[Afsckc-peacealert] KC AFSC Peace and Justice Alerts – June 23, 2011
Ira Harritt
IHarritt at afsc.org
Thu Jun 23 18:00:11 EDT 2011
KC AFSC Peace and Justice Alerts – June 23, 2011
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Educate Yourself. Share your knowledge. Take Action!
For information about the American Friends Service Committee,
contact us at 816 931-5256 or afsckc at afsc.org<mailto:afsckc at afsc.org>
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“There is no way to peace, peace is the way.”
~A. J. Muste
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Dear Peacemakers,
President Obama’s plans for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan do not go nearly far enough! He intends to withdraw 33,000 of the 100,000 troops there over the next 14 months, leaving almost 70,000 US troops, for continued war. His plan to, by 2014, have the Afghan people “be responsible for their own security” is tentative and dependent on conditions in Afghanistan.
Leaders from General Petraeus to Senator John Kerry recognize that a political solution, not the military, is the answer to stability in Afghanistan.
It is time to quickly and responsibly withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan!
Please speak out. Join us tonight at 5:30pm to vigil and express your belief that it s time to end the war in Afghanistan. See below for a call to write letters to the editor.
Change is beginning but those who see the need must continue to make themselves heard!
We invite you to join with us in our efforts to creatively work for a more just and peaceful world. We are excited about our work but we need your involvement.
Please consider joining one of our planning committees to:
* End the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan- Next meeting –Tuesday, July 12; 6:30pm at the AFSC Office, 4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO Click this link to see notes from our previous meeting.<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PtBhtPvATbUjsSP0UWHvflOaXwcGzog6fUcvrE2e4Qw/edit?hl=en_US>
* “Move the Money” in our federal budget from military spending to investing in people and jobs for our future; or
* Deepen our community members’ vision of a just and peaceful world. - Click this link to see notes from our previous meeting.<https://docs.google.com/document/d/182B3gdtu2-E9wLPOgAX-UyH44l_GNl7_pwL4SGMS7Mo/edit?hl=en_US&authkey=CK23yOUE>. Click the following link to help participate in and schedule the next planning meeting for the October 2011 Visions of Peace at the Crossroads Festival http://doodle.com/gfdt3y7trwce38np
Contact us at afsckc at afsc.org<mailto:afsckc at afsc.org> to volunteer
See below for a description of our committees and work.
And complete the New Priorities Network online Federal Budget Poll below. Record your support for a budget that serves the common good not just the super rich and war profiteers.
Also join us on Monday, July 4th for our annual Patriots Picnic AFSC fun(d) raiser.
Thank you for your support and work for a peaceful and just community and world.
Peace,
Ira Harritt
KC AFSC Program Coordinator
iharritt at afsc.org<mailto:iharritt at afsc.org> 816 931-5256
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Get involved in KC AFSC Peacemaking Work
We have restructured this work and are forming three committees to better plan and carry out peace campaigns. We are dividing our work among:
· Anti-War Committee – will organize campaigns to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (Libya…) including: organizing actions to mark the 10th Anniversary of 9-11 and the Afghan war and planning events for the Windows & Mirrors Afghan Mural exhibit in November and December – (http://afsc.org/project/windows-and-mirrors) – Next meeting Tuesday, July 12, 6:30pm;
Click this link to view the “Windows and Mirrors: Our Mothers' Tears” video providing powerful reflections from the Windows and Mirrors exhibit in North Carolina > http://afsc.org/video/windows-and-mirrors-our-mothers-tears
· Cutting Military Spending / U.S. Budget Priorities Committee– will organize education and advocacy campaigns on military spending and budget issues including a people’s budget resolution campaigns;
· Peace-building Committee – will organize activities to promote a positive vision of peace including holding an annual Visions of Peace at the Crossroads Festival, October 7, 2011 – we just received confirmation that we can hold the event at the same parking lot as we used last year.
Elizabeth Tembo, our Youth Outreach Intern, is working to involve high school-aged youth in two projects: making murals as part of the KC display of the Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan<http://afsc.org/project/windows-and-mirrors> exhibit and making short videos for the ”If I Had A Trillion Dollars” Youth Film Festival<http://afsc.org/resource/2nd-annual-if-i-had-trillion-dollars-ihtd-youth-video-festival>.
