STANISLAUS CONNECTIONS
Working For Peace, Justice, and A Sustainable Environment
May 2004
A Modesto Peace/Life Center Publication
Peace & Justice
This year's Peace Camp will be the twenty-second time we've gathered at Camp Peaceful Pines on Clark Fork of the Stanislaus River. Glowing reports came to us last year from John Moriarty, who experienced it as a life-affirming, restoring weekend. Coming from Stockton, he joined a group from Tuolumne County and those of us from Stanislaus and other far-flung parts.
Over the years we have built many traditions related to peace, justice, and a sustainable environment. We've talked, learned, sung, hiked, relaxed, and oh yes! eaten together! (The best camp food you'll ever hope to eat.)
The mountain setting is incomparable and the relief from the Valley heat is welcome. The night sky is awe-inspiring. Children and adults all find their own way to joy in the Sierra Nevada.
ACTION: Camp will be held from June 25 –27. Sign up using the registration blank. Call the Center, 529-5750 for more info. And, yes, we will need volunteers to help with everything.The Peace/Life Center invites all who can to join in a peace vigil each Friday for the next six weeks. We'll be in front of the federal post office on 12th and I Streets, 4:30 TO 5:30 P.M. Help send a message that our national priorities need to be changed. We want international cooperation not imperial domination. We want investment in human uplift, here and abroad, not in ever more destructive weaponry, here or in outer space. We want less money for the Pentagon and more for pressing social needs: jobs and job retraining, health care for all, good education for poor and rich alike, a restored environment, affordable housing, and food and shelter for the homeless.
Please bring a sign that reflects this message. Make sure the printing is big enough for all to see from a distance.
Everyone is invited to join us. For those who maintain some practice of sacrifice and generosity during Lent, you might see this as part of your Lenten effort toward inner conversion. In working on inner change we are working on social change. Our personal expense of time and energy will help promote the renewal of our society, a society marked by wisdom and compassion and recommitted to social justice and peace.
— From Charles Jenks, The Traprock Peace Center
The US Central Command has issued its investigative report on the attack on Marines at An Nasiriyah by 2 A-10 Warthogs on March 23, 2003.
Initially, Americans were told, and US media reported, that the Marines died as a result of Iraqi's pretending to surrender, and then firing on the Marines. It was then revealed that two A-10's had attacked the Marines during the worst so-called 'friendly' fire incident of the war.
18 Marines died and 17 were wounded during the engagement with Iraqi forces and the US A-10's. The A-10's fired Maverick missiles at vehicles and strafed vehicles and US Marines on the ground with 30 mm 'depleted' uranium rounds. One Marine witnessed 9 strafing runs.
On March 19, 2004, NPR had broadcast accounts by Marines given shortly after the battle to Marine historians. Marines described multiple deaths from the A-10's; a sergeant said that most of the Americans deaths were caused by the A-10's. Col. Reed Bonadonna, Marine historian, described the devastating effect of the 30 mm DU rounds and called for a legitimate investigation of the incident:
"I think that most of the Marines felt that with the kind of price that is being paid by this war, by a lot of people, and with the stakes being what they are, that falling back on some kind of no comment or bland, evasive or euphemistic language is really inadequate to the situation. That this kind of sacrifice, only the truth is good enough. That to try to protect somebody's nasty little career or to try to throw a gloss over this as if it didn't exist. The proper function of military history is to instruct people so we do it better next time, save people's lives." (transcription from NPR broadcast.)
Yet, the Central Command report did not confirm a single death caused by the A-10's. It found that the cause of death for 10 Marines was "indeterminable."
Of Marines wounded, the Central Command said in its press release: "Of the 17 wounded, only one was conclusively determined to have been hit by friendly fire." Further, that "three Marines were wounded while inside vehicles that received both friendly and hostile fire, and the exact sequence and source of their injuries could not be determined."
It is unbelievable that the military could not confirm if these Marines were injured by an A-10's strafing, as DU is radioactive.
There was barely a mention of 'depleted' uranium in the report itself, even though it played a key role. It was mentioned in connection marking vehicles that had been hit by the 30 mm rounds as radioactive.
It seems clear that the military has minimized this deadly incident. Why?
