[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] minutes of 5/4/03 AWARE meeting

[Lisa Chason]

Randall's minutes are exemplary -- a piece of art -- with links to the
articles mentioned, background info incorporated, succint but thorough
summaries of what was said. Many thanks for such a good job.
L.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
To: <peace at lists.groogroo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2003 1:16 AM
Subject: [Peace] Anti-war calendar and minutes of 5/4/03 AWARE meeting


> Anti-War Calendar:
>
> May 3 (Saturday): AWARE's long-established "Prospect for Peace"
> demonstration at Prospect and Marketview (2-4PM).
>
> May 4 (Sunday): AWARE's weekly meeting 5-7PM at the IMC (Independent Media
> Center - 218 W. Main, Urbana).
>
> June 6-8 (Friday-Sunday) United for Peace and Justice Nationwide Anti-War
> Conference in Chicago. AWARE may attend.
>
> October 7 (Tuesday): Noam Chomsky apparently coming to Illinois at ISU.
More
> info later.
> ---------------------------------------------
> meeting minutes:
>
> attendance: 20
>
> presentation: Dave Johnson of the Carpenter's Union
>
> Dave promoted the idea of opposing anticipated anti-union, anti-worker
> developments in Iraq as part of the larger opposition to the US
occupation.
> He pointed out it's only reasonable to expect the administration will
> attempt to create a country-wide "free-trade" zone favorable to US
corporate
> interests and quash worker rights and organization as a result.
>
> Dave talked about Harry Kelber, who has spent his entire adult life (he is
> now 90) in the service of the labor movement. Kelber is the editor and
> founder of the newsletter "The Labor Educator" (
> http://www.laboreducator.org ). Kelber is a major proponent of actively
> opposing anti-worker/anti-union developments in Iraq.
>
> handout: Harry Kelber article: "American Labor Can Play an Important Role
as
> Defender of Rights of Iraqi Workers"
>
> Dave noted that job site workers seemed to be about evenly divided
> pro/anti-war. He noted that those who used the Internet to access news and
> information were significantly more likely to be anti-war.
>
> He noted that the prospect of attacking Syria caused concern even among
> pro-war workers.
>
> He described how once he informs workers of current developments regarding
> the huge sweetheart contracts being doled out to anti-worker/anti-union
> Bush-friendly/Bush-connected corporations such as Kellogg, Brown & Root
and
> Stevedoring, even pro-war workers became more skeptical of what's
happening
> in Iraq.
>
> During discussion, Dave made note of the fact that while many workers are
> aware of and upset about NAFTA, many are uninformed about issues such as
> GATT and WTO and the larger pattern of "free-trade" globalization.
> ---------------------------------------------
> news of the week (sadly, without Carl)
>
> Lisa: Good article in Sunday New York Times: "A Classicist's Legacy: New
> Empire Builders" by James Atlas tracing back neo-conservative roots to the
> late classicist and political philosopher Leo Strauss.  (ed. note: here is
a
> link to the article:
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/04/weekinreview/04ATLA.html
>
> Charlotte: Israel has explicitly announced they are cracking down on
> International Solidarity Movement non-violent activists (members of ISM
were
> in town recently for the Palestinian Truth Tour). (ed. note: From May 3
New
> York Times article: "Britain Holds 6th Person in Tel Aviv Blast":
>
> "Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, the chief of staff for the Israeli Army, announced
> last month on army radio that he had given an order to remove the
activists
> from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where they have acted as human
> shields to prevent military operations against the Palestinians, such as
> house demolitions."
>
> (ed.note: for more information, also see:
>
> http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=402676
>
> Matt: British cameraman James Miller was killed by Israeli Defense Forces,
> though he was unmistakably and actively identifying himself as a
journalist
> (even carrying a white flag). (ed. note: News article covering this from
the
> British Independent is at:
>
> http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=402956
>
> Lisa: Noted that WMD is yet to be found and mentioned she had read that
the
> US Administration may be planning to target "enemy" regimes directly
> (assassination, essentially) in the future.
>
> Linda: Listened to Bob McChesney's WILL AM 580 show "Media Matters"
(Sundays
> 1PM) and heard an interview with the editor of "The Progressive", Matthew
> Rothschild, during which an incident was recounted from 2001 in which
> Chicago police and a Federal postal inspector were called to question
Voices
> in the Wilderness because they chose not to buy stamps that depicted the
US
> flag. (ed. note: Details at:
>
> http://www.progressive.org/webex/wxmc120801.html
>
> Mort: Mentioned there was an unusual, good article in Sunday's
News-Gazette
> on the rife disinformation in the media regarding the war.
>
> Ricky:  Hawaii passed a state resolution which opposes the Patriot Act and
> encourages resistance against it within the state.
> (ed. note: An article from Hawaii indymedia is at:
>
> http://hawaii.indymedia.org/news/2003/04/2164.php
>
> also, see:
>
> http://www.hawaiinews.com/archives/politics/000133.shtml
>
> David H: Says he learned of a recent assassination of a Pro-U.S Shia
cleric.
> (ed. note: It was unclear whether David was referring to the killing of
> pro-western cleric Abdul Majid al-Khoei in Najaf on April 10 (he had
> returned from exile in London). Much detail on the al-Khoei killing is at:
>
> http://www.observer.co.uk/islam/story/0,1442,936060,00.html
>
> Jeff: Says he learned Iraqi oil experts and executives were refusing to
> cooperate with US. He also mentioned a Guardian article that described how
a
> single family was decimated during the firing of US troops at protestors
in
> Fallujah. (ed. note: The article is at:
>
> http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,949043,00.html
>
> Ricky: Added that Agence France Presse (AFP) reported that medical staff
> were fired on during the first Fallujah shooting.
>
> Mort: Said that a United Nations humanitarian relief flight was not
allowed
> to land at Basra. He said it's not the first time this happened. Someone
> else added the same thing happened with a CARE flight in northern Iraq.
>
> Peter: Added that some magnate or celebrity was allowed to land their
relief
> flight in Baghdad.
>
> Franklin Graham's (Billy Graham's son) mission to convert Iraqis to
> Christianity was mentioned. (ed. note: An interesting article on this is
at:
>
> http://www.counterpunch.org/cajee04112003.html
>
> David G: Noted that Democracy Now did an excellent piece last Friday on
the
> Carlyle group (ed. note - Carlyle is a secretive, powerful business
> investment firm including a half-brother of Osama Bin Laden, both Bushes,
> Frank Carlucci, Dick Cheney, James Baker, Colin Powell, John Major and
> others. There is a new book exposing Carlyle - "The Iron Triangle". The
> Democracy Now piece is an interview of the author, Dan Briody, by Amy
> Goodman. Link to the audio interview at:
>
>
http://stream.realimpact.net/rihurl.ram?file=webactive/demnow/dn20030502.ra&
> start=27:35.4
>
> Jeff: Chimed in that Bush had a speech at United Defense in Silicon Valley
> during his trip to the aircraft-carrier photo-op last week. United Defense
> is owned by Carlyle.
> ---------------------------------------------
> events of the past week:
>
> Mike: Mentioned the last two sessions of the Chancellor's campus forum on
> the war. He specifically referenced the last session and what Robert McKim
> had to say. He like much of what McKim presented, including his taking
> evangelicals to task for not opposing the war strongly.
>
> Mort: Chimed in on the forum sessions, saying attendance was 25-45.
> Described the sessions as stimulating, but mostly comprised of sterile
> academic discourse followed by more interesting discussion with the
> audience.
>
> Ken: Attended a talk given by former president of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda
on
> the role of Zambia in the liberation of South Africa. Kaunda is blamed for
> mismanagement of Zambia since he came to power in 1964 and forcing
> dictatorial one-party rule in 1972. These culminated in violent riots in
> 1990, which ultimately forced him to allow a multi-party system which
> resulted in his ouster in 1991. Ken noted how curious it was that
dictators
> like Kaunda somehow get recycled into lecture circuits.
>
> Randall: Attended a weekly Progressive Resource/Action Cooperative (PRC)
> meeting to discuss the idea (touched on last week by Carl and Robert) of a
> Sept. 6 anti-war conference bringing together anti-war and progressive
> groups. Found there was solid enthusiasm for such an idea within PRC and
> they encouraged it to go forward. Randall will help to move the idea
> forward.
> ---------------------------------------------
> Working group reports:
>
> Farmer's Market: Farmer's Market at Lincoln Square starts next Saturday. A
> working group headed by Jeff was formed to get a table out with
literature,
> signs, etc. Many agreed that tabling at Farmer's Market was very
important.
> The working group had their first meeting immediately after the main
> meeting.
>
> CO: (Mike) Anti-militarism tabling event at Urbana High School went very
> well. This proves that more tabling should be done at Urbana High and also
> in Champaign, if possible. To find an inroad into Champaign, though, we
may
> need a parent of a Champaign high school student or a member of a high
> school's faculty to help out (ed. note: can anyone out there help?). Other
> future actions are also called for, such as leafleting students about
their
> opt-out rights under the "No Child Left Behind" rider which otherwise
allows
> the US to obtain student information from schools for recruitment
purposes.
>
> P4P: (Ricky) Attendance was up at P4P this week. Attendance was down at
Neil
> St., though (and they wound up coming to Prospect). Due to lack of
> attendance, there will no longer be an organized Neil St. component
> (especially since the counter-demonstrators should be gone next week).
There
> were new signs. New literature was passed out (about 100 copies).
>
>   Incident: The "pro-war" van often seen circling around heckling us (and
> this week, even flashing us) was pulled over by the cops and subsequently
> disappeared.
>
>   Incident: A couple minutes before 4PM, as things were winding down, a
> couple pro-war bikers apparently decided to go down our entire line, one
of
> them (a woman) taking individual close-up photos of people and verbally
> attacking some. It was provocative harassment, though not violent and not
> illegal. Lori asked the woman not to take a photo of her and then
> unfortunately let her emotions get the best of her when she did. Lori
> grabbed the camera and tried to destroy it (though she says she grabbed
the
> camera without actually touching the photographer). The cops came running
> and one of them tackled Lori from behind, pinning her to the ground with a
> knee in her back and then cuffed her. All our witnesses agreed that the
cops
> were unnecessarily violent with Lori. The photographer did not press
charges
> and Lori was not arrested. Lori was released on-site, but charged with
> resisting arrest and has a court date. She plans to plead not guilty and
> fight the charge. We got together a list of witnesses and asked them to
> write down exactly what they saw as soon as possible. If Lori is fined, a
> collection will be taken to help her out. As of Sunday, Kim Kranich was
> setting up a meeting with Lieutenant Gallo to address this issue. Lesson
> learned: don't let our guard down, even when all seems stable. This
incident
> could very well have been avoided if we had enforced the buffer zone by
> protesting the crossover when it happened, appealing to the pro-war
> organizers and the police as necessary. Luckily, this was the last week of
> organized counter-protest.
>
> Ricky put forth the idea of winding down P4P during May and quitting at
the
> end of the month for the summer.
>
> He also suggested refreshments next week at P4P.
>
> Town Meeting: (Mort) Mark Thompson backed out from participating, so this
> working group is reconsidering/re-evaluating the next step.
>
> Speaker's Bureau: (Linda) New meeting of speaker's bureau working group
took
> place immediately after main meeting.
>
> Literature: Mort and Ricky each have their new documents and continue to
> revise them. It was suggested we have final versions ready to go for
> Farmer's Market next week.
>
> Finances: Gabe reports a balance of $2073.51. Gabe will order buttons and
> bumper stickers (for Farmer's Market among other things).
>
> Party 4 Peace: Lisa's place, Saturday May 17th. Lisa will post more
> information later.
> ---------------------------------------------
> Upcoming Events/Miscellaneous
>
> RSO status: Mike pointed out that the semester is almost over and we need
to
> renew RSO status and request a table for Quad day NOW.
>
> Lisa: Wondered aloud whether we should try to have closer ties with and/or
> enlist the support of prominent progressive/anti-war voices such as Bob
> McChesney and Francis Boyle.
>
> Ricky: Alan Dershowitz (the legal scholar/celebrity who advocates torture
in
> some circumstances) is apparently speaking on Monday, May 5 at Foellinger
> (ed. note - I couldn't find any reference to this presentation on any UIUC
> web site, but it's Monday night already, so I guess it's moot).
>
> Lisa: Looking for socially responsible consumer tips to include in an
> article for the Public I. Please forward them to her.
>
> Randall: United for Peace and Justice is conducting a national anti-war
> conference in Chicago June 6-8 and offers funds to pay for travel and
> conference attendance (possibly contingent on joining UFPJ as an
affiliated
> group). Randall is interested in going, is looking into this and will
report
> next week.
>
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