STANISLAUS CONNECTIONS

Working For Peace, Justice, and A Sustainable Environment

September, 2002

A Modesto Peace/Life Center Publication

Peace Center News/Peace Pioneers

Important Peace/Life Center Dates

(see Calendar for specifics)

Candlelight Peace March, September 11.

Connections Fundraiser Potluck Party: Saturday, September 14.

Vigil for Peace in the Middle East, Saturday, September 28.

Annual Harvest Dinner: Saturday, October 12.

Peace Essay Contest deadline for all essays: Friday, December 6. 

2003 Peace Essay

By INDIRA CLARK

“A peaceful future depends on our everyday acts and gestures.”

— Fredrico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

In our society and world, we see more and more individuals and groups acting out anger and frustration through verbal, physical, and emotional violence, which hurts or destroys others. Although conflicts are often resolved in a fair and peaceful manner, these events seldom make the headlines of the news stories. Learning to resolve conflict in a way that builds respect between the participants, honors differences, and opens avenues for reconciliation will be important preparation for creatively meeting the challenges of the future.

The 17th annual Peace Essay Contest offers students the opportunity to examine a conflict from their own lives or the world around them, write a more peaceful and fair ending for all involved, and describe what the participants would learn to enable them to meet future conflicts in a more constructive way.

Sponsored by the Modesto Peace/Life Center, this contest is open to all 5-12 grade students who live or attend school in Stanislaus County. Deadline is December 6, 2002.

For a copy of the topics and rules, see the flyer enclosed in this issue, or contact the P/L Center, 529-5750, or email peaceessay@juno.com

Peace Essay Contest Committee 2003: Margaret Barker, Indira Clark, Pam Franklin, Suzanne Meyer, Judy Cochran Pirkle, Deborah Roberts, Sandy Sample.

Gordon Nutson

By MARIANNE VILLALOBOS

When my family moved to Modesto in 1949, children addressed adults either as Mr. and Mrs. or Aunt and Uncle. Since we had no relatives in California, my parents’ friends became my aunts and uncles, prominent among them Uncle Gordon and Aunt Helen (Nutson). Fifty years later, my children and I still call him Uncle Gordon. Many have spoken of his efforts to promote peace, justice, and a fair shake for all, and some have joked of his trademark instances of political incorrectness. Others recalled his personal influence on their lives, helping them prepare for a successful career or extending a personal loan and going the extra mile to help families purchase their first home. I’d like to share some of my memories of “Uncle Gordon”.

Gordon taught me that the best way to be a nonconformist in the matters that count is to conform where it matters less. Gordon, as we know, was a “peacenik” in a suit and tie. He understood that in dress, as in language, different occasions and venues demand different approaches. No more would he conduct business in casual clothing than would he work with his birds (homing pigeons) in a suit. He once told me that wearing a suit made it much easier to explain to fellow realtors why he stood in silence while others saluted the flag. His nonconformist message was credible, he said, precisely because he had already gained respect through his dress and business practices. He was one of them and could be trusted and believed, even if they might not always agree with him. Who can say how many people he might have influenced in this manner?

I think that real estate was as much a passion to Gordon as was his commitment to peace and justice. He was one of a small group of conscientious objectors who came to Modesto and started a successful company on a shoestring. He was highly regarded in the real estate community as a competent businessman, and his keynote in business was ethics. Others have mentioned the personal loans he extended them. Rolando [my husband] and I were among the beneficiaries of such a loan, along with Gordon’s advice on effective money management. Gordon knew and counseled his agents that closing the deal was not the primary goal, but rather, making the sale in an ethical way. Having attended public school in Modesto in the days of de facto segregation, I also appreciate Gordon’s courageous stance in boldly refusing to follow the gentlemen’s agreement which maintained segregated housing.

