PHILLY AREA ACTION!

 

FREE FILM SHOWING  : I Cannot Be Silent:, Testimonies of Peacemaking

Documentary film by Vic Compher (50 minutes)

 

      SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 7 p.m.

      SUMMIT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 6757 Greene St. (at the corner of Westview St.)

The film documents intergenerational dialogues on peace with elder peace advocates sharing their adventures in peacemaking and their timeless wisdom with young people. Their inspiring stories address historical and current violence: escape from slavery, opposition to war, childhood escape from a Nazi concentration camp; and opposition to urban violence. http://www.icannotbesilent.com

Sponsored by Neighborhood Interfaith Movement, Interfaith Walk for Peace & Reconciliation, Mothers in Charge, Weaver's Way Education Committee

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Father’s Day Peace Event, June 21

 

Twenty-three peace groups will demonstrate near the home of Senator Arlen Specter from 2:00 until 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 21, on West Schoolhouse Lane (at Vaux Street) in East Falls. They want Specter to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and to bring the troops home now. More information from nwgreens@yahoo.com and 215-843-4256.

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NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL ACTION:

 

 

Dear Friend, We can do this!

 

I want you to know about a brave and inspiring person who needs your help. His name is Ezra Nawi. He's an Israeli human rights activist who faces jail time for trying to stop a military bulldozer from destroying the homes of Palestinian Bedouins in the South Hebron region. To watch a dramatic video of the incident and his arrest, and to write a letter demanding his freedom, go to http://www.freeEzra.org .

      Nawi's friends -- including Naomi Klein, Neve Gordon and Noam Chomsky-- have launched a campaign to generate tens of thousands of letters to Israeli embassies all over the world before he is due to be sentenced in July. Ezra Nawi is a Jewish Israeli of Iraqi descent who speaks fluent Arabic. He is a gay man in his fifties and a plumber by trade. He is loved by those with little power, to whom he dedicates his life, and hated by the Jewish settlers, military and police.

 

Please consider taking a minute to send a letter to the Israeli Consulate on behalf of Ezra Nawi. Sign the letter and learn more about Ezra Nawi at http://freeEzra.org .

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Our calls to Congress could help kill the war funding supplemental!


"...the Senate has tacked on an additional $100 million to fund the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This amendment to the original bill has created a rare opportunity for right-wing Republicans and Progressive Democrats to unite and defeat this bill.

Republicans who previously voted for the earlier version of the bill do not want to give the IMF funds to bail out international banks or the economies of developing countries that have been affected by the global economic crisis. And progressive Democrats do not want to support money for the IMF due to its lack of transparency and its track-record of offering small nations economic bailouts with high interest rates and other nasty strings attached. Both sides have pledged to vote "NO" on the current version of the bill that now includes the IMF funding.

This vote is expected to go to the House of Representatives as early as tomorrow.

Please contact your member of the House today and tell them to vote "NO" on the Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (a.k.a. H.R. 2346). Free Call: 800-828-0498.  And call them every day: as long as they keep delaying the vote, we are winning.

And to get more calls pouring in, do a phone-a-thon! Instructions here:

http://www.codepinkalert.org/article.php?id=3122

Takes about an hour, generates good in-person conversations, and most importantly, generates more calls to Congress!

We have succeeded in getting the ban on releasing torture photos removed from the bill, and we may succeed in having the IMF bailout for European banksters removed too.  But we want the bill defeated, and right now, with the IMF funds included, defeating the whole thing is easily within reach.

Look at the promises.  51 Democrats voted No on the same bill when it was guaranteed to pass.  89 have sworn not to vote for any more war money except for withdrawal.  85 have cosponsored a bill requiring an exit strategy for Afghanistan.  And 73 have joined an "Out of Iraq" caucus.  Is this all for show, or will 40 Democrats vote No when the No votes can actually be decisive, actually make the peace movement a force in Congress, actually create the power to negotiate a compromise, change the public discourse, and begin to bring these nightmares to an end? We have all the Republicans voting No because of the IMF money that has been included with it.

