Miscellaneous

Report on La’Onf #2: Highlights of Day One of the Week of Nonviolence

Dan Pearson — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:13:16 -0500

Short Information Teaser

The La'Onf Iraqi Nonviolence Group initiated its third annual Week of Nonviolence on Saturday, October 11, 2008.

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La’Onf participants hung posters in public areas, schools and government service and administrative offices. They also met with 40 organizations from Iraqi civil society.

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October 15, 2008
By Voices for Creative Nonviolence

To our partners in the US solidarity campaign for La’Onf,

The La’Onf Iraqi Nonviolence Group initiated its third annual Week of Nonviolence on Saturday, October 11, 2008. This network of more than 100 Iraqi civil society organizations has come together to call for the rebuilding of Iraq through nonviolence. This year, La’Onf is focusing on the power of the electoral process.

“Ballot boxes are our best salvation from violence and occupation.”

And La’Onf’s members are working to eliminate violence during the upcoming provincial elections, scheduled to take place before the end of January 2009.

Below is a summary of the highlights of Day One of the Week of Nonviolence. Please forward this report to your network and post it to your website.

BAGHDAD

In Al-Sadr City, Ard Al-Rafeden and Women Rights convened a conference attended by Baghdad human rights activists with a particular emphasis on the participation of women. Conference organizers introduced La’Onf to the community and focused dialogue on preventing electoral violence. One conference attendee stated that al-Sadr City is completely forgotten; that no one thinks about their reality of increasing violence and deteriorating security. Attendees thanked La’Onf’s Baghdad group for expressing commitment and interest in al-Sadr and for the introduction to nonviolence.

As a result of the assassination on Thursday (October 9) of Saleh al-Ugaili, an Iraqi member of Parliament from Moktada al-Sadr’s political movement, La’Onf organizers in Baghdad met with Sadr City leaders to discuss ways to prevent an escalation of the violence and further bloodshed. They have called for a prompt and impartial investigation to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of Saleh al-Ugaili’s murder.

BABIL (Babylon)

Babil’s La’Onf members, in cooperation with the National Center for the Rehabilitation of Young People and the Office of International Aid in Babylon, conducted a festival in the Cultivating Peace Hall (Shatt al-Hilla). The festival was organized with the significant leadership of young people and included arts projects for children and the reading of poetry with one of the poets being only 10 years old. La’Onf presenters talked about the role of civil society in partnership with government agencies, religious institutions, and cultural, social and educational organizations to spread nonviolence throughout the governorate. Two sixth graders performed an operetta telling the story of how Iraqis can face violence and maintain the unity of their country. La’Onf members also distributed posters in Jabla in Northern Babil.

DIWANIYA

La’Onf participants distributed and hung posters in Albdir, approximately 30 miles away from the city center.

DIYALA

La’Onf member organizations, including the Relief and Development Organization and Defense of Iraqi Deportees Association, distributed posters on nonviolence in the city of Jalula, including public areas, schools, government offices, and residential neighborhoods.

ERBIL

Azadi radio station interviewed La’Onf representatives who discussed the principles of nonviolence and described activities planned across Iraq during the 2008 Week of Nonviolence.

KARBALA

La’Onf members convened a conference attended by representatives of civil society, academia and political parties. The conference opened with a song of peace and love, and rejection of all violence in Iraq, performed by the Cultural Knowledge Foundation. The La’Onf coordinator in Karbala then introduced the goals and activities of La’Onf followed by a courageous presentation by Mr. Yahya Najjar, a journalist in Karbala. Mr. Najjar appealed to the media to exercise strict neutrality in reporting on the elections and candidates. He asked the community to reject violence, sectarianism and all forms of terrorism, marginalization, racial discrimination, and political and social oppression. He added that the road in front of journalists is “planted with brambles,” recognizing that they are being targeted and that “journalism has become a profession of martyrs.” However he emphasized the journalists’ “love for life and for painting hope with their free writings.”

Mr. Hussein Amery of the Independent Electoral Commission in Iraq also spoke about the need for civil society, government institutions and the media to work together to ensure the appropriate level of integrity, transparency and impartiality of the electoral process. He concluded his remarks by thanking the conference participants and La’Onf for promoting a culture of nonviolence as a path to political, social and economic change in Iraq. At the end of the conference, participants formed a board to send letters to the political parties in support of the government’s role in conducting the provincial elections. And they also appealed to the Iraqi army and police to maintain their professionalism in protecting all citizens’ free and equal participation in the elections.

