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
_________________________________
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 .
___________________________________________________
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?
_________________________________________________________________________
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
___________________________________________
Video: SAVE the Earth
This is well worth the 3 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9lWCAAV_Uo
___________________________________________
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."
____________________________________________________________________
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