afghanistan. If you were a U.S. leader, how would you have responded to the recent terrorist attacks?

First, to me life is sacred and you don't kill. That's for me a basic tenet. But beyond that on a more practical level, bombing Afghanistan will only create more matyrs and more terrorists. We are giving people who have a "beef" against the U.S. more "beef."

As long as injustice exists in the world there will be violence and while I don't have all the answers, I do know that responding to violence with more violence won't solve the problems.

Most human interaction is non-violent. We simply have to open our eyes to it. If you are a parent and raise a healthy child, you are a peace worker. A teacher is a peacemaker. In response to the terrorism, I think Bush should have persued the terrorism as a crime against humanity and those responsible should be brought to justice in a world court.

What are the other ethical issues you struggle with in your work?

We have an obligation to get our facts right. We can't "pass bad paper," as the saying goes. When we make an allegation that a government did this or didn't do that, we need to check it out and check it again.

How do you do that?

I read the New York Times, and I think if you read it consistently you can gather good information. I read The Nation, and lots of sources on the Internet. And the committee has regional representatives on the ground around the world and they feed us information. I'm constantly looking at new material, new books, and I read people who have done in-depth stuff.

You have to know the background. television is one of the last places I'd turn for information. I listen to B.B.C. World Service, and alternative news programs. You've got to go beyond the corporate media.

Your focus seems global. Is the committee doing anything here in Vermont?

In Vermont we are supporting the livable wage. We have assisted labor groups in organizing. There is a bill in the legislature that would re-institute the death penalty. We will oppose that. We supported civil unions. We wanted (gay) marriage but we supported civil unions. We are tremendously lucky that there are so many organizations here in Vermont that work on important issues. The Central Vermont Community Action Council, where I used to work, is one. I feel tremendously grateful to be able to work on issues that are of vital importance to me.

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