Many have their funny stories and fond memories of Gordon, as do I. I will always remember his clean-shaven cheeks and crisp brown suits as well as his slicked-back red hair and red bow-tie and elastic arm bands as he led the Barber Shop Quartet. Most of all, I remember his chuckles and full-bodied laughter when something tickled his funny bone. And being the jokester that he was, he found many things funny. Gordon could spin a tale with the best of them; I was never quite sure where fact ended and hyperbole began. One story he told in recent years had to do with the time he went to a restaurant with several much younger men on a trip out of town to see some birds.  According to Gordon, the manager of the restaurant, misunderstanding the situation, called the police, believing that these Mexicans were kidnapping an old white man. 

I remember Gordon’s passion about anything he said or did. My son Ruben, from the time he was old enough to talk, was invited to the occasional “business lunch” with my Dad and Gordon. To this day, he remembers Uncle Gordon’s unique way of punctuating his points by scribbling bold lines on napkins. Gordon did nothing halfway. These lunches often ended with pencil-marked napkins scattered about. But he didn’t just talk; he listened intently. When you talked to Gordon you had his full attention, and as he pondered your remarks, you knew that what you said mattered to him.

According to Ruben, Gordon conveyed this respect to children as well. Ruben never felt that Gordon treated him like a child, but honored what he had to say as if he were an adult. During a dinner with the Nutsons when Ruben was four, he went to the living room to conduct a little experiment with a napkin and matches while the rest of us were talking. Smelling smoke, we all ran shouting to the living room. After the fire was out, Uncle Gordon said, “Rolando, let me take care of this.” He then took our sobbing son into the bedroom for a man-to-man conversation. Ruben recalls that Uncle Gordon put him on his lap, and told him how happy he was that Rolando and I were able to buy this house, and how important it was to take care of it. He had the rare ability to counsel, even admonish a person while at the same time demonstrating his respect for him. 

As we know, Gordon did have his moments of political incorrectness and it was Tom Hunter who wrote the song about Gordon’s infamous “cornbread” comment [see “Good-bye” by Indira Clark, this issue]. And when Tom came to town after writing that song, I’m sure that I was not alone in wanting to convince him that this was only a small facet of the man; that there where many other songs to be written about Gordon. Indira Clark told me recently that after the concert, when Tom needed a ride back to the Bay Area, Gordon stepped forward to chauffeur him. What I would have given to be a passenger in that car!

The last time I saw Gordon before he entered the hospital was at Modesto High School. At first, I did not recognize him standing outside the office, a tiny old man surrounded by much larger teenagers. The secretary laughed and told me that Mr. Nutson had come to school with a question. Gordon told her that the boy who worked for him had asked for money to rent a tuxedo for the prom. He told the secretary that in his day, a simple suit would have been good enough. The secretary said she had then explained to him that boys today rent tuxedos because many do not own suits. Gordon responded that that was good enough for him; he just needed things to make sense. I hurried out, pleased to tell some of my students that they were talking with my Uncle Gordon. Gordon’s conversation with the students continued until they invited him to lunch. Of course, later that day one of my students informed me that my uncle had flirted with her.

Consummate businessman, supporter of peace and justice, musician, above all, my Uncle Gordon was a big man with a personality painted in Technicolor. 

 

Good-bye

By INDIRA CLARK

“Before Wolverine, Blacks couldn’t buy houses in Modesto.” Those straight spoken words cut through Gordon Nutson’s memorial service on June 29th.

Wolverine Real Estate was named for their home state by four conscientious objectors from Michigan whose last alternative service project brought them to Modesto near the end of World War II. They stayed on. Gordon Nutson and his brother Gale, Rudy Potochnik, and the late Howard TenBrink, started a business and families, joined the Fellowship of Reconciliation local group, help change local society in many ways, and worked for world peace at home and abroad. They backed up their philosophy by digging deep into their own pockets to finance dreams into reality.

When my mother taught me about W.W.II it was an “alternative” history of the conscientious objectors, war relief work, and Japanese internment camps, illustrated by people around us. Gordon was one person held up as an example to me: in fact, if I’d been born a boy, my parents would have named me Gordon.

