These events between February 25-March 31 on Palestine/Israel are being organized by various organizations in Atlanta including: Jewish Voice for Peace-Atlanta (JVP-Atl), Joining Hands for Justice in Palestine/Israel (JHJIP), Project South (PS), and AFSC, joined in coalition with various other national and local organizations. AND the upcoming PCRF and CAIR fundraising Galas are listed below.
Killing Gaza, film showing (JHJIP)Monday, February 25, 7:00-9:00 pm, Harrington Center Auditorium
Columbia Theological Seminary
701. S. Columbia Drive, Decatur, Ga 30030
PCRF’s6th Annual Lending Little Hearts A HandFundraising Gala (register here)https://www.facebook.com/events/2280013542325249/Stories From WithinSaturday • March 2 • 6 PM
Crowne Plaza Ravinia
4355 Ashford Dunwody Rd.
Atlanta, GA 30346
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/cairgeorgia/226031
https://www.facebook.com/events/2299473006997222/ (flyer attached)North American Nakba Tour, which invites Palestinian survivors of the Nakba (or “catastrophe,” the ethnic cleansing of Palestine that took place in 1948 with the creation of Israel) to speak to venues across the country. The purpose of the Tour is to humanize Palestinian refugees across national boundaries and build popular support for the liberation of Palestine without restriction.
RSVP: tinyurl.com/nakbatouratl
Imprisoning a Generation, Atlanta Film Screening
Tuesday, March 12, 7:00-9:00 pm
Harrington Center AuditoriumColumbia Theological Seminary
701. S. Columbia Drive, Decatur, Ga 30030
David Sheen, Independent Journalist and FilmmakerJUDEAFRICAMERICA : Our racial relationship history & the crisis in Israel*PalestineFriday March 15, 7:00-9:00pm Harrington Center Auditorium
Columbia Theological Seminary
701. S. Columbia Drive, Decatur, Ga 30030*David Sheen will also be speaking at the Walter ROdney Series at Spelman on Thursday March 14
Ahmed Abu Artema, Journalist, refugee, father, writer, advocate from GAZA whose visionary writings about nonviolence inspired the Great March of Return in 2018 Thursday, March 21, 7:00-9:00 pm
North Decatur Presbyterian Church 611 Medlock Road, Decatur, Georgia 30033 See AFSC tour
Stephen Sizer- “Why Christian Zionism is not Biblical”Sunday, March 31, 3:00 -5:00 pmPastor, photojournalist and author, Christian Zionism: Road Map to Armageddon and Zion’s Christian Soldiers
Harrington Center Auditorium
Columbia Theological Seminary
701 S. Columbia Dr., Decatur, GA 30030
RSVP: Sarah.h.humphrey@gmail.com
Saturday, Feb 23, 1-3:30pm
The Arts Exchange, 2148 Newnan St., East Point 30344
(near Ft. McPherson MARTA Station)
One month ago, at the urging of Vice President Mike Pence, Juan Guaido announced he was the president of Venezuela, a public declaration of a US-backed coup against Nicolas Maduro, the winner of the 2018 election.
This blatant interference is the latest attempt by US imperialism to derail and overturn the social changes initiated by the Bolivarian Revolution.
Revolutionary programs bringing access to health care, education, and housing and delivering rights to workers, women, the Indigenous, lgbtq people and Afro descendants fueled the hatred of the oligarchy and wealthy interests, domestic and foreign.
The US has employed every tactic – threats and intimidation, media lies, sanctions, sabotage, funding “opposition” groups and more -to quell the Venezuelan movement for socialism and national independence..
Saturday’s program will feature videos, speakers and discussion on how to support Venezuela and stop US intervention.
Initiated by Workers World Party in collaboration with International Action Center, Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND), Regional Council of Africans in the Americas, Friends of the Congo, and Party for Socialism and Liberation
STAND WITH VENEZUELA’S PEOPLE AND PRESIDENT!
US HANDS OFF VENEZUELA!
CNN: MOUTHPIECE FOR US IMPERIALISM!
5-6pm, CNN (downtown Atlanta)
The danger to Venezuela’s people and elected president, Nicolas Maduro from blatantly illegal and aggressive measures to orchestrate a coup is escalating.
Following the Trump administration’s open interference with the country’s political leadership by declaring Juan Guaido its anointed president and dismissing the overwhelming election of Maduro, the two decades of open hostility to the advancements of the Bolivarian Revolution are clear.
