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June 2, 2009
In April, we sent out an e-alert about Obama’s first Supplemental Defense Budget Request, which funded bombing, invading, and occupying Iraq and Afghanistan on an “emergency” basis. As we pointed out, these additional funds were not for protecting the troops or promoting diplomacy but were for direct military operations and equipment. This supplemental was not pushing change, the change that the Obama promised in his campaign, but following the footsteps of our previous President in funding destruction rather than construction. We have suffered eight years of poor foreign policy in Afghanistan and Iraq and such cycles of ineffectiveness need to stop immediately. Congressman James McGovern of Massachusetts has been working to pass H.R. 2404, a bill that would require that President Obama provide Congress and the American public with an exit strategy for U.S. military forces in Afghanistan by the end of the year. As Congressman McGovern has said, "The mission has greatly expanded and the policy is vague. The more stuff I'm exposed to the more uneasy I get about what we're doing here. I get this sinking feeling that we're getting sucked into something that we'll never be able to get out of." As of now, H.R. 2404 has 82 co-sponsors, most of them Democrats associated with the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Several powerful Committee Chairs have signed on, including Michigan Democrat John Conyers (Judiciary) and Minnesota Democrat Jim Oberstar (Transportation and Infrastructure). Additionally, there are a number of Republican backers, including Walter Jones of North Carolina, John Duncan of Tennessee and Ron Paul of Texas. Some unexpected Republicans have signed on as well, led by California conservative Dana Rohrabacher. In New York, only 6 of our 29 Congress Members are currently co-sponsors of HR. 2404: Yvette Clarke (NY-11), Maurice Hinchey (NY – 22), Eric Massa (NY-29), José Serrano (NY-16), Edolphus Towns (NY-10) and Nydia Velazquez (NY-12). If your Congress Member is supporting H.R. 2404, please call and/or e-mail thanking them for speaking up and demanding an exit strategy for United States military forces in Afghanistan. If your Representative is not signed on to H.R. 2404, please call and/or e-mail and strongly encourage them to get on board. Your voice is necessary if we are going to create an exit strategy for our troops. Once again, thank you for your continuing efforts for peace. |
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Saturday June 13, 6:30 p.m.
ALBANY. First Unitarian Universalist Society, 405 Washington Avenue. AFGHANISTAN: UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES WHAT CAN WE DO? 
Madelyn Hoffman, Executive Director, New Jersey Peace Action, will speak and show slides on:
Afghanistan: Ending a Failed Military Policy. She was in Afghanistan in 2005 as a member of a Global Exchange
delegation.Connie Frisbee Houde, photojournalist, will give an audio-visual presentation on: Afghan Women: Listen to Their Voices. She traveled to the heart of Afghanistan in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Moderator: Sybil Stock, Women Against War. Presented by: Women Against War Afghanistan Project. Co-Sponsored: Social Responsibilities Committee of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany. FREE. Wheelchair Accessible. Information: 518-426-0710 or www.womenagainstwar.org. Thursday, June 4, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. QUEENS.All Saints Church, 43-12 46th Street, Sunnyside. NEW YORK CITY GREENS MEETING AND CANDIDATE FORUM You are invited to come hear Green Party candidates, ask them questions, and join their campaigns! Donations are welcome. You are also invited to come hear about our initiative to create a citywide Green Party organization - and get involved! Please RSVP to info@greenpartynyc.org if you plan to attend. We'll have light refreshments available. Green Party candidates include Reverend Billy Talen for Mayor, Evergreen Chou for City Council - District 20 (Queens), Walter Nestler for City Council - District 18 (The Bronx), David Pechefsky for City Council - District 39 (Brooklyn), and Lynne Serpe for City Council - District 22 (Queens.) Saturday June 6, 7:00 p.m. BROOKLYN.RSVP for exact location. POT LUCK SUPPER WITH THE LATIN AMERICA COMMITTEE OF BROOKLYN FOR PEACE Join us to learn about movements for peace and justice in Latin America, and issues of U.S. policy towards our neighbors to the south. RSVP to latinam@brooklynpeace.orgfor location and details. Saturday, June 6, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. BROOKLYN. Brooklyn Brownstone School, 272 MacDonough St (at Lewis Ave) RECESSION SURVIVAL FAIR Brooklyn for Barack, hosted by the Stuyvesant Heights Parents' Association, is planning a Recession Survival fair! The fair will focus on how we can help each other get through the current economic downturn. It will both give attendees as much information as possible about programs that already exist, and allow us to come together as a community to trade skills and knowledge. The Recession Survival fair will have several components. First, we will have tables for organizations that offer services or programs that can give immediate help to people who've been laid off or otherwise negatively impacted by the current economic crisis. Second, we will hold panel discussions of experts who can offer concrete information on key topics affecting our community