NEW YORK PEACE NETWORK Alert #230

Featured Events

Sunday, October 25, 4:00- 8:00 p.m.
SYRACUSE. Empire Room, NYS Fairgrounds
TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL PEACE AWARD DINNER
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: CHRIS HEDGES

HONORING PEACEMAKERS:
Second Annual Lifetime Peace Activist Award:
Oren Lyons. Faith Keeper, Onondaga Nation, and Chief, Onondaga Nation, Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois.

Peace Awards:
Joseph Heath. General Counsel for the Onondaga Nation and long-time legal, peace and social justice activist
Helen Hudson. Co-founder-Mothers Against Gun Violence.
Mark Spadafore. SIEU 1199 Health Care Education Project and Former Director of Syracuse Alliance for a New Economy
Syracuse Area Middle East Dialogue Group, established in 1981.

Please call the Peace Action CNY office at 315 478-7442 or go to our web site at www.peaceactioncny.org. Tickets are $50.00 per person. The event is open to the public. Donations will help provide reduced ticket prices for students and others with limited means. Please save the date and join us for an informative and enjoyable evening.

Thursday, Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m.
MANHASSET. Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock, 48 Shelter Rock Road
KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL ON
“OBAMA AND THE PROGRESSIVE AGENDA
AT HOME AND ABROAD”

Katrina vandal Heuvel is Editor and Publisher of “The Nation.” She is the editor of “Meltdown: How Greed and Corruption Shattered Our Financial System and How We Can Recover.” She is a frequent commentator on American and international politics on ABC, MSNBC, CNN and PBS. Her articles have appeared in “The Washington Post,” “The Los Angeles Times,” “The New York Times,” Foreign Policy Magazine” and “The Boston Globe.” She has received awards for public service from numerous groups, including The Liberty Hill Foundation, the Correctional Association, Planned Parenthood and The Association for American-Russian Women. Suggested donation $5. For more information, call 516-627-6560 x 122. Co-sponsored by Great Neck SANE/Peace Action, LI Veterans for Peace and the LI Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives.

Tuesday, October 20, 7:30 p.m.
WHITE PLAINS. WESPAC Foundation Office, 255 Martin Luther King Dr.
SCREENING OF “RETHINK AFGHANISTAN”
Hosted by No War Westchester. For more information, see www.nowarwestchester.org. We will also distribute print information regarding the war and how much it's costing, New York military contractors involved in Afghanistan, and other materials to support appropriate follow-up actions.

Wednesday, Oct. 21, 11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
DOWNTOWN. City University of New York, 209 Breslin Hall
THE CHALLENGE OF IRAN WITH EVAND ABRAHAMIAN
Admission is free.

Wednesday, October 21, 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
UPPER WEST SIDE. Columbia University, International Affairs Building, Room 1512
MURDER IN THE NAME OF HONOUR WITH RANA HUSSEINI

Presented by The Middle East Institute. Internationally recognized and award winning journalist and human rights defender Rana Husseini will be speaking about her new book, "Murder in the Name of Honour: The True Story of One Woman’s Heroic Fight Against an Unbelievable Crime." Ms. Husseini is a senior investigative reporter for the Jordan Times and an award-winning journalist who has devoted her life-long career to uncovering the truths and exposing the myths behind so-called 'honor crimes.‘ She has served as special advisor to Freedom House on women’s issues and press freedom in Jordan and has worked as a regional coordinator for the United Nation's Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) campaign to eliminate violence against women in five Arab countries.

Wednesday, October 21, through Saturday, October 24.
CHELSEA. SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street.

SVA'S "VISIONS OF WAR" CONFERENCE: PLAY, FILMS, PANELS
The Humanities and Sciences Program at the School of Visual Arts is presenting a four-day conference, "Visions of War: the arts represent conflict" at the Algonquin Hotel from Wednesday October 21 through Saturday October 24. See the VISIONS OF WAR web page for full schedule, including the following events, free and open to the public, held at the brand new SVA Theatre:

Thursday, October 22, 7:00 p.m.
PLAY: THE WARRIOR by Jack Gilhooley, with Talk Back session
The Warrior is a play about a veteran of the Persian Gulf War and two tours in Iraq, the damage her absence has done to her family, and to her mental health. After the performance there will be a Talk Back session which includes questions from the audience and answers. Preview for The Warrior.

Friday, October 23, 7:00 p.m.
PANEL DISCUSSION
Sponsored by Stephen Frailey, Chair, BFA Photography.