The United States has a long history of economic and political domination of Central and South America, supporting right-wing and repressive regimes that have brought poverty, repression and civil unrest to millions of people.
Venezuela is attempting to direct its own path, using its oil resources and the desire of the majority to establish healthcare, housing, education,jobs and culture for all its citizens as its goal.
We demand the US stop interfering in the right of Venezuelans to determine for themselves the direction of their society.
We demand CNN and other major media stop acting as the propaganda arm of the US government with its false and biased coverage of the turmoil in Venezuela.
This solidarity action is initiated by the Atlanta branch of Workers World Party and endorsed by ARAAC, Friends of the Congo, Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition and Party for Socialism and Liberation.
(We ask those coming to this solidarity demonstration to meet at the corner of Broad and Marietta at 4:30 to walk together to CNN. Many downtown streets will be closed to car traffic and using MARTA is recommended.)
Please bring signs, banners and drums.
1. Ramzy Baroud book tour
Sunday,
January 27, 2019
3:00 – 4:30 pm
Harrington Center Auditorium
Columbia Theological Seminary
701 S. Columbia Dr., Decatur, GA 30030
(Enter campus from Inman Dr. – Park in the parking lot on the left behind
the library)
Please RSVP: Sarah Humphrey, sarah.h.humphrey@gmail.com
The Last
Earth, a Palestinian Story
“One needs to hear the voices of the
people who were at the receiving end of Western Imperialism and Zionist settler
colonialism. This book is a good place to start this journey” Ilan Pappe
( Foreward)
Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a US-Arab journalist, media consultant, an author, internationally–syndicated columnist and Editor of Palestine Chronicle (1999-present). He is the author of four books and a contributor to many others. His latest volume is The Last Earth, a Palestinian Story (Pluto Press, London, 2018. Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter (2015) and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California Santa Barbara. www.ramzybaroud.net
2. “Healing Justice” Film
Join at one of the following dates to see the film:
Saturday, January 26, 9-11 am
Thursday, February 21, 7 – 9 pm
Sunday, March 3, 12:15 – 2:15 pm
Sunday, March 24, 11:45 am – 1:45 pm
Location: Atlanta Friends Meeting Library, 701 West Howard Ave, Decatur, GA 30030.
Here’s a link to a
preview: https://youtu.be/jmTc3qwfII8
For more details and to download the free study guide, go to this link: https://world-trust.org/product/healing-justice/
To see the film now for $4.99: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/healingjustice
3. PCRF Gala, Saturday March 2
Saturday, March 2, 2019 at 6 PM
Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia
4355 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30346
https://www.facebook.com/events/2280013542325249/
Time: 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Arrival & Check-in: 6:00 PM
Dinner & Program Start: 7:00 PM
Tickets and Tables: Early Bird Tickets available! Must be purchased by January 31, 2019.
Early Bird Indiviual Ticket: $100 Early Bird Table, seats 10 people: $1,000
Regular Priced Ticket: $120 Regular Price Table, seats 10 people: $1,200
4. CAIR Banquet, Saturday March 9
US Hands Off Venezuela!
Stand with the Bolivarian Revolution!
Emergency Demonstration, Friday, Jan. 25
4:30-6 pm, 5 Points (downtown), N. Decatur and Peachtree
Brings signs, banners, drums.
April 4, 2019, will mark the 51st anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the internationally revered leader in struggles against racism, poverty and war.
And yet, in a grotesque desecration of Rev. King’s lifelong dedication to peace, this is the date that the military leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have chosen to celebrate NATO’s 70th anniversary by holding its annual summit meeting in Washington, D.C. This is a deliberate insult to Rev. King and a clear message that Black lives and the lives of non-European humanity, and indeed the lives of the vast majority, really do not matter.
Since its founding, the U.S.-led NATO has been the world’s deadliest military alliance, causing untold suffering and devastation throughout Northern Africa, the Middle East and beyond. Hundreds of thousands have died in U.S./NATO wars in Iraq, Libya, Somalia and Yugoslavia. Millions of refugees are now risking their lives trying to escape the carnage that these wars have brought to their homelands, while workers in the 29 NATO member-countries are told they must abandon hard-won social programs in order to meet U.S. demands for even more military spending.