KIRKUK

La’Onf participants hung posters in public areas, schools and government service and administrative offices. They also met with 40 organizations from Iraqi civil society. In Haweja, Iraqi police interfered with attempts to hang the posters, and two participants were arrested for two hours before being released. Unknown armed forces also interfered with participants in Reyad but members of Al-Sahwa Men were able to de-escalate tensions at the location, and no one was hurt.

WASIT (Kut)

La’Onf participants focused on engaging political parties by distributing booklets on preventing electoral violence and introducing nonviolence principles to party offices. Among the parties that were contacted are: National Democratic Congress, WEFAQ National Democratic Movement, Islamic Call Movement, Iraqi Communist Party, Islamic Higher Board, and Kurdistan Democratic Party.

NASRIA (De Qar)

La’Onf participants began the week by distributing posters in every district in the province.

SALAHUDDIN

La’Onf organized a youth soccer match whose players wore uniforms with the slogan: “Nonviolence is our Choice.” Along with sports fans, those in attendance included: the Aalam District Director, Red Crescent Director of Salahuddin, and Aalam District Police Chief, as well as members of the Aalam Club Administrative Board and civil society organizations. The match prompted discussions among the attendees about the meaning of nonviolence and La’Onf’s planned activities in the area. Participants expressed their appreciation for La’Onf’s work and several new people volunteered to work for La’Onf.

More information

Updates in Arabic, Kurdish and English are on the La’Onf website at www.laonf.net.

Photographs from Iraq (as well as from people across the United States who support nonviolence in Iraq) can be seen on the La’Onf Solidarity Flickr Photo Gallery. http://www.flickr.com/photos/laonfsolidarity/

Photos, video and media updates can also be found at the Peaceful Tomorrows website beginning TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14. http://peacefultomorrows.org/

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Report on LaOnf #1: The Week of Nonviolence has begun in Iraq

Dan Pearson — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:04:10 -0500

Short Information Teaser

A Letter from Terry Rockefeller from September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

Excerpt

“We can create a way for all opinions to be expressed; all parties and all people can participate in the elections, if we work to make them truly democratic. So do not choose violence because you think that your opinions are not being represented.”

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October 15, 2008
By Voices for Creative Nonviolence

Dear partners in the US solidarity campaign for La’Onf,

The Week of Nonviolence has begun in Iraq. Peaceful Tomorrows is honored to be working with all of you to make the activities of the members of La’Onf more widely known throughout the US peace and nonviolence community.

We are trying hard to send you up-to-date information about events in Iraq as quickly as possible. But there have been some interesting challenges. On Friday we received the first official press release about the Week of Nonviolence, sent from Al-Mesalla Centre in Erbil. “Election Box can Breadth Every One!” We were wondering just what had been lost in translation.

An exchange of emails with La’Onf founding member, Ismaeel Dawood, provided this: “We can create a way for all opinions to be expressed; all parties and all people can participate in the elections, if we work to make them truly democratic. So do not choose violence because you think that your opinions are not being represented.”

Still, the challenges of translation pale beside what the La’Onf activists are trying to orchestrate – getting people across Iraq to focus on how the upcoming elections can further Iraqis’ efforts to reclaim their nation and all that that must entail. On Friday, as activities in Iraq were getting underway, we received a schedule of the events that will take place in at least 14 of Iraq’s 18 governorates. They include radio shows, sports events, university forums, and even opera. We will be sharing highlights as reports come in.

Sadly, the next day we received a “News FLASH from Baghdad.” In response to the tragic assassination of Saleh al-Ugaili, a member of the Iraqi Parliament from Moktada al-Sadr’s movement, the La’Onf group in Baghdad organized a totally unplanned event. They hosted a public discussion in Sadr City to “contain the repercussions of any crisis or violence” resulting from Saleh al-Ugaili’s death. La’Onf endorsed the efforts of the “wise elders” and “all the voices in the city seeking to stop the bloodshed” and called for “a prompt and impartial investigation to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.”

I wish I knew more about who spoke and what was actually said at the meeting in Sadr City. I have written to people in Baghdad and am hoping to get more information that we can share later.

Over the weekend we heard very little and then today there arrived a flood of reports from Skala, the very energetic, recent college graduate who is managing translations to English in the Erbil offices of La’Onf. Skala said there had been no electricity for a while, so she had a backlog of reports.

We are reading through them right now and hope to send you a synopsis by tomorrow that you will be able to forward to your supporters and networks. We will also be posting the photographs we receive from Iraq on our Flickr site ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/laonfsolidarity/) along with the photos of support from around the US and the world.

