Peace is not something that suddenly happens when two nations sign an agreement. It is not something that comes about because one army vanquishes another. Peace happens because people find better ways to deal with conflict than by attrition.

The tiny village of at-Tuwani, about five miles from the city of Hebron in Occupied Palestine, is home to about three hundred shepherds and fruit growers, and to an illegal Israeli outpost called Ma'on, populated by some hundred or more "settlers". Recently the uneasy standoff between the two towns has been disrupted by news of the impending evacuation of Israeli "settlements" in Gaza.

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Three weeks ago, the Palestinians' sheep and goats began suddenly to sicken and die, along with wildlife such as gazelles and birds. Soon the shepherds discovered that their grazing fields had been infested with barleycorns soaked in rat poison. The people gathered up the poison pellets only to find a few days later that under cover of night, more had been spread. A third application took place a few nights later.

Rather than retaliating against these acts of terrorism, the peasants took their buckets of poisoned corn to the offices of the Occupation in Hebron and made a complaint. At first, the officers declared that it was "not their business". The Jerusalem Post, one of the few newspapers that even covered the story, claimed that the Palestinians had spread the poison themselves to "make the settlers look bad". The peasants persisted with their claim, and with the aid of international peacemakers such as Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove, the story became more widely known, despite total absence from any mainstream media.

Eventually the authorities began to take statements from the peasants and promised to investigate the incidents. The Israeli military, the IDF, was assigned to guard the Palestinians' fields.

Christian Peacemakers teams have been working in the Occupied Territories for many years, lending the support of their presence and teaching both Israeli's and Palestinians how to create peace. Successes such as this one are many, and reinforce the power of peacemaking in the minds of the people most directly affected: those who have no power to make war. For years, the Peacemakers have stood guard over Palestinian children on their miles-long walks to and from school, reporting every incident of rock-throwing, taunting, and running the children off the road by aggressive motorists. When settlers came out of their hiding places to confront the children, Peacemakers stood between the two groups to prevent any violence, until authorities were summoned and arrived.

Yes, Peacemakers have been attacked and in some cases brutally beaten. One American Peacemaker, Rachel Corrie, was crushed to death by an American-made bulldozer driven by an IDF soldier. A British Peacemaker was shot down last year by an IDF guard while taking photographs. Any loss of life is tragic, but in the context of peacemaking is far more difficult to ignore than in the context of war.

Now, in the village of at-Tuwani, IDF soldiers cooperate with the Peacemakers, helping escort the Palestinian children to and from school each day by following in their jeeps. Recently, when their jeep broke down, two Israeli soldiers walked with the children on foot. The Israeli peace organization Ta'ayush learned of the poisoning and brought feed to at-Tuwani for the animals. The Israeli Governor's office in Hebron sent food to the people of Hebron.

Would this tacit admission of responsibility have occurred if the Palestinians had sought retaliation for the poisoning? Would they be receiving relief from their Israeli brothers and sisters? Would those responsible be thought of as Israeli's, as settlers, or as terrorists?

Peace happens when the many are moved by their sense of fairness to relieve the suffering of those less fortunate. Peace happens when those few who insist on making war are held accountable for it by the many who would rather not. When the people become willing to risk making peace, their leaders might have to as well.

Steve