Gordon was one of the founders of the Modesto Peace Center, and in pre-center days, his name, home address and phone number were published along with 40 other trained counselors offering draft advice to young men facing the Vietnam War in this very conservative area.

Somewhere there are pictures of Helen and Gordon receiving the Modesto Peace/Life Center’s Friends of Peace award. Sandy Sample is also presenting Gordon with a pan of cornbread. Gordon loved cornbread and drove women crazy with the greeting: “Baked any good cornbread lately?” Cornbread got Gordon in deep trouble. The local Old Fishermen’s Club refused to extend a man’s membership to his widow who wanted to continue taking the grandkids fishing there. When she brought her grievance to the Modesto Human Rights Committee, committee member Gordon quipped that she should stay home and bake cornbread. “I’ve baked my cornbread: now I’m ready to go fishing!” was her retort. This and the resulting outrage made such good press someone mailed off the clipping to Tom Hunter demanding a song.

Over the years I have come to appreciate how much the lives, work, and lifelong commitment of Gordon and other local peacemakers formed my worldview, my values, and my life choices. What exceptional people and what personalities! I had time to meditate on their influences on me as well as this community and the world in the last days of Gordon’s life as I sat in the same hospital in ICU with my husband Sam Tyson. Sam died three days after Gordon.

Two other departures from our midst are Bonnie and Ken Kline-Smeltzer, co-pastors of the Modesto Church of the Brethren for the past 16 years. Bonnie has accepted a pastorate in State College, Pennsylvania in a joint Church of the Brethren-American Baptist congregation. Between them, Bonnie and Ken have served the local community in many capacities: the Martin Luther King Commemorative Event, Habitat for Humanity committee members, Peace Essay judge and gracious awards reception M.C., speaking at many a rally, bringing a message of peace to newspaper interviews, and much more.

In recent years several local people who worked long and diligently for peace and social change have died. Bonnie has said that it sometimes feels like she’s burying a generation of saints.  

 

A Tribute to Sam Tyson

By JIM KNOX

July 7, 2002

Over the course of our lives, we are lucky if we encounter a mere handful of unforgettable people, who rise above life’s everyday figures, and stand out as special influences on our own life.

For me, and I am sure, for many of you, Sam Tyson was such a figure.

I moved to Modesto in the late 1970s, fresh out of college, to work for Ecology Action. At that time, PG&E was still threatening to build a nuclear power plant in Waterford. It was as a volunteer, working at the Stanislaus Safe Energy booth at the county fair, that I first met Sam—the organizational and spiritual leader of that effort.

Later, Three Mile Island, and the resistance of Sam and many of you here,

had dampened PG&E’s ardor for a nuclear plant in Waterford. But the MID then began to pursue its own nuclear dreams with its courtship of a nuclear power plant under construction in Arizona. The on-again off-again romance with the Palo Verde plant crystallized in 1981 with a firm proposal from MID to buy into the new plant.

 One day, as the opposition was beginning to organize, Sam summoned me to the Peace Life Center to discuss the effort. I remember it as if it were yesterday.

Sam escorted me into 922 Sixth Street, over to the couch, and sat me down with my back to the front window. He took up a chair across from me, sat down, and informed me, “You are going to do the debates on this. You are going to be the spokesperson.”

“Me?” I protested weakly. “What about you?”
“No, not this time,” he said resolutely.
“What about Jim Higgs? Dan Onorato? Indira?”
“No. No. No,” he said dismissively. “They are all wrong for this,” he said gruffly, “You are the one.”

You will note that I said that Sam INFORMED me of my assignment.

He wasn’t suggesting it. Or asking me if I would consider it. It was as if I had received a command from Moses himself. And what could I, a kid a couple of years out of college, say to Moses?

I learned a lot from Sam during that campaign:

One of the things Sam encouraged us all to do as a part of that campaign was to pepper the MID with specific technical questions about this nuclear deal.

He stressed the importance of submitting the questions in writing in order to force the MID to disclose information on the record, and thereby subject them to public scrutiny and accountability.

