kelly's blog
Sanctuary City News Coverage
Three of us spoke to city council today about the camapign to make Portland a sanctuary city for war resisters. The media got pretty interested in the issue--below is some of the coverage in the Oregonian and Oregon Live, and at the bottom links to the TV coverage.
Stay tuned for what is next in the camapign!
Activists want to make Portland a sanctuary for AWOL servicemen
by Mark Larabee, The Oregonian
Tuesday December 02, 2008, 8:11 PM
Activists from several peace groups will go before the Portland City Council today seeking support for making Portland a sanctuary for military resisters -- service members who have gone AWOL to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They hope the City Council will instruct police officers to ignore federal arrest warrants if they make a traffic stop of a soldier absent without leave.
The activists say such a stance is backed by the city's formal opposition to the Iraq war. And, they say, it's in line with the city's withdrawal from the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force as well as its policy prohibiting Portland officers from assisting U.S. immigration agents unless they need emergency backup.
"As a city that's declared itself against the war, we should be supporting soldiers who don't want to go fight," said Kelly Campbell, peace director of the American Friends Service Committee in Portland. "We should be saying it's not our job to be turning them in."
"This is a way to get in front of all of them at the same time and let them know we're serious about this," she said.
Commissioner Randy Leonard said he thinks the proposal is inappropriate.
"I think it's a mistake to be in Iraq for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the president lied to us about the reasons for going to war," Leonard said. "But to call for anarchy in the ranks and declare Portland as a free zone would be illegal. I like doing things like electing a new president to change policies, which we have done."
The peace activists are listed to speak under the "communications" section of today's council agenda. Such communications are usually limited to three minutes, and the council rarely comments on them during the meeting.
Tens of thousands of service members are AWOL, and it's a much bigger problem than the military can handle, said Bill Galvin, counseling coordinator for the Center on Conscience and War in Washington, D.C. The Marine Corps goes after absentees more aggressively than other branches, but the effort is minimal, he said.
"They do not generally go out and track people down," he said. "The main way they get folks is if they are busted for traffic violations."
The proposed policy wouldn't keep military police or federal agents from coming to Portland to look for deserters. Still, as a practical matter, it could have a big effect on people who are AWOL and living here.
"This is an opportunity for the citizens of Portland and the City Council to support the soldiers who are coming back and their right to speak out," said Dan Shea of Veterans for Peace, who first proposed the idea.
Shea said he enlisted with the Marines and spent most of 1968 in Vietnam, where he was exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange. That resulted in his diabetes, he said.
Shea said he never supported the Vietnam War but felt obligated to serve. When he came home, he felt betrayed by the country, saying the initial reasons for going to war were nothing but lies. The same thing is going on today, he said.
Among today's veterans, Shea said he's found people who can no longer support the war because of what they participated in or witnessed.
"These are people of conscience," he said. "They served for what is the best of our country -- the ability to speak out -- and now they are being persecuted for that."
Benjamin Lewis could soon be one of them. The 23-year-old served two tours with the Marines in Iraq and was honorably discharged in 2007. He has been notified that he will be recalled in April or May as part of the Individual Ready Reserve but has vowed not to go because he's opposed to the "open-ended war of aggression."
Because of his language skills, Lewis said, he was often employed as a translator between U.S. forces and Iraqis. "Most Iraqis thought we were there for oil and business interests, and a lot of them thought it was a Christian crusade against Muslims," he said.
Lewis said he will testify today as the only Corvallis member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. The Oregon chapter was founded last month.
"GI resistance is a very important part of questioning military legitimacy," he said. "There's a prevailing notion in America that no matter what the military does, it has to have a firm moral purpose. That is something that is rarely questioned, but it's something that needs to be questioned."
TV coverage:
http://www.katu.com/news/35481474.html
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/storie/kgw_120308_news_soldier_sanctuary.2...
Feedback on UFPJ documents
Compiling our collective feedback on UFPJ documents
As a member group of United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), PDX Peace is being asked to provide collective feedback on key UFPJ documents in advance of the upcoming national assembly in December. We are holding a special meeting of PDX Peace members on November 17, 6:30-7:30 to compile our feedback to send to UFPJ, and to decide on who we are sending to the assembly to represent us. Please come to the meeting having read the three documents with the questions below in mind. Be prepared to share with the group your 2-3 answers that you feel are most important.
Read the current drafts of the Unity Statement, Strategic Framework and Program Outline.
Questions to consider:
Feedback on Unity Statement
From the perspective of your group, does this revised draft of the UFPJ Unity Statement articulate the priority issues and perspectives that should define UFPJ, especially in the context of the new political landscape of the country?
If your group thinks something is missing, what is that? And why is this important to include in the Unity Statement?
Is there anything in this version of the Unity Statement that should be removed? If so, what is it and why?
Is anything in this version not clear or anything that you think needs to be more fully explained?
Feedback on Strategic Framework
From the perspective of your group, does this new draft of the UFPJ Strategic Framework adequately define the new political moment? If not, what is missing?
Does this draft articulate the strategic priorities that should define UFPJ in the coming period, especially in the context of the new political landscape of the country? If not, what do you disagree with and/or what does your group suggest?
Is anything in this version not clear or anything that you think needs to be more fully explained?
Does this draft focus on areas of work that your group thinks should be a major focus for our work in the coming period? If not, what's missing?
If your group thinks anything is missing, what is that? And why is this important to include in the Strategic Framework?
Is there anything in this version of the Strategic Framework that should be removed? If so, what is it and why?
Feedback on Program Outline
What, if any, of these areas of work is your group currently involved in?
Are there some areas of work your group is not involved in but is considering taking up in the future?
Can you indicate which of these areas of work your group believes should be a priority for UFPJ as a national coalition?
Are there any other areas of work or issues you believe UFPJ as a national coalition should take up in the coming year to 18 months?
Any other comments or suggestions?
Winter Soldier Media
Check out these great photos of Winter Soldier Northwest by Jim Lommason.
Here is coverage by Dahr Jamail from IPS
US/IRAQ: "We Have to Share This Pain"
Dahr Jamail
PORTLAND, Oregon, Oct 20 (IPS) - Veterans from the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, along with Iraqis, Afghanis, Vietnam veterans, and family members of U.S. military personnel converged in this west coast city over the weekend to share stories of atrocities being committed daily in Iraq, in a continuation of the "Winter Soldier" hearings held in Silver Spring, Maryland in March.
At the Unitarian Church downtown, some 300 people gathered to hear the testimonies, which left many in tears. The five-hour event was comprised of three panels; Voices of Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, The Human Costs of War, and Building Resistance to War.
The goal of the event is to give veterans a platform by which to disseminate information about their experiences abroad to the general public.
"War changes people. You do not come out of a combat zone the same," Iraq war veteran Chanan Suarez Diaz told the audience while moderating the veteran's panel. "War is very numbing...it comes to a point that you see so much destruction you become numb. This bullshit about bringing democracy or liberation is nonsense -- we've killed over one million Iraqis."
Jan Critchfield, an Army National guard specialist, discussed his job working in Iraq as an army "journalist", that in his words, "I was a propagandist, pure and simple."
And coverage in the Oregonian:
Anti-war movement revives 'Winter Soldier'
Ex-soldiers testify against the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan
On Anniversary Of Bombing Afghanistan, We Need A Surge In Diplomacy
From the Huffington Post
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Kelly Campbell
Seven years ago today we held a
memorial service for my brother-in-law in his hometown of Anamosa,
Iowa, four weeks after he was killed at the Pentagon on 9/11. As I
walked out the door from the service, I glanced at the television and
saw ominous green flashes on the dark screen. My heart sank. That day,
I realized, the day we started bombing Afghanistan, was another
family's 9/11, a day when something fell out of the sky and crushed
their innocent loved ones whose only crime was to be at the wrong place
at the wrong time. Only this time, it was my own government, not
al-Qaeda, that had decided that the loss of these lives in Afghanistan
was justified, in the name of a greater good.
Tonight, as our presidential candidates debate, it is time we start
demanding bold new leadership on the disaster that is the U.S.
occupation of Afghanistan. It seems too simple a sound bite for the
candidates to offer more troops as a solution. Tragically, increasing
troops will not solve the problems of Afghanistan or the U.S., but will
only compound them.
In January 2002, I traveled to Afghanistan to witness the direct
effects of the U.S. bombing campaign. In and around Kabul I met with
families whose homes were destroyed, and whose children were killed due
to the US bombing. These were not Taliban or al-Qaeda supporters, they
were ordinary people, just like 9/11 victims, that are the ones who
always suffer when political leaders choose war and violence as the
answer. In January 2002, there was much hope among people in
Afghanistan. The people I met expressed a deep desire for an end to the
violence. Most saw the U.S. bombing as a mixed blessing. They were
angry about civilian casualties, but relieved that the Taliban were out
of power and hopeful that twenty-three years of war were coming to a
close. This sense that maybe, just maybe things were going to get
better, has unfortunately evaporated over the years.
Seven years later, the violence has only increased. Every year the
U.S. has occupied Afghanistan, more civilians and military are killed.
2008 has been the most violent year since 2001. Civilian casualties by
US and NATO forces have sparked little-reported protests led by
students, tribal leaders and ordinary people across the country.
