PeaceJournal.org

Please sign petition:

http://www.petitiononline.com/DefRU3/

To: Rutgers University Administration and the New Brunswick Police Department
Defend the Rutgers 3!

On March 27, hundreds of Rutgers students and supporters participated in the Rutgers Walkout against the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Students walked out of classes, rallied on campus, marched through downtown New Brunswick, and spontaneously walked on to Route 18, a state highway. During the action, the police did not complain to student organizers, issue warnings to the crowd, or attempt to stop any of the actions. The non-violent protest, organized by 12 student organizations, ended without incident. Read the rest of this entry »

Weary of War?  Don’t Collaborate.
By Kathy Kelly
April 17, 2008

An April 14th AP article by Anne Flaherty reported that U.S. Senators and Representatives are finding common ground in asking that Iraqis begin picking up the tab for the cost of war.  Read the rest of this entry »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwjqwQrpJfE

Thanks to Holly Near for giving permission to use her song “I Am Willing.”

I dedicate this video to the victims of war in Iraq and Afghanistan and do so in memory of the over a million who have been killed in these wars.

See testimonies by witnesses to war at http://www.ivaw.org Read the rest of this entry »

Joel Geier, Associate Editor of the International Socialist Review, spoke on “1968: Year of Revolt” at the University of Illinois, Champaign, IL on March 26, 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

Preventing War On Iran 20Feb08

PreventingWarOnIran20Feb08AImedia.mp3 1:48:52 . 49.8 meg

A public forum held at the American Legion Post 271 Hadley Ma
Background statements by :

Norma Akamatsu: Pioneer Valley Coalition to Prevent War in Iran,

Michael Klare 17:28 . 8.0 meg
Prof. of Peace and World Security Studies Hampshire College -Oil, Geopolitics and the History of U.S. Involvement,

Ira Helfand 6:05 . 2.8 meg Public Health Consequences of War On Iran - Physicians for Social Responsibility,

Amir Mikhchi 7:25 . 3.4 meg - An Iranian Viewpoint

Tyler Boudreau 16:03. 7.35 meg The Disparities of War - former Marine Capt. in Iraq

Congressman Richard Neal and Congressman John Olver.

When excerpting audio for broadcast you must attribute www.activeingredients.org
so that people may download the entire file

Support Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan

(Videos Originally published November 9, 2007)

Camilo Mejia, Iraq veteran and Chair of Iraq Veterans Against the War, gave with workshop with Martin Smith (Midwest Coordinator of IVAW) on “Soldiers Against the War from Vietnam to Iraq.” (22:22 minutes)

Martin Smith, Midwest Regional Coordinator of Iraq Veterans Against the War, gave the second presentation. (22:17 minutes)

This meeting was one of many educational programs offered at the Midwest Socialist Conference, held at the University of Illinois at Chicago, November 3-4, 2007.Visit the website of Iraq Veterans Against the War and read Socialistworkerfor more information on this topic.Video © 2007 Charles Jenks; all rights reserved. Websites may embed with video for non-profit use. PeaceJournal.org

[PeaceJournal.org Editor’s Note: This website supports the right of return of the Palestinian people to their confiscated properties in Israel. Lasting peace can only be achieved if justice is achieved, starting with a recognition of all Palestinian rights. Let’s be clear as well that this website abhors and condemns the recent suicide bombing in Israel. At the same time, we recognize that the State of Israel has subjected the Palestinian people to terrible and tragic aggression over the years. Israel has committed war crimes, and it appears that it used so-called depleted uranium munitions in Lebanon. Israel is causing a deadly toll in Gaza. We condemn Israel’s ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people. Israel must recognize the right of return; and we urge all sides to stop violence and negotiate a lasting peace with justice.]

Transcript of remarks by Senator Barack Obama
AIPAC Policy Forum (Chicago, Illinois)
March 2, 2007

SENATOR OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Read the rest of this entry »

Daniel Ellsberg 26Jan08
A Coup has occurred

Program 59:43 27.3 meg

Additional comments 2:18:23 . 55.4meg

The American Civil Liberties Union Massachusetts Chapter Held a Membership Conference Titled: Reclaiming Our Civil Liberties

Daniel Ellsberg, leaker of the Pentagon Papers, was the keynote speaker who opened the event. He stated that a coup has taken place in the United States, and warned that we are in the midsts of a permanent Police State. Congress is unlikely to do anything to stop its construction, unless assertive citizen action is taken NOW.

