Thomas William Fox (July 7, 1951 – March 9, 2006) was an American

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world pea ...

, affiliated with

Christian Peacemaker Teams Community Peacemaker Teams or CPT (previously called Christian Peacemaker Teams) is an international organization set up to support teams of peace workers in conflict areas around the world. The organization uses these teams to achieve its aims o ...

(CPT) in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. He was kidnapped on November 26, 2005, in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...

along with three other CPT activists, leading to the

2005-2006 Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis The Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis involved four human rights workers of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) who were held hostage in Iraq from November 26, 2005 by the Swords of Righteousness Brigade. One hostage, Tom Fox, was killed, and the r ...

. His body was found on March 9, 2006.

Life and career

From Clear Brook, Virginia, Fox graduated from the

Peabody College Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development (also known as Vanderbilt Peabody College, Peabody College, or simply Peabody) is the education school of Vanderbilt University, a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee ...

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, and was a member of the

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...

musical fraternity. In his career, he was a leader of youth programs at Langley Hill Friends Meeting in McLean, Virginia. Fox served in many positions in

Baltimore Yearly Meeting Baltimore Yearly Meeting (officially the Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends) is a body of the Religious Society of Friends ( Quakers) headquartered in Sandy Spring, Maryland that includes Friends from Virginia, Maryland ...

, including a stint as Youth Programs Director, where he devoted much of his time to personally working with teenagers and young adults in the Baltimore Yearly Meeting community; he served as a Friendly Adult Presence, during the majority of the BYM Young Friends program's gatherings during the first half of the 2000s (decade) and the later 1990s. He served for 20 years in the

United States Marine Band The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in t ...

and was an accomplished player of clarinet and recorder. In a public statement his daughter Katherine mentioned that on principle he refused military discounts for which he was eligible.

Iraq hostage crisis

On November 26, 2005, Fox was taken hostage along with three other members of the CPT team in Iraq. The captors threatened to kill all hostages unless the United States freed all Iraqi prisoners held in the US and Iraq by December 8, 2005. They later extended this deadline to December 10, 2005. On December 10, 2005, Katherine Fox issued a statement saying that she and her father believe the Iraqi people have legitimate concerns about the United States' presence in Iraq, but "these grievances, however, will not be resolved by taking my father's life." On March 7, 2006

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazee ...

aired a tape which showed the other three hostages, but did not show Fox. On March 10, 2006, the U.S. State Department announced that Fox's body had been found on a garbage heap in Baghdad, shot through the head and chest. According to Iraqi police, his hands were bound and signs of torture were evident. However, conflicting reports from an anonymous Iraqi police official and members of CPT stated that there were no signs of torture. The autopsy report was not released. On March 23, 2006, the remaining hostages were freed by multinational forces. Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jubouri (an Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader) is believed to have personally killed Fox. Al-Jubouri was killed in May 2007.

Bibliography

* Florence Fullerton, ''Tribute to a Peacemaker : Our Friend Tom Fox'', followed by ''Waitinginthelight.blogspot.com Selected Entries From Tom Fox's blog'', FWCC - Wider Quaker Fellowship, Philadelphia, 2006, 15 p.

References

External links

Tom Fox's blog

David Cook: The Story Of Tom Fox - And Response
opinion column, ''The Chattanoogan'', 9 Dec 2005
Christian Peacemaker Teams

Tom Fox Memorial from Christian Peacemaker Teams

Free The Captives
Petition for the release of Christian Peacemakers being held in Iraq and memorial page for Tom Fox
Links to articles about Tom's capture

Song For Tom Fox
by The Tremulance {{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Tom 1951 births 2000s missing person cases 2006 deaths 21st-century Quakers American Christian pacifists American people taken hostage American Quakers Foreign hostages in Iraq Formerly missing people Kidnapped people Male murder victims Missing person cases in Iraq Quakerism in Maryland Quakerism in Virginia Religious leaders from Tennessee Religious leaders from Virginia United States Marines Unsolved murders in Iraq

Life and career

Iraq hostage crisis

See also

Bibliography

References

External links