STANISLAUS CONNECTIONS

Working For Peace, Justice, and A Sustainable Environment

December, 2002

A Modesto Peace/Life Center Publication

Peace

Statement of Conscience Against War and Repression

Let it not be said that people in the United States did nothing when their government declared a war without limit and instituted stark new measures of repression.

The signers of this statement call on the people of the U.S. to resist the policies and overall political direction that have emerged since September 11, 2001, and which pose grave dangers to the people of the world.

We believe that peoples and nations have the right to determine their own destiny, free from military coercion by great powers. We believe that all persons detained or prosecuted by the United States government should have the same rights of due process. We believe that questioning, criticism, and dissent must be valued and protected. We understand that such rights and values are always contested and must be fought for.

We believe that people of conscience must take responsibility for what their own governments do — we must first of all oppose the injustice that is done in our own name. Thus we call on all Americans to RESIST the war and repression that has been loosed on the world by the Bush administration. It is unjust, immoral, and illegitimate. We choose to make common cause with the people of the world.

We too watched with shock the horrific events of September 11, 2001. We too mourned the thousands of innocent dead and shook our heads at the terrible scenes of carnage — even as we recalled similar scenes in Baghdad, Panama City, and, a generation ago, Vietnam. We too joined the anguished questioning of millions of Americans who asked why such a thing could happen.

But the mourning had barely begun, when the highest leaders of the land unleashed a spirit of revenge. They put out a simplistic script of “good vs. evil” that was taken up by a pliant and intimidated media. They told us that asking why these terrible events had happened verged on treason. There was to be no debate. There were by definition no valid political or moral questions. The only possible answer was to be war abroad and repression at home.

In our name, the Bush administration, with near unanimity from Congress, not only attacked Afghanistan but arrogated to itself and its allies the right to rain down military force anywhere and anytime. The brutal repercussions have been felt from the Philippines to Palestine, where Israeli tanks and bulldozers have left a terrible trail of death and destruction. The government now openly prepares to wage all-out war on Iraq — a country which has no connection to the horror of September 11. What kind of world will this become if the U.S. government has a blank check to drop commandos, assassins, and bombs wherever it wants?

In our name, within the U.S., the government has created two classes of people: those to whom the basic rights of the U.S. legal system are at least promised, and those who now seem to have no rights at all. The government rounded up over 1,000 immigrants and detained them in secret and indefinitely. Hundreds have been deported and hundreds of others still languish today in prison. This smacks of the infamous concentration camps for Japanese-Americans in World WarII. For the first time in decades, immigration procedures single out certain nationalities for unequal treatment.

In our name, the government has brought down a pall of repression over society. The President’s spokesperson warns people to “watch what they say.” Dissident artists, intellectuals, and professors find their views distorted, attacked, and suppressed. The so-called USA PATRIOT Act — along with a host of similar measures on the state level — gives police sweeping new powers of search and seizure, supervised if at all by secret proceedings before secret courts.

In our name, the executive has steadily usurped the roles and functions of the other branches of government. Military tribunals with lax rules of evidence and no right to appeal to the regular courts are put in place by executive order. Groups are declared “terrorist” at the stroke of a presidential pen.

We must take the highest officers of the land seriously when they talk of a war that will last a generation and when they speak of a new domestic order. We are confronting a new openly imperial policy towards the world and a domestic policy that manufactures and manipulates fear to curtail rights.

There is a deadly trajectory to the events of the past months that must be seen for what it is and resisted. Too many times in history people have waited until it was too late to resist. President Bush has declared: “you’re either with us or against us.” Here is our answer: We refuse to allow you to speak for all the American people. We will not give up our right to question. We will not hand over our consciences in return for a hollow promise of safety. We say NOT IN OUR NAME. We refuse to be party to these wars and we repudiate any inference that they are being waged in our name or for our welfare. We extend a hand to those around the world suffering from these policies; we will show our solidarity in word and deed.

We who sign this statement call on all Americans to join together to rise to this challenge. We applaud and support the questioning and protest now going on, even as we recognize the need for much, much more to actually stop this juggernaut. We draw inspiration from the Israeli reservists who, at great personal risk, declare “there IS a limit” and refuse to serve in the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

We also draw on the many examples of resistance and conscience from the past of the United States: from those who fought slavery with rebellions and the underground railroad, to those who defied the Vietnam war by refusing orders, resisting the draft, and standing in solidarity with resisters.

Let us not allow the watching world today to despair of our silence and our failure to act. Instead, let the world hear our pledge: we will resist the machinery of war and repression and rally others to do everything possible to stop it.

Signed

The Board of the Modesto Peace/Life Center:

John Lucas
Dan Onorato    
Michael Napp
James Costello  
John Frailing
David Rockwell
Ssha Retford
Karen Lee
Mimi Poinsett
Joe Tornberg
Sandy Sample

Modesto Committee for Peace in the Middle East
Alternatives to War
Green Party of Stanislaus County
MJC Student Activists Association

and over 30,000 other signatories

Action:  for more information see http://www.nion.us/

The War on Terrorism Has Come to Our Toy Stores

Are we teaching our kids that assault rifles are fun?

While real bombs are blowing up real people’ house, do you want your child playing war games with rocket launchers, machine guns, army sniper action figures, and a bomb-shattered doll-house full of bullet holes.

All that is missing is the dead and wounded wedding party out back!

This is scary stuff!

Please choose toys that help our children overcome their fears of war.

A year ago our TV screens were filled for days with scenes of crashing planes, exploding buildings, falling skyscrapers, a screaming people running of their lives. 

Now, just when it began to feel safe to be a child again, there is a new terror.  WAR!

So who is terrorized?  THE CHILDREN!

War is not a game. Violence is not acceptable in our children’s world. Our children are scared. AGAIN!

You can help by making choices thoughtfully when you buy toys. Remember that ‘child’s play’ reflects their view of the adult world and the role they may play in it. You can avoid the toys that remind children of the violence that seems to crush and destroy their world. You can find toys that foster creative growth, toys that encourage cooperative play, toys and help them ‘pretend’ a world that is peaceful and nurturing and normal, and maybe some day it will be.

--Thanks to Berkeley Friends Meeting (Quakers) and  the Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento for developing and distributing this material.

Holiday Shopping with the Modesto Committee for Peace in the Middle East
By MICHAEL NAPP

The actions of the War Congress and the President in insisting that the US go to war against Iraq while undemocratically ignoring the hundreds of thousands (representing millions) of people demonstrating for peace has created a situation that requires that voices for peace be brought directly to the people. We cannot wait for ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC of FOX to get on board, so Modesto volunteers for peace will fill the gap.

December is a traditional month of peace. December is also traditionally the largest retail month of the year. The Modesto Committee for Peace in the Middle East has scheduled 2 days to bring the message of peace to shoppers. 

On December 8th and 21st, the Committee will set up informational tables at bookstores, grocery stores, and shopping centers. Volunteers for peace in the Middle East will hand out informational packets, collect signatures on petitions, and talk with shoppers about no war against Iraq, justice for Palestinians, and getting the U.S. out of the Middle East.

Volunteers for peace in the Middle East will gather at noon at the Peace/Life Center, 720 13th St., Sunday, December 8th and Saturday, 21st, and go in pairs to shopping locations.

Exercise your Freedom of Speech!

Jewish and Palestinian women: You and I are the conscience

Bat Shalom is a feminist peace organization working toward a just peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

On the second day of the Sukkat Bat Shalom, a Palestinian woman from Ramallah was visiting her sister in the area. She saw the women of Bat Shalom in the middle of a public witness, and she stopped and asked to read a poem to those assembled. She read the poem in Arabic, and a Bat Shalom activist translated it into Hebrew. Below is the English translation.

I and You

I wept today and you will weep tomorrow.
Maybe you've wept for your husband and tomorrow
you'll weep for your son.
Let me tell you, I've already wept for both my
son and husband.

I wish I could walk into every house around carrying
within me anguish and heartache and mourning.
Come, mother of Ibrahim and mother of Itzhak, let's
weep together, you and me.
Longing for our loved ones unites us, you and me.
Motherhood unites us, you and me.
The heart aches.
Let's remember if in life there is no place for us on this earth,
We have place enough under it.
Let's pray together, mother of Ibrahim and mother of Itzhak.
You and I are the conscience.
You and I are love and peace.
You and I are the bridge to truth.

— a Palestinian mother

Bat Shalom, together with The Jerusalem Center for Women, a Palestinian women's peace organization, comprise the organization The Jerusalem Link. Visit: http://www.batshalom.org/2002/1.htm

Western Muslim writers launch new Web magazine

Asking themselves "What went wrong?" a group of Muslim writers living in America, Europe, and Australia launched a Web-based publication they hope will be part of a solution to conflict between Islam and the West. It's unpredictable in its social and political views. Check it out at:   http://www.atrueword.com

Peace site geared for the young (at heart)

PeaceJam is an international education program built around leading Nobel Peace Laureates who work personally with youth to pass on the spirit, skills, and wisdom they embody. The goal of PeaceJam is to inspire a new generation of peacemakers who will transform their local communities. Go to: http://www.peacejam.org/news.shtml

Copyright and source: (c) 2002 Sojourners. Used with permission: www.sojo.net

An Iraqi Teach In 
By JOHN RAMOS 
The Pirates Log, Modesto Junior College

Dissent can be found in the quietest places. On a hazy Sunday afternoon, November 3rd at MJC, a group of about 150 students, faculty and political activists gathered to exchange information at a teach-in titled, "Should We go to War With Iraq?"

Posters displayed on the wall indicated that the organizers of the event already had their answer. "Why pledge allegiance to Exxon?" read one. Another quoted President Bush, saying, "Great nations compete in peace instead of prepare for war."

The Student Activist Club at MJC invited four speakers from various organizations to be guests on a panel and provide alternative voices on the Iraq issue other than those offered by the mainstream media.

Although the guest speakers were unified under the common thread of opposing military action against Iraq, their varying views offered a patchwork of anti-war commentary.

Mitchell Plitnick, a member of the Coordinating Committee of A Jewish Voice for Peace, described how the American government has handled Iraq over the last 15 years, from former president George Bush's initial policy of indifference to the continuous bombing that has taken place over the last 11 years. He also claimed that the Bush Administration manufactured the connections between Osama Bin Laden, Yasser Arafat, and Saddam Hussein.

Elias Rashmawi, Vice President of the Greater Sacramento Area Chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, took a different approach. Rashmawi used the geographic importance of Iraq and the history of regional U.S. interventions there, to support his opinion that war with Iraq is wrong.

"Compared to what is going on in the Middle East, September 11 was a picnic," said Rashmawi, referring to ongoing U.S. interventions in the region.

Rashmawi brought the colossal size of the U.S. military into perspective. The U.S. military budget for 2003 is set for $396.1 billion dollars, when the combined military budgets of all the other allies are $198 billion. There are three U.S. Naval fleets permanently stationed around the Middle East, which exports 25.3% of the United States' net oil consumed. These numbers testify to U.S. intentions to dominate the region for its own purposes, he explained. But "Arab land is for Arabs; it is not a playground for the United States," concluded Rashmawi.

Dan Onorato, an MJC professor and board member of Modesto's Peace/Life Center, discussed the fallacy of President Bush's argument that you are either with him and his administration or you are with the terrorists. Professor Onorato used as an example the large segment of American citizens who are opposed to the approaching conflict and are ignored, or underestimated by the media.

Like Rashmawi, Onorato also touched upon the enormous amount of money that this war would cost the U.S. Onorato said the military is funding the newly upgraded Patriot missile that will be used in Iraq. They cost $2.7 million each, and they have yet to work properly in tests. The B-2 bomber, which will also be heavily used in the Iraq campaign, costs a staggering $2 billion dollars apiece.

Ted Lewis rounded out the group by addressing the lack of engagement that plagues Americans regarding the government's foreign policy. Lewis, the Human Rights Director for Global Exchange, referred to the complacency of the American people and how that has contributed to the current state of affairs. He then called for a more active resistance movement in this area.

All over the country an anti-war movement is taking shape. On Oct. 26, more than 100,000 people rallied to promote peace in San Francisco, Washington D.C. and several other cities throughout the United States, making it the largest organized anti-war rally since the Vietnam War.

According to the Student Activist Club, an emergency rally is planned in Modesto at the corner of Briggsmore and McHenry Avenues for the day military action begins in Iraq. Judging from the increasingly vocal dissent, actions like this teach-in are only the beginning.

Reprinted with permission. Slightly edited.

OPINION: Pandoras's Box revisited 
By KEN KOHLER and FRED HERMAN

The inventors of America envisioned a ruling system of checks and balances. That was more than two centuries ago. Politicians pursuing their own ends have tried to undo that balance to put their covert agendas on the fast track.

The Bush machine will soon control both houses of Congress. Yes, control. George W. Bush will set the agenda and the Republican majorities will rubber-stamp it. He will name right wing conservatives to our courts with Senate assent. This puts him in a position few presidents have enjoyed. He and his people effectively control all aspects of government - of our very lives.

His control of the media via news blackouts has begun. Protests against his war on Iraq have - along with other anti-administration issues - been misreported. The media look ever more like government broadsides rather than free and independent.

The balance is gone. We have moved from democracy to dictatorship in two short years -beginning with the non-election of Bush in 2000, culminating in 2002. A silent coup, accomplished without bloodshed through money buying misuse of the ballot box, it is as dangerous as any dictatorship anywhere.

If there was any doubt that we will fight Iraq for the oil fields of the Middle East trading thousands of lives for lower prices at the pump, there is none now.

If there was any doubt the poor will get poorer and the rich richer, there is none now.

If there was any doubt about the privatization of Social Security and the loss of financial security for millions - while a few make extra millions - there is no doubt now.

If there was any doubt of ending reproductive rights, there is none now.

If there was any doubt that the United States will impose its will upon the world with its nuclear arsenal, it is gone.

If there was any doubt that personal freedoms will be curtailed in the name of security with the judiciary's blessing, forget now.

RIP, gay rights and funding for HIV research.

RIP, federal support for the arts; the Pentagon contractors need the money more.

RIP, any national health insurance.

RIP, the Arctic Wildlife Refuge-big oil needs it for more profits.

This "compassionate conservatism" will be implemented in the next two years.

The election of 2002 has opened a Pandora's box wide. The future is bleak. We must decide who owns this country-the rich and infamous or the average citizen.

We retain a choice. We are still our brothers' keepers. Do we restore compassion to America or do we sell out our history, our heritage.

The clock is ticking. Let us act, let us find comfort, in non-violent unity, and action.

West Coast Anti-War March coming From: International A.N.S.W.E.R.

On January 18, 2003, thousands will march in San Francisco to declare "No War On Iraq!" The march will be the West Coast component to the National Anti-War Mass Demonstration in Washington, DC on that day.

The Washington, DC protest will be followed by the convening of a National Grassroots Peace Congress the following day, January 19. Many activists from San Francisco will fly from the January 18 protest to attend the Congress the next day. We encourage all those who oppose the war to attend one of the January 18 protests, either in San Francisco or Washington.

Jan. 18-19 commemorates the 12th anniversary of the first Gulf War, as well as the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King publicly condemned the U.S. war in Vietnam, providing a powerful connection between the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. In his "Beyond Vietnam" speech at Riverside Church in 1967, he stated, "The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today [is] my own government…[F]or the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent."

Dr. King believed that it was impossible to successfully wage a war on poverty at home while waging a war of aggression in Vietnam. The same can be said today about George W. Bush's global war drive. Social programs and services are being looted as Bush & Congress provide record-breaking sums for weapons of mass destruction and war. We demand that these hundreds of billions of dollars be spent on jobs, education, housing, health care and to meet human needs!

ACTION: For information, contact A.N.S.W.E.R., 415-821-6545, email answer@actionsf.org, or go to www.internationalanswer.org or www.votenowar.org. International A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism), 2489 Mission St., Rm. 24, San Francisco, CA 94110.

The Bloodstained path By DENNIS KUCINICH

November 11, 2002

I am sitting at the window with the traffic slowing as the night advances. What do I see here that is so different from what the US administration or foreign diplomats see as they make plans to destroy this country? Why does their plan seem so totally implausible for me?

Peggy Gish and I just came back this evening from a packed church service at the Chaldean Catholic Church. It was in Arabic, but folks gathered around us afterwards to welcome us, learn who we were, and invite us up for tea and visiting. They provide a Friday school to 300 students who are in a very poor section of the city. A soccer coach there thought the US would not go to war. A friend joined us at supper. He was in school during the devastating Iran/Iraq War and was finishing his civil engineering degree when the Gulf War happened. He sounded like a conscientious objector to war. He has three young children who are oblivious to the war he sees as inevitable. That is good, I think.

I look outside and realize that all these urban engineering feats have been achieved as this country moved from being a less-developed country just decades ago. And those years have included two major wars and the most extreme sanctions that have ever been applied to a country. I read that Iraq has had one of the best-educated peoples anywhere because of their emphasis on learning. The sanctions are changing that.

Here there are taxi drivers and others who refuse to take my money because of our peacemaking work even though they are scraping to meet basic family living expenses. Two days in a row a person at the hospital walked me through the streets to the dentist so that I would find the way. He absolutely refused to accept my thank you tip.

At a gathering last Sunday an Iraqi said, "This country is part of a long history of civilization." That history dwarfs our brief moment as the United States, yet we make plans to re-write the story of the world with radiation and obliteration. Maybe the difference between me and the US administration is that I've been privileged to meet the people here. President Bush needs this chance to look in the eyes of the people of Iraq. It should be a requirement before anyone can start a war. I was riding down an elevator last week. A stranger asked me where I was from. When I explained that I was from the United States, he said, "So you are my enemy," as, with a smile, he reached out to shake my hand.

Cliff Kindy Christian Peacemaker Team (Cliff has spoken in Modesto)