Recorded at Bently College by Ed Russell of ActiveIngredients.org
Waltham Ma

Text above by Ed Russell. PeaceJournal.org gladly hosts ActiveIngredients audio programs.

January 22, 2008

Valley peacemaker gets GCC award

by Diana Broncaccio Gazette Contributing Writer
http://www.dailyhampshiregazette.com/storytmp.cfm?id_no=77302

GREENFIELD - A local woman who devoted 16 years to Traprock Peace Center and a group of eighth-graders who wrote their own music about the civil rights movement were award-winners at this year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observance ceremony at Greenfield Community College. Read the rest of this entry »

Traveling Light
by Kathy Kelly
December 6, 2007

Traveling with as light a load as possible is something I long for during long stretches away from home. I routinely discard paperwork and periodicals, “recycle” gifts and give away clothing. But, here in Amman, Jordan, when a ten year-old Iraqi girl named Nauras gave me a camera, I quickly put it in the envelope where I keep my money, confident it would survive my next purge. Read the rest of this entry »

Martin Sanchez, Venezuelan Consul for Chicago, focused on recent developments in his talk on “The Struggle for Self-Determination in Venezuela.” (28:37 minutes)  

 He spoke at the plenary of the Midwest Socialist Conference held at the University of Illinois, Chicago on November 3-4, 2007. This was one of the regional socialist conferences taking place that weekend across the country.

Socialist Worker

 Video © 2007 Charles Jenks; all rights reserved. 

 Camilo Mejia, Chair of the Board of Iraq Veterans Against the War, gave his personal reflections on confronting the US empire at the Midwest Socialist Conference. The Midwest Socialist Conference was hosted at the University of Illinois of Chicago from November 3-4, 2007. It was one of the regional socialist conferences taking place that weekend across the country. 

For more information, see:

Socialist Worker

Iraq Veterans Against the War

Video © 2007 Charles Jenks; all rights reserved

Sherry Wolf, Editorial Board member of the International Socialist Review, asked activists to join the long term struggle at the plenary session of the Midwest Socialist Conference on November 3rd. 

There are no quick solutions, she said. Making a commitment to the long term struggle is “the only way we are going to win,” she said. The Midwest Socialist Conference was hosted at the University of Illinois of Chicago from November 3-4, 2007. It was one of the regional socialist conferences taking place that weekend across the country.

For more information, see:

Socialist Worker

Obrero Socialista

International Socialist Review

Haymarket Books

International Socialist Organization

Video © 2007 Charles Jenks; all rights reserved
PeaceJournal.org

Green Week
Cindy Sheehan

This week is “Green Week” on MSNBC. Today is “Paperless Monday.” We viewers have been treated with attractive women telling us how we, as citizens and consumers can go “paperless” (the amount of unsolicited junk mail I receive in my mail box infuriates me), and how we can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels (oil is only growing more precious and gas more expensive) and recycle, etc.

I was so pleased, however, when one young man made a pointed comment on catastrophic climate change as related to the massive amounts of gas and diesel fuel the Pentagon uses. I have been waiting for someone (because Al Gore with his family’s long attachment to Occidental Petroleum and the establishment has not) to make the connection between our Military Industrial Complex (M.I.C.) and the destruction of the planet’s environment. Read the rest of this entry »

Charles Peterson, student from the University of Massachusetts, gave this workshop on “Afghanistan, Islamophobia and the War on Terror” at the Campus Antiwar Network’s 5th Anniversary Summit at the University of Wisconsin/Madison from October 19-21. (23:42 minutes)

Delegates and guests from more than 20 schools across the country converged at the University of Wisconsin-Madison October 19-21 for the Fifth Anniversary Summit of the Campus Antiwar Network. Opening remarks from New Left Review editor Tariq Ali kicked off the weekend. Educational and organizational workshops and discussions on Saturday culminated with the evening plenary featuring Camilo Mejía, chairman-elect of the Board of Iraq Veterans Against the War.  On Sunday, resolutions and points of unity were debated and decided in the voting portion of the summit.

For more information on the Summit and the Campus Antiwar Network, see www.campusantiwar.net

More video is coming: the evening key note speech by Camilo Mejia, chair elect of the Board of Iraq Veterans Against the War, with Liam Madden, president of the Boston chapter of IVAW. See www.ivaw.org for more information.

