Brian Avery
Brian Avery left the music program at UNC-Greensboro to become a full-time musician, playing percussion in rock bands for two years. In 1999, his study of organic farming led him to an organic farm in the West Bank; a year living at Chicago’s Stone Soup housing cooperative and his move to New Mexico brought him closer to being a full-time activist. Through his work with the Arab-Jewish Peace Alliance in Albuquerque, Avery met members of Christian Peacemaker Teams and the International Solidarity Movement and felt compelled to go to Palestine with the ISM. While in the West Bank, Avery worked with local schools to organize games and sports for children and helped people go through Israeli checkpoints, especially the elderly, pregnant women and others with medical conditions. He also delivered food and medicine to Israeli-occupied homes of Palestinian families when Israeli solders would not permit these families to go out and get these supplies. In April 2003, in the Palestinian town of Jenin, Brian Avery was shot in the face by a burst of heavy machine gun fire from and Israeli armored personnel carrier (APC). He was wearing a fluorescent red vest with a reflective white cross on its back and front. Several reconstructive surgeries later, Avery returned to the United States to continue his work as a witness to occupation. His injuries have not slowed his pace.