Does your faith community, neighborhood or civic group have a summer youth group which might want to be involved in one of these projects? Contact us to find out how they could be involved!
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AFSC will no longer be receiving contributions
for Iraqi Refugees
No new Iraqi refugees are scheduled to arrive in the coming months.
If you have items you want to donate for refugees contact:
Catholic Charities at 913.621.5255 or
Jewish Vocational Services at 816) 471-2808; ext. 1123
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Upcoming Peace and Justice Activities
Click on link or scroll down for more information about the peace and justice activity
June 23, 5;30pm, Afghan War Vigil to Protest Obama's Continuation of the War J.C. Nichols Fountain, , 47th Street and Main, KCMO (See below or go to: http://www.afsc.org/event/afghan-war-vigil )
June 23, Thursday, 6:30 till 8:00, The Past & Present Death Penalty in Missouri, Special Guest Harriett C Frazier, Licensed Attorney, PhD in English, Retired Criminal Justice Law Professor, Author of 5 books including Death Sentences in Missouri 1803-2005, Plus Jermey Kroening, MADP's Western Field Organizer, Sponsored by the KC Chapter of MADP at the Bluford Library, 31st and Prospect, KCMO.
June 25 and 26, 10am -5:00pm, KC Urban Farm and Garden Tour, See below for information.
July 4, 2011, 11:00am to 2:30pm, Patriots Picnic Fun-raiser for the American Friends Service Committee, Picnic fare, live music, great company and more at 8336 Sagamore, Leawood, KS 66206 Suggested donation $25 / family
July 12, Tuesday, 6:30pm, AFSC Anti-War Organizing . Join us to organize actions to mark the 10th Anniversary of 9-11; campaigns to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, plan for the Windows & Mirrors Afghan Mural exhibit… At 4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO. For more information call 816 931-5256 or afsckc at afsc.org<mailto:afsckc at afsc.org>. (http://afsc.org/event/kc-afsc-anti-war-organizing-meeting )
July 16, Saturday 2:00-4:00 pm, Annual Meeting of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty,“Building a road to Victory – the Illinois Model”, Please join us. Find out what MADP is doing. Hear members of the Illinois Coalition share their journey on ending the death penalty. At St. Vincent De Paul Building, 100 North Jefferson,St. Louis, MO Please RSVP to: www.madpmo.org<https://madp.ejusadb.org/sites/madp.ejusadb.org/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?u=727&qid=198541>
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EVERY Sunday: Iraq Peace Vigil, 4pm, JC Nichols Fountain, 47th & Main, Streets, Kansas City, MO http://www.kciraqtaskforce.org/
EVERY Tuesday, JOIN THIS Peace Demonstration Every Tuesday between 5PM - 6 PM in the median strip on the south corner of the intersection at 63rd & Ward Parkway, Kansas City, Mo. For more information email '63rd Street Patriots' at schwartzkatz at sbcglobal.net<mailto:schwartzkatz at sbcglobal.net>
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We invite Educators and Youth Program Leaders to use
the “Lends Us Your Hands for Peace” Art Activity
[cid:image004.jpg at 01CC31C7.02CB69C0]The “Lends Us Your Hands for Peace” Art Activity is a creative and positive youth activity. Use it with youth you work with and at the same time help support the “Visions of Peace at the Crossroads” festival.
We encourage you to help us by creating with your class or youth program participants “Lend Us Your Hands for Peace” pictures. As an incentive to utilize this art activity you will have the chance to win a “Day of Pizza” for your organization.
Organizations providing 50 or more “Lend Us Your Hands for Peace” pictures will be placed in a drawing to receive a “Day of Pizza” consisting of the delivery of six medium pizzas at a time and location of the organizations choosing. To be included in the drawing pictures must be received by September 22nd.
The purpose of “Visions of Peace at the Crossroads” is to inspire deeper visions for peace and justice in our world. We will use the arts, performance, poetry, storytelling and music to engage First Friday Crossroads Arts Walk attendees and encourage them to express their hopes for peace. We will also provide easy ways for festival attendees to take actions for a peaceful, just and sustainable future. (See link to more information about the festival.)
Click the link to review the Lend Us Your Hands for Peace lesson plan which can be used to conduct a 30 to 40 minute art activity. We encourage you to send us completed pictures (or contact us to pick them up) and we will display them at the October 7th Visions of Peace at the Crossroads festival.
Pictures can be sent to the American Friends Service Committee, 4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO 64110 or you can contact us to arrange for them to be picked up at 816 931-5256 or iharritt at afsc.org<mailto:iharritt at afsc.org> .
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
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Support IVAW’s
Operation Recovery: A Campaign to End the Deployment of Traumatized Troops<http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_150686925000528>
Service members who experience PTSD, TBI, MST, and combat stress have the right to exit the traumatic situation and receive immediate support, and compensation.
Too often, service members are forced to redeploy back into dangerous combat, or train in situations that re-traumatize them. We say, individuals suffering from trauma have the right to remove themselves from the source of the trauma. Service members who are not physically or mentally healthy shall not be forced to deploy or continue service. –IVAW http://www.ivaw.org/operation-recovery
William Stewart-Starks<http://www.facebook.com/n/?profile.php&id=16827807&mid=4486d4bG1e4cdf70G6a61bdcG96&bcode=ZIhBbanl&n_m=iharritt%40afsc.org>, Iraq Veterans Against the War Invites you to support the Operation Recover campaign on FaceBook and to become a member of the Facebook group.
William Stewart-Starks posted in Operation Recovery: A Campaign to End the Deployment of Traumatized Troops<http://www.facebook.com/n/?home.php&sk=group_150686925000528&mid=4486d4bG1e4cdf70G6a61bdcG96&bcode=ZIhBbanl&n_m=iharritt%40afsc.org>.
View Post on Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/n/?home.php&sk=group_150686925000528&mid=4486d4bG1e4cdf70G6a61bdcG96&bcode=ZIhBbanl&n_m=iharritt%40afsc.org>
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(Check this out –
My garden is even one of those featured in the tour- Ira Harritt, AFSC Program Coordinator)
Urban Farm & Garden Tour Invite
Greetings friend,
Here is an update invitation to the upcoming Urban Farms & Gardens Tour.
Events for the fourth biennial Urban Farms & Gardens Tour will kick off in just two weeks on Wednesday, June 15th, launching a 12 day celebration of growing and eating of good food in our city. All event details are now available on the tour website: www.urbanfarmstourkc.com<http://www.urbanfarmstourkc.com/>.
The self-guided Tour, organized by Cultivate Kansas City (formerly the Kansas City Center for Urban Agriculture) and many volunteers, gives people the opportunity to connect with the farmers that feed them and explore the diverse and wonderful ways that people are growing food in our city. This year's theme is "Get Your Grow On!" with hopes to inspire YOU to get out, get engaged, and find a way to grow, eat and advocate for more fresh, healthy food in our city.
On Saturday & Sunday, June 25th & 26th, thirty-eight urban farms, community gardens, school gardens, and urban homesteads across the metro area will be open to the public from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. with live music, cooking demonstrations, and children's activities lined up throughout the weekend.
If you are interested in volunteering during the pre-tour events or the weekend of the tour, please fill out this form<http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=41857612&msgid=139061&act=1X33&c=834947&destination=https%3A%2F%2Fspreadsheets.google.com%2Fviewform%3Fhl%3Den%26formkey%3DdEFhOFRiSHdDbmtHQWJUbjNiUGtMYVE6MQ%23gid%3D0> and our volunteer coordinator will be in touch with you shortly.
Visit our website<http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=41857612&msgid=139061&act=1X33&c=834947&destination=http%3A%2F%2Furbanfarmstourkc.com%2F> for farm biographies, a tour map, complete pre-tour event descriptions, bike tour maps and details, and all tour updates!
Special thanks to our Major Harvest sponsors: UMB Big Bash, DST Systems, and Boulevard Brewing Company, and to all of our generous sponsors for making this event possible and supporting the vision of growing and eating fresh, healthy food in our city's neighborhoods.
