By Jon Katz

Shalom, chaver, ve l’hitra’ot - Peace, friend; we will meet again.

Last night, Phil Berrigan departed the planet. He didn't exactly die, particularly because his life and the lives he touched will leave a deep, wide and lasting imprint for a long time, and because he had no fear of death. 

Phil certainly touched my own life, to say the least. He didn't change my religion, nor did he change me into a radical peace activist. He touched me with his friendship, his caring, his trust, and his undying determination to fight for what he believed in.

Democracy Now devoted about a full hour to Phil last Wednesday, at 
http://www.webactive.com/pacifica/demnow/dn20021204.html. There, you'll hear from his children Jerry and Frida, and from past interviews with Phil. I've attached Jonah House's statement from early this morning.

I met Phil and his co-defendants Susan Crane, Liz Walz, and Steve Kelly starting with their last Plowshares court battle in 1999, which I co-counseled with Anabel Dwyer and Ramsey Clark. When I first met Phil in jail, and every time after that, he was an ordinary person -- a great person, but without ego. I later spent time with Phil, Susan and the rest of the Jonah House community numerous times, which will continue, but now in Phil's absence. He looked in good health when I last visited Jonah House this past July, as he awaited hip replacement surgery. And that is how I will always remember Phil, energetic and in good health. 

Shalom, chaver, ve l’hitra’ot - Peace, friend; we will meet again.

December 7, 2002

Note: Phil Berrigan left the planet on December 6, 2002. He touched countless lives in profound ways, including mine. The December 8 wake was held at Baltimore's St. Peter Claver Church, where Phil's students one day wrote to President Johnson about their views on the Vietnam war. I was struck by the joyfulness among the hundreds at the wake, including from Phil's brother Dan and Phil's widow, Elizabeth McAlister; it made it easier for me to deal with Phil's passing. Many people eventually went to the podium to honor Phil; I did so, as well, looking at Phil in his open casket, and greeting him in a similar way to the above "shalom, chaver" greeting (minus the reference to Democracy Now). 

Copyright 1999-2006 JON KATZ, P.C.