Dr. King’s words linking the three evils of American society: Militarism, Racism and Poverty, and his deeply profound remark that every bomb that falls on other countries is a bomb dropped on our inner cities, reveal the deep-rooted relationship between militarism and the social, racial, economic and environmental injustices that now impoverish whole cities and rural communities and have plagued our society and the world for a long time. It was exactly one year before he was murdered that Rev. King gave his famous speech opposing the U.S. war in Vietnam, calling the U.S. government “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world” and declaring that he could not be silent.
We cannot be silent either. As Rev. King taught us, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Every year NATO has held its summits, people around the world have organized massive protests against it: in Chicago (2012), Wales (2014), Warsaw (2016), Brussels (2017 & 2018) — and 2019 will be no exception.
We are calling for a peaceful mass mobilization against this year’s NATO Summit in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, March 30. Additional actions will take place at the opening of the NATO meeting on April 4. We ask you to make every effort to join with us in Washington DC, or, if not possible, organize a rally or demonstration in your area. We need to show, in the strongest possible way, our opposition to NATO’s destructive wars and its racist military policies around the world.
We also invite you to add your, and/or your organization’s name to the list of supporters of the anti-NATO, Anti-War and Anti-Racism mass actions in Washington DC. Please go to the web site at http://no2nato2019.org to add your organizational or individual endorsement of the action or to make a donation to build the action.
You can also contact us by email: Contact@No2NATO2019.org.
Thank You.
During 2018, UFPJ focused on elevating campaigns that link U.S. wars abroad with the assaults at home on justice, human rights, democracy, and human and environmental needs. A year ago, at a meeting of UFPJ founders, former Co-Chairs, and current Coordinating Committee members, in St. Louis, we agreed to lift up the work of:
As 2018 draws to a close, the Trump Administration has challenged all of us with new assaults on peace, human rights, justice, and our common security. Troops are massed on the U.S. Southern border to drive away migrants seeking asylum from violence. The devastating war in Yemen has created a horrific, humanitarian crisis with the overwhelming majority of the population on the brink of starvation, while Trump celebrates corporate profits made selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. Threatened U.S. abandonment of the lntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty has added to the heightened threat of nuclear war, raising it to levels not seen in decades.
Never has Dr. King’s description of the triple evils of war, racism, and poverty permeating U.S. society rung so true. UFPJ’s mission is clear. We must continue to organize our national network to serve its main purpose: uniting organizations and individuals to take bold action to stop wars and violence abroad; to redirect the resources squandered on killing to repair our communities; and to build a culture of peace and justice to secure our future. Our 2018 campaigns were central to that mission.
This grassroots movement to affect change at state and local levels through sustained nonviolence was launched to bring together the broad range of constituencies needed to achieve Dr. King’s “revolution of values” and confront the intertwined evils of racism, poverty, militarism, and ecological destruction.
In May of 2018, the Campaign kicked off with 40 Days of Moral Action. At rallies in more than 30 state capitols demanding policies to lift up the poor, people were arrested or risked arrest while joining in nonviolent direct action. Each week, from May 13 through June 22, highlighted a different theme:
The Days of Moral Action culminated on June 23rd with a mass rally and 24-hour vigil in Washington, D.C. accompanied by a Global Day of Solidarity. Jackie Cabasso and Terry Rockefeller, UFPJ’s National Co-conveners, were there.
In the fall of 2018, the Campaign pivoted to address voter suppression. Citing the carefully targeted gerrymandering, reckless voter purges, and voter ID laws targeting brown and black people from Georgia to North Dakota, the Poor People’s Campaign offered a moral answer to the abuse of power we saw on Election Day. Then, in support of the families fleeing Central America who are desperately seeking a better life, the Campaign went to the Southern border to demand the demilitarization of border communities and the protection of migrants seeking refuge. The protesters, who included Fight for $15 workers, undocumented immigrants, and people impacted by the California wildfires, joined leaders from the American Friends Service Committee, Kairos Center, and Repairers of the Breach, to proclaim, “While politicians use the suffering of these refugee families to stoke a fear of who is coming towards our border, we are brought closer together in common suffering and hope.”
The “War Machine” is a massive, global, U.S. military apparatus that operates largely thanks to an alliance between the arms industry and policy makers. It prioritizes “defense” and corporate interests over human rights; military spending over diplomacy and aid; combat preparations over preventing wars; and profit over human life and the health of the planet. 64% of the federal discretionary budget goes to wars and militarism, rather than education, healthcare, or housing for the homeless. The companies that are part of this War Machine are making a killing on killing. Their priorities will never be our priorities.