2. Torture Accountability Action Day: June 25
http://tortureaccountability.webs.com

June 25th in Washington, DC, and across the USA !
Salt Lake City, Seattle, Portland, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Anchorage, Pasadena, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Charlotte (so far)

Details for Washington DC Rally:
Meet at: John Marshall Park - 501 Pennsylvania Ave NW - Washington, DC Directions: Google Maps ( To View the layout of the Park in 3-D go to : http://www.johnmarshallpark.org/index.html )

When: There will be tabling from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and continuing after rally. To reserve a table please contact us at http://tortureaccountability.web.com/contactus.htm

Rally: Speakers from 11 a.m. to Noon

March: Departs from Rally site at High Noon to the Department of Justice.
Some participants may engage in nonviolent civil resistance, risking arrest, if the Attorney General refuses to appoint a Special Prosecutor.

If you wish to sponsor this event or any of the others, or add one to the list of cities participating, please contact us at: http://tortureaccountability.web.com/contactus.htm

Sponsored by:
After Downing Street, Code Pink: Women for Peace, Democrats.com, Indict Bush Now, National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance, Progressive Democrats of America, Torture Abolition & Survivor Support Coalition, Veterans for Peace, Washington Peace Center, Witness Against Torture, World Can’t Wait, Amnesty International, US Labor Against the War, Historians Against the War, NJ Peace Action, NJ People’s Organization for Progress, National Accountability Network, We Are Change LA, Action Center for Justice, Peace Action, Consumers for Peace, High Road for Human Rights, BuzzFlash, Individuals for Justice.

June 25th will be big day for single-payer action in DC as well as for torture protest in DC.  Do those two causes add up to enough reason for you to come?

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The Peruvian government has pushed through legislation that could allow extractive and large-scale farming companies to rapidly destroy their Amazon rainforest.

 

Indigenous peoples have peacefully protested for two months demanding their lawful say in decrees that will contribute to the devastation of the Amazon's ecology and peoples, and be disastrous for the global climate. But last weekend President Garcia responded: sending in special forces to suppress protests in violent clashes, and labelling the protesters as terrorists.

      These indigenous groups are on the frontline of the struggle to protect our earth -- Let's stand with them and call on President Alan Garcia (who is widely known to be sensitive to his international reputation) to immediately stop the violence and open up dialogue. Click below to sign the urgent global petition and a prominent and well-respected Latin-American politician will deliver it to the government on our behalf.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/peru_stop_violence

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Video:  SAVE the Earth

 

This is well worth the 3 minutes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9lWCAAV_Uo

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Doctors Call for Ban on Genetically Modified Foods

 

On May 19, 2009 the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) released a landmark position paper signed by physicians across the U.S. calling for a moratorium on GE foods:

"Avoid GM (genetically modified) foods when possible... Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food... There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation...The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies."

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Montana Teachers' Union President Speaks Out for Single Payer, JOHN S. ADAMS Tribune Capitol Bureau

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090606/NEWS01/906060309&template=printart

 

HELENA--Undeterred by Sen. Max Baucus' steadfast refusal

to inject single-payer into the congressional debate on

health care reform, more than 100 proponents of a

"Medicare-for-all" form of nationalized health

insurance rallied for their cause on Friday.

      Dr. Carol Paris, a Maryland psychiatrist who was twice

arrested last month for protesting single-payer's

exclusion from two Senate Finance Committee hearings,

also appeared at Friday's rally.

      Paris, who was introduced as a "hero" of the

single-payer movement for her acts of civil

disobedience, said single-payer advocates need to "keep

the heat on Sen. Baucus."

     

"The next 60 days truly are critical," Paris said. "We

need to keep the momentum going here and in Washington."

 

      Paris said single-payer advocates have three demands of

Baucus. .  That he and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., hold

Senate hearings on the merits of single-payer health

care. .  That Baucus order the Congressional Budget

Office to study the costs of implementing the Senate

and House versions of single payer bills that have

already been introduced. .  That Baucus arrange a

meeting between President Barack Obama and single-payer experts.