Janet Brown Moss,
BridgeWorks
email: janetbridgeworks at sbcglobal.net<mailto:janetbridgeworks at sbcglobal.net>
News and Alerts
Dear Friend,
Please send a letter NOW!
[cid:image006.jpg at 01CC31C7.02CB69C0]<http://support.afsc.org/site/R?i=P-hKtkZZ1cvar5_8hJmhEg..>
Nine years after the 2001 invasion there are 250,000 foreign forces in Afghanistan: 100,000 US troops, 50,000 NATO troops and 100,000 Pentagon paid contractors. These are the highest troop levels yet, with last year having the largest number of civilian casualties since the first year of the war.
The plan President Obama announced last night to remove 33,000 troops by next summer fails to end this war. What is left is a force much larger than when he took office. Leaving these soldiers in place to continue the current strategy prolongs the war.
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More war will not help the Afghan people or US interests. For thirty years the US, Russia, and others have waged a series of wars in Afghanistan. Extended military occupation as well as arming, training, and financing militia forces have led to an almost uninterrupted humanitarian crisis.
Please send a letter<http://support.afsc.org/site/R?i=aY9PV8-9HPf_56vWr4F5jg..> to your local paper calling for an end to the killing, bringing the troops home, and cutting funding for war so that we can invest in needs here at home.
The economic and human costs, both to the US and Afghanistan, are enormous and unacceptable. Afghans are the world's 2nd largest refugee population with 3 million people living outside their home country. The World Bank reports that nearly all of Afghanistan's money comes from the international military and donor community presence.
What we want to see:
1. A complete withdrawal of all foreign troops – including military contractors – in tandem with disarming the warlords and militias.
2. Reverse the US initiative to have Afghanistan create a huge and unsustainable standing military. Dialogue, diplomacy and reconciliation do not need such a force.
3. Announce a cease fire. As long as US policy is to destroy the Taliban opposition and insurgent forces some Afghans will resist what they see as a foreign occupation.
4. The US to announce its willingness to take part in a broad and transparent peace process.
These steps will allow Afghans to move forward with the process of reconciliation.
Please send a letter to your local newspaper. Here's a sample text<http://support.afsc.org/site/R?i=DNYpbuMY5cw5NnSg3zys_g..>.
Wage peace,
Peter Lems and Mary Zerkel
American Friends Service Committee
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Move the Money
Take the Federal Budget Poll
FEDERAL BUDGET
PREFERENCE POLL
Let your voice be heard
in the federal budget debate!
Choose between the three very different federal budget choices proposed for fiscal year 2012:
* President Obama's Budget Framework
* The "People's Budget" proposed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC)
* The GOP Budget proposed by House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI)
A coalition of national and local groups from all over the country are part of the New Priorities Network campaign to Move the Money from wars and Wall Street to communities and Main Street.
AFSC is part of this work and hopes that you will participate!
To participate, take the New Priorities Network poll and choose between the GOP Budget, the Obama budget and the Congressional Progressive Caucus "People's Budget."
You can find out more about the three budgets and cast your vote here<https://FederalBudgetPoll.questionpro.com> or go to https://FederalBudgetPoll.questionpro.com/<https://questionpro.com/t/CKFScZ>:
You can “vote” to cut military spending and end the wars, increase taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals, create jobs, and strengthen our safety net.
Find out more about the New Priorities Network<http://www.newpriorities.org>.
Cast your vote<https://FederalBudgetPoll.questionpro.com>
Poll closes on July 5, 2011
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Published on Thursday, June 23, 2011 by The Progressive<http://www.progressive.org/wx062311.html>
Obama: Three More Years of War in Afghanistan
by Matthew Rothschild<http://www.commondreams.org/matthew-rothschild>
Our war president promised more war. While he trumpeted his big Afghanistan speech as the first step in ending that war, Barack Obama essentially told the American people that tens of thousands of our soldiers would still be fighting there for at least three more years.
A year from now, Obama said all the additional “surge” troops will be back home. But the U.S. will still have close to 70,000 troops in Afghanistan, twice the number that were there when Obama took office.
Only “by 2014,” he said, will the Afghan people “be responsible for their own security.”
