Notes from the Editor
Water is a problem. Especially in Afghanistan. Despite the influx of large amounts of international aid into Afghanistan, getting access to any water, let alone clean water, remains a daily struggle for a large part of the country. The government says almost three quarters of the population do not have access to clean water. Diarrheal diseases related to unclean water is the single largest killer of children in a country torn by war. As you read this, a delegation from WWFOR will be in Afghanistan attempting in a small way to help the people we have devastated with our war. Doug and Jody Mackey from the Olympia FOR chapter and myself have been certified in a low-tech form of…
PAT 2011: Lighting the Torches
by Kaeley Pruitt-Hamm: It was the 1st day of the 2nd week of the Peace Activist Trainee (PAT) program, their 5th day knowing each other, and their 1st time stepping foot into a City Council meeting. But they stood their ground firmly as they presented a message (equipped with a pie chart of survey results they had gathered) asserting their own call for peace and public rights as “the future generation of taxpayers.” Seven high school students arrived with passion and energy at the July 11th Seattle City Council meeting supporting Councilman Nick Licata’s resolution to reduce and redirect U.S. war spending. The tone was set for this year’s PATs: they were going to be active activists. The PAT program,…
Now Easier to Support WWFOR
In the last issue we reported that you can now support WWFOR by going to the website www.wwfor.org and clicking on the “donate” button. We had hoped that easier giving would increase the much needed financial support for our mission. Unfortunately almost no one has taken advantage of this opportunity. WWFOR depends upon the generous support of our members. Knowing that we could rely on certain monthly donations makes budgeting much easier. Please consider switching your giving to this mode and also consider increasing your amount slightly.
Connections: people & organizations
FOR USA PO Box 271, Nyack, NY 10960 845-358-4601 www.forusa.org publisher of Fellowship Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action www.gzcenter.org IFOR (International Fellowship of Reconciliation) www.ifor.org Justice Works! PO Box 1489, Lake Stevens, WA 98258 206-309-2087 www.justiceworks.info email: justice_works@yahoo.com Olympia FOR chapter 360-491-9093 website www.olympiafor.org Pacific Call Next issue deadline is October 20, 2011. Contact Larry Kerschner peacepoet@gmail.com 360-880-4741 WWFOR — office Ellen Finkelstein, organizer 206-789-5565 email: wwfor@wwfor.org web: www.wwfor.org Tacoma FOR website: www.tacomafor.org
Running Against the Death Penalty
Death penalty abolitionists typically head to Walla Walla, WA to protest an execution at the Washington State Penitentiary. However, in October 2011, Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (WCADP) Steering Committee member, Emily Hammargren, will make the trip from her home in Olympia to Walla Walla to run a marathon against the death penalty. The Walla Walla Marathon officially has no connection to death penalty abolition efforts, but Emily will use the 26.2-mile run as a tool to personally raise funds for WCADP. The publicity generated by this project will also increase awareness about the damage that the death penalty causes in our society. She is training to run a marathon on October 16th, 2011 to raise funds for WCADP and increase awareness of the damage that the death…
Notes From The Editor
On August 23,1952, A.J. Muste, in his closing address to the Pacific Northwest FOR – AFSC Family Camp meeting, said “The enemy is yourself. Your other self. Your aggressiveness arouses your enemy’s defensiveness. Your defensiveness arouses his aggressiveness. If you arm yourself, you arm your enemy.” Recently I was at Home Depot buying some gardening supplies. When I went out to the parking lot, I noticed a man whose very large red pickup which was parked in front of mine looking at the bumper stickers I have and shaking his head. When I approached he said, “You probably didn’t serve , did you?” When I told him I had been in the Infantry in Viet Nam, he questioned me closely…
Expressions from Ellen
First we were all Tunisians. Then a poster read “Walk like an Egyptian.” Suddenly, we’re all from Wisconsin. Inspirational, remarkable change being wrought by working people, raising their voices and becoming actors in their own lives and in history. In Egypt we saw the linkage of new modes of communication (blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) with the mobilization of millions of people to effect change. Did you know that among the community of young Egyptian bloggers, one of them had been promoting nonviolent civil disobedience by distributing a translated comic book about Martin Luther King that was developed by FOR in the late 1950s? In Wisconsin, tens of thousands of teachers, students, workers, and others are demanding that Gov. Scott Walker…
Day of Action on War Spending
The International Peace Bureau (Geneva, Switzerland) and the Institute for Policy Studies (Washington DC) are jointly organizing a Global Day of Action on Military Spending on Tuesday April 12, 2011, to coincide with the release of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s new figures on military expenditures. Since this call happens to fall just before tax day in the U.S. [Monday April 18 rather than Friday the 15th because of a holiday in Washington DC, according to several sources], you may want to tie your event to international organizing. Check out the GDAMS website at http:/demilitarize.org a downloadable organizing packet and lots of organizing resources and ideas. With annual global military spending over $1.5 trillion (2009 figures), the group is asking people…
Notes From the Editor
A number of years ago I became aware of the effects of the economic sanctions we were imposing on the people of Iraq. Among other intended and unintended consequences of our imposition of power, I found out that, according to the U.N., 5,000 children under the age of five were dying each month. I was moved to go to Iraq in August 2000 to see for myself. I was heart-broken at what I witnessed. The casualness of this evil seemed unimaginable. Kathy Kelly, who I met in Iraq, recently returned from a trip to Afghanistan. She pointed me to a U.N. report on the current status of the children of Afghanistan. Since we “liberated” Afghanistan from the Taliban, children…
when the people won
Bert just called me and said it’s over the good guys finally won here and there too all the networks are breaking in with special reports calling this a totally unexpected turn of events against all odds you know reports are coming in from all over telling us what we always knew could be I wasn’t always a believer in possibilities you know I can say that I was a hoper now it seems that everyone everywhere was always for peace more than you probably would count from your memory I still am a hoper I guess but just in case call me again next month