Finally, we are so very, very thankful to all of the organizations and people who have helped us get out the message, to collect signatures and gather photos of support. You have all been terrific and I want to make sure that you all know what good company you are keeping! So, big thanks to: Direct Aid Iraq Fellowship of Reconciliation United for Peace and Justice American Friends Service Committee Pax Christi CODEPINK Women for Peace Beyond War Peaceworkers US Labor Against the War The Gandhi King Conference Pace e Bene Christian Peace Witness Peace Action The Peace and Justice Studies Association Metta Center for Nonviolence Education The Iraq Moratorium Buddhist Peace Fellowship And, Voices for Creative Nonviolence/Voices in the Wilderness, whose Kathy Kelly was with us in Amman when we began planning this effort.

In peace and solidarity, with thanks to all of you, Terry Rockefeller September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

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Support LaOnf Week of Nonviolence

Jeff Leys — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:57:25 -0500

Short Information Teaser

Organize Solidarity actions for week of nonviolence in Iraq

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October 9, 2008
By Voices for Creative Nonviolence

LaOnf, the Iraqi Nonviolence Group, is a gathering of Iraqi people from diverse religions, ethnic, and political backgrounds who come together to promote non-violence. LaOnf means “no violence” in Arabic. LaOnf activists believe that war is not a means to build democracy. They believe promoting dialogue through non-violence is the best alternative. This collaboration of almost 100 separate Iraqi organizations came together to form LaOnf in the hopes that it will help to end the occupation, corruption, and the fighting in Iraq.

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October 9, 2008
By Voices for Creative Nonviolence

The week of October 10th to the 20th will mark LaOnf’s third annual week of non-violence. This year’s focus will be on making the upcoming elections in Iraq free, safe, and open to all. The week of non-violence will include activities in all 18 of the governorates, or states.

September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows is organizing solidarity actions in the U.S. to support and publicize the actions of LaOnf. The week can be more successful with your participation. Signing the open letter of support for LaOnf’s mission will help promote non-violence in Iraq and throughout the world. To join the campaign in support of non-violence activists in Iraq go to Peaceful Tomorrows or email Peaceful Tomorrows at LaOnf@peacefultomorrows.org

Thank you for all of your support. Spread the word of peace to further the project and help LaOnf gain much needed support.

Pictures From Summer Camp

Kathy Kelly — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:16:07 -0500

Short Information Teaser

Joel Gulledge attacked by Israeli settler while escorting children to summer camp

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July 27, 2008

At 6:45 a.m. this morning, our friend, Joel Gulledge, called from At-Tuwani, a village in the West Bank where he and another Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) member were escorting Palestinian children to a local summer daycamp, protecting them from hostile Israeli settlers. A masked settler, carrying a slingshot, was threatening the children. While Jan Benvie, the other CPT team member, raced the children to safety, Joel paused to film what was happening. The masked settler caught up with Joel and attacked him. “He smashed my head again and again,” said Joel, “with my video camera, and punched me in the face, repeatedly, with his other hand.” Joel managed to remain standing. He didn’t fight back, but he screamed for help. The attacker broke Joel’s glasses, and Joel was bleeding from a gash over his eyes. When he called, he was waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

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July 27, 2008

Earlier this week, CPT’s website, (www.cpt.org), reported that on Wednesday 23 July, “three Israeli settlers, one masked and wielding a stick, pursued fourteen Palestinian children who were on their way to a summer camp in At-Tuwani. The children from the villages of Tuba and Maghaer Al-Abeed waited thirty minutes for the Israeli military escort that should have accompanied them on the most direct road between the villages of Tuba and At-Tuwani. When the military failed to arrive, the children began walking along a long path through the hills to At-Tuwani. When the children neared the Israeli settlement outpost of Havat Ma’on, three settlers with two dogs came out from the outpost and began walking in the direction of the children.”

“Members of the At-Tuwani team yelled at the children to alert them that settlers were coming at them from behind. The children ran down and across a valley to a location further from the settlers. They continued to At-Tuwani. The settlers remained on a hill top near Havot Ma’on, watching the children as they walked toward the school.”

“The previous day, Tuesday 22 July, the military escort never arrived to escort the children to summer camp. Seven children took a long path to the school. They told the At-Tuwani team that at least eight other children did not attend summer camp because they were too afraid to come to school without an escort. The mayor of At-Tuwani spoke with Israeli military to coordinate the escort for the children. However, several military spokespersons and soldiers on the ground denied receiving orders to escort the children.”

“In 2004, the Israeli Knesset recommended that the Israeli military carry out a daily escort of the children of Tuba and Maghaer Al-Abeed to their school in At-Tuwani because settlers repeatedly attacked them.”