during the recession: healthy eating on a budget, health care, jobs, credit management, and foreclosure information. Third, we’re planning to create a more informal community exchange of services and knowledge that goes beyond what’s available through official channels. Whether through online barter, or some other form of exchange, we will pool our resources as a community to provide ongoing help to our friends and neighbors. If you’d like to participate in the community exchange, please email us: continuethechange@gmail.com. If you are able to help plan the event (we need volunteers right now) and/or volunteer on the day itself, please let us know. Saturday, June 6, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. NEW ROCHELLE. Home of Mirene Ghossein, 170 Overlook Circle (near Iona College.) FUNDRAISER FOR THE IRAQI STUDENT PROJECT  Presentations
You can help an Iraqi student attend a local college or university. There will be wine, fine
food, music and a great cause. ISP student Mustafa Ahmed has been accepted
with a tuition waiver at Manhattanville College for the next four years to complete his
education, which was suspended in Baghdad because of the war. The Westchester Support
Group for the Iraqi Student Project has been formed to raise $14,700 in
living expenses for Mustafa. Mustafa has been accepted at Manhattanville College with a full tuition
waiver, but without the $14,700 for living expenses, he will not be able to get a student visa,
and would forfeit his tuition scholarship. You will meet Iraqi refugee students from ISP who have
completed their first academic year of study here in the U.S. They will tell you about their
adjustment to our culture and to American college life, as well as the importance of an active and
committed support group. Other international students from Manhattanville College will be with us
as well. We hope you will be able to join us; otherwise, please consider making a generous tax
deductible donation to: ISP/ Westchester, Box 605, White Plains, NY 10602-9998 For more information,
visit: www.WestchesterSupport.org.
Sunday, June 7, 12:00 noon ELMSFORD. Antun’s, 35 Valley Avenue WESPAC CHAMPAGNE BRUNCH: AN AFTERNOON WITH THE REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA "Bolivia in Transition: Shaking off the Colonial Legacy to Empower Indigenous Communities" President Evo Morales is the first Indigenous person elected as head-of-state. Bolivia is undergoing a powerful transformation with significant turmoil and resistance to progressive social change. Join WESPAC as we hear first-hand from Elizabeth Peredo (wife of Ambassador) and the Bolivian Ambassador to the United Nations (invited) about the situation on the ground and how we can best show our solidarity with the people of Bolivia. A contribution will be made to "Bartolina Sisa", Confederacion Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas Indigenas Originarias de Bolivia (an Indigenous Women's Organization in Bolivia): http://www.bartolinasisa.org. Limited seating. RSVP required by June 3rd, 2009. $75 minimum contribution per person. $100 preferred. For more information call 914.449.6514 or e-mail info@wespac.org. Monday June 8, 7:00 p.m. MIDTOWN EAST NYC. Community Church, 40 East 35th St @ Park Ave. "JEWISH VALUES, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND THE WAR IN GAZA" 
with Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Exec. Dir., Rabbis for Human Rights in Israel.The Israel/Palestine conflict ranks as perhaps the most agonizing conflict of the last 60 years. Its impact is not limited regionally but extends globally as it touches at the heart of core values and principles. Over these past decades a vast multitude of voices has emerged to define it, interpret it, direct it, imbue it with unyielding personal passion, all in attempts to resolve it. From this eloquent cacophony of rhetoric and poetry a history is reflected that simultaneously embraces courage and cowardice, deceit and nobility, violence and tenderness. Sponsor: Action for Justice, Commuity Church of NYC Unitarian Universalist Co-Sponsors: Brit T'zedek v'Shalom (Jewish Alliance for Justice & Peace), The Dialogue Project, and Peace Task Force of All Souls Church. Admission Free; donations accepted for Rabbis for Human Rights, Israel. Light refreshments served. More information. Download flyer pdf. 
Thursday, June 11, 7:00 p.m.GREENWICH VILLAGE. Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South THE DAVE DELLING LECTURE ON NONVIOLENCE. A LECTURE BY NICHOLSON BAKER TO THE WAR RESISTERS LEAGUE. Nicholson Baker is the author of the acclaimed book Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization and seven novels, including “Double Fold” which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2001. “Human Smoke” is dedicated to American and British pacifists. (“They failed, but they were right.”) George Houser, who will also speak, is a World War II resister who was arrested in November of 1940 when he and eight other students at Union Theological Seminary refused to cooperate with the draft. Houser has held leadership positions with the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the American Committee on Africa. Cosponsored by the Judson Memorial Church , New York City Pax Christi and the AJ Muste Memorial Institute. Donations are requested. Saturday. June 20, 1:00 p.m. CONEY ISLAND BOARDWALK. BE A MERMAID FOR PEACE WITH THE BROOKLYN FOR PEACE CONTINGENT IN THE CONEY ISLAND MERMAID PARADE. Details to follow. 
