716-332-3904 7/30/19 wnypeace.org
Dear Friends,
On Friday, join us at El Mueso at 4 pm for Speaking Verse to Power: Poems on Peace, War, & Justice. Poets will read their work on peace, war, and justice. You can also submit your own work, sign up is available at the door!
Please join us for the Nuclear Free & Indigenous Press Conference on August 6 at 1 pm at the Japanese Gardens (behind the Buffalo History Museum). Come out to support a nuclear-free future, with respect and equality for Indigenous people(s), all people and the planet. Held 74 years after the catastrophic US war crime of the bombing of Hiroshima. Learn about nuclear waste trucked over the Peace Bridge, nuclear waste pollution in WNY, nuclear weapons, prior free and informed consent, indigenous invisibility, and care for the Earth.
Following this event, on August 9 at 3 pm, join us to celebrate United Nations’ Indigenous People’ Day and commemorate lives lost to war and nuclear development on August 9,
By Kathy Kelly
July 23, 2019
“I felt shaky and uneasy all day, preparing for this talk” – Jehad Abusalim,
a Palestinian from the territory of Gaza
Jehad Abusalim, a
Palestinian now living in the United States, grew up Gaza. In Chicago last
week, addressing activists committed to breaking the siege of Gaza, he
held up a stack of 31 papers. On each page were names of 1,254
Palestinians living in Gaza who had been killed in just one month
of Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge” attacks five years ago.
“I felt shaky and uneasy
all day preparing for this talk,” he told the group. He described his
dismay when, looking through the list of names, he recognized one of
a young man from his small town.
“He was always friendly
to me,” Abusalim said. “I remember how he would greet me on the way
to the mosque. His family and friends loved him, respected him.”
Abusalim recalled
the intensity of losing loved ones and homes; of seeing livelihoods and
infrastructure destroyed by aerial attacks; of being unable to protect the
most vulnerable. He said it often takes ten years or more before Palestinian
families traumatized by Israeli attacks can begin talking about what happened.
Noting Israel’s major aerial attacks in 2009, 2013, and 2014, along with more
recent attacks killing participants in the “Great March
of Return,” he spoke of ongoing dread about what might befall Gaza’s
children the next time an attack happens.
Eighty people
gathered to hear Abusalim and Retired Colonel Ann Wright,
of US
Boat to Gaza, as they helped launch
the “Free Gaza Chicago River Flotilla,” three days of action culminating on
July 20 with a spirited demonstration by “kayactivists” and boaters,
along with onshore protesters, calling for an end to the siege of Gaza. Wright
resigned from her post as a U.S. diplomat when the United
States launched the 2003 Shock and Awe bombing of Iraq. Having
participated in four previous internationals flotillas aiming to defy Israel’s naval
blockade of Gaza’s shoreline, Wright is devoting her
energies preparing for a fifth in 2020.
Another organizer and
member of US Boat to Gaza, Elizabeth Murray,
who like Wright formerly worked for
the U.S. government, recalled being in a seminar sponsored by a prestigious think tank in
Washington, D.C., when a panel member compared Israeli attacks against
Palestinians with routine efforts to “mow the lawn.” She recounted
hearing a light tittering as the D.C. audience members expressed
amusement. But, Murray said, “Not a single person objected to the
panelist’s remark.” This was in 2010, following Israel’s 2009 Operation Cast
Lead, which killed 1,383 Palestinians, 333 of whom were
children.
Abusalim’s colleague at the American Friends Service
Committee, Jennifer Bing, had
cautioned Chicago flotilla planners to carefully consider the tone of their
actions. A colorful and lively event during a busy weekend morning along
Chicago’s popular riverfront could be exciting and, yes, fun.
But Palestinians in Gaza cope with constant tension,
she noted. Denied freedom of movement, they live in the world’s largest
open-air prison, under conditions the United Nations has predicted will
render their land uninhabitable by 2020. Households get four to six hours of
electricity per day. According to UNICEF, “sewage
treatment plants can’t operate fully and the equivalent of forty-three
Olympic-sized swimming pools of raw or partly treated sewage is pumped into the
sea every day.”
