Peace & Justice
On behalf of the Pancake Breakfast committee, I would like to thank the following volunteers for their assistance on June 12, 2005. Sandy Sample , Kathryn Saarloos, Lana Gee Gott, Emily and Evan Gott, Tom Hampson, Jim Feeney and Anita Young, Marianne, Kelly, and Sabina Villalobos, Phoebe Tyson, Nancy Bupp, Ken Schroeder, Kesa and Deva, Ron Gowans, Lorrie Freitas, Mimsie, Carlee, and Jaime Farrar, Sarah Riddle, Elizabeth Clark, Nancy Griggs, Nancy Smith, Drew Monson, Julie Esquivel, Monique Capp, Tina Driskill, Hannah Parris, Karen Lee, Yolanda and Serra Borland and Michael, Tim and Rigel Smart, Andra Sheller, Rich and Habibah Harvey, Dorothy Griggs Moni Frailing, Cheryl Turner, Doug Beaman.
The following Peace/Life Center Board members also volunteered: Shelly Scribner, Dan Onorato, John Lucas, John Frailing, and Jim Costello.
We also would like to thank you to the College Avenue Congregational Church and all of you who donated to the breakfast by contributing food, syrup, flour, etc.: Brighter Side, Jensen family, Deva Cafe, Ray Miller & Crazy Horse, Trader Joe’s, Hurley Couchman family, Florence Baker, Myrtle Osner, Tracy Herbeck, Tyson Hill Farm. For his first time as a volunteer, we would like to thank Ken Cheeseman for his great massages. He donated all his proceeds towards the breakfast. Finally, the breakfast would not have been complete without Ken Schroeder who organizes the Peace/Life table at various community events. For his efforts and organization, we are grateful.
I would especially like to acknowledge the Pancake Breakfast committee: Deborah Roberts (light, fluffy, vegan wheatberry pancakes, no less!), Kathy Waite, Indira Clark, Noel Russell and (unofficial member) Jim Lydick, Stacie Bradford, (and Beth, who managed to corral this group away from their other commitments long enough to organize this fundraiser).
Again, thank you, our Peace community, for supporting this Modesto Peace/Life Center fundraiser.
From TriValley CAREs
On the 60th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, join us to plant "Seeds of Change" by calling for an end to nuclear weapons. Rally speakers and music include Utah Phillips, Clan Dyken, and Dave Lippman. The rally includes a potluck picnic dinner, children's activities, and a candlelight march to the gates of the Lab. The rally will be at 5 PM on Saturday, August 6 at William Payne Park. The march to the gates of the Livermore nuclear weapons lab will begin at 7 PM.
"On August 6, 1945, I heard a tremendous blast. My hands, head, shirt and trousers were covered in blood," explains A-bomb survivor, Keijiro Matsushima. Mr. Matsushima recalls what he saw in the streets of Hiroshima sixty years ago, "I couldn't tell if they were crying because their faces were burnt, swollen, and disfigured so badly. Their hair was singed and skin was actually hanging and peeling off."
The rally in Livermore is part of a national day of action including rallies at the Nevada Test Site, the Y-12 Production Facility and Los Alamos.
The Livermore nuclear weapons lab acts as the brain of the US nuclear weapons complex, creating new bombs. Livermore Lab is designated as the primary development site for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, a new "bunker busting" bomb. Over 3,000 pounds of plutonium is now allowed to be stored at Livermore Lab, enough for 300 nuclear bombs.
In August we will demand an end to weapons activities at Livermore and plant a more peaceful future for the next generation.
People all over the country are invited to symbolically participate in the rally by mailing in paper sunflowers, a symbol of hope. For paper cutouts and information on where to send sunflowers visit www.wagingpeace.org/sunflower
ACTION: For more information or to volunteer to help, Tara at (925) 443-7148 or www.trivalleycares.org
This past Memorial Day I went to Berkeley for the "celebration of conscience courage, resistance and truth in a time of war." It was presented by Not in Our Name, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Gold Star Families for Peace. Veterans spoke and a mother, Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son in the Iraq War and is founder of Gold Star Families, also addressed the gathering.
It was a very moving event, especially hearing the young veterans speaking of their ordeal and then, their resisting the war and spending time in jail for their beliefs. Camilo Mejia, Iraq War veteran and military resister inspired young and old. He recently spent 9 months in jail for not returning to the war. Mejia's family is from Somoto, Nicaragua and his father is a very famous singer from there. (I am a member of the Merced-Somoto Sister City Committee.)