Sam also encouraged people to attend the MID meetings as the board began to deliberate on this issue. This was a real novelty. Because up until then, the only outsiders that ever attended an MID meeting were Sam, League of Women Voters’ representative Doris Scanlon, and an occasional reporter from the Modesto Bee.

Of course, the MID was not set up for public participation. There was no hearing room, nor any podium for public testimony. There was only a conference room filled with a large table and couple of extra chairs along the wall in the back. At Sam’s urging, interested citizens began to pack the meetings.

Seeing the room filled with MID ratepayers standing, and completely encircling, the table at which the board members sat was quite a sight—and a lesson for all. A lesson for citizens in how to become engaged in local government. And a lesson for a local governing body in how to accommodate, if not solicit, public input.

Another lesson from Sam was never hesitate to challenge the foolish decisions of those in authority—no matter what the odds.

And in that anti-nuclear campaign, the odds were formidable. The entire power structure fell in line behind the MID—the Chamber of Commerce, the Farm Bureau and the Bee—all presumably assuming that the MID knew what it was doing.

But the MID had not done its homework. And Sam had. The voters became convinced of that, voting the nuclear deal down is a wonderful example of what grassroots activism can accomplish.

Ultimately, the Palo Verde nuclear plant turned into the economic disaster Sam predicted it would be. The MID board should begin each meeting with a prayer of thanks to Sam for saving the district and its ratepayers millions of dollars.

These are all important lessons from Sam that have served me well in over 20 years of public interest advocacy since that first campaign.

But, for me, what most distinguishes Sam was his extraordinary willingness to put himself, and his freedom, on the line in pursuing his convictions—something we all admire, but few of us are willing to do.

I can’t pretend to match his wisdom, his courage, or his conviction. But Sam is certainly a big reason why I have stayed in public interest advocacy for over 20 years. His example is one that I continue to aspire to, and be inspired by, as I know it has been, and will continue to be, for so many of you.

The author is Executive Director of California Common Cause, 926 J Street, STE. 910, Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 443-1792 ext. 13.

   

Sam Tyson: a remembrance

By SANDY SAMPLE

Sam Tyson was a constant, active guiding light and energizing spirit at the Modesto Peace/Life Center throughout its entire 32-year history. On June 17, 2002, that light and spirit flickered and dimmed as Sam drew his last breath after a long, slow decline in health.

A committed pacifist his whole life long, Sam was a birthright member of the Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers. His line of Tysons had been among the founding families of Germantown, PA and its Friends which made the first ant-slavery proclamation in the Americas in 1688. Sam honored his powerful Quaker legacy, steeping himself in its pacifist tradition, plumbing its spiritual depths, and developing within himself the strength of character required to choose direct action in pursuit of peace as his life’s true work.

Sam’s pacifist commitment was evident in his early college years: he first attended UCLA but was forced to leave when he refused to participate in mandatory ROTC (Reserve Officer’s Training Corps). He subsequently became a botany/history major at USC, but was drafted into military service before Pearl Harbor. Knowing that he could not kill another person for any reason, Sam declared himself a Conscientious Objector (CO), and spent the next four years in CPS (Civilian Public Service) Camp, working on forestry projects, fighting forest fires, and serving as a human guinea pig in medical research.

His experience in CPS Camp further honed Sam’s core beliefs and connected him with other young pacifists from various backgrounds. After the war, he finished his education at USC. A recent USC graduate commented: “It’s a helluva university that can graduate both Sam Tyson and the Nixon cabinet — and from the same era!”)

After college, Sam moved to Modesto where he connected with other CO’s who had settled in this area and were creating a cooperative farm. Together they formed a fledgling peace community through a local Fellowship of Reconciliation group and later a CORE (Congress on Racial Equality) group that worked on community issues involving racism and equality as well as supporting a nonviolent approach to world affairs.

