[Peace] Anti-war calendar and minutes of 5/11/03 AWARE meeting
Randall Cotton
recotton at earthlink.net
Thu May 15 01:14:26 CDT 2003
Anti-War Calendar:
May 17 (Saturday): AWARE's long-established "Prospect for Peace"
demonstration at Prospect and Marketview (2-4PM).
May 18 (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: 21
facilitating: Peter
video presentation (Randall): excerpts from May 10 edition of "Mosaic Week
in Review" broadcast on Worldlink TV.
"Mosaic Week in Review" is a selection of the previous week's top stories
from "Mosaic", a daily program from Worldlink TV (a non-commercial
public-interest channel available on Dish Network as channel 9410 and on
Direct TV as channel 375). "Mosaic" features selections from daily TV news
programs from over a dozen national broadcasters throughout the
Middle East. The news reports are presented unedited and translated, when
necessary, into English. Some of the broadcasters are state controlled and
others are private networks, often affiliated with political factions.
AWARE viewed 2 segments as follows
Who will run Iraq? (4 news segments - 12.5 minutes)
Two stories each from Al-Manar TV and Abu Dhabi TV illustrating
problems in post-war administration of Iraq.
Al-Manar TV is controlled by Hezbollah (the shiite fundamentalist
movement) and broadcasts from Lebanon
Abu Dhabi TV is owned and funded by the United Arab Emirates
government, but is fairly independent.
Israel & the Palestinians (3 news segments - 7 minutes total)
One story each from Israel Broadcast Authority, Jordan Television,
and Al-Manar TV
Israel Broadcasting Authority is funded mostly by the Israeli
government, but is fairly independent.
Jordan Television is supported partly by public funding, but mostly
by commercial revenue and is widely viewed in many countries of
the region.
Al-Manar TV is described above.
For more information on Worldlink TV, see:
http://www.worldlinktv.com/
For more information on Mosaic, see:
http://www.worldlinktv.com/mosaic/
---------------------------------------------
news of the week (Carl, who will hopefully post his usual report):
- L. Paul Bremer III taking over from Jay Garner. A wholesale replacement of
U.S. administration of Iraq appears to be taking place, including Barbara
Bodine (in charge of Baghdad). Reasons are unclear. (ed. note: A pertinent
NY Times article that tries to explain the turnover is at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/international/worldspecial/11CND-POLICY.ht
ml
- Primary U.S. WMD investigation unit (ironically named the "75th
Exploitation Task Force") is packing up and leaving soon, having found no
WMD. (ed. note - US Media is largely burying their head in the sand on this
so far, but a revealing article is at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A40212-2003May10
- Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir Al-Hakim, leader of the Iranian-backed Supreme
Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, returned to Najaf from exile in
Iran and called for Islamic rule. (ed. note - a current article covering
this as well as the other two Shiite factions vying for influence in Najaf
is at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47320-2003May12.html
- A draft UN resolution proposed by the US would recognize US & Britain
occupiers as the legitimate "authority" in Iraq for one year (each
subsequent year automatically renewed unless the Security Council decides
otherwise). Absolutely no mention is made of UN weapons inspectors. (ed.
note - NY Times article on this is at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/international/worldspecial/10NATI.html
- Powell issues veiled threat against Syria, warning they could be "on the
wrong side of history" if they don't cooperate with the US. (ed. note: This
is covered in an article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42195-2003May11.html
- A provision of the 2004 defense spending bill currently being hammered out
in congress repeals the 1993 ban on research and development of
"mini-nukes". (ed. note: An article detailing recent proceedings on this in
the Senate Armed Services Committee is at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/international/worldspecial2/10NUKE.html
- Taiwan is being pressured by the U.S. to purchase Patriot anti-missile
systems, despite its dismal record. (ed. note: Taiwan pressure was reported
in March - not sure if Carl was referring to more recent reports. One March
report is at:
http://quickstart.clari.net/qs_se/webnews/wed/ah/Qtaiwan-us-military.Ra13_DM
E.html
A recent Counterpunch report on the Patriot system's flaws and abysmal
record is at:
http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair04172003.html
- A U.S. Military officer was relieved of duty after she refused an order to
seize a Mosul TV station because "military officials were uncomfortable with
the station's programming" (ed. note: Wall Street Journal article covering
this is at:
http://wsjclassroomedition.com/wsjtoday/war/03may08_story2.html
And a Washington Post article quotes the military as admitting to censorship
in this case. (ed. note: the article is at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32796-2003May8.html
- Last Wednesday, many U.S. sanctions against Iraq were lifted (as opposed
to U.N. sanctions, which are still in effect). (ed. note: Among other
things, this helps out U.S. corporations already engaged in the
reconstruction of Iraq. An article on this is at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/08/international/worldspecial/08POST.html
- U.S. is pushing for an official finding that Iran is in violation of
nuclear non-proliferation commitments. (ed. note: An article that details
this as well as other recent developments regarding relations with Iran is
at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/08/international/asia/08DIPL.html
- LA Times ran an article recently on how Powell keeps getting "run over" by
the Pentagon. (ed. note: This incisive article is at:
http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-state8may08,1,2433504.story
- The legal action against Tommy Franks accusing him of war crimes is going
forward. (ed. note: NY Times article on this at:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-belgium-franks.html
- The BBC reported eyewitness accounts of US troops encouraging looters (ed.