Friday, June 5th. 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. (two showings)BINGHAMTON. First Presbyterian Church. THE JIMMY MASSEY STORY with appearances by Sgt. Massey and the producer, Joe Stillman. Jim Massey ended his twelve-year career in the U.S. Marines in 2003, after serving 3 months in Iraq as a staff sergeant. He was honorably discharged with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, brought on by atrocities he had witnessed and committed. Since then he has been telling his story wherever he can, including the three years he spent as a recruiter using unscrupulous practices to fulfill his quota. He is now on 100% disability for his PTSD and is making a remarkable recovery. Four years ago, the Oneonta filmmaker decided to record Massey’s incredible story as a feature-length documentary. The film includes comments from Cindy Sheehan, Martin Sheen, Dennis Kucinich, Scott Ritter, Ramsey Clark, Fr. Roy Bourgeois and others. Attendance is free and open to the public. Sunday, June 7 1:00 p.m. lunch, 1:30 meeting GENESEO.Omega Restaurant, 4182 Lakeville Rd (Route 20A) REGULAR MEETING OF GENESEE VALLEY CITIZENS FOR PEACE. On May 10, 2009, GVCP celebrates its 37th birthday! We’ve never stopped working for peace and justice in the U.S. and throughout the world, and we’re not going to stop now. At our next meeting GVCP member Jim Allen will lead a discussion on the war in Afghanistan. Tuesday, June 9, 8:00 p.m. BINGHAMTON.Unitarian Univeralist Congregation, Riverside Drive (next to Lourdes Hospital) BROOME COUNTY PEACE ACTION BOARD MEETING WITH DR. JAMES PETRAS ON LATIN AMERICA AND THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION. Dr. Petras is a noted authority on the subject of Latin America, having traveled their frequently, with numerous articles published. His presentation is open to the public. Thursday, June 18, 7-9 p.m. BUFFALO. Unitarian Universalists of Buffalo, 695 Elmwood Avenue (Garden Entrance) WAR ON THE DISPLACED: SRI LANKA 101: SPEAKING OUT FOR CIVILIANS. Join Local Members of the Sri Lanka Community and Learn about Sri Lanka Saturday, June 20, 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. DOWNTOWN BUFFALO. Meet at Lafayette Square, March down Court Street. Program at Niagara Square. PEACE YEARNINGS 2009: 2ND ANNUAL YOUTH MARCH FOR PEACE: PATH OF THE PEACEMAKERS. Youth Presenters, performers and adult peacekeepers. All participants will take a vow of nonviolence. Saturday, June 20, 12:30 p.m. BUFFALO. Bidwell & Elmwood Avenue. RALLY AROUND THE ARREST OF AUNG SAN SU KYI. This event is being planned by the local Burmese community. More details will follow. Many local peace groups hold regular events, vigils, "Honk for Peace" actions, etc. See our list: www.panys.org/ongoing.htm Saturday, June 6, march starts at 12 noon WASHINGTON, D.C. Freedom Plaza, 14th Street and Pennsylvania Ave. NW GAZA SOLIDARITY DAY End the Siege of Gaza! March on Washington, D.C. Solidarity Day on the 42nd Anniversary of Israel's seizure of Gaza Saturday, June 6 marks the 42nd anniversary of the Israeli seizure of Gaza. Organizations and individuals in solidarity with the people of Palestine will be taking to the streets once again to demand: End the Siege of Gaza! We will also stand for all Palestinian people's inalienable right to return to their homes from which they were evicted. Let your voice be heard -- join us! Sponsoring organizations include ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism), Muslim American Society (MAS) Freedom, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), National Council of Arab Americans (NCA) and more! Contact us at (202) 544-3389 or dc@answercoalition.org to get involved! July 30 to August 11 JAPAN. SUMMER STUDY ABROAD IN HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI Sponsored by The Nuclear Studies Institute of American University. Live and study with Japanese and other Asian students, professors, peace activists, and policy experts. Meet with atomic bomb survivors and hear moving firsthand accounts of their experiences. Learn about Japanese aggression against other Asian peoples. Participate in a broad range of commemorative events in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Visit peace museums and relevant cultural and historical sites in Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, including the Kyoto Museum for World Peace, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, the Radiation Effects Research Foundation, and peace parks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Earn three history or SIS credits (graduate or undergraduate), or participate as a non-degree seeking student. Click for PDF flier. For more information, go to www.american.edu/nsi, or contact Professor Peter Kuznick: kuznick@american.edu or 202-885-2408. Going out of state? Check UFPJ's national Events Calendar: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php. |