Sam sensed early on that his pacifism might well run him afoul of both the law and government policies, and planned his life accordingly. He went into farming not only because of his love of the land and fascination with plant life, but also so the government wouldn’t be able to attach his wages as punishment for his acts of conscience (though they did eventually attach his bank account). He farmed his land in Waterford from 1951 until his death, and raised two sets of children to enjoy working the land, watching things grow, and appreciating the variety, abundance, and wonder of nature.

So strong was Sam’s inner imperative to speak truth to power (in Quaker parlance) that he engaged in civil disobedience countless times, but for Sam it always involved witnessing for peace on behalf of the children of the world, rather than protesting against war and militarism. Tales of the places Sam’s strong presence resulted in arrest would fill volumes: at the Nevada Test Site in 1957; for holding a press conference to announce that a boat called Everyman would set sail into nuclear testing areas in the Pacific in 1962; at the gates of Livermore Lab on many occasions over a 40-year period; Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant; at Congressman Tony Coelho’s office in Modesto. He accepted jail time not only as the inevitable consequence of acting on his convictions but also as time for personal reflection, for interesting conversations with cellmates, and for recommitting and re-centering his life.

In 1970, Sam was instrumental in co-founding the Modesto Peace Center (/Life was added later) along with a diverse group of local peace advocates. From the beginning, Sam was involved in the daily life of the center, taking time off only during harvest season. He did major draft counseling work during the Vietnam War and helped organize local Vietnam Moratorium marches and peace rallies, as well as participating in larger demonstrations in the Bay Area. Peace/Life Center files contain copies of many follow-up letters Sam wrote to speakers the Center brought to Modesto, folks like Dan and Phil Berrigan, Danilo Dolci, John Gofman, Scott Kennedy, Adolfo Perez Esquivel; Sam always reserved the right to point out the drawbacks of a speaker’s presentation, and in his sparse, blunt prose, did so.

Sam had particular empathy for farmworkers, and supported Cesar Chavez’ movement to organize farmworkers into a strong union. He carted food and supplies to Delano and organized security for the UFW March on Gallo in 1975, but always reserved the right to critique UFW strategy and organizing style.

Though often critical of how other peace and justice groups operated, Sam was always willing to work with them even though he didn’t always agree with their agendas. He did, however, always insist that the goals be peaceful and the principles include nonviolence. He welcomed the Center sharing its space and/or human energy with groups such as NOW, Parents Plea for Peace, Nuclear Freeze and Bottle Bill initiative, Beyond War, Stanislaus Safe Energy Committee, Stanislaus County Interfaith Committee on Latin America, Ecology Action, the Green Party, and League of Women Voters. His patient research and strategy was a key factor in shelving the plan to build a nuclear power plant in Waterford in the late 1970s.

Because he was driven by conscience rather than political strategy, Sam was willing to often be the lone voice speaking out for peace. For several years he stood every Tuesday afternoon in front of the Federal Building in Modesto with his hand-lettered sign: “Violence Is Never The Answer.” He welcomed others to join him, but never pressured people to vigil with him, and was content to bear personal witness alone. He enjoyed occasional dialogue with passersby, listening to their views respectfully, and quietly stating his own, but never harangued or berated them. He willingly accepted invitations to speak to students or other groups about the challenges of pacifism, or simply to present an alternative viewpoint on critical issues of the day.

On a one-to-one basis, Sam could be infinitely patient; he could sit and talk for hours, listening carefully, posing probing questions, stating his position briefly, and gently nudging the conversation in the direction of action to promote peace. He genuinely believed that each person needed to form his/her own opinion, and would do so freely if offered adequate information. He offered his views thoughtfully, in a no-nonsense manner, but did not force them on anyone. The process of connecting with others who might share his commitment to peace, mentoring young people who were wrestling with matters of conscience, and living lightly on the earth meant as much to Sam as did his public actions that made the news or landed him in jail. His public actions were, however, deeply thought out, never a lark or a whim or a publicity stunt; they were acts of deep conviction, not political strategy.