note: The article is at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3003393.stm
- Senate voted 96-0 for expansion of NATO (7 countries, 6 of which supported
the war) (ed. note: NY Times coverage is at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/08/international/worldspecial/08CND-NATO.html
- Carl underscored the importance of the Seymour Hersch New Yorker article
(referred to by David Green on the peace-discuss list) which prods the
legitimacy of Rumsfeld's parallel intelligence operation in the Pentagon's
"Office of Special Plans", making frequent reference to the Straussian
threads running through it. The article is at:
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0506-06.htm
- Carl pointed out that Paul Krugman, NY Times Op/Ed columnist, recently
wrote two notable articles on the Bush Tax cut. (ed. note: one of these is
still available on-line free of charge at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/09/opinion/09KRUG.htm
--------------------------------
Events of the past week:
Kim Kranich had a meeting with Lieutenant Gallo to discuss Lori's case (the
"resisting arrest" charge stemming from last week's incident at P4P). There
wasn't much in the way of a positive result, though. Lori attempted to get a
copy of her police report (as she was told she could by one of the officers
at P4P) and was refused. She was told her lawyer could get a copy (but she
doesn't have one yet). Lori's court date (where she will enter a plea) is
June 20. Lori is checking into leads for lawyers. Carl proposed a defense
fund for Lori and all agreed with this idea.
Israeli Independence Day event on the Quad last Wednesday. Robert attended
and estimated 20 folks were present for this, including Fred Gottheil.
--------------------------------
Working groups:
P4P (Ricky): Attendance was low (about 12). After last week, things were
pleasantly uneventful and refreshments were enjoyed by all. About 100 copies
of Mort's document were passed out.
Farmer's Market (Jeff): Rained out completely. Signup sheet for next week
was passed out. Gabe mentioned the ordered bumper stickers and buttons will
be available for next week.
Conscientious Objector (Mike): Meeting on Monday at 7PM at the Red Herring
to discuss future efforts.
Town meeting (John): Original plans fizzled, but alternatives are being
actively considered, ideas include an event coinciding with July 4, possibly
with the involvement of WILL, in the form of a panel of guests with public
participation.
Fall Conference (Carl): Described how there are now two ideas for fall
conferences being developed - one "internal", which would be for the benefit
of the progressive/anti-war activist community (bringing together
like-minded organizations in town for their own benefit) and one "external"
which would be more of an event to reach out to a more mainstream
non-activist audience. (ed. note - both of these ideas are still somewhat
fluid and embryonic, particularly the "internal" conference, but there is
still time to fill them out).
On the subject of conferences, Karis passed around an advertisement (back
cover of "The Progressive") for a "Take Back America" conference, to be held
June 4-6 in Washington DC. The organization sponsoring this is "Campaign for
America's Future" and the web site is ourfuture.org.
Also regarding conferences: Robert mentioned that there is an "AIPAC
Alternative" conference as well (ed. note: AIPAC, of course, is the powerful
pro-Israel lobby often regarded as being anti-Palestinian. I couldn't find
any additional info on this conference).
Speaker's Bureau (Linda): Passed out current revised Speakers Bureau listing
with bios for comment/correction (and also passed out the current revised
working group listing complete with associated group leaders also for
comment/correction).
Literature (Peter): Peter has created a new tri-fold pamphlet on Labor
issues related to Iraq Reconstruction. Copies of the current draft were
passed around. Feedback was requested so that he could provide final copies
for next week's Farmer's Market.
On the subject of literature, John suggested a quickly-digested comic strip
or other graphic document for use at Prospect for Peace to catch people
that wouldn't attempt to digest our current literature (due to its length)
and offered layout assistance for such an effort.
Finance Report (Gabe): Current balance is 2176.51. Income is declining.
Buttons purchased recently.
Party for Peace (Lisa): Party is on for Saturday, May 17th at 7PM. Lisa will
post details in an announcement.
---------------------------
Upcoming Events/Announcements/Misc.
Karis: Mentioned the impending FCC vote which will likely further greatly
deregulate US corporate media, allowing even greater monopolies in print,
radio and television, and inquired whether AWARE was interested in
addressing this. There was talk of possibly inviting Paul Riismandel to talk
on this subject.
Linda: We should start thinking of tabling at Taste of Champaign which is at
June 20-22. Registration is free for non-profit organizations.
Robert: Suggested that AWARE conferences be scheduled the weekend of Sep.
5/6. Suggested PRC be advised and their participation encouraged. Robert may
contact possible speakers (e.g. Imani Bazzell) for participation.
Lisa: Reminded folks of the picket planned Monday at noon for Rick Winkel's
office at Sunnycrest Mall regarding contraceptive coverage for women under
Illinois health insurance plans that cover other prescriptions.
Lisa: Reminded folks that she is looking for consumer tips for an article on
consumerism planned for the Public I.
(end)
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