Yesterday’s New York Times carried a front page article, “Dear Parents: Please Relax, It’s Just Camp,” about parents in the U.S. who experience separation anxiety when their children go to sleep-away camps. Summer camps frequently post videos and still photos of the children on their websites, allowing parents to keep in touch with the children’s activities. But now it’s customary for many camps to hire a full-time “parent liason,” because the parents become very involved in their children’s lives at the camp, so much so that some camps are bombarded with phone calls, daily, from anxious parents. Could these parents understand the terror of Palestinian parents whose children are at risk of being beaten and killed as they walk between their village and the local summer camp, each day.

“Nobody goes to school for how to send your child away from you,” said Maria Coleman, a past president of the American Camp Association. “We help the parents become independent. And especially post-9/11 in today’s society, that’s definitely a heightened need.” Clearly greater than American parents’ fear of terrorist attacks, we hear of Israeli parents and their fear that their children will fall prey to terrorism, but human rights groups like Israeli B’Tselem tell us that Palestinian children are far more likely - by a factor of over eight to one in recent years - to die by violence in the conflict, often by weapons provided to Israel, without significant human rights oversight, by the United States. All lives are precious, especially children’s lives, from whatever community they make their way out into the world. How must the parents of Palestine, the parents of Iraq, the parents of Iran, feel knowing that not only they but their children are at the wrong end of American weapons?

I feel such a concern for my friend and co-worker Joel as he and his fellow CPT team members try to protect endangered Palestinians and their children in the West Bank. The example they set, in their dedication to nonviolence and their refusal to carry weapons, can help all of us gain independence from the cycle of threat and violence which the U.S. has driven in its support for and arming of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Kathy Kelly () is a co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, www.vcnv.org

VCNV Author

Kathy Kelly

In case you missed these articles...

voices — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:18:22 -0500

Short Information Teaser

Two articles - one from The Nation and one by Dahr Jamail and Tom Engelhardt

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Two important articles were recently published that show what has happened and is happening in Iraq, and what the results are for US troops and Iraqis alike. The first is “The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness”, in which The Nation has interviewed fifty combat veterans of the Iraq War from around the United States. The second “is the perfect companion to the piece independent reporter Dahr Jamail has written for Tomdispatch” and “through a series of wrenching emails Jamail has received recently from Iraq, you get a small sense of what the dark and horrific war the American vets described to Hedges and al-Arian, a war only escalating in brutality, looks like to the Iraqis”

The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness

By Chris Hedges & Laila Al-Arian
The Nation - posted July 9, 2007 (July 30, 2007 issue)

Over the past several months The Nation has interviewed fifty combat veterans of the Iraq War from around the United States in an effort to investigate the effects of the four-year-old occupation on average Iraqi civilians. These combat veterans, some of whom bear deep emotional and physical scars, and many of whom have come to oppose the occupation, gave vivid, on-the-record accounts. They described a brutal side of the war rarely seen on television screens or chronicled in newspaper accounts.

Tomgram: Dahr Jamail, Iraq Reporter Schizophrenic in Disneyland

By Tom Engelhardt and By Dahr Jamail posted July 12

Iraq on My Mind

Having spent a fair amount of time in occupied Iraq, I now find living in the United States nothing short of a schizophrenic experience. Life in Iraq was traumatizing. It was impossible to be there and not be affected by apocalyptic levels of violence and suffering, unimaginable in this country.

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The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness

By Chris Hedges & Laila Al-Arian
The Nation - posted July 9, 2007 (July 30, 2007 issue)

Tomgram: Dahr Jamail, Iraq Reporter Schizophrenic in Disneyland

By Tom Engelhardt and By Dahr Jamail posted July 12

Iraq on My Mind

Summer of Action in Washington, D.C.

Jeff Leys — Wed, 16 May 2007 12:39:20 -0500

Short Information Teaser

A national campaign to pressure Congress to end the Iraq war.

Excerpt

Join the Swarm on Washington to Tell Congress:
“No business as usual until the war is ended”
May 14 to July 31

The only thing that will end the war is constant, organized and focused pressure from Americans who oppose the war.

The last few months have shown that we can move Congress toward the view that the war must end. When the Democrats came to power they said “we will not use the power of the purse to end the war.” Now, they have moved from that position to passing a bill that opposes Bush enough for him to veto it.

More work is needed Congress needs to constantly stiffen its spine to respond to those who want to continue the war. Too many in Congress still refuse to vote to end the war. But, as the 2008 election approaches the power of the anti-war voter becomes greater, especially if it is organized and focused.

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Join the Swarm on Washington to Tell Congress:
“No business as usual until the war is ended”
May 14 to July 31

The only thing that will end the war is constant, organized and focused pressure from Americans who oppose the war.