Like most visionaries, Sam was not always easy to live with; he had strong opinions, expressed them bluntly, never minced words. Those who knew him well saw his strength of character, admired his courage, put up with his crotchets, and felt honored to have been able to walk the same path with him for a time. Sam never much liked being placed on a pedestal, and refused to serve as anyone’s guru; fortunately, his own basic cantankerous nature often served as a healthy deterrent to pedestalization!

As his health began to fail and his vigor diminished, Sam gradually began an intentional and rather graceful process of letting go of the reins of the Peace/Life Center. For those who were not used to his ways, it may not have been obvious that any letting-go was happening: his opinions were still strong, he was still sure that his way of doing things was the right way, and his style was still abrupt. Yet those who knew him well observed many times when he chose to let go of control: withhold an ascerbic comment, yield consensus rather than blocking it, simply pointing out the obvious without belaboring the issue.

It was particularly painful for Sam when people in the peace community treated each other with disrespect, or when rhetoric replaced thoughtful analysis, and arrogance took the place of humility. Sam was ever the realist about human nature, but when he witnessed periods of conflict within his beloved Center, it was a struggle for him to hold his tongue, bide his time, and trust that people would commit to rebuilding what anger and mistrust had destroyed. His quiet wisdom and patience had more than once mentored the Center through conflict-ridden times. From these he had learned that without putting effort into building a sense of community and personal connection, differences, whether of opinion, personal style or political priorities, could loom large and erode the common ground on which we stand and from which our best peace work emerges. It was a lesson he reminded us of regularly.

When we take on the enormous task of refiling, cataloguing and archiving the Center’s piles and files, much less clean out Sam’s desk, I suspect we will find Sam’s imprint on every single scrap. He was a critical part of the Center for so long and through so many changes that it will be impossible to ignore his mark. For as long as the Peace/Life Center endures, Sam will be missed and remembered for the vision and solid conviction that he brought into our midst. It was indeed a gift.

Even though over the past few months, we saw Sam become more and more frail, somehow we wanted to believe he would always be around. Sam Tyson and the Modesto Peace/Life Center had been linked so closely for so long that it was hard to believe the time would come when he would be gone and it would be up to those he had mentored and those who would arrive later to carry on the work of peacemaking. And now, whether or not we are ready, Sam is gone from our midst and the ongoing tasks are left in our hands.

It has been said that “the pacifist speaks softly and carries a wand of hope.” Sam Tyson was one who held high the wand of hope throughout his 83 years. Many people of conscience were stirred by his courage, moved by his gentleness of spirit and willingness to listen, inspired by his vision, and encouraged by his refusal to budge from the ground on which his deep convictions had placed him. May we continue to hold high the wand of hope and work together with care and courage to continue the work Sam helped to cultivate.

It was Sam’s firm conviction that “There is no time ever that war is justified.” May we join him in spirit in working toward the day when that conviction will become a thriving and enduring reality in our increasingly fragile and violent world.

OPINION: Whither the Peace/Life Center?

By BILL BISHOP

I believe that the proper policy of the Modesto Peace/Life Center is to do everything possible to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the Middle East. We must pursue all avenues legally open to us. It is neither proper nor legal for us to attempt to engage in diplomacy with the contending parties. What is proper and legal for us is to begin to influence the U.S. policy towards the Middle East and influence legislation in Congress. We must focus our efforts on these two objectives. In addition, I believe that we also must focus upon the possible. I do not believe it possible for us to “over-rule” the American Jewish lobby. It is possible to craft a reasonable position statement, and market that statement to the American Jewish lobby as a position which is not inimical to their own.

We must examine our past failures and successes, and learn from them. We can learn important lessons from the Viet Nam war experience, and the resistance to that war.

During the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations, U.S. involvement in Viet Nam was limited. The handsful of people around the country protesting our involvement were very easily ignored: their numbers were too few, and their position was easily marginalized. The government was able to manage the flow of information coming out of Viet Nam. The people of America were being told that all was well in Viet Nam, and that the situation there was in good hands. The media told us there was nothing to fear. We were told that the people waving banners were left-wing freaks: communists, “pinkos” and “fellow travelers” who were simply out of touch with reality. Quite the contrary was true.