I know Berkeley is quite different from the Central Valley, but I was very impressed with the young and some older volunteers who put on this event. They were quite friendly and supportive. I got there early and they asked if I wanted to be a volunteer and help, which I did. The volunteers all wore black shirts from Not in My Name. Other organizations, including Code Pink, had tables there.
It is easier to be active in the Peace Movement in Berkeley than in the Central Valley, I think, but it could be very rewarding here if we could all talk with others and encourage them to be active. All of our young men and women should not have to go to war. There are other options for them.
ACTION: For more information, visit www.notinourname.net/~bayarea
Nadwa Saranda and
Robi Damelin are members of The Parents' Circle, a group made up of hundreds of
bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families who are lost loved ones as a result of
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The Israeli and Palestinian spoke together in Modesto recently about their loss and grief, a son and a sister, and their resolve to search for reconciliation between the Israeli and Palestinian societies. This process recognizes responsibility of both sides for the past.
If they are ever to see peace in the Middle East in their lifetimes they can't wait for politicians and treaties, the women said. They have started building peace and tolerance one by one. And more than anything, they do not want any other family to have to loss of a loved one as each member of Parents' Circle has.
The Parents' Circle American tour was coordinated by the Fellowship of Reconciliation and sponsored locally by the Modesto Peace/Life Center.
ACTION: For more information, contact www.theparentscircle.com
We regret that the press release our flyer was based on erroneously
describing the circumstances of the death of Nadwa Saranda's sister stabbed on
the streets of East Jerusalem six years ago.
"Regarding Naela Karain Hamdan's death, circumstances remain unclear to her
family," says Betsy Kaptchuk, President, American Friends of Parents
Circle. "There are reports that a Palestinian man confessed to the crime,
and there are reports that the Israeli police never conducted a thorough
investigation of the case."
Youth just before the big hike at Peace Camp 2005. Photo: Phoebe Tyson
From Tri-Valley CAREs
U.S. spending on nuclear weapons continues to rise. For fiscal year 2006, Department of Energy (DOE) is requesting more than $6.6 billion for nuclear weapons activities. The proposed funds for DOE nuclear weapons are increased over last years budget while money for environmental cleanup at DOE sites decreases. This is backwards!
Congress will soon vote on the DOE budget request. Contact your members of Congress and urge them to reduce funding for nuclear weapons and direct money instead to dismantling nuclear weapons and cleaning up the nuclear complex.
For details, see an analysis of the DOE budget at www.trivalleycares.org. TriValley CAREs propose a “Curatorship” approach to the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile that would save $2 billion in 2006.
Help stop Americas One-Nation Arms Race. Contact your members of Congress and tell them you would like to see nuclear weapons funding reduced by $2 billion.
ACTION: To send a letter to your members of Congress via the web, go to http://capwiz.com/wagingpeace/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7565846
Or, call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. To:
Jane Doe
100 Main Street
Hometown,
USA
Cost
of the Iraq War
From
AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE
U.S.
led War in Iraq
TOTAL COST
PER HOUSEHOLD
$153,578,000,000
$1,358.58
Reconstruction
Allocation
$18,000,000,000
$ 159.23
SUB
TOTAL:
PAID:
$171,578,000,000 $1,517.81
PROJECTED
ADDITIONAL COSTS:
3
year military occupation
$150,000,000,000
$1,326.92
Iraq
Reconstruction
$ 55,000,000,000 $
486.54
PROJECTED
SUBTOTAL: AMOUNT DUE: $205,000,000,000
$1,813.46
TOTAL:
$376.578,000,000
$3,331.27
If
this outrages you, know you are not alone. It's heartbreaking
ACTION: Lobby Congress and the President to end the war
NOW. For more information,
contact the American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry Street,
Philadelphia, PA 19102; www.afsc.org
No one knows whether inductions will resume.
We do know they could come on very short notice, if the Iraq War continues. Time to claim conscientious objection could be extremely limited. We do know there is presently no way to register conscientious objection with the government. We do know that contrary to many comments heard, the present legal situation in Canada is unlikely to permit draft resisters to find refuge there.
We don't know just what procedures will be in place if
inductions resume. But, based upon past practice, and observations of the
current political scene, we offer these suggestions to all men and boys whose
consciences would not allow military service. (In pure theory, a new draft could
include women, but that seems most unlikely to occur.)
These suggestions will not guarantee by any means that a conscientious objector
claim will be recognized. U. S. provisions are fairly liberal on paper, but
depend upon the somewhat nebulous factor of a volunteer draft board, likely
composed of more militarists than pacifists, attempting to judge whether or not
an applicant is "sincere." To some degree an appeals process can
correct gross errors, but even this is very far from infallible.