Facing cruel human rights violations on a daily basis,
the organizers urge solidarity in the form of boycotts, divestment, and
sanctions. U.S. residents bear particular responsibility for Israel’s military
attacks against civilians, they note, as the United States has supplied Israel
with billions of
dollars for military buildup.
U.S. companies profit hugely from selling weapons to
Israel. For example, Boeing, with headquarters in Chicago, sells Israel
Apache helicopters, Hellfire and Harpoon missiles, JDAM guiding systems and
Small Diameter Bombs that deliver Dense Inert Metal Explosive munitions. All of
these weapons have been used repeatedly in Israeli attacks on densely populated
civilian areas.
During the 2009 Operation Cast Lead, I was in Rafah,
Gaza, listening to children explaining the difference between explosions caused
by F-16 fighter jets dropping 500-pound bombs and Apache helicopters firing
Hellfire missiles.
Israel continues using those weapons, and Israeli
purchases fatten Boeing’s financial portfolios.
On July 19, young
Palestinians outside of the Israeli consulate read aloud the names of people who had, five years ago, been
killed in Gaza. We listened solemnly and then proceeded to Boeing’s
Chicago headquarters, again listening as youngsters read more names,
punctuated by a solemn gong after each victim was remembered.
Ultimately, 2,104 Palestinians, more than two-thirds of whom
were civilians, including 495 children, were
killed during the
seven-week attack on the Gaza Strip in 2014.
During the Free Gaza
Chicago River flotilla on July 20, Husam Marajda, from the Arab American
Action Network, sat in a small boat next to his grandfather, who was
visiting from Palestine. His chant, “From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls
have got to go!” echoed from the water to the shore. Banners were dropped from
bridges above, the largest reading, “Israel, Stop Killing
Palestinians.”
Kayakers wore red
T-shirts announcing the “Gaza Unlocked” campaign and managed to display flags,
connected by string, spelling out “Free Gaza.” Passengers on other boats
flashed encouraging peace signs and thumbs up signals. Those processing along
the shore line, carrying banners and signs, walked the entirety of our planned
route before a sergeant from the Chicago Police Department arrived to say we
needed a permit.
We can’t permit
ourselves to remain silent. Following the energetic flotilla activity, I sat
with several friends in a quiet spot. “So many names,” said one friend,
thinking of the list Abusalim had held up. “So many lives,” said
another.
Captions:
Kayakers on the Chicago
River display Free Gaza sign Photo Credit: Barbara Briggs Letson
Banner dropping over a
bridge crossing the Chicago River: Israel, Stop Killing Palestinians
Photo Credit: Barbara Briggs Letson
At Boeing Company,
Names of people killed in Israel’s Operation Protective Edge are read aloud;
Elizabeth Murray sounds a gong after each name. Photo credit:
Barbara Briggs Letson
A version of this
article was published July 23rd at The Progressive https://progressive.org/dispatches/dread-in-gaza-so-many-names-lives-kelly-190723/
Kathy Kelly (kathy@vcnv.org) co-coordinates Voices for Creative
Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org)
716-332-3904 7/23/19 wnypeace.org
Dear Friends,
Tomorrow, please join Camp Peaceprints for our Families Belong Together Rally, July 24 @ 10:30 am – 10:45 am, in Niagara Square. Children will be making their own signs in camp – and you can bring your own, too. Or just join us for the children’s experiencing activism first-hand! #FamiliesBelongTogether #UniteTheStruggles
Also tomorrow St. Joseph University Parish, 3269 Main St, (Wednesday, July 24 at 7pm) is also gathering to support refugees: holding an Interfaith Service to shine a light on the inhumane treatment of migrants, refugee, and asylum seekers. People of all faiths are invited to join together to educate, pray, and act. We refuse to be silent any longer.
Continue to support the Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign. It is a global campaign which highlights actions that individuals and organizations can take to cut nuclear weapons budgets, end investments (by their city, university, religious institution, bank, pension fund or government) in nuclear weapons, and shift these budgets and investments to peace and sustainability. To endorse the campaign, please send your supporting quote plus a photo of
yourself to Move the Nuclear Weapons Money *. We will turn your quote into a meme for social media use.