This situation did not change until the American presence in Viet Nam became much larger. Then the American people began hearing stories from their sons, their neighbors’ sons, and their children’s old high school friends. The government was no longer able to manage the flow of information coming out of Viet Nam. Once this change occurred, and as our presence in Viet Nam began to affect a larger and larger number of American families, the U.S. media began covering the war in much greater detail. It was only when the American people saw the carnage on the nightly news that the numbers of war protesters swelled to proportions the government was no longer able to ignore. It was the rising number of protesters that finally brought an end to the war.

The current situation in the Middle East is analogous to the situation that occurred during the Eisenhower-Kennedy period. The government and the American Media are managing the news coming out of the Middle East. Thus, the American people are being fed a sanitized version of the news, a version designed to foster a wide-spread denial of what is actually happening. I have no doubt that “mainstream America” would be equally appalled if they were faced with the hard reality of life as it is being imposed upon the Palestinians.

There is also a very important difference between what is happening in the Middle East and the Viet Nam war. We are not going to see large numbers of American soldiers fighting in Israel alongside Israeli soldiers against the Palestinians. This means that the government and the American media are not going to lose control of the flow of information out of the Middle East the same way as the government lost control in Viet Nam. We must never lose sight of this fact, because this means that the current-day protesters against the U.S. policy in the Middle East can be easily marginalized, just as they were during the Kennedy Administration. The American people will be told that protesters are simply out of touch with reality – and the American people will accept it.

If we hope to influence our government’s policy in the Middle East, or have an impact on bills before Congress, we must cause the government and the American media to lose control of the flow of information out of the Middle East. The only way we can do this is to establish ourselves as “honest brokers” of information, and present a credible alternative source of news, a source the American people will neither shun nor ignore.. We must develop alternative avenues of getting this information to the American people. Fortunately, this is easier to do today than it was during the Viet Nam era. To be truly effective, however, We must establish closer ties to other Peace Centers on both state and national levels in order to orchestrate our activities. We can only succeed in this mission when we succeed in bringing the reality of the situation in the Middle East into the public consciousness.

I believe we will not succeed in presenting ourselves as “honest brokers” if we espouse an inflammatory and highly partisan position statement. In no way do I propose to alter the terms suggested as a means of bringing peace to the Middle East. My objection is only to the language used in the statement. At the same time, I also believe that as an “honest broker,” the Peace/Life Center cannot actively sponsor demonstrations against the Israeli suppression in the Middle East. I believe that this is the proper business of the Committee for Peace in the Middle East. I also believe that we must establish a formal separation between the Committee for Peace in the Middle East and the Modesto Peace/Life Center. The appropriate mission of the Peace/Life Center is to provide the general public with the information that will provoke a much larger protest from the citizenry as a whole. The concept here is to use information to leverage the numbers of protesters into a force that the government cannot ignore. Failing this, we fail in our mission.

I do not wish to deprecate the members of the Committee for Peace in the Middle East. Their work is essential. Should we succeed in bringing a more realistic perception to mainstream America, the Committee and its counterparts around the country will serve as the standard bearers for the larger protests necessary to effect the changes we wish to bring about.

In order for us to influence the world we live in, we must change the way we think, the way we act, and the way in which we organize ourselves. We must focus upon that which can be done. As the Modesto Peace/Life Center, we renounce violent action. We must renounce violent thoughts and words as well. I believe that the Peace/Life Center’s current position statement on the Middle East contains too much violence in its thought. Upon reading it, one does not walk away feeling that we are concerned about the well being of all the parties involved in the conflict. It is for this reason that I propose an alternate statement, a statement based upon the balance necessary if Peace is ever going to have a chance in the Middle East. (see p. ?)

This month, the Board of Directors will hold a general meeting to discuss the wording of the PLC’s Middle East Position Statement. I submit that it is the responsibility of all members of the Peace/Life Center to attend the meeting, and to provide input to the Board on what the Membership believes to be the proper mission of the Peace/Life Center.