Saturday, October 24, 2:00 - 6:00 p.m.
FILM SERIES: AFTER THE WARS
Film series hosted by Reeves Lehamna, Chair, Film Video and Animation Department. Followed by:

Saturday, October 24, 6:30 8:30 p.m.
PANEL: THE SCARS OF WAR: HEALING THROUGH THE ARTS.
Moderated by screenwriter/playwright/Vietnam combat veteran David Berry, a member of the SVA Film Department faculty. Panelists include film artists/combat veterans (screenwriters and directors), a psychologist with over three decades of experience treating Vietnam veterans, and a retired Army Colonel who has become a major spokesperson for those demanding official recognition and treatment of female victims of violence in the military.

Thursday, October 22, 7:30 p.m.
UPPER WEST SIDE. Congregation Ansche Chesed, 251 West 100th Street
AKIVA ELDAR ON THE PROGRESSIVES’ DILEMMA: PROMOTING PEACE AND DEFENDING DEMOCRACY IN ISRAEL.
Saturday co-sponsored by Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, New Israel Fund, Americans for Peace Now, J Street, Meretz. Come hear well known journalist Akiva Eldar speak on the settlements and Israel’s national and domestic challenges. Discussion will follow the presentations. Light refreshments will be served. RSVP online or by calling 212-613-4400.

Saturday, October 24, 12:45 p.m.
BROOKLYN. Congregation Beth Elohim, 274 Garfield Place
AKIVA ELDAR ON THE PROGRESSIVES’ DILEMMA: PROMOTING PEACE AND DEFENDING DEMOCRACY IN ISRAEL.
Come hear well known journalist Akiva Eldar speak on the settlements and Israel’s national and domestic challenges. Discussion will follow the presentations. Light refreshments will be served. RSVP online or by calling 212-613-4400.

Monday, October 26, 5:45 p.m.
EAST VILLAGE. City Cinemas Village East, 181 2nd Avenue
SCREENING OF “RAPE IN THE RANKS: THE ENEMY FROM WITHIN”
In 2007 filmmaker Pascale Bourgaux interviewed several military women who had been raped in the military--including attempting to film some meetings in the U.S. Congress. Her film "Rape in the Ranks: The Enemy From Within," is a 29 minutes investigative documentary . The documentary is an entry in the New York International Independent Film Festival. $12 per ticket. And we plan to have a post-screening panel near the cinema.

Monday, October 26, 6:00 p.m.
LINCOLN CENTER AREA. Hadassah, 50 West 58th Street
GIDON BROMBERG ON PROTECTING WATER AT THE GRASSROOTS:
ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS AND JORDANIANS WORKING TOGETHER.
Gidon Bromberg is a former NIF Law Fellow and the founder of Friends of the Earth-Middle East. Hear about the environmental challenges Israel and the region face, and the opportunities to promote cooperation at a community level to advance sustainable development and create necessary conditions for lasting peace. This event is presented by the Sierra Club, New York City Group, and is co-sponsored by Friends of the Earth-Middle East, Hadassah, Hazon, the JCC in Manhattan, and the New Israel Fund. RSVP for this event online or call us at 212-613-4400.

Wednesday, October 28th, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
UPPER WEST SIDE. Columbia University, International Affairs Building, Room 707
A CONVERSATION AND READING WITH ALIA MALEK:
“A COUNTRY CALLED AMREEKA”
Co-sponsored by: ArteEast. Alia Malek is an author and civil rights lawyer. Born in Baltimore to Syrian immigrant parents, she began her legal career as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. After working in the legal field in the U.S., Lebanon, and the West Bank, Malek, who has degrees from Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities, earned her master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University. Her reportage has appeared in Salon, The Columbia Journalism Review, and The New York Times. “A Country Called Amreeka” is her first book.

Thursday, October 29th, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
UPPER WEST SIDE. Columbia University, 1219 International Affairs Building
ROBERT HAYDEN ON “ANTAGONISTIC TOLERANCE: COMPETITIVE SHARING OF RELIGIOUS SITES IN THE BALKANS AND TURKEY”

Co-sponsored by: The Harriman Institute. “Antagonistic Tolerance” describes long-term interaction over long periods, between Self – and Other –defining communities who live intermingled but not intermarrying. The model predicts long periods of peaceful interaction and even religious syncretism when dominance of one group over the other is clear but periods of violence when dominance is threatened. The Antagonistic Tolerance model sees ethno-religious conflict as due neither to supposed “ancient hatreds” nor to the machinations of political entrepreneurs, but rather as a form of contestation between self-distinguishing groups that is usually peaceful but sometimes violent, with both conditions predictable when relative dominance is known. This lecture looks at “antagonistic tolerance” as it has been manifested in Anatolia and in the Christian-dominated countries that won independence from the Ottoman Empire. Dominance is often symbolized by control over major religious sites, and such sites provide a focus for contestation when dominance is unclear. A number of such sites will be analyzed in this lecture. Robert M. Hayden is Professor of Anthropology, Law and Public & International Affairs and Director of the Center for Russian & East European Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. He is well known as an expert on the contemporary Balkans, and has also done extensive research in and on India. Professor Hayden is Principle Investigator on the Antagonistic Tolerance project.

