Niebyl Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland
No August meeting; September meeting TBA.
Participating: Peter Schlange and Carl Davison, IVAW; Michael Eisenscher, Michael Reagan, DASW; Grace Morizawa, Betty Brown, Jean Dritz, Marilyn Bechtel, Siri Margerin, Kathy Lipscomb, Jackie Cabasso, Carolyn Scarr, Jay Marks, Prop. One Campaign, Washington, D.C. (Notes by Marilyn)
UFPJ fund-raising event: Siri is hosting a BA UFPJ fundraiser, “It’s Not Faire! Share a fair slice of a better pie with United for Peace and Justice,” July 26 from 4-7 p.m. at 766 Fell St., San Francisco. Pie eating, pie contest, entertainment, caricatures, games: serious fun! Donations of $5-25 will be requested at the door; no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Oakland backpack project: The Lower Bottom Fatherless Children’s Foundation, headed by Ora Knowell, is conducting its annual backpack project with distribution slated for West Oakland’s DeFremery Park on Aug. 29. We agreed we would again participate. Last year we collected money and bought items to fill 50 backpacks. This year we propose that individuals commit to buy and fill one or more backpacks.
Grace will coordinate this project; people can send money donations to her at 1528 Holly St., Berkeley 94703, and people who want to prepare backpacks can either bring them to the event on Aug. 29, or bring them by Aug. 24 to the Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland.
UFPJ national program: Jackie reported that UFPJ’s national program is focusing on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the abolition of nuclear weapons ― all linked together by the military budget. UFPJ has declared August “Nuclear-free future month,” including educational material on nuclear power. A web site, nuclearfreefuture.org, is being developed. The campaign is being launched in the U.S. in the run-up to the May 2010 nuclear proliferation review conference. A conference on nuclear weapons and related issues is slated for May 1, and on May 2 a rally and march will take place past UN headquarters in New York City. Millions of petition signatures from around the world will be delivered.
UFPJ’s version of the petition quotes President Obama’s Prague speech and urges him to announce at the review conference a commitment to abolish nuclear weapons in our lifetimes.
The UN Secretary General has launched a Twitter campaign, “WMD, we must disarm,” which will culminate Sept. 21. The International Trade Union Federation (ITUF) is calling for abolition by 2020 together with major cuts in military spending and a shift of funds to human needs. The AFL-CIO is the U.S. affiliate of the ITUC. UFPJ’s web site will feature complete information on this project. Michael Eisenscher said it is planned to present the ITUC resolution and an accompanying U.S. labor resolution at the AFL-CIO convention in September.
Hiroshima/Nagasaki commemoration: Jackie said a rally and nonviolent direct action will take place at 7:30 a.m. Aug. 6 at Vasco Rd. and Paterson Pass Rd. in Livermore, near Lawrence Livermore National Lab, to mark the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. She said the Right is mounting a tremendous campaign to maintain and promote nuclear weapons development and production, and the forces for abolition need to be much more active.
Prop. One Campaign: Jay Marks said the campaign’s goal is to get nuclear disarmament on the ballot in as many places as possible in 2010. Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton has introduced HR 1653 for nuclear disarmament and is seeking co-sponsors. Time may be too short for a California statewide resolution but cities could still pass them.
Iraq labor rights/anti-oil privatization: Michael Eisenscher said the struggle is intensifying against efforts to privatize Iraq’s oil. The oil workers union is objecting strenuously to privatization moves, but the Iraqi labor movement has no legal status. USLAW has launched a petition to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to speak out for labor rights in Iraq (see www.uslaboragainstwar.org). USLAW seeks to gather a large number of signatures both on-line and in hard copy, and plans to organize a labor-Congressional delegation to deliver the signatures to Secretary Clinton and to the Iraqi embassy in Washington.
Iran: San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and Eniyat Katouli presented plans for a rally at San Francisco’s Civic Center July 25, from noon to 4 p.m. in San Francisco in solidarity with the people of Iran. After discussion it was moved, seconded and unanimously agreed that Bay Area UFPJ will co-sponsor the rally, which is one of several around the country.
New business: Kathy reported that the Iraq Moratorium Campaign is circulating a petition in support of Rep. Jim McGovern’s bill calling on the Department of Defense to submit an end-game strategy for Afghanistan by the end of the year.
