[Peace-discuss] Fwd: more 100 Peace Events Planned in US

[Margaret E. Kosal]

>United for Peace: More Than 100 "Peace Events" in 36 States Planned for 
>Week of Sept 11
>International peace leaders, including Nobel Prize Winner Oscar Arias and 
>Gandhi grandson Arun Gandhi, join call for Sept. 11 commemoration events 
>that say no to terrorism and war
>
>
>SAN FRANCISCO - August 26 - In response to a call from U.S. peace and 
>human rights organizations, communities throughout the United States and 
>the world are planning "peace events" to honor the people who died on 
>Sept. 11, 2001. The event titles range from "work a day for peace" to "our 
>grief is not a cry for war" to"from ground zero to common ground," but 
>what ties them together is their theme: working for a world without 
>terrorism and war.
>
>"The response to this idea has been overwhelming, in large part as a 
>response to President Bush's call for an attack of Iraq" said Medea 
>Benjamin, founding director of San Francisco's Global Exchange and a 
>founder of United for Peace, the coalition of groups that put out the call 
>for peace events. "In over 100 U.S. cities, as well as nearly a dozen 
>foreign countries, people are honoring those who died on September 11 by 
>calling for no more innocent victims."
>
>The astounding array of events are listed on the website 
>www.unitedforpeace.org. They include overnight vigils, peace walks, fasts, 
>concerts, art projects, donating the day's wages to peace groups, and 
>teach-ins about peace issues. The events are taking place from the big 
>cities of New York and Los Angeles to the smaller towns of Boise, Idaho 
>and Hood River, Oregon.
>
>The explosion of peace organizing around September 11 marks the beginning 
>of a new peace movement whose immediate goal is to stop the Bush 
>Administration from going to war with Iraq. "It is possible to stop this 
>war," said Lynate Pettengil, a peace activist in Lawrence, Kansas. "If you 
>and I stand up and let it be known that our country should not go to war 
>with Iraq, and we join together with thousands of other women, men and 
>children throughout the U.S. with this message, we will be heard."
>
>Endorsers of United for Peace include international peace leaders like 
>Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatama Gandhi, and Nobel Peace Laureate and 
>former President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias. "Many people who have lost 
>loved ones to violence have come to the realization that only by planting 
>the seeds of peace will their loss not have been in vain," says Arias. 
>United for Peace is also endorsed by September Eleventh Families for 
>Peaceful Tomorrows, the National Coalition for Peace and Justice, 
>Fellowship of Reconciliation, American Friends Service Committee, Peace 
>Action, Veterans for Peace, and Global Exchange.
>
>September 11 Family Members Promote Alternatives to War; 'Vigil for 
>Peaceful Tomorrows' to Feature Michael Moore, Amy Goodman, Kathy Kelly, 
>Daniel Berrigan, Singers, Poets
>
>
>NEW YORK - August 28 - September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows will 
>co-sponsor a dusk to dawn vigil at Washington Square Park in Manhattan in 
>commemoration of the terrorist attacks that took the lives of their lost 
>loved ones, as well as others who have lost their lives to violence. 
>Peaceful Tomorrows members Colleen Kelly, Talat Hamdani, David Potorti, 
>and Andrew Rice will be present at the gathering, along with family 
>members of those affected by violence in other countries.
>
>Scheduled to appear are: Michael Moore (filmmaker and author); Amy 
>Goodman, (host of Pacifica Radio's "Democracy Now"); Kathy Kelly (Voices 
>in the Wilderness); Manning Marable (Director of the Institute for 
>Research in African-American studies at Columbia University); Michael 
>Ratner (Center for Constitutional Rights and an attorney for Guantanamo 
>detainees); Debbie Almontaser (Muslim American Society); Masuda Sultan, an 
>Afghan-American who lost 19 relatives in the U.S.-led bombing; Father 
>Daniel Berrigan, S.J.; Luong Ung, Cambodian refugee and author; satirist 
>Reverend Billy; and musicians including Pat Humphries, Sandy Opatow and 
>others. A special written message from Muhammad Ali also will be read.
>
>"September 11th must not continue to be used to promote more war and 
>violence," said Colleen Kelly, Peaceful Tomorrows' New York area 
>coordinator, who lost her brother, William, at the World Trade Center that 
>day. "This first anniversary, let us initiate an exploration of what it 
>will take to bring healing and wholeness to our world. It is in 
>remembering the universality of our grief that we shape our hope for a 
>future of peaceful tomorrows."
>
>The program will take place from 7pm-10pm on September 10. A candlelight 
>vigil will continue through the night, with closing observances beginning 
>early on the morning of September 11.
>
>September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows 
>(<http://www.peacefultomorrows.org>www.peacefultomorrows.org) is an 
>advocacy organization formed by family members of September 11 victims. 
>Its mission is to seek effective, nonviolent responses to terrorism, and 
>to identify a commonality with all people similarly affected by violence 
>throughout the world. The group is urging the American government to 
>create a fund to assist Afghan families that were affected by the U.S. 
>military campaign.
>
>The vigil is co-sponsored by: the American Friends Service Committee, 
>Brooklyn Bridges, Buddhist Council of New York, Catholic Worker, Center 
>for Constitutional Rights, Columbia Media Project, Fellowship of 
>Reconciliation, Gabriella Network, Global Exchange, Jews for Social and 
>Economic Justice, Judson Memorial Church, Middle Collegiate Church, Muslim 
>American Society, Pax Christi, Nipponzan Myohoji, Peace Action, Voices in 
>the Wilderness, War Resisters League, Washington Square United Methodist 
>Church, Women in Black, and Women's International League for Peace and 
>Freedom. For a downloadable flyer and more information, visit 
><http://www.peacefultomorrows.org>www.peacefultomorrows.org. For 
>information on other 9/11 peace events, visit 
><http://www.unitedforpeace.org>www.unitedforpeace.org.
>###