Where: Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., Oakland (near Alcatraz) — map

AGENDA:

Meeting notes not yet available.

It proposes $708.2 billion in spending for the Department of Defense — the highest military budget in the [...]]]> There is a stunning “peace deficit” in the 2011 federal budget just unveiled by the White House.

It proposes $708.2 billion in spending for the Department of Defense — the highest military budget in the history of our country. Of that money, $159.3 billion will go for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Administration is also asking for a $33 billion Supplemental to pay for the troop increase in 2010, on top of the $138 billion already allocated.

Though President Obama’s rhetorical commitment to nuclear disarmament has received worldwide praise, his administration’s 2011 budget request increases direct spending on nuclear weapons by 10% over 2010, to $7 billion. Over the next 5 years, the Administration intends to boost nuclear weapons spending by more than $5 billion!

Federal dollars are being poured into weapons and warfare, while our states, cities, communities and families are suffering from a lack of funds for urgent human needs: for new jobs, health care, housing, repair of infrastructure, social services.  The Obama budget includes expenditures for many worthy domestic purposes. But the size of these programs is far too small and they are already under attack because of the deficit.

It is vitally important that we link issues and publicize this point: we cannot solve our domestic problems so long as our tax dollars are being squandered on unnecessary, destructive and foolhardy military projects.

TAKE ACTION!

Call your member of Congress and let them know you are outraged by the upside-down priorities in the proposed 2011 federal budget. Tell them its time to end the wars in Afghanistan and to use our tax dollars to solve economic problems here at home. Congressional Switchboard: 202-224-3121

Join this month’s brown bag lunch vigils on Wed. Feb. 17th outside Congressional offices, sponsored by UFPJ member group, Progressive Democrats of America. Check here to see if one is planned in your district or for tips on organizing one.

Join the growing international campaign to demand the elimination of nuclear weapons. Find out how: Disarm Now! For Peace and Human Needs.

United for Peace and Justice will continue to function as a national network committed to both peace and justice. Please make a generous donation so that we can continue our vital work.

Help us continue to do this critical work: Make a donation to UFPJ today.

UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
PO Box 607; Times Square Station; New York, NY 10108

This week, U.S., UK, European, [...]]]> Since President Obama announced Dec. 1 that he will escalate the Afghanistan war by sending 30,000 additional troops, the disastrous failure of the Administration’s war policy is becoming more apparent.

This week, U.S., UK, European, UN, and Afghan leaders will hold an international conference on Afghanistan.  The purpose of the meeting is to turn the tide of European and international public opinion which is running strongly against a futile, unwinnable war, and to extract pledges of additional troops. The British antiwar movement will be out in force to blockade it, and we must also keep up the pressure in the U.S.

• Tell your Congressional representative to vote against war funding. Call 202-224-3121.
• Join or organize a Brown Bag Lunch Vigil at your Congressional office Feb. 17 and every month.

Afghanistan cannot be subdued by force. The Taliban showed last week that it can freely strike in the heart of Kabul, only yards from the Presidential palace.   It has shadow governors in all but one of Afghanistan’s provinces.  And the killing of 5 CIA officers, including the agency’s leading experts on Al Qaeda, by a double agent at a CIA base in Khost province Dec. 30, illustrates that the U.S. is facing sophisticated and disciplined adversaries.

The war is causing rising civilian casualties and Afghan resentment of foreign forces.  2009 was the worst year since 2001 for Afghan children. Just in the past month, NATO forces killed 10 civilians including 8 schoolboys in Kunar province, 4 civilians in Nangarhar province (arousing a 5,000-person protest), 10 protesters in Helmand province, and 4 people in Ghazni province whom the Americans said were Taliban, but who the local people said were civilians. The UN reported that 2,412 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2009, a 14% increase over 2008.