So, our suggestions for you right now:
Speak Up. Fairly or not, draft boards and appeal boards have looked for "public witness" to one's beliefs. Probably unfairly, they tend to suspect beliefs that only seem to take shape when induction is imminent. So talk about your thoughts on war and killing in groups, classes, congregations, and with individuals. Jot down, for your own records, when you have done so.
Hunt Up people who could be witnesses/references for you if needed. They need not agree with you, but should be willing and able to show strong respect for your sincerity, integrity, and general worth. They need not do anything immediately, but should be unequivocally ready to give you a strong letter (read it before using it), and even to accompany you to a twenty-minute hearing before the board if that should come to pass. If one of these is a spiritual leader, so much the better. Likewise, for known leaders of the community.
Look Up the official statement on war and conscientious
objection of your religious body, if you affiliated with an entity of organized
religion. Virtually every such body has one, available on request from its
headquarters.
Write it up. Make your own file of "evidence" of your sincerity. It's
not the place to be unduly humble, include your public or semi-public
statements, your list of potential references, and general signs of taking your
faith and its values seriously. Service to community, congregation, people in
need. If you have not yet registered for the draft, and are going to do so,
write across the registration form ""I am a conscientious
objector." The government won't read that or file it; the form is destroyed
after the information they want is computerized. But make a copy of it, date it,
and sign a notarized statement that you had written that on your registration,
and when. Keep all this in a convenient folder or envelope that will be
available on short notice if you ever need it.
Don't Act Up. Be kind to your neighbors, school, and community. In the past, the appeals phase generally brought an FBI agent asking questions of your neighbors and associates. Sometimes petty or irrelevant gossip was picked up and used against you. As you reasonably can, build a favorable reputation.
Join Up. If you are a conscientious objector, you doubtless "belong" already to the Fellowship of Reconciliation and its vision. Among the many reasons to make it official is that you will receive a dated membership card to an organization that requires a conscientious pledge not to participate in any war. It's not an absolute guarantee - but it does show somewhat clearly that this was your conviction. If you don't have a Membership Form, call (845) 358-4601 and request one. Please include your postal address.
ACTION: For more information, contact the Fellowship of Reconciliation, Box 271, Nyack, NY. 10960. or www.forusa.org
I participated in the recent Christian Peacemakers Team delegation to the Arizona/Mexico border and learned about the hardships that migrants face as they attempt to cross the border in search of work. Over 3000 people have died since NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement) became law and border policy became more militarized in the mid 1990's. Some estimate that the true number is at least three times that amount. Bodies decompose rapidly in the dry desert heat and carrion feeders abound, so many of the fallen are never found.
Our CPT delegation participated in a 75- mile walk from Sasabe, Mexico to Tucson, Arizona. Just prior to our arrival at Three Points, AZ, we learned that four more bodies had been found in the desert. One, a woman as yet unidentified (desconocida) was found near where we were. This poem is for her.
Now-
In the dark
I lie on my mat in the desert-
Beautiful, savage desert.
Blowing wind , rustling mesquite-
What woke me?
Moving in the scrub near our camp
Flashes of light and a nightbird cry.
Desconocida -
Found in the desert today
Were you a daughter, sister, mother, wife?
Did you think of your family when you died?
Did you think of your home
in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Peru?
Did you see the flowers, the stars
That I did?
Or did the burning thirst,
The heat of the day
The chill of the night
Call forth the savage side of the desert only?
Did the Border Patrol come with the helicopter
bouncing and buzzing above you like an angry bee,
And scatter your group on the rocky ground below
Like leaves before the dry desert wind?
Were you pulled along through the cactus by another
Till you could go no further
Then sacrificed -
Left behind for the survival of the group?
Did you grieve the separation from the others
Regret words spoken, unspoken,
Did you wish for the physical closeness of another human
As you died?
Did you see the town lights from your hiding place
Here in a desert wash?
Did your terror keep you still
Even as dehydration and exposure did their work?
Restless spirit,
Victim of global forces beyond your control,
Forgive my complicity!
Come sit with me thru the dark of this night.
Baptize me with your spirit,
Help me to carry your voice forward,
Speak through me
So that neither of our lives will be in vain!
ACTION: For more information about Christian Peacemaker Teams work supporting violence-reduction efforts around the world: www.cpt.org
"We believe that states have a moral and political obligation to
abolish nuclear weapons. But they also have a legal responsibility to do
so."
--Alyn Ware, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy
A coalition of over 2000 groups from 90 countries blamed the United States and other nuclear weapons states for failing to strengthen the global nuclear non-proliferation regime during four weeks of meetings at the United Nations to review the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
"The United States has had four weeks to demonstrate international leadership on nuclear proliferation. But all they have shown is a democratic deficit," charged Susi Snyder, Secretary General of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. "Clearly, the U.S. delegation never wanted to strengthen the Treaty. Instead, they have spent four weeks behind closed doors refusing to recognize agreements they made 5 and 10 years ago. They have bottled up all substantive discussion by haggling over arcane procedures. They have demonstrated a lack of compromise and an unwillingness to move the global non-proliferation regime forward."
"It's like the Wild West," said Alice Slater, co-founder of Abolition 2000, the global network working toward a treaty to abolish nuclear weapons. "There is a total disrespect for the rule of law. The U.S. is fighting over acknowledgment of a deal they made ten years ago. In exchange for countries agreeing to extend the NPT indefinitely, the U.S. would, among other things, support a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). But this Administration refuses even to submit the CTBT to the Senate for an up-or-down vote on ratification. In the meantime, it is doing its own proliferating by maintaining a massive stockpile of nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert and researching new, smaller, and more usable nuclear weapons."
"There are serious concerns about the proliferation of nuclear technology. But it is impossible to prevent that proliferation while the nuclear weapons states insist on maintaining large stockpiles of weapons themselves," noted Alyn Ware of the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy. "It's like a parent telling a child not to smoke while smoking a pack of cigarettes in their face. It is not going to work and we expect better leadership than that from the world's superpowers."
"We believe that states have a moral and political obligation to abolish nuclear weapons. But they also have a legal responsibility to do so," noted Ware. He cited the decision in 1996 by the International Court of Justice that the threat or use of nuclear weapons is generally illegal and the unanimous conclusion that states have an obligation to achieve complete nuclear disarmament. "Given the lack of implementation here, we are looking at going back to the court to force compliance on this legal obligation," he said.
"It is convenient to blame Iran and Egypt and others for the failure of the NPT Review Conference," said Snyder. "But that begs the question. Egypt, for example, has been very vocal about the importance of acknowledging past agreements and bringing Israel into the Treaty. And Iran has consistently called for a nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East. Both of these actions would strengthen the non-proliferation regime. When the U.S. refuses to even discuss these issues, then they are the ones sabotaging the Treaty."
The huge presence this month of more than 400 youth reflects the increasing concern among young people about the dangers of nuclear weapons, said Sophie LeFeez, a youth representative with the French Peace Movement.
"Here we listened to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors' testimonies
and we noticed the deliberate will of some to make the conference fail and the
powerlessness of the majority to prevent that," LeFeez said. "This is
a matter of great concern to us because this generation is failing to provide
us, the next generation, with a world free of nuclear weapons. We do not want to
inherit a world where nuclear weapons jeopardize our security, our environment,
and our lives."
Hilda Lini, Director of the Secretariat for the Nuclear Free and Independent
Pacific, noted that non-governmental organizations would fill the leadership gap
presented by many national governments.
"Whatever is the outcome of the NPT Review Conference, it will not disempower civil society from continuing the work we have done for decades," she said. "Civil society's leadership role is growing each day. We have the majority of the world's population in support of nuclear abolition and we will continue to forge links between non-governmental organizations and tell our governments to work toward abolishing the threat of nuclear weapons."
"Behind the scenes, NGOs have been working with delegations on the legal, technical and political elements of achieving a nuclear weapon-free world," noted Ware. "We have drafted a model Nuclear Weapons Convention, for example, that shows how it is possible to phase out nuclear weapons under strict and effective international controls. We are also working with the state parties to all the nuclear weapons free zones who met, for the first time, in Mexico City just prior to the NPT Review Conference. We will continue to work with like-minded states to achieve progress outside of the NPT framework if we have to."
Slater alluded to other "parallel processes" for achieving international agreements on nuclear disarmament, including new Abolition 2000 committees that will pressure NATO member-states to reject the placement of U.S. nuclear weapons within their territories. Early efforts to pressure NATO states have met with some limited success recently when the Belgian Senate requested that NATO remove nuclear weapons from that country. "The nuclear superpowers are on notice. It is not going to be business as usual," said Slater.
"NGOs have vital information and knowledge to share with governments," said Lini. "Our wish is that the governments of the nuclear weapons states would work more closely with their counterparts in the academic, scientific and social communities to achieve progress that they have been unable to achieve alone."
ACTION: For more information, contact ABOLITION 2000 at www.Abolition2000.org