Video © 2007 Charles Jenks; all rights reserved. Contact: charles@peacejournal.org. This video may be embedded in other websites for non-profit use, with attribution. Please let me know if you use it.

Original article in Socialist Worker

Why is the antiwar movement so weak?

October 12, 2007

ERIC RUDER analyzes the state of the national antiwar struggle and what lies ahead.

SINCE THE start of the Iraq war, antiwar sentiment has grown dramatically in the U.S. In 2003, 23 percent of the U.S. population thought the U.S. invasion was a mistake. Today, that figure stands at 58 percent.

Yet the antiwar movement had its largest mobilization before the war began, and more recent demonstrations have been smaller than those held several years previously, before public opinion had turned dramatically against the occupation. Read the rest of this entry »

Organized Money v. Organized People

by Cindy Sheehan

“At a time like this, scorching iron, not convincing argument, is needed.” Frederick Douglass“

Cindy’s campaign will prove that organized people can beat organized money” Reverend Lennox Yearwood; founder of the Hip Hop Caucus Read the rest of this entry »

As I sit sipping my morning cup of coffee and reflect on the anti-war protests sponsored by the Oct27 coalition (where I saw some good collaboration between UFPJ and ANSWER—at least in San Francisco—yea!), I have a few thoughts.

Yesterday, tens of thousands of activists from around Northern California, Northern Nevada and some from Southern Oregon attended the rally in my new hometown, San Francisco. Despite weather in the Eastern part of the country, I hear that the rallies all over the rest of the country were extremely well attended and the energy was high.

The throngs of humanity in San Francisco stretched out between the Civic Center to Dolores Park in a line that was over two miles long and it took over an hour for the last marcher to reach the endpoint. However, what does this all mean? Read the rest of this entry »

Iraq Veterans Against the War members Kelly Dougherty, Garett Reppenhagen, Camilo Mejía, Chanan Suárez Diaz and Martin Smith spoke on IVAW’s strategy to end the war against Iraq at the Socialism 2007 conference in Chicago on June 16.These talks started off a 2-part, 3 hour Roundtable - Iraq: the Soldiers’ Rebellion - by IVAW veterans. All recounted their personal stories of their military experience and how they became part of the veterans’ antiwar movement. Kelly Dougherty, Executive Director of IVAW and a co-founder, gave a slide presentation on IVAW’s strategy to end the war, based on IVAW’s “Consent Theory of Power.” This video clearly shows IVAW’s theory and practice for ending this tragic war by weakening support by the military, as well as other pillars of support, such as the public, Congress and the media.We’ve started with 5 videos of the main speakers, with videos of two commentators, Helen Redmond and Ashley Smith (International Socialist Organization).All websites are invited to embed these videos on their sites. We’d appreciate it if sites would simply let us know that they are embedding the videos. If any sites have difficulty embedding the code, we’d be happy to help you trouble shoot problems. Contact: charles@peacejournal.org

Kelly Dougherty (20:42 minutes)

 Garett Reppenhagen (11:42 minutes) 

 Camilo Mejia (17:53 minutes)

 Chanan Suárez Diaz (17:37) 

Martin Smith (13:17 minutes)

Helen Redmond on the trauma of war (3:40)

Ashley SMith on how to end the war against Iraq (4:53) Learn more about the Socialism 2007 conference and see conference coverage with coverage of the Confronting Empire plenary session.The conference was sponsored by:International Socialist ReviewHaymarket BooksSocialist WorkerObrero SocialistaInternational Socialist OrganizationCenter for Economic Research and Social ChangeVideo recorded and edited by Charles JenksVideo © 2007 Charles Jenks; all rights reserved

What happened in Nahr Al Bared?
by Michael Birmingham

The systematic burning and destruction of a Palestinian camp in Lebanon – the media is banned and the world is silent?

Nahr Al Bared is a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of Lebanon which has been home to about 40,000 Palestinian people, most of whom are the children and grandchildren of those who left Palestine in 1948. Some like Abu Mohammad were born in Palestine. He was ten years old, and next year it will be sixty years since the formation of the State of Israel was achieved through the ethnic cleansing of Abu Mohammad and so many others from their home in Palestine. He told me this as the two of us sat alone in the pitch dark while rats ran around beside our chairs at his house. As I left he went in to sleep alone amongst ashes and rodents, with no neighbours around him, trying to believe that he still has something left to protect. Read the rest of this entry »