Who knew a "peace park" could be so contentious?
The Pacifist Memorial in the Boston suburb of Sherborn has been forced to take down a United Nations flag after residents objected. Memorial founder Lewis Randa removed the flag and its flagpole last week because residents of the luxury townhome development where it's now located say the items violated their property agreement.
But Randa says he and others were simply restoring a flag, which he concedes was not part of the original memorial but had flown for decades on the grounds. He said it's "inexcusable" that the UN flag isn't allowed when just next door, at the town's historic cemetery, a U.S. flag flies beside a war memorial honoring the town's fallen soldiers.
In this Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019 photo, Lewis Randa, of Duxbury, Mass., holds a United Nations flag while standing near a bronze statue of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, behind right, at the Pacifist Memorial, in Sherborn, Mass. Randa says in mid-August of 2019 he removed the flag because owners of a condo association, who now own the land on which the Pacifist Memorial is located, argue it violates their property agreement. Randa founded the memorial in 1994. (AP PhotoSteven Senne)
"It is clear that the animosity felt by those who have long opposed the presence of the Pacifist Memorial in Sherborn is what is generating the opposition," Randa said. "They claim it has nothing to do with the fact that it is a UN flag, but we all know if it was the U.S. flag, no one in their right mind would demand that it be taken down."
Loretta Heuer, who chairs the Abbey Road Condominium's board of trustees, said the issue isn't about the flag but about respecting their property rights.
Tucked in a small, historic town about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Boston, the land had been the longtime home of the Peace Abbey, a multifaith retreat center Randa founded in 1988 that gained notoriety for its curious memorials to animal rights and nonviolence. Over the years, boxer Muhammad Ali and the poet Maya Angelou paid visits and Yoko Ono and other celebrities provided financial support.
But, facing mounting debts, Randa sold the 2.5-acre (10,000-square meter) property to a local developer in 2012. As part of the $1 million deal, the developer agreed to grant public access to the memorial site. That agreement, however, doesn't give Randa the right to add new or temporary fixtures, such as the flag and a small wood stove that recently appeared on the site, the Abbey Road Condominium Trust argues.
"That's our front lawn," Heuer said Thursday as she and other neighbors sat on a front porch looking out at the memorial. "No one can just decide to put something on our front lawn."
The Pacifist Memorial, where Randa recently raised the UN flag, is the main feature of the site. It centers around a towering bronze statue of Indian independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, also known as the mahatma or "great soul." Low brick walls radiating from it are lined with bronze plaques honoring St. Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon and other icons of peace and nonviolence.
Behind that is the "sacred cow" memorial, a massive bronze likeness of a cow named Emily, who took refuge on the grounds after escaping from a slaughterhouse. The memorial recognizes the animal rights movement and also serves as the final resting place for the beloved cow, who died in 2003.
Elsewhere, the cremated remains of some conscientious objectors are interred, and other markers recognize victims of violence and war.
For now, Randa says he has no plans to restore the UN flag. It had flown at half-staff for 30 years elsewhere on the land to recognize the "global efforts of the nations of the world to live in peace," according to a sign affixed to its flagpole.
But he's asked the condo association to consider amending the easement to allow it to become a permanent fixture once again. He hasn't heard a response.
Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas militants, according to U.S. officials familiar with the talks.
The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive exchange, said that the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the U.S. administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out a military operation in Rafah despite warnings from President Joe Biden and other western officials that doing so would result in more civilian deaths and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.
The Biden administration has said there could be consequences for Israel should it move forward with the operation without a credible plan to safeguard civilians.
“Absent such a plan, we can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what’s acceptable,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday at the Sedona Forum, an event in Arizona hosted by the McCain Institute.
Some 1.5 million Palestinians have sheltered in the southern Gaza city as the territory has been ravaged by the war that began on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
The United Nations humanitarian aid agency on Friday said that hundreds of thousands of people would be “at imminent risk of death” if Israel moves forward with the Rafah assault. The border city is a critical entry point for humanitarian aid and is filled with displaced Palestinians, many in densely packed tent camps.
The officials added that the evacuation plan that the Israelis briefed was not finalized and both sides agreed to keep discussing the matter.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday that no “comprehensive” plan for a potential Rafah operation has been revealed by the Israelis to the White House. The operation, however, has been discussed during recent calls between Biden and Netanyahu as well as during recent virtual talks with top Israeli and U.S. national security officials.
“We want to make sure that those conversations continue because it is important to protect those Palestinian lives — those innocent lives,” Jean-Pierre said.
The revelation of Israel's continued push to carry out a Rafah operation came as CIA director William Burns arrived Friday in Egypt, where negotiators are trying to seal a cease-fire accord between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is considering the latest proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release put forward by U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who are looking to avert the Rafah operation.
They have publicly pressed Hamas to accept the terms of the deal that would lead to an extended cease-fire and an exchange of Israeli hostages taken captive on Oct. 7 and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Hamas has said it will send a delegation to Cairo in the coming days for further discussions on the offer, though it has not specified when.
Israel, and its allies, have sought to increase pressure on Hamas on the hostage negotiation. Signaling that Israel continues to move forward with its planning for a Rafah operation could be a tactic to nudge the militants to finalize the deal.
Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israeli forces would enter Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’ last stronghold, regardless of whether a truce-for-hostages deal is struck. His comments appeared to be meant to appease his nationalist governing partners, and it was not clear whether they would have any bearing on any emerging deal with Hamas.
Blinken visited the region, including Israel, this week and called the latest proposal “extraordinarily generous” and said “the time to act is now.”
In Arizona on Friday, Blinken repeated remarks he made earlier this week that "the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas.”
The Chahine family prepares to bury two adults and five boys and girls under the age of 16 after an overnight Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 3, 2024. An Israeli strike on the city of Rafah on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip killed several people, including children, hospital officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)
FILE - Palestinians line up for free food during the ongoing Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip in Rafah, Jan. 9, 2024. A top U.N. official said Friday, May 3, 2024, that hard-hit northern Gaza was now in “full-blown famine" after more than six months of war between Israel and Hamas and severe Israeli restrictions on food deliveries to the Palestinian territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali, File)
Palestinians rescue a woman survived after the Israeli bombardment on a residential building of Abu Alenan family in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, early Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)
President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House as he talks with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Washington, after returning from a trip to North Carolina. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