Sunday, November 8, 1:30 – 5:00 p.m.
UPPER EAST SIDE. Hunter College/CUNY, 68th Street at Lexington Avenue
END US MILITARIZATION OF THE PACIFIC
The Granny Peace Brigade’s Fourth Teach-in will focus on U. S. military bases in Japan/Okinawa, the Philippines and South Korea, and their deplorable effects on the host countries’ populace and the environment. The event will be free and open to the public. Details on program and speakers will be forthcoming. For more details, please see www.grannypeacebrigade.org/.

Thursday, November 19, 7:30 p.m.
MANHASSET. Unitarian Universalist Church at Shelter Rock, 48 Shelter Rock Road
MAKING NUCLEAR ABOLITION A REALITY WITH JONATHAN SCHELL
The nuclear threat is greater today than at any time since the Cold War. In a new book Jonathan Schell calls the time we are living in “The Seventh Decade of Nuclear Danger.” He believes we need a global agreement to eliminate nuclear weapons. Schell calls President Obama’s commitment to seek a world without nuclear weapons an invitation to all of us to participate in history. Suggest contribution of $5. Sponsored by the Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives, the Shelter Rock Forum, Great Neck SANE/Peace Action, Code Oink LI, LI Veterans for Peace, Pax Christi LI and the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock. For more information call the Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives at 516-741-4360.

Thursday, November 19, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
BAY RIDGE, BROOKLYN. The Canteena, 8001 5th Avenue.
INTERFAITH PEACE COALITION FUNDRAISER AT THE CANTEENA
With Honored Guests Sally and David Jones. There will be music and food. Our speaker will be Hugh Bruce of Veterans for Peace. Donations Accepted. For more information contact Bay Ridge Interfaith Peace Coalition at (718) 680-2981; nfaithpeace@yahoo.com.

Monday, November 30, 1:00pm – 9:00 p.m.
BROOKLYN. Rally starts at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues in Brooklyn, near the LIRR train stop.
WORLD PEACE MARCH IN NEW YORK CITY
On November 30th, the team of 25 marchers will arrive in New York from Senegal, having completed two-thirds of their journey. At 1:00 we will leave Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush for a march to Brooklyn Borough Hall. After a short event at Borough Hall, we will march over the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall for a press event on the steps from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. We will end the evening with a cultural event and reception with special guests at 7:00 p.m. To join the Peace Action delegation to the event, please RSVP to Cheryl or Judith at 646-723-1749.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
BUFFALO. Canisius College, Room 118, Lyons Hall (across Main Street from the Montante Center)
PAOLOA GUTIERREZ GALINDO ON “JUSTICE & IMMIGRATION:
FIRST HAND STORIES OF MEXICO’S DISPLACED”
Paoloa Gutierrez Galindo is a a community organizer from Oaxaca in Southern Mexico. Hosted by the Latin American Solidarity Committee of the WNY Peace Center - www.lascwny.org.

Thursday, October 22 - Saturday, October 24
ROCKLAND. Rockland Community College
PRESENTATION OF THE AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT.
TOUCH (Together Our Unity Can Heal), a local HIV/AIDS advocacy and support organization, is bringing The AIDS Memorial Quilt to Rockland Community College. This will be the largest display of The AIDS Memorial Quilt in the Northeast in the past eleven years. We are looking to notify as many people as possible about the quilt’s arrival so that individuals can request panels, dedicate panels, and view the quilt. If your organization is interested in sponsoring a panel of The AIDS Memorial Quilt please contact Robert Maher at RMaher@touch-ny.org or call us at 845-268-8023 for more information.

Saturday, October 24
BUFFALO. D'Youville College, the Blue Room
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CLIMATE ACTION
WNY Climate Action Coalition, the Sierra Club & WNY Peace Center are planning for the International Day of Climate Action. There will be an educational outreach, music, and a march to the Peace Bridge to join with Canadian Citizens in a “Hands across the Peace Bridge Event.” We are also planning events for Holy Angels Church to highlight the climate issue and this October 24 international event. Already more than 1,000 actions are being planned around the world. See http://www.350.org to learn more about it.