Visit www.traprockpeace.org/du_friendly_fire_add.html for more. It also includes exclusive commentary by Dr. Doug Rokke (retired Major USAR), and others, and links to the NPR and Central Command original resources and media accounts.
Traprock
Peace Center, 103A Keets Rd., Deerfield, MA 01342; 413-773-1633; charles@mtdata.com; http://traprockpeace.org
These new board members were elected on February 28, 2004 at the Annual Meeting.
NORMA OVRAHIM
OCCUPATION: World Citizen, mother, forever a student, and for 40 hours a week a loan servicing rep.
WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THE CENTER AND WHEN: I was acquainted with the MPLC through the Stanislaus Connection for years. By the end of 2002, during the anti-war resurgence, I attempted to network CSU Stanislaus student activists with the Center. Those initial contacts led to induction into the board. What a leap of faith!
WHAT SPECIAL FOCUS AREAS DO YOU BRING TO THE BOARD: As an adolescent, I have participated in the anti-Shah protests leading to the Iranian Revolution in 1978-79. During the next four years of the post-revolution, I was engaged in labor and grass root organizing of the sweatshops and the slums of Tehran respectively. During the last 20 years, living in U. S., I have experienced the life of an immigrant and a single parent. As a student, I have been active through Women's Advocacy Organization (a feminist student club) and Amnesty International at CSU Stanislaus. I bring energy and enthusiasm for a better tomorrow, which I see as my maternal obligation. And I would like to see the MPLC to become a dynamic and fierce voice for peace and justice.
KAREN LEE
OCCUPATION: Real Estate Appraiser.
WHAT BROUGHT ME TO THE CENTER: 9-11. When the planes flew into the towers and it became clear that it wasn't an accident, our President began sending the message that we were headed for war. It was clear to me that, rather than our government beginning an introspective analysis of our foreign policies and how they got us to a point where others hated us, we would choose the violence of war. I needed to become active with others in the Peace community and so sought out the Modesto Peace/Life Center. My brother is currently stationed in Kuwait which strengthens my commitment to speaking out against war.
WHAT SPECIAL FOCUS AREAS DO YOU BRING TO THE BOARD: My experience on other boards. I am a union steward and have sat on the AFSCME local 10 Board. I have negotiated for employee rights and benefits. I am interested in promoting peace and justice issues and am willing to be active in the community to accomplish it.
JOHN LUCAS
OCCUPATION: Resource Specialist for Modesto City Schools at Fairview and Shackelford Elementary Schools in west Modesto.
WHAT BROUGHT ME TO THE CENTER: I became active in the PLC after the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan to the presidency. I was concerned about the continued increases in the war making budget and Reagan’s conservative foreign policy.
WHAT SPECIAL FOCUS AREAS DO YOU BRING TO THE BOARD: In college, I studied Latin American politics and National Security. I was involved in trying to stop the war being waged on Nicaragua, and the atrocities of military regimes being supported by our nation politically and financially. In 1983 I visited Nicaragua for 6 weeks and produced a videotape about Nicaragua which I showed to university classes and at a public viewing.
JAMES COSTELLO
OCCUPATION: Physicians Assistant in pediatrics.
WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO THE CENTER AND WHEN: I joined war and its possible effects. I became convinced that planning to wage nuclear war and promoting civil defense from nuclear war were untenable, and that producing nuclear weapons was immoral and should be opposed. I was also impressed with the PLC’s efforts in preventing a nuclear power plant from coming to Stanislaus County.
WHAT SPECIAL FOCUS AREAS DO YOU BRING TO THE BOARD: I enjoy using my interests and background in working on the Peace Center’s newspaper, Stanislaus Connections, and in participating on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Committee.
SHELLY
SCRIBNER
Bishop
Desmond Tutu: hope and challenge
By DAN ONORATO
Ten years ago, events in
Africa both shocked and inspired the world. In Rwanda, Hutus slaughtered over
800,000 Tutsis within one hundred days in one of history's most gruesome
genocides. In stark contrast, a month later, following decades of struggle and
sacrifice, the black people of South Africa became free in a transfer of power
that was nonviolent. South Africans chose peace and reconciliation over
vengeance and bloody retaliation. A major influence in that historic miracle was
Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
On April 1, this tireless
opponent of Apartheid, who was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for
his crusade against racial injustice, spoke at the University of the Pacific's
Alex Spanos Center to a crowd of over 1,500. You could feel the buzz of
expectation ahead of time, so that when the unassuming, gray-haired prelate
arrived on the stage, the audience rose in thunderous standing ovation —
before he even said a word. A man short in stature but mighty in spirit, Bishop
Tutu radiated energy and hope.
Most of us in our time, he
began, are feeling close to despondent about the state of our world. "The
news that dominates is anything but uplifting." Wars, conflicts, disease,
HIV Aids, all these problems make us "wonder whether human history is a
'tale of sound and fury signifying nothing.'" "Is this the case?"
he asked, then quickly answered, "NO!"
Tutu focused on the upside
of history. Nazism and fascism were vanquished, the Berlin Wall fell, Communism
disintegrated, and, despite appearing invincible for many years, Apartheid was
dismantled. April 27, 2004, he announced glowingly, "marks for us South
Africans a decade of freedom. You don't know what it means to be unfree. Now we
have the prize jewel — we are free!"
He extended his expressive
hands to embrace the audience: "Our victory would have been totally
impossible without the support of the international community — the prayers,
boycotts, demonstrations, civil disobedience, and the students getting their
universities to divest in South Africa. On behalf of millions, our thanks come
from the bottom of our hearts."
In the remaining time of
his short address, Tutu reflected on what for him is probably the core of his
faith and hope. The change in South Africa, he explained, represents the
"fact that this is a moral universe, that right and wrong matter, and that
this is God's world and God is in charge."
Nelson Mandela "should
have been consumed by bitterness and anger, but instead he exhorted people to
walk the path of reconciliation and forgiveness." In a wonderful example to
his people, Tutu recounted, Mandela invited his former white jailer to his
inauguration as a VIP guest. When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
hearings began, the world was further awed at the extraordinary magnanimity of
spirit in the South African people.
"For our God,"
Tutu announced, "creation is a work in progress, moving to a glorious
climax, a world of compassion and caring where all will live together in
peace."
"We're fundamentally
good," he asserted. That's why "we admire good people — Mother
Teresa, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr.
. . . I have a dream that one day our children will wake up and realize they're
all family. . . . and God says, in my family there are no outsiders . . . . God
loves us all, black, white, yellow, red, gay, lesbian. . . . How, if we're
family, can we spend as much as we do on 'defense' budgets? God loves us all,
Sharon, Arafat . . . Bush, bin Laden . . . all, all."
Throughout this explanation
of his vision, the audience erupted in applause, though, tellingly, at the
mention of the last four political figures, clapping yielded to quiet
reflection, and, perhaps, resistance.
When Bishop Tutu ended, I
wasn't ready to let him go. His mere presence, his aura of genuine humility and
enthusiasm blended with humor, compassion, and indefatigable energy were a gift
in themselves. I felt I was in the presence of a truly rare human being.
And I wanted to learn more,
especially about what he thought of contemporary events, such as the U.S.
invasion and occupation of Iraq, the Israeli wall and the continuing conflict
between Palestinians and Israelis, or the worldwide efforts to counter
globalization in its current form. I would have loved to hear him reflect at
length on how South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which he
headed, might be a model of conflict resolution in other parts of the world,
whether in Latin America, the Balkans, or the Middle East. And I would have
relished hearing him respond to a nagging, persistent question: if God was in
charge during the miracle of South Africa's peaceful emergence, where was God in
Rwanda's blood bath?
ACTION:
Read Bishop Tutu's latest book: God Has a
Dream: A Vision of Hope for our Time.
By JOHN MOREARTY
Good Friday dawn at the fence of Livermore Lab, yet one more time. 200 believers, including a Jewish guitar player, gathered in chilly fog around a scrap wood cross. “We’re not called to be faithful to success,” said the Latin American priest —“but faithful to struggle.”
“Theological discussions don’t help much,” said the minister. “Where people of faith unite is in action, struggling for the world we want.”
“We stopped the Laser Isotope Plutonium Separator here years ago with massive public hearings,” said Marylia Kelley of Tri-Valley CAREs. “At the end of April, we can pack the hearings and stop them from doubling the amount of plutonium at the Lab to 3300 pounds. They want to test-manufacture plutonium pits for new ‘improved’ nuclear weapons. Come to the hearings and be heard! Say no!”
We prayed, remembering Haiti, where freedom has been kidnapped; Sudan, where government genocide murders 1000 people a week. Remembering the widows of Iraq with their orphaned children, American welfare mothers, men hungry for jobs to feed their families. “It’s a world of injustice where lies are only loosely-wrapped, tissue-papered to look like the truth.”
We recalled Isaiah’s vision: “You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not…you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.”
Down Vasco Road we followed the cross, singing “Awake from your slumber, arise from your sleep! A new day is dawning, for all those who weep.” At the gates of the lab were fifty cops in black — helmets, shades, masks, clubs. Seventy resisters knelt down before them, “reclaiming God’s holy ground for the people of the earth.”
One by one they were led away to buses, while we sang “This land is your land, this land is my land… I saw a sign there said ‘No Trespassing,’ but on the other side it didn’t say nothin’— that side was made for you and me!”
This reporter spotted Art Raab of Lodi. “Art, you’ve been coming here for many years. Is this the year we’re gonna end war and stuff?” He smiled. “We’re closer than we’ve ever been.”
This morning Mona, my daughter, left next to my bed a draft of reflections that she wrote before going to bed. Her reflections center around two killings that have touched us here in Jerusalem and in the whole land. The killing of George Elias Khoury, 20-year-old and a friend of my son Zack, on French Hill on Friday evening while he was jogging, shocked all of the East Jerusalem community. His killing was the result of mistaken identity by Palestinian groups that thought him to be an Israeli. The pain that all, Moslem and Christian, in East Jerusalem felt was great. The other killing was that of Sheikh Yassin. Mona is apolitical but the killing touched her as it touched all Palestinians and all peace-seeking individuals.
Bernard Sabella
Dr. Sabella is Executive Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches Dept. on Service to Palestine Refugees in Jerusalem.
I am a seventeen-year-old girl, with few words but so many different feelings, feelings I don't understand, feelings of anger and of sadness. There is one thing I hate most about life, and that is death, though I know it's a fact I have to live with, and indeed I do live with, but still I hate it. I have learned, as I'm sure everybody else has, that death is a destiny that will eventually hit us all, and I have also learned that no man or woman on earth have the right to take a person's life, for it's God's job. This is what I learned and what everyone naturally knows. The only question remains is, why do people do it, enjoy doing it, and think it's a good thing to do it? Kill the enemy, the enemy will kill you, your children will kill their children and their children's children will kill your children's children and so on ...
Remind yourself, have you ever felt pain when someone dies or when someone loses something dear, or when some one hears bad news? Not the pain where you've cut your finger, but the pain that has touched your heart till this very day? My father's friend (Samia Khoury) yesterday wrote about George Khoury and how his mother instead of getting a kiss from her son on mother's day, kissed her son goodbye. He was killed in an ugly and disgusting way. I saw his picture in the newspaper and saw how handsome and nice he looked. I heard from my brother that he was a quiet and smart guy and I was very touched. I didn't know him and I was touched. What would you think his family felt? How can they be ok with that?
Yesterday,Al-Sheikh Yassin was killed, and again, instead of dying peacefully in his bed, he was hit by a missile [that flew]right into his head. Writing that sentence makes me want to cry. I know so little about life yet I know one thing for sure: killing, murdering, and blood shedding have no excuse. Nothing will change, no matter how much I write. I am angry. The ones I wish could read this are not going to. And even if they do, they would not get it. Why do they want people to feel pain?
The worst thing about it is that we can control it. Years have gone and years have come and nothing has changed: they shoot we shoot, they kill we kill. If it only made things better, then I would know why they keep on doing it! I don't know why I care so much anyway. It's only stupid questions I wish I could find answers to.
Nobody can convince me that God gave permission to kill, not even the worst person alive. Silly questions, messed up feelings, all I can get out of my mouth. Nothing else. Nothing.
Israeli and Palestinian peace and
justice websites