UFPJ and many of our member groups joined the campaign, spearheaded by CODEPINK, beginning with a week of action in February to gear up for locally based work and identify financial institutions to focus on. These include city, county, or state retirement funds; university, hospital or religious institution endowments; and union pension funds. Divestment can be a powerful tool for peace. Divestment campaigns have already resulted in over $5 trillion being divested from the fossil fuel industry. CODEPINK’s Weapon Free Funds toolkit provides valuable tips for local organizing. In the fall, Divest from the War Machine’s Back to School initiative focused on recruiting students to challenge the investments of their colleges and universities.
The Coalition was launched when more than 250 activists came together for the Conference on U.S. Foreign Military Bases, January 12-14, at the University of Baltimore. Its first actions included solidarity initiatives to demand that all charges be dropped against anti-Okinawa Base activists arrested in Japan. A Day of Protest Against Guantanamo followed on February 23rd, in solidarity with the Cuban people’s efforts to take back their territory, illegally occupied by the U.S. National Days of Anti-War Action took place on April 14th and 15th, in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and the San Francisco Bay Area.
November 16-18, the Coalition organized the first International Conference against US/NATO Military Bases, which was attended by nearly 300 participants from over thirty-five countries, and endorsed by over 700 organizations and activists. The conference called for the closure of all US/NATO military bases, with particular emphasis on U.S. bases in Guantanamo, Cuba, Okinawa, South Korea, and Ramstein, Germany; the old and new U.S./NATO bases in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Scandinavia, and Ireland, as well as the bases newly established by the U.S, France and their allies on and near Syrian soil. It also condemned the establishment of the new U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and its military bases in Africa.
Speakers highlighted the twin threats to humanity posed by global war and global warming, both driven by accelerating militarization. They emphasized the role of the U.S. and its allies, which have by far the largest military expenditures in the world. The Coalition will continue its activities in 2019. Mass mobilizations against NATO’s 70th Anniversary Summit in Washington DC, on April 4, are being planned in DC, in NATO member states, and elsewhere.
The on-again-off-again status of U.S.-North Korea negotiations to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, normalize relations and build a lasting and stable peace was a source of profound instability in 2018. Amidst the horror of North Korea’s nuclear tests and U.S. military threats, the South Korean people initiated a process to move the region away from crisis. It began with the nonviolent “Candlelight Revolution’s” overwhelming support for President Moon Jae-in’s commitment to engage with North Korea. Novel diplomacy between the two Koreas began with an inclusive Winter Olympics and led to the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula, adopted April 27 by North and South Korea, and the historic June 12 Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.
UFPJ and its member groups played an active role, coordinating through the Korea Peace Network. Women Cross the DMZ made visits to both North and South Korea, building peace together with Korean women. Veterans For Peace helped to write and distribute a People’s Peace Treaty with North Korea, endorsed by tens of thousands of people in the U.S. UFPJ signed onto and promoted a number of statements supporting the new diplomatic opening, including an Open Letter to the leaders of the U.S., South Korea and North Korea, signed by more than 100 U.S. peace, faith-based, professional, and Korean-American organizations, including the American Federation of Teachers. The March 28 Open Letter was presented by UFPJ National Co-convener Jackie Cabasso, at a well-attended press conference at the United Nations. At the June Summit, North Korea committed to work toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. and North Korea committed to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the repatriation of those already identified. President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to North Korea. Hyun Lee, a leading Korean-American peace activist, perhaps best summed up the historic meaning of the summit. It was “a historic breakthrough in U.S.-North Korea relations.”
That two nuclear-armed States, having moved toward possible war for many months, reversed course and took an important step away from the brink, a step that could lead to a completely new path after 65 years of armed confrontation ought to be a cause for celebration. Yet in the days following the Singapore Summit the response to the Summit Declaration by much of the U.S. media and many elected officials was dismaying. Two senators introduced an amendment to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act to prevent President Trump from withdrawing troops from South Korea, where the U.S. has 83 bases and some 30,000 troops.
UFPJ will continue to push the Korean peace process forward. To this end, UFPJ joined and promoted a “Joint Statement of U.S. Civil Society Groups in Support of the Current Peace Process in Korea”, signed by more than 150 groups, published in The Nation on December 6.
UFPJ disseminated educational and informational materials and promoted local actions on our long-standing, initiatives, including:
