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TJR EVENT ARCHIVE |
In its recent coverage of corruption allegations against City Councilor Chuck Turner and former State Senator Dianne Wilkerson, Boston's corporate media (the Globe, Herald, Phoenix, and the broadcast networks) has revealed a cynical 3-prong strategy w/ the apparent intent of discrediting current Black community leadership: (1) "naming-and-shaming" (focussing on Turner's character "flaws" and physical appearance rather than critically examining the FBI's allegations); (2) "divide-and-conquer" (promoting the notion of a growing intergenerational political conflict in the Black community); and (3) the "Big Lie" (promoting the unsupported claim that Obama's election is proof that racism no longer limits Black aspirations).
Ty dePass, a long time practitioner of agit-prop and popular education will draw out this critique and share ideas on how ordinary people can build grassroots resistance to media's misinformation campaign.
NANCY MURRAY, Director of Education for the ACLU of Massachusetts will speak on "Restoring the Limits of Governmental Power: Why it Must be Done and How it CAN be Done", a discussion about the threats to our civil liberties brought about by the USA Patriot Act, warrantless spying by the National Security Agency, and the Military Commissions Act as well as various public and secret Executive Orders of President Bush.
Although the new Obama administration has quickly reversed some of the Executive Orders signed by President Bush, there is still much to be done to undo the damage of the legislation passed during the post 911 hysteria granting the executive branch extraordinary and dangerous powers, as well as to craft new legislation making it harder for a future administration to arbitrarily arrogate similar powers during a crisis.
The Eliot Church is located in Newton Corner at the intersection of Center and Church Streets.
Just in case you were wondering - the Vigil in Newton Center continues (every Thursday, 5pm-6pm at the intersection of Center St. and Beacon St.) We have plenty of signs (although you are welcome to bring new signs of your own devising) but we do not bring extra clothing to share - so DO bundle up in a lot of layers, wear a hat, and/or ear-warmers, warm socks, and winter boots. Consider bringing cough drops. All are welcome to come join us. If the weather is too brutal, we will not stay for the full hour - but if you cannot be there at 5:00pm you are still welcome to come and lift our spirits as late as 5:55pm. Remember, the days ARE getting longer.
WCFIA/CMES Middle East Seminar
Jointly sponsored by the Weatherhead Center for
International Affairs and the Center for Middle
Eastern Studies, Harvard University
For more information about this event, please contact Elizabeth Lawler at 617-495-3816
An opportunity to hear Rev. Dr. NAIM ATEEK (Anglican priest; Palestinian Christian Arab who is also a citizen of Israel; founder of Sabeel; author of previous book "Justice and Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation"; co-editor of "Faith and the Intifada: Palestinian Christian Voices")
"A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation" is an analysis of the conflict over land between Palestine and Israel by a Palestinian Christian Arab who is also a citizen of Israel. In the final section, Ateek presents a strategy to achieve peace and justice nonviolently that will promote justice for the Palestinians and security for both Israel and Palestine.
Friends of Sabeel N.E. and The Church of the Good
Shepherd, Watertown invite you to a discussion with
Dr. Ateek as he presents his new book:
A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN CRY FOR RECONCILIATION
Monday, February 23rd 7:15 PM
Church of the Good Shepherd
19 Russell Avenue Watertown
The discussion is open to the public, free of charge.
There will be a Sabeel fundraising reception/dinner
beginning at 5:30pm.
Reservations are required for the reception/dinner.
Please call 617-924-9420.
CONTACT:
Ann Franklin
Hilary Rantisi
Friends of Sabeel--North America
Today there are three opportunities to hear Rev. Dr. NAIM ATEEK (Anglican priest; Palestinian Christian Arab who is also a citizen of Israel; founder of Sabeel; author of previous book "Justice and Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation"; co-editor of "Faith and the Intifada: Palestinian Christian Voices")
"A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation" is an analysis of the conflict over land between Palestine and Israel by a Palestinian Christian Arab who is also a citizen of Israel. In the final section, Ateek presents a strategy to achieve peace and justice nonviolently that will promote justice for the Palestinians and security for both Israel and Palestine.
1- Brown bag conversation on Palestinian Theology of
Liberation
12:00 - 1:30pm
Harvard Divinity School
Rockefeller Hall, room 116
47 Francis Ave., Cambridge
Sponsored by Shura, the Muslim student group at the
Harvard Divinity School
2- The Study of Religion Colloquium: "A PALESTINIAN
CHRISTIAN CRY FOR RECONCILIATION"
Thompson Room, Barker Center
12 Quincy St., Cambridge
5:00 - 6:30pm
3- Harvard COOP Book signing: "A PALESTINIAN CHRISTIAN
CRY FOR RECONCILIATION"
1400 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge
7:00pm - 8:00pm
CONTACT:
Ann Franklin
Hilary Rantisi
Friends of Sabeel--North America
Visit Chuck's Dudley Office or call (617) 427-8100 to help out or for more info.
John Bell is a puppeteer, scholar, and teacher whose interests combine practice and theory. He started performing as a puppeteer with the Bread and Puppet Theater and as a member of that company for over a dozen years learned about the global breadth of puppetry. Recognized as one of the preeminent historians of puppet theater in the US, he performs, directs, and otherwise collaborates with Great Small Works, a Brooklyn-based theater collective. He is the author of Strings, Hands, Shadows: A Modern Puppet History (Detroit Institute of Art), edited Puppets, Masks, and Performing Objects (MIT Press), and is currently working on American Puppet Modernism, a study of US confrontations with puppet and object theater over the past 150 years.
John Bell discusses his work as a creator of street spectacles with Bread and Puppet Theater, Great Small Works, and the Honk! Festival in Boston, New York, and other cities in North America and Europe. Street spectacle is one of the oldest forms of global performance, in which larger-than-life theatricality combines with urban architecture and public thoroughfare to articