[Peace-discuss] Re: Let's demonstrate when Afghanistan plan is announced! 5pm on the day, campus or Urbana Vets Memorial depending on the date

[Robert Naiman]

I drafted a press release.

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/409

On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 6:24 PM, Stuart Levy <slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu> wrote:
> There's been some discussion of what to do when the Afghanistan 'surge'
> announcement washes up.  As Bob Naiman suggested last week, that will be a
> good time to take some public action, and make a point of our opposition
> to this increasingly unpopular "good" war.
>
> But we don't know when the news will break, so need to be ready
> to mobilize on the day it does.  We're thinking about a late afternoon
> demonstration -- see below.
>
> The local groups of Iraq Veterans Against the War and of Campus Anti-War
> network are in, and so is AWARE.  I'm sending this also to people from
> the Mosque, and from the Mennonite Church, Friends meeting,
> and Channing-Murray -- would any of you like to be involved,
> either as an organization (could list you on a flyer/press release),
> or just by spreading the word to your members?  Are there other groups
> who might want to be part of this?
>
> [Replies set to peace-discuss at anti-war.net by default -- please
> keep discussions off the 'peace' list, but copy whoever's appropriate...]
>
> Current suggestion is ...
>
>   - Hold a demonstration at *5:00 PM* on the day, and invite the media.
>        (This is a convenient time for TV news people,
>        and might work for demonstrators with day jobs.)
>
>   - If the announcement-of-Presidential-speech is on a day
>        when the UofI students are in town, we should demonstrate on campus --
>        say at the Alma Mater / Green&Wright.  That'll be a fairly busy
>        corner, and we can hope to get a fair number of students participating.
>
>        Those on-campus days would be today through Friday Nov. 20th, and
>        from Monday Nov. 30th through Friday Dec. 18th (end of finals week).
>
>   - If the announcement comes while the students are away,
>        we demonstrate at the Veterans' Memorial in downtown Urbana.
>
>        That would be during Nov. 21st-29th, or from Dec. 19th onward.
>
>
>   - We haven't set in detail what to do.  We can certainly
>        stand there with signs and maybe a banner.  At 5pm, it'll
>        be dark, so we *could* try to hold candles.  But standing under
>        streetlamps with signs will work better if it's windy.
>
>   - Press release:  We need to let the media know in advance
>        in the hope they'll show up and watch/interview us.
>        Bob Naiman may be able to help with this depending on when
>        the news breaks.  I've reluctantly agreed to compose a
>        press release, but if someone else is less reluctant, please say so.
>
>        This *is* part of a widespread effort.  See for example this
>        group in Chicago (who like AWARE is a member of IL Coalition
>        for Justice, Peace and the Environment):
>
>          http://icjpe.org/actions/index.php?id=3413
>
>   - Flyers: it would be good to make one and spread it around,
>        saying briefly what and why.
>
>
>   - Martin Smith mentioned a recently-returned veteran of Afghanistan,
>        who strongly opposes the war, and might be available to come --
>        if so, he'd be interesting to listen to, and he could speak
>        at least to fellow demonstrators.
>
>   - Do we need a phone tree?
>
>   - We certainly need a facebook group...
>
>   - A sign-making party would be a good thing.  AWARE has signs,
>        but new ones would be better.  Anyone interested?
>        Maybe Sunday afternoon from some fraction of 2-5pm do?
>        If anyone writes back about this I'll book the Family Room.
>



-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org