Join us July 29th at 7 pm for a night of poetry on peace, war, and justice with Speaking Verse to Power at Burning Books. Poets will read on peace, war, and justice at this event, organized by the WNY Peace Center and Veterans for Peace #128, as part of the Infringement Festival.
On July 30th at 5:30 pm with will be a Buffalo Police Advisory Board public meeting at the Frank E. Merriweather Jr Library. Come out to voice your thoughts and concerns about policing, meet with police leadership, and help develop solutions.
Continue your support of the petition to cosponsor S.1039, the Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act of 2019. The bill prohibits the U.S. from expending funds for war with Iran without express approval from Congress, as required by Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. War or military action against Iran would result in the killings of large numbers of civilians, include a high financial bearing and subject the United States to international condemnation. A war with Iran would be devastating. This is not a conflict we can afford to begin. Sign the petition here: https://www.dailykos.com/campaigns/letters/sign-and-send-a-petition-cosponsor-the-prevention-of-unconstitutional-war-with-iran-act-of-2019-s1039?detail=emailaction&link_id=0&can_id=b680b13b07403c67bb89e5c4e2420e97&source=email-sign-and-send-a-petition-to-your-us-senators-dont-fund-trumps-war-with-iran&email_referrer=email_579032&email_subject=sign-and-send-a-petition-to-your-us-senators-dont-fund-trumps-war-with-iran
Also join us for A Taste of Cuba Summer BBQ on August 18th at 1:30 pm, at the Fort Erie NPC Pavilion. Enjoy a family social afternoon of Cuban music, dancing, and solidarity. There will be live music and door prizes! Bring a lawn chair! Joining us will be special guests Josefina Vidal, who is Cuba’s ambassador, as well as the Consul General Tania Lopez Larroque and their team.
Peace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love.
Events this week:
Adult Volunteers Welcome at Camp Peaceprints
MF July 15 @ 10:00 am – July 26 @ 3:00 pm
CAMP PEACEPRINTS is a summer camp designed to introduce youth to social justice, while providing them with peaceful conflict resolution skills and exposure to a broader community. It is a two-week long alternative education program for participants ages 8 – 13, with older youth serving as Youth Assistants, running Monday through Friday, 10am – 3pm. CAMP IS FULL – but adult and older teen youth assistants are welcome, especially to help transport children to swimming 12:30-2:30, Tues & Fri. Please call 716-931-3520.
Camp Peaceprints Rally – #FamiliesBelongTogether #UniteTheStruggles
July 24 @ 10:30 am – 10:45 am
Niagara Square
Join Camp Peaceprints in Niagara Square for a rally to support immigrants and refugees, as well as to point out how all of our issues – and solutions – are connected. Signs are encouraged!
Come, sing movement songs!
July 25 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Thursday, July 25, 2019 at 6 PM – 7:30 PM at Raqs Solidarity – A Community Space 322 Amherst Street, Buffalo, New York 14207 https://www.facebook.com/raqs322/ Join us singing movement songs with the Poor People’s Campaign, the Civil Rights Movement, the Disability Rights Movement, the Union Movement, and the Women’s’ Rights Union along with others.
Speaking Verse to Power: Poems on Peace, War, & Justice
July 29 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Poets will read on peace, war, and justice at this event, organized by the WNY Peace Center and Veterans for Peace #128, as part of the Infringement Festival. At Burning Books, 420 Connecticut St.
Buffalo Police Advisory Bd Public Mtg
July 30 @ 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
At the Frank E. Merriweather Jr Library, 1324 Jefferson Ave, Buffalo, NY 14208 (Jefferson @East Utica). Come out to voice your thoughts and concerns about policing, meet with police leadership, and help develop solutions.
A Taste of Cuba Summer BBQ
August 18 @ 1:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Fort Erie NPC Pavilion
Enjoy a family social afternoon of Cuban music, dancing and solidarity. Bring a lawn chair!
We shall overcome #Unitethestruggles #Loveislove #PowerWITH-NOTPowerOver
***********
More listings on calendar and in previous email posts.
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