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Ongoing domestic and international crises made 2003 one of the most active years in our long history. We merged the mailing lists of Brooklyn Heights, Shorefront, and SNAP Peace Action chapters to make Brooklyn Peace Action a stronger, more cohesive organization. We worked closely together with our state and national Peace Action organizations, Brooklyn Parents for Peace (BPFP), and other local and national peace and justice organizations to strengthen our message.
The war in Iraq and peace in the Middle East
Despite our organized opposition prior to it, our government engaged in a preemptive war without international support, and we joined the largest manifestations of public resistance ever in this country. Brooklyn Peace Action calls for an end to the occupation and a transitional role for the United Nations in restoring Iraqi sovereignty.
- Early this year a brightly colored poster, proclaiming "Say NO to War Against Iraq!" appeared on doorways and windows in offices and homes throughout Brooklyn.
- On February 15, BPA members united in NYC with 30 million people from around the world to express opposition to the war. In January, April and October, we rode buses to antiwar demonstrations in Washington.
- Our "Code Pink" demonstration at the office of Senator Clinton led to a meeting with staff at her office. We also led a large vigil at the Brooklyn home of Senator Schumer on the eve of the U.S. invasion.
- In December we collaborated with BPFP, Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out on a "Support the Troops-Bring Them Home!" rally at Borough Hall. and we supported the position statement, "For Israel, For Palestine: Against Violence, Against Hate," which appeared in Brooklyn newspapers with over 100 individual signers (enclosed in this mailing; please respond if you want to add your signature for future publication.)
Street outreach
Thanks to many, many volunteers, we continued to reach out through old-fashioned tabling and conversation in Brooklyn neighborhoods. Thousands of people signed petitions and picked up flyers at sidewalk tables, including a peace table with Brooklyn Parents for Peace at the Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn, one of the city's largest street fairs, on September 21st.
Peace Fairs
Our first annual Brooklyn Peace Fair, sponsored by BPA, BPFP, and the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, brought together almost 100 local and national organizations for a day of performance, discussion, and education around issues of war and peace. Four hundred people attended, including Congressman Major Owens, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, Assemblyman Jim Brennan, and City Councilman Bill DeBlasio. Borough President Marty Markowitz declared October 18 Brooklyn Peace Day
We also co-sponsoring the Children's Peace Fair on October 18th, at the Ethical Culture Society.
Education
We organized numerous educational forums and produced literature on the war in Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, budget cuts for domestic programs, and encroachments on civil liberties. For example, in October, we held a group dialogue about "The World after 9/11" at St. Francis College, Founders Hall
BPA representatives spoke at teach-ins and community meetings across the city. We gathered endorsements from elected officials and organization reps for our Campaign for a New Foreign Policy. We distributed our Democratic presidential candidate voter guide. We sponsored a dialogue, led by a group psychologist, to explore our feelings about our work for peace and justice in a post-9/11 world.
Defense of civil liberties
We participated in the campaign to encourage NYC City Council to pass Resolution 909, protecting against the Patriot Acts.
Opposition to military recruiting in high schools
We participated in an Opt Out Project that offered education about the No Child Left Behind Act, which makes the name, address, and telephone number of every high school student available to military recruiters unless students choose to "opt out."
Outreach to other Community Groups
We constituted a Diversity Committee with Brooklyn Parents for Peace in order to promote and improve more effective outreach across class, culture, race, and age lines.
We also have joined with a very diverse group of people on the issue of the Nets stadium. This is a very broad coalition against the eminent domain clause, under the general motto of "Develop, Don't Destroy."
Underlying all of our activities is a profound belief in an engaged community: we all bear responsibility for the world that we ultimately share.
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