Saturday, October 24, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
BUFFALO. Spot Café on Delaware Avenue
SPOTLIGHT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
There will be a band, poetry, and various performers throughout the night to help increase awareness about Domestic Violence in our community. We look forward to partnering with you on this important event.

Sunday, October 25, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
BUFFALO. Network for Religious Communities, 1272 Delaware Ave.
20th ANNIVERSARY BENEFIT RECEPTION FOR THE ROSENBERG FUND FOR CHILDREN
Join us at one of 20 events in 20 cities in 20 months. Meet Robert Meeropol and hear his inspiring story at a benefit to celebrate 20 years of the RFC's work helping the children of targeted activists in Western NY and across the country. RFC beneficiary families have been active in the struggles to wage peace; safeguard the environment; preserve civil liberties; and organize on behalf of workers, prisoners, and others whose human rights are under threat. Co-sponsored by the Interfaith Peace Network of WNY and the WNY Peace Center; Hosted by June License, Hank Bromley, Lynn Magdol, Scott Hewlett, Wayne Alt, Maxine Insera. For info contact the RFC office at 413-529-0063 or amber@rfc.org. Donations to the RFC, a 501(c)(3) organization, are tax-deductible.

Friday, October 30, 7:00 p.m.
NEW ROCHELLE. DeSoyza house, 19 Lake Avenue
SCREENING OF “RETHINK AFGHANISTAN”
There will be a discussion after the screening. Please RSVP to 914-235-1744.

Saturday, November 7, 2009, Doors Open 6:00 p.m.
DOWNTOWN BUFFALO. Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.
WNY PEACE CENTER ANNUAL DINNER & 42ND ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Featuring Keynote KATHY KELLY on "Build a Better World: Our Urgent Mandate"
Silent Auction & Basket Raffle, Awards, Vegetarian Dinner & More!

Many local peace groups hold regular events, vigils, "Honk for Peace" actions, etc.
See our list: www.panys.org/ongoing.htm

November 14 – 18
WASHINGTON DC. Georgetown University
INTERNATIONAL PEACE BUREAU ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Rolling back militarism: a task for the global movement. This conference was co-organized with Peace Action, America’s largest grassroots peace network. Come engage in a strategic process, to examine our campaigning priorities and options, to explore new ways to challenge the militarism we see around us, and to build international connections and partnerships. The program includes a central conference and a day-seminar on military spending, plus the annual IPB Council meeting and a planning session for the NPT Review next May. It will also be the occasion for the award of the IPB’s annual Sean MacBride Peace Prize. Confirmed speakers include: Tom Hayden, David McReynolds, Phyllis Bennis, Carlos Vargas, Oskar Castro, Cora Weiss, Prof. Betty Reardon, Azza El-Kholy, Jackie Cabasso, Zia Mian, Joseph Gerson, Judith LeBlanc, Prof. Mark Lance, Emira Woods, and Frida Berrigan. For more information, contact ippn@igc.org.

November 14 – 18
WASHINGTON DC. Georgetown University
INTERNATIONAL PEACE BUREAU ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Rolling back militarism: a task for the global movement. This conference was co-organized with Peace Action, America’s largest grassroots peace network. Come engage in a strategic process, to examine our campaigning priorities and options, to explore new ways to challenge the militarism we see around us, and to build international connections and partnerships. The program includes a central conference and a day-seminar on military spending, plus the annual IPB Council meeting and a planning session for the NPT Review next May. It will also be the occasion for the award of the IPB’s annual Sean MacBride Peace Prize. Confirmed speakers include: Tom Hayden, David McReynolds, Phyllis Bennis, Carlos Vargas, Oskar Castro, Cora Weiss, Prof. Betty Reardon, Azza El-Kholy, Jackie Cabasso, Zia Mian, Joseph Gerson, Judith LeBlanc, Prof. Mark Lance, Emira Woods, and Frida Berrigan. For more information, contact ippn@igc.org.

November 20 – 22
COLUMBUS, GA
2009 VIGIL TO CLOSE THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS
Gather with tens of thousands of other activists for the annual vigil to close the notorious School of the Americas (SOA). Each year we grow closer to seeing the school closed for good. Together we can close the SOA! On the way to Fort Benning, stop at Cincinatti, OH on November 18th, Birmingham, AL on November 19th and November 20th in Atlanta, GA. Speakers will include Martha Lucia Giraldo, Gerardo Cajamarca Alarcon, Jairo Dionisio Fuentes Epiayu, Aviva Chomsky and Ray Rodgers. For more information, see www.soaw.org.

Going out of state? Check UFPJ's national Events Calendar: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/calendar.php.