And even then, Obama appears to have left himself an out. “We’ll have to do the hard work of keeping the gains that we made,” he said. But what if those “gains” aren’t kept? Would he reverse course and keep more troops there?
He also said the United States would “build a partnership with the Afghan people that endures.” Beware a euphemism for permanent military bases.
The president’s rhetoric, overall, was hideous. “The tide of war is receding,” he said, and he repeated the “tide” metaphor a little later on. But war is not a fact of nature, like an ocean. It is a rash act of rulers.
More> http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/23-11
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Published on Thursday, June 23, 2011 by Inter Press Service<http://ipsnews.net/news.asp>
Obama Leaves Door Open to Long-Term U.S. Afghan Combat
by Gareth Porter<http://www.commondreams.org/gareth-porter>
President Barack Obama's speech announcing that the 33,000 "surge" troops in Afghanistan will be withdrawn by "summer" 2012 indicates that he has given priority to the interests of the military and the Pentagon over concerns by key officials in his administration over the impact of the war's costs on domestic socioeconomic needs.
And in a section of the speech<http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/06/22/president-obama-way-forward-afghanistan> that must be interpreted in the context of his past policy decisions on Iraq, Obama appeared to support the desire of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and General David Petraeus to keep a substantial number of combat troops in Afghanistan beyond the publicly announced "transition" in 2014.
Gates and Petraeus got most of what they wanted from Obama in regard to the withdrawal of the "surge" troops.
Petraeus had argued that he needed two more full "fighting seasons" with the bulk of the surge troops still remaining in the country to wear down the Taliban before the start of the "transition" in 2014, according to a report in The Guardian<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/21/barack-obama-and-pentagon-split-on-afghanistan>.
Published reports had indicated that Petraeus wanted the withdrawal next month to be limited to 5,000 troops. Obama said the first phase of the withdrawal would consist of 10,000 troops to start in July but would be completed only at the end of the year.
The Obama decision gives Petraeus the first full season with all or almost all of the troops he had wanted.
More> http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/06/23-9
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U.S. Mayors Conference Calls For End To Afghanistan, Iraq Wars, Refocus On Domestic Initiatives
ALEX DOMINGUEZ 06/17/11 03:46 PM ET [cid:image008.png at 01CC31C7.02CB69C0]
BALTIMORE — Money spent on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq should be spent at home under a resolution proposed Friday by U.S. mayors who called on Congress to hasten the end of the wars.
The resolution proposed at the opening of the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting wants Congress to redirect the military spending to domestic priorities. The resolution says $126 billion is being spent each year on the wars that should be spent at home to create jobs, rebuild infrastructure, develop sustainable energy and provide for other needs.
The conference, which ends Monday, represents mayors of the more than 1,200 cities nationwide with a population of more than 30,000.
When asked to respond to those who argue military efforts overseas have made American cities safer from foreign terrorists, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pointed to the cost of the wars.
"How did we get to a deficit and a debt larger than at any time not only in U.S. history but in human history? We got involved in two wars that, no matter what you think about those wars, we haven't paid for," Villaraigosa said.
"That we would build bridges in Baghdad and Kandahar and not Baltimore and Kansas City, absolutely boggles the mind."
More> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/17/us-mayors-conference-wars_n_879267.html
We need your support to keep our life affirming peacemaking work alive.
Contribute. Volunteer. Spread the word!
Contact us and mail your tax deductible contribution to:
American Friends Service Committee
4405 Gillham Rd., KCMO 64110
(816) 931-5256
The information and events described in AFSC Peace and Justice Alerts are intended to educate and assist members of our community in becoming active in working for a more just and peaceful world. Inclusion of a listing does not necessarily imply that AFSC KC agrees with all points of view that will be represented at the event.
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace, and humanitarian service.
Its work is based on the Quaker belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice
To subscribe or unsubscribe to this list go to:
http://list.afsc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/afsckc-peacealert
Ira Harritt
KC Program Coordinator
American Friends Service Committee
816 931-5256
iharritt at afsc.org
Ira Harritt
KC Program Coordinator
American Friends Service Committee
816 931-5256
iharritt at afsc.org
http://afsc.org/office/kansas-city-mo
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