Polling data now indicates a majority of Afghans want U.S. troops to
leave their country. It is time that we start listening to the will of
the Afghan people, and formulate our policy accordingly.
Instead of a surge in the war, something Afghans have experienced
repeatedly over the past three decades, how about a surge in diplomacy,
humanitarian aid and support for grassroots democratic forces in
Afghanistan. As the RAND corporation points out in a recent study,
there is no military solution in Afghanistan. If we want to help build
a stable and democratic Afghanistan, we should drastically revamp our
humanitarian aid to assure that it goes to projects identified by
Afghans as crucial and supports the local economy by employing local
workers, not high-priced foreign contractors.
It is time to reconsider exactly what the mission is in Afghanistan
and develop strategies that help us meet that goal. Are we there to
capture bin Laden? Seven years of military action doesn't seem to have
made much progress. Are we there to liberate the people? Then let's
listen to the words of Malalai Joya, a young woman who was kicked out
of the Afghan Parliament for standing up to the warlords and drug lords
in the chamber. Speaking in Canada, she said "no nation can donate
liberation to another nation." A quick examination of our own history
-the revolutionary war, the women's movement, the civil rights
movement, tells us she is right.
What we as the U.S. can do in Afghanistan is learn to be friends
with the Afghan people as they liberate themselves. We need new
leadership in Washington that understands military escalation will lead
only to more memorial services for both Afghans and U.S. troops. It's
time to break with the Bush war tradition and bring our troops home
from Afghanistan.
Congressional Contact Info
Here is contact info for Oregon and SW Washington members of congress.
OREGON Representatives
Earl Blumenauer
Washington, DC (202) 225-4811
Portland, OR (503) 231-2300
Peter DeFazio
Washington, DC (202) 225-6416
Eugene, OR (541) 465-6732
Coos Bay, OR (541) 269-2609
Roseburg, OR (541) 440-3523
Darlene Hooley
Washington, DC (202) 225-5711
West Linn, OR (503) 557-1324
Salem, OR (503) 588-9100
Greg Walden
Washington, DC (202) 225-6730
Le Grande, OR (541) 624-2400
Bend, OR (541)389-4408
Medford, OR (541) 776-4646
David Wu
Washington, DC (202) 225-0855
Portland, OR (503) 326-2901
SW WASHINGTON Representatives
Brian Baird
Washington, DC (202) 225-3536
Vancouver, WA (360) 695-6292
Senators
OREGON
Gordon Smith
Washington, DC
Phone: 202.224.3753
Fax: 202.228.3997
Portland, OR
Phone: 503.326.3386
Fax: 503.326.2900
Ron Wyden
Washington, DC
Phone: (202) 224-5244
Fax: (202) 228-2717
Portland, OR
Phone: (503) 326-7525
WASHINGTON
Maria Cantwell
Washington, DC
Phone: 202-224-3441
Fax: 202-228-0514
TDD: 202-224-8273
Vancouver, WA
Phone: 360-696-7838
Fax: 360-696-7844
Patty Murray
Washington, DC
Phone: (202) 224-2621
Fax: (202) 224-0238
Vancouver, WA
Phone: (360) 696-7797
Fax: (360) 696-7798
Audio of Raed Jarrar in Portland 5/19/08
Click here for an audio file of Raed Jarrar's talk in Portland on May 19, 2008 at Multnomah Friends Meetinghouse. (Note: skip the intro which is hard to hear--a minute or two in Raed begins and the audio improves.)
ILWU Protest Against the War Photos
Here are a few photos from the ILWU May Day action.
World Without War Photos
Thanks to Mireaya Medina for these photos from the World Without War!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24880232@N04/sets/72157604260705610/
Student Walkout Against the War - Photos
Photos from March 20 Student Walkout Against the War in Portland. Yea for youth for an amazing event!
Green Tips for Groups Tabling on March 15
Dear Tablers,
PDX Peace is making every effort to make the March 15 World Without War a green (eco-friendly) event. We need your help for this to happen. You can do your part in the following ways:
1. The most important action you can take is to provide a sign up sheet for interested participants emails in order to educate them electronically on your cause, therefore eliminating the need for paper.
2. If you must hand out documents please make sure they have information on both sides.
3. Tell people that there are several recycling areas located throughout the event and encourage them to place the proper material in the correct receptacle.
4. Finally, make sure the area you physically occupied is clean and that your recycling/trash is disposed of properly.
Thank you so much for your cooperation and if you have any questions please feel free to email our master recycler, Tina Frasnelly, at recycle@pdxpeace.org
Thanks again and let's all work together to make this event a green success story!