Republicans saw the power of the peace vote in 2006 when they lost majority power and some of their leading incumbents — senators like George Allen and Rick Santorum who thought they had an easy re-election and were considering running for president — were defeated. And Democrats saw their anti-war candidates win primary and in general elections that were unexpected.

With the 2008 election approaching, this is a critical time to send a clear message to incumbents — they will be held accountable for the war if they vote to fund the war.

The “Summer of Action” will build on the successful efforts of activists in DC and around the country who have been occupying offices, protesting in the Halls of Congress and sending a consistent message. It will build on the Occupation Project, Voices for Creative Non-Violence, and the Declaration of Peace. Already, key anti-war groups are supporting this effort including United For Peace and Justice and Voters For Peace.

The summer of 2007 will be a historical one that will be noted as the turning point in efforts to end the war. The very visible and dramatic activities of the SWARM in the nation’s capitol will be seen as one of the key steps taken by the peace movement to end the war. Come to Washington and be a part of history. You can sign up on www.GrassrootsAmericaforus.org where we can help you find housing as well.

Join us in Washington, DC this summer. You can come anytime between May 14 and July 31. Bring people from your local peace group and plan an office occupation or a demonstration inside one of the congressional office buildings. To get some ideas of the types of events you can do visit www.WHYNotNews.org. They have been documenting many of the DC events and will be doing so throughout the SWARM on Congress.

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The Occupation Project

Vietnam and Iraq, two losing wars with the same blame game losing excuses.

Jeff Leys — Tue, 15 May 2007 12:24:23 -0500

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Frank Cordaro's speech in Des Moines, IA after the veto.

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By Frank Cordaro frank.cordaro@gmail.com
Des Moines Catholic Worker
(From a speech given May 2, 2007 Post Veto Rally “MISSION BOTCHED – NEITHER CONGRESS NOR THE PRESIDENT HAS IT RIGHT!” in Des Moines, IA)

Today’s demonstration brings to mind a famous quote from one of my favorite philosophers, Yogi Berra of NY Yankee fame: “It feels like deja vu all over again.” Vietnam and Iraq, two losing wars with the same blame game losing excuses.

And, yet, I know that the War in Iraq is not the same as the War in Vietnam. One big reason the Iraq War is not like the Vietnam War is because this USA lead war in Iraq is a much bigger disaster and national disgrace, has far reaching ramifications beyond the borders of Iraq that threatens the whole region of the Middle East and the rest of the world.

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Still there are significant similarities between the history and lessons learned from the Vietnam War and where we are in this current war in Iraq.

A similarity today is that we find ourselves in the same place we were towards the end of the Vietnam War, at a stage when “we” Americans are finally realizing that “we” are losing the war. This ignores the fact, however, that we lost this war the moment we decided to start this war, which is another similarity to the Vietnam War.

And like the period at the end of the Vietnam War, the politicians, the media giants and “powers that be”, the very people who got us into these wars in the first place, will allow only two “acceptable” explanations for a loss.

The first is to blame the victims. In the loss of the Vietnam War, the ‘blame the victims’ supporters claimed we simply chose the wrong side…that we backed the wrong Vietnamese in our efforts to save Vietnam from communism; that weak and corrupt leadership did us in. Truth was, we did not back the wrong side in Vietnam, we were the wrong side in Vietnam.

In Iraq today this argument, currently courted by the Democrats, is echoed by those who say we’ve done all we can for the Iraqis. They argue that it is now time for the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own country - again blaming the victims.

The truth is we “unjustly, immorally and illegally” invaded Iraq. (Pope John Paul II). We ignited a civil war. We created a haven for the al-Qaida’s of the world so they could multiply and expand. We’ve killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in the process. And to date, two million of Iraq’s most educated and talented people have fled their country in self exile. Today Iraq is in worse shape than it was under Saddam. Let’s NOT blame the victims for THIS war.

The second case for losing this war is brought to us by those who argue that we are not fighting the war to win it! These are the same folks who claimed that the reason we lost in Vietnam was because our troops had to fight with their hands tied behind there backs. They say this despite the fact that at the height of the war, over a half million US troops were fighting in Vietnam; more bombs were dropped on Vietnam than in the entire Second World War and over a 1,000,000 Vietnamese were killed!

On top of these two arguments, there was the insidious sentiment that those of us in the peace movement did not support the troops during the Vietnam War. The fact is the peace movement during the Vietnam War did not really start to make a difference until Vietnam Vets came home and THEY started to protest the war. They were the back bone of the peace movement during the Vietnam War.