Pressure is increasing on the U.S. for a diplomatic settlement. An International Herald Tribune op-ed last week joined a growing number of experts calling for restoring Afghanistan’s neutrality, including  the departure of U.S. forces and bases.   And opposition to Obama’s war is stirring in Congress, too.   Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) plans to introduce a privileged resolution repealing Congressional authorization for the war.  Rep.  Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) will offer a bill to require an exit strategy.   And Rep. Barbara Lee’s (D-CA) HR.3699 withholds funds to pay for any increased troop levels.

On February 1, the White House will present its FY2001 budget, which is expected to include a record-shattering $709 billion for “defense” with $159 billion for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Congress will also vote this spring on President Obama’s request for another $33 billion for the Afghanistan escalation on top of the $709 billion.  At a time when millions of Americans are jobless and cities and towns across the country are slashing budgets for basic services, we urgently need to challenge the Administration’s budgetary priorities.

Starve the war, not the nation! Across the country students, teachers, women, the disabled, hospital and healthcare workers, the homeless, domestic workers, the unemployed, seniors and many others are protesting deep budget cuts to essential programs.

It’s time to join our efforts for a just economy with our call for peace and to tell Congress we can’t afford war anymore. Find out who in your community is organizing in support of economic justice. Invite them to join peace activists in a monthly Brown Bag Lunch Vigil (BBLV) at your local congressional office. The next set of vigils, initiated by Progressive Democrats for America, will be on Thursday, February 17. Update us at ufpjafghanistan@gmail.com!

Help us continue to do this critical work: Make a donation to UFPJ today.

UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
PO Box 607; Times Square Station; New York, NY 10108

As the death count rises in Haiti, the effects of a catastrophic natural disaster are compounded – as in Hurricane Katrina – by political [...]]]>

HAITI – AID THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST AND DO IT NOW!

As the death count rises in Haiti, the effects of a catastrophic natural disaster are compounded – as in Hurricane Katrina – by political failure, by the consequence of generations of U.S. intervention in Haiti.  Six years after it forced out the democratic Aristide government, and replaced it with a brutal coup regime, the U.S. is advancing a massive military operation in Haiti.  While thousands of American troops amass in Port-au-Prince, thousands of Haitians are dying from lack of water and medicine, starving while food supplies sit on the airport tarmac.

This is a time for aid, not charity; for solidarity, not a calculated U.S. military take-over. Demand accountability of the US government and the United Nations. Demand respect for the resiliency and courage of the Haitian people, and the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to his homeland, as the vast majority of Haiti’s people demand.

PRIORITIZE MEDICAL AND HUMANITARIAN RELIEF, NOT MILITARY OCCUPATION.

• Get the people of Port-au-Prince clean water, food, and medical treatment now
• Allow President Aristide to return to Haiti from forced exile in South Africa.
• Respect human rights. Do not criminalize a traumatized population that needs aid!

SPREAD THE WORD. LET’S MAKE THIS INTERNATIONAL

For more information, see: www.haitisolidarity.net

Message from Sheila Nix, U.S. Executive Director, ONE:

The harrowing images and stories coming out of Haiti are devastating to watch. The incredible outpouring of concern, aid and assistance coming from the United States and all over the world offers hope, but for many of us the question lingers: “What else can I do?”

One [...]]]>

Message from Sheila Nix, U.S. Executive Director, ONE:

The harrowing images and stories coming out of Haiti are devastating to watch. The incredible outpouring of concern, aid and assistance coming from the United States and all over the world offers hope, but for many of us the question lingers: “What else can I do?”

One way we can help Haitians build a better tomorrow is to convince global creditors to cancel Haiti’s $890 million international debt. Doing so will help make sure that every possible future dollar goes towards rebuilding a stronger Haiti, not to servicing old debts.

Thankfully, the United States has already forgiven Haiti’s past debts and now only gives assistance in the form of grants. We need Haiti’s other creditors—the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and countries like Taiwan and Venezuela—to follow our lead and do the same.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has the power to help make that happen. Please click the link below to join me and send Secretary Geithner this urgent message:

http://www.one.org/us/actnow/drophaitiandebt/o.pl?id=1398-4169310-rudCuBx&t=2

As Haiti rebuilds from this disaster, please work to secure the immediate cancellation of Haiti’s $890 million debt and ensure that any emergency earthquake assistance is provided in the forms of grants, not debt-incurring loans.

