November 30 » Actions

Taking Action in Support of People in Gaza

Kathleen — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 18:23:45 +0000

The attack of the flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza has brought attention to the crisis there. Some useful links:

Democracy Now has, as usual, great reporting, including interviews with people who were on the ship.

Avaaz has set up a page for people to sign a petition to the UN calling for an international investigation into the attack on the freedom flotilla, and an end to the blockade of Gaza. They are closing in on their goal of 500,000 signers from around the world.

Anera is an aid organization that has been delivering aid to people in Gaza and continues to do so in the wake of this new crisis.

I also really like this HuffPost article that my colleague Annah brought to my attention: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-koehler/davids-slingshot_b_599767.html

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Protect Oregon’s Air Quality and Family Farmers

Kathleen — Thu, 13 May 2010 06:54:20 +0000

Two groups I work with at my day job created action pages on Change.org today.

Oregon Toxics Alliance has an action page to tell DEQ to keep the ban on field burning that the 2009 Legislature passed. Their page explains the problems with field burning pretty well — these folks really know their stuff when it comes to clean air and water.

Back the Ban: Uphold Restrictions on Field Burning in Oregon

Then, just a couple hours later, I got a ping from Oregon Rural Action that they’ve created an action page to support the amendment to the new food safety bill in Congress. The bill is needed, but it’s going to saddle family farmers with crushing fees and regulatory hurdles. The farmers at my local farmers market should *not* be treated the same as DelMonte. So I signed that one too.

Keep Small Farms Safe in the Food Safety Bill

I’ve been blogging so much less, but pondering getting restarted — there’s just so much to say about what people are doing to change the world. I’ll either start posting again in earnest, or sign off for good.

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Another Portland-Iran Solidarity Rally Tuesday

Kathleen — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 06:02:47 +0000

Got this from Gabi’s blog: Local folks are calling for another vigil in solidarity with the people of Iran. This vigil will be Tuesday, June 23 at 7 PM in Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Thanks also, Gabi, for posting this LA Times article about the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, who was killed on the street in Tehran on Saturday. I have seen the video (which is as disturbing as it sounds) but did not know her name or story. My thoughts are with her family and all the grieving families in Tehran. I’ll be at Pioneer Courthouse Square tomorrow evening wearing something green.

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Things we can do to end the violence in Gaza

Kathleen — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:09:49 +0000

I was at a gathering in support of Israel at Temple Beth Israel on Monday evening, which was well-attended. I went there to listen more than anything else, and I know that some others there, similar to me, were of the mind that we can support Israel but recognize that these recent military actions are not the best way to ensure a safe and secure Israel. The organizers did manage to get speakers with some range of views on what it means to “support” Israel at this time, although the calls to action seemed to focus on supporting military action instead of an end to military action and the deaths of civilians.

My energy is going into supporting humanitarian aid, and groups that call for an end to all military actions in the region. The price of this military conflict, likely to soon to be a thousand people dead, is far too high. Some options I have found:

Avaaz is working on an international call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. They have a quick-to-sign online petition and they are circulating it internationally.

Mercy Corps has been providing humanitarian aid in Gaza, and has been calling for Congress to support ceasefires that truly allow humanitarian aid to get through.

Grassroots International is partnering with a number of groups to deliver aid in the Gaza area. They also have some excellent reports that take a look at the long-term view of the area, and how human rights have fared (or not, fared, I suppose). Thanks for Scot for letting me know about them.

Jewish Voice for Peace (whose website is pretty clear on where they stand: Two Peoples, One Future) sends out opportunities for action. They have also produced the “Thank You, Jon Stewart” website for his excellent and (as usual) insightful analysis into US political hypocrisy and short-sightedness.

Feel free to send me other things to do in support of all the people in the region, so that they can have a peaceful and just future with each other.

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Free the Shministim (Free the Twelfth-Graders)

Kathleen — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 00:30:28 +0000

I just learned about a call for a day of action (next week, December 18) in support of young Israeli citizens who are refusing to serve in the military. These young conscientious objectors (twelfth-graders, or shministim) wind up in jail in Israel for their refusal to serve as part of the military force in the Occupied Territories. Military service is required by law, so their refusal triggers a cycle of arrests and short-term incarcerations that leave them in limbo until either they tire or the military tires of prosecuting them.

These are thoughtful young people taking a principled stand on a difficult issue — check out this article about Omer Goldman, one of the conscientious objectors, whose father works for Mossad. As they explain their objections:

Our refusal to serve in the military comes first and foremost in protest of Israel’s state policy of separation, control, oppression and killing in the occupied territories, from an understanding that oppression, killing and the sowing of hatred cannot bring peace to the world, and which stand in contrast to the fundamental values of a society that purports to be democratic.

Their statement mirrors my own experience. My brother chose, as an 18-year old, to serve in the U.S. Army, and I respected his choice — to me, it made him a hero. When I was younger, I thought I would make a similar choice, but by the time I was 18, I had changed my perspective on whether I was willing to serve in the military. I was willing to serve, but not willing to learn to kill, so I can of course, understand where these young people are coming from.

Service to your country shouldn’t have to include learning to kill, or participating in an unprincipled occupation. These youth are on the right track It must be that democracies can offer their citizens a choice. These objectors could be given alternatives, although, what then might happen to their military? What if there were not enough soldiers to maintain the occupation? What indeed…

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Send a message to the Twin Cities: release journalists

Kathleen — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:09:40 +0000

I do have this rather strong attachment to the idea that journalists should not be imprisoned for attempting to cover news. Especially when that news is of legal protesters being arrested. Now more footage is coming out of Minneapolis/St. Paul of arrests of journalists — in this case, a house raid on a group of people from I-Witness. Their website and this video explain that their video documentation managed to prove numerous acts of perjury by officers arresting people at the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC. So you can see why the Minneapolis/St. Paul police might feel the need to be proactive.

Free Press is offering an online petition in support of journalists, or you can watch the raid on the I-Witness house on YouTube.

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Wexler signs up 100,000 folks for impeachment this week

Kathleen — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:55:58 +0000

And I’ve signed on to his call to impeach Cheney as well. I’ve been slow to sign onto impeachment hearings, because they didn’t seem that likely to be helpful in dealing with Bush. I mean, what if he was impeached and removed from office as a result? Dick Cheney could potentially become president… oh, wait, unless Cheney gets impeached first! Now there’s an idea….

And why not impeach the vice president? After all, the president is so busy vetoing legislation, he hardly has the time. Bush has managed to spend most of 2007 pushing the D’s around, so the impeachment hearings might wind up with him asking them questions. But Vice President Cheney, he doesn’t hold the sway of Bush (one clue: no matter how low Bush’s approval goes, Cheney’s is always lower). Impeachment hearings of VP Cheney could get us lots of useful information about how we wound up illegally invading Iraq (yes, some of us still care that the invasion was illegal). Impeachment does not have to mean forcing someone out of office, it just means a chance to ask questions and find out more about what this administration’s choices and actions:

impeachment (a formal document charging a public official with misconduct in office) (thanks, wordnet)

And yes, I think Kucinich is a wise and wonderful politician, and I feel like I want to give him his due for pushing impeachment all this time. But why not try supporting this newest call for impeachment led by Wexler? He is secure in his district and so perhaps not as easy to discourage as the average Democrat. He was so confident last year that Colbert got him to say a bunch of ludicrous statements on national TV.

But, don’t hold that against him. Watch his new video for why it’s time to impeach Cheney. Read his Oped about how this is the duty of Congress. Sign onto the latest call for impeachment hearings of Vice President Cheney and the buildup to the invasion of Iraq, and tell your friends to as well.

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Thousands of people marching for peace in Seattle

Kathleen — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 06:20:43 +0000

I made it up to the Seattle peace demo along with several friends (and one charming old dog) but I did not take a camera with me. Luckily, my fine friends at PDX Peace did, and they’ve posted lots of photos at Flickr. Pictured on the left are the banners that AFSC brought up for the march. Yes, they are quite tall, but surprisingly easy to carry… I was so lucky as to get to carry one of them for most of the march. If you squint at the photo you can see the back of my head holding one of them (the farthest one from the camera).

This day of marches across the country drew over 150,000 people (watch a slideshow of images from across the country — the first slide says 100,000 but I guess they were tired when they did the addition because the cities listed total over 150,000). The official October 27 website reports that 6,000 people attended — I’m sure that’s the minimum number. In a few locations we could see that for blocks and the street was thick with people, signs, puppets, banners.

We were with a well-organized, vocal group of folks who had a bullhorn in their possession, and we chanted most of the way. Lively chants like:

1-2-3-4– We don’t want your racist war!
5-6-7-8– We will not cooperate!

Money for housing and education!
Not for war and occupation!

And a few call and responses that I don’t remember (it takes a lot of attention to carry a 12-foot high pole in a city with streetcar wires) but there was definitely some creative rhyming happening. Including a chant about a Walk-out on November 16th. If you’re wondering what to do next, you can visit October 27th’s “What Next?” poll and vote.

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Code Pink calls Secretary Rice a war criminal… pressure is building

Kathleen — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:40:06 +0000

Code Pink was at the Capitol Tuesday, and a member approached Secretary of State Rice with her hands painted in blood, calling her a war criminal. The woman was arrested, and then, as you can see in this video, the police rounded up other people and forcibly took them out of the room. This follows on the heels of other protests earlier this week, and pressure builds for us to get out of Iraq, and the country prepares for a wave of demonstrations this Saturday, October 27th.

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Tear It Down: Guantanamo Bay Prison

Kathleen — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:01:18 +0000

I’m adding the “Tear It Down” badge to my site. Amnesty is launching a campaign to get half a million people to sign on to their petition calling for the closure of that infamous prison. Hundreds of people are still incarcerated there, with no charges against them, no clear evidence, and no civil rights protection.

To learn more about what’s wrong with Guantanamo:

Human Rights Watch latest articles: http://hrw.org/doc/?t=usa_gitmo
Human Rights Watch Op-ed: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/07/02/usint16325.htm

The Guardian on the infamy of the prison: http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,,2109502,00.html
NPR on the Supreme Court decision to hear the cases of detainees: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11601680

And there’s so much more — more protests and criticisms all the time.

What if we really are close to shutting it down? Take a minute to be a part of it: sign the petition and pass it on!

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