Today Washington Republicans, primarily, make the same claim - that if we pull out of Iraq now, we admit defeat and give the al-Qaidas of the world a direct path to bring their fight right here, to the USA. It is the fear card, used to discredit the truth of the situation and to curry favor from the fearful.

Until Ronald Reagan took office, however, we had no final explanation or national consensus for why we lost the Vietnam War. Reagan, the great deceiver, cleared it up for us when running for President the first time, at a national gathering of US Veterans he proclaimed, “It’s about time we start remembering Vietnam for what it really was, a noble adventure of a struggling democracy, fighting Godless communism.” In his revisionist way Reagan set the national mythology straight about Vietnam, we lost that war because of our lack of will to fight, and to support the troops. Today’s Congress, both Democrats and Republicans believe this is the carry over mythology they are dealing with for the losing war in Iraq.

And unlike the” kill them before they kill us”, terrorist Republicans, the wishie, washy, spineless Democrats do not want the loss of this war blamed on them for not supporting the troops. So, they are going to keep funding this war and wait.

Friends, we can’t wait. Nor can the world wait. It is up to us in the peace movement to do what we couldn’t quite get done at the end of the Vietnam War. We need to drag Congress off its blame game course. We can’t afford to let the Imperial “Powers That Be” manufacture more excuses. This time, we need to get it right. This time we need to hold accountable the unjust, immoral and criminal administrations, who with no justification lead us into this war. We and the peoples of the world can no longer lay the blame on anyone else.

Friends, if there ever was a time for dissent and public opposition to this war, the time is now. If civil disobedience is ever appropriate, the time is now. The whole world is watching; the future of our planet is at stake.

Frank Cordaro is a long time social justice advocate at the Phil Berrigan Catholic Worker House in Des Moines, Iowa. In addition to his work on the Occupation Project campaign, Frank is a key organizer of on-going nonviolent civil resistance at STRATCOM (Strategic Command) at Offut Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska. He can be reached via email, frank.cordaro@gmail.com, or phone at 515-282-4781. The address of teh Phil Berrigan Catholic Worker is 713 Indiana Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50314.

Rural Oregon: Strategic organizing to end the war

voices — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 05:53:08 -0500

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The Occupation Project

Short Information Teaser

Mike Edera, an activist with the Rural Organizing Project, on statewide grassroots efforts

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March 22, 2007
Blue Oregon
guest column

By Mike Edera of Scappoose, Oregon. Mike is a landscaper and an activist with the Rural Organizing Project.

“Strategy-free activism” is a term coined by the late-great activist Judy Bari. The worst example of strategy-free activism I have ever seen was provided by a band of mask-wearing ‘revolutionaries’ carrying an ‘F the Troops’ banner in a big Portland peace march.

By contrast, the best recent example of strategic activism was Cindy Sheehan’s protest outside of Bush’s Crawford dude-ranch. Before a national press corps stuck covering the President’s summer vacation, she contrasted her condition as the grieving mother of a soldier-son killed in Iraq with Bush’s feckless month-long West Texas siesta. Her example galvanized peace vigils across the country, re-launched the anti-war movement, linking it to the suffering of soldiers and their families.

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March 22, 2007
Blue Oregon
guest column

By Mike Edera of Scappoose, Oregon. Mike is a landscaper and an activist with the Rural Organizing Project.

The wave of peace vigils and local anti-war activities inspired by Cindy Sheehan has rolled on for over 80 weeks, though you’d never know about it from the mainstream media. The Rural Organizing Project compiled a list of over forty vigils happening regularly in rural Oregon alone - who knows what the number is nationally?

A year ago Rural Organizing Project activists began thinking about how to leverage the local peace work happening in small towns across the state. How could these individual actions combine to create a bigger effect, and what was the most appropriate target for activism? Out of many discussions came the ROP’s Cost of War campaign.

We decided to include a common demand in our local activities: that our Congress people and Senators give an accounting of the real costs of the Iraq occupation. We reasoned that elected federal officials had the means and a duty to make sure all their constituents understood how much the war has cost, and what services were sacrificed to pay for it. As part of the Cost of War campaign we called on our Congress people to hold Iraq Town Halls in their districts. We made this demand via petition, and also in person whenever we could attend a meeting with a Representative or Senator.

We soon noticed that, while none of the Congressional delegation agreed to hold special Iraq Town Halls, they did became more vocal on the occupation and began to include the term ‘cost of war’ in their public statements.

However, by August of ‘06 we were tired of waiting for the politicians to act. The ROP staff formally invited the Congressional delegation to Iraq Town Halls that we would organize ourselves in each Congressional District. In December, after elections that brought Democrats to power in DC on a wave of anti-war sentiment, we set Town Hall dates for the February Congressional recess, anticipating the upcoming vote on a massive $240 billion appropriation to continue the Iraq occupation. No Representative or Senator agreed to attend, but Reps David Wu, Darlene Hooley, and Peter DeFazio committed to send staff.

Town Halls happened in four of five Congressional districts between February 16 and 24:

In Redmond (Rep Greg Walden, District 2), 175 people crowded into the Redmond Community Center. In Lincoln City (Rep Darlene Hooley, District 5) 125 people attended. In Roseburg, 125 people turned out (Peter DeFazio, District 4). At all the meetings, military families and returning vets spoke, including the mother of Suzanne Swift, who refused orders to return to Iraq.

I attended the Forest Grove Town Hall (Rep David Wu, District 1), where 200 people filled Taylor Auditorium on the Pacific University campus. Former Air Force photographer Tina Bean, recently returned from Iraq and suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome addressed the crowd:

“I haven’t seen a single one of my friends since I’ve been home, because I don’t want them to see me like this,” she said, fighting tears. “I can’t look at myself in the mirror without feeling disgusted. I feel like I’m broken into a million pieces. I’ll never be the person I was.”

By organizing these assemblies we achieved the first goal of the campaign: to bring local anti-war groups together in coalitions centered in Congressional Districts and focused on community outreach as a means to pressure elected officials.

Each Town Hall was organized by the local ROP Human Dignity Groups and allies. Testimonies were solicited from within the communities where we live. This met our second goal: to expand the outreach of local groups and highlight the cost of war for our neighbors, bringing in new people.

Did we meet our third goal of influencing our Congress people and Senators to vote against the Iraq appropriation, and to take the lead in explaining the cost of war to their constituents? None of them attended. Some held their own pre-screened events to coincide with our grassroots assemblies.

On the other hand, all Representatives and Senators are now aware that anti-war activists are creating coalitions in each Congressional District, that we are including into our protests the type of targeted political action that has historically succeeded in re-shaping the political landscape, whether to the left or the right.

We are in for a long struggle to get Congress people and Senators to vote down funding for the occupation - a vote that will effectively end the war. We will need to be imaginative. The goal should be to create a relentless, non-violent political force capable of rewarding friends and punishing enemies.

As someone explained to me during the Town Hall in Rep Wu’s District: ‘We need to push hard - even on those who agree with us - to make sure they keep coming our way.’

For more information, or to get involved, visit the Rural Organizing Project.

TJ Students Suspended Over Military Protest

voices — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:40:04 -0600

Excerpt

By Sarah Breitenbach and David Simon
Frederick News-Post
April 27, 2006

FREDERICK — Five students at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School were suspended Wednesday pending parent conferences after a protest during a career fair, according to one of the students.

Junior Bob Hayes said he and four other students staged a “die-in” in front of a U.S. Marine Corps recruiting booth at the school about 10:30 a.m. The students pretended to die by falling down in front of the booth and then passed out leaflets protesting the war in Iraq and the presence of military recruiters on school grounds.

Body

By Sarah Breitenbach and David Simon
Frederick News-Post
April 27, 2006

FREDERICK — Five students at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School were suspended Wednesday pending parent conferences after a protest during a career fair, according to one of the students.

“We’re angry … the school shouldn’t be occupied like Iraq is,” Mr. Hayes said.

The five students will be allowed to return to school after their parents meet with school officials Friday, according to Mr. Hayes.

Hank Bohlander, Frederick County Public Schools secondary associate superintendent, confirmed disciplinary action was taken against five students for disrupting an educational event, but he did not name the students or discuss the nature of the discipline.

“We do not suspend kids for protesting if they do it in the right way,” he said.

The students distributed leaflets that had not been approved by Gov. Thomas Johnson’s administration, Mr. Bohlander said, a requirement at FCPS schools. Also, during their protest, the students were spilling into space for another business, so anyone interested in that business had difficulty approaching. Mr. Bohlander would not say what business it was.

Mr. Hayes said the protest, which included more than five students, took place only in front of the Marine Corps booth. Leaflets were handed out to individuals, not posted on walls, so he did not believe approval was necessary.

“I plan to appeal the decision,” he said. “I don’t think what we’re doing is wrong. I think what we’re doing is good.”

TJ assistant principal Andrew Kibler approached the five students as they were lying on the ground and asked them to move, according to Mr. Hayes. They refused and were then approached by principal Marlene Tarr.

“She told me ‘This is not your style, Bob, you should get up,’” Mr. Hayes said.

When the students again refused, a Frederick County Sheriff’s Office deputy dragged two of them away from the career fair, Mr. Hayes said. The other three went willingly. The five students were held in the principal’s office for about three hours, and a student who had taken pictures of the scene had the camera confiscated and the film destroyed, he said.

The conflict between Mr. Hayes and school officials over military recruiters first went before the Frederick County Board of Education in January. The board declined to change military recruiters’ access to schools. Recruiters from each branch of the military are allowed to visit each Frederick County public high school once per marking period, a total of four times per year.

24 of 32 Wisconsin Communities Vote for Iraq Pullout

voices — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:28:57 -0600

Excerpt

By EMILY FREDRIX
Chippewa Herald
April 5, 2006

MILWAUKEE - It was a purely symbolic message but a heartfelt one. Thousands of voters turned out in Wisconsin communities large and small to tell President Bush to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.

By margins overwhelming in some places and narrow in others, voters in 24 of 32 communities approved referendums Tuesday calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Joy Kenworthy, 78, of Madison, doesn’t mind that the nonbinding referendums have no bearing on federal policy. She was one of more than 24,300 voters in the state capital who gave 68 percent support to a referendum calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops.

Body

By EMILY FREDRIX
Chippewa Herald
April 5, 2006

MILWAUKEE - It was a purely symbolic message but a heartfelt one. Thousands of voters turned out in Wisconsin communities large and small to tell President Bush to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq.

By margins overwhelming in some places and narrow in others, voters in 24 of 32 communities approved referendums Tuesday calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

She said she’s sick of watching young men and women dying in Iraq and the government spending billions of dollars on war.

“I thought this war was ill-advised from the moment it started,” she said.

Voters in Madison, the Milwaukee suburbs of Shorewood and Whitefish Bay, the western city of La Crosse and the northern city of Ladysmith were among those approving a pullout.

Those voting down the measure included the south-central city of Watertown, where 75 percent of voters disapproved. Others included the northwestern city of Hayward and the small Door County villages of Forestville, Sister Bay and Egg Harbor.

Residents gathered signatures on petitions that put the referendums on the spring election ballot.

Most of the referendums asked if the voters supported withdrawing the troops immediately, and Evansville also had one urging support of President Bush, a measure voters rejected. In the Columbia County town of Newport, voters rejected a referendum asking if the United States should hand operational command of Iraq’s national security over to the Iraqi government before the end of 2006.

Such measures have been passed by city councils and voters in other states, including Vermont, which served as a model for Wisconsin’s effort, said Rachel Friedman, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice. The group, which helped organize Tuesday’s initiatives, is already looking at ways to take the referendums into more communities, she said.

Elected officials can’t ignore the results, especially as the November election season looms, she said.

“They have seven months to listen to us, to the voters and to do the right thing,” Friedman said. “The people have spoken. This is what democracy looks like.”

The morale of soldiers _ and their safety _ could dip when they hear about these referendums passing, said Bill Richardson, treasurer of Vote No To Cut And Run, a group that opposed the measures.

“It’s a political statement and it’s hurting people and it could cost lives,” said Richardson, 63, of Madison, a one-time bandmaster in the Wisconsin Army National Guard.

Bush has refused to set a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Fifty-one soldiers from Wisconsin have died in Iraq since the invasion three years ago.

Sister Bay resident Peter Trenchard said he wasn’t surprised voters in his village voted against the measure. He said many people there did not approve of the war in the first place, but they don’t see pulling troops out as a solution.

“Logic tells you you can’t pull out of there. It would be a mess,” said Trenchard, 67.

Feeling that America shouldn’t have ever gone to Iraq was enough to prompt 18-year-old Tricia Thompson to vote for Monona’s successful referendum to bring the troops home.

“I just believe that the president made a poor choice sending them over there,” said Thompson, a senior at Monona Grove High School. “I’m just not a big believer in using our military to solve all our problems.”

Supporters shouldn’t be too pleased with the results, said John McAdams, an associate professor of political science at Marquette University.

Victory margins in many of the liberal-leaning cities were lower than rates won by Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004, meaning swing voters haven’t been swayed by anti-war sentiment, he said. It’ll be up to Democrats to determine how misgivings about the war will be used in the midterm elections and beyond, he said.

Voter turnout in spring elections is often lower than general elections, and those that rallied to get the measure on the ballot were certainly mobilized to turn up at the polls, said Joe Heim, a political science professor at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

Still, “they’re reflecting that there’s perhaps not a majority but a substantial dissatisfaction with the war,” Heim said.

Associated Press writer Todd Richmond in Madison contributed to this report.