Even before the earthquake hit, Haiti—the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere—faced tremendous challenges. But there was also hope. Recent years have brought a more stable government and tenuous gains in the fight against poverty.

Haiti needs an international effort to make sure that, as it begins the long road to recovery, it is not burdened with unpayable debts. We must also be vigilant that any new aid from the IMF and other sources doesn’t come in the form of loans that would create new debt for Haiti.

It all starts by calling on Secretary Geithner to use his influence to persuade international lending institutions and countries to do the right thing and drop Haiti’s debt.

Take action now:

http://www.one.org/us/actnow/drophaitiandebt/o.pl?id=1398-4169310-rudCuBx&t=3

Thank you,

Sheila Nix
U.S. Executive Director, ONE

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, not the national holiday which is Monday. As an activist member of Jewish Voice for Peace, I have at times faced counter-demonstrations while I speak out against unjustifiable atrocities being committed allegedly for me and by “my” [...]]]> “What would King say about Israel today?”
http://wagingnonviolence.org/2010/01/what-would-king-say-about-israel-today/
by Jim Haber, January 16, 2010

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, not the national holiday which is Monday. As an activist member of Jewish Voice for Peace, I have at times faced counter-demonstrations while I speak out against unjustifiable atrocities being committed allegedly for me and by “my” side. Being from the United States, I could be doubly responsible for the US/Israeli treatment of the Palestinians. As a long-time member of the War Resisters League, King and I share a belief that (in his words) “social change comes more meaningfully through nonviolence,” that the “business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love,” and that God didn’t choose “America as his divine, messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world.” 42 years have passed since he was assassinated…  Click here to read the rest…>>

Jim Haber is the Coordinator of Nevada Desert Experience (NDE) which organizes interfaith resistance to nuclear weapons and war. Jim is on the War Resisters League National Committee, and he edited the 2008 WRL Peace Calendar. Jim is also very active with Jewish Voice for Peace, the G.I. Rights Hotline and the Catholic Worker movement. He can be reached at: jim[at]nevadadesertexperience.org.

Death toll growing. Tens of thousands may have been killed and hundreds of thousands left homeless.  This is a moment in which your solidarity is of critical importance.

The Haiti Action Committee (a UFPJ-Bay Area member) has information on how you can help. Click here to find out more.

United States and the world community are mobilizing to respond to the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti yesterday. That quake reportedly has killed upwards of 100,000 people and destroyed large parts of the country. All of us will be looking for ways [...]]]> The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) says Haitians need humanitarian help, not deportations.

United States and the world community are mobilizing to respond to the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti yesterday. That quake reportedly has killed upwards of 100,000 people and destroyed large parts of the country. All of us will be looking for ways to support those organizations working on the ground in Haiti to respond to this tragedy. Work in Haiti will not be enough, though.

Here in the United States, the administration should also immediately act to halt its deportation of Haitians, release those Haitians currently in detention centers, and give them a way to survive temporarily in this country. The administration can do this by granting Haitians in this country Temporary Protected Status, which would halt deportations and permit Haitians already in the United States to live and work here.

Because of the economic crisis in Haiti, FCNL has been lobbying for nearly a year for Temporary Protected Status for Haitians here in the United States. Now the need is even more urgent.

Take Action

Please send a letter to President Obama and send copies to your representative urging the U.S. government to immediately act to grant Temporary Protected Status to Haitian immigrants. Encourage three friends to take action as well.

Find out more and see updates on the FCNL immigration blog “It’s Our Community.”

Between Market and Mission near the Civic Center BART and MUNI stop. map

This meeting is a postponement from the January 5 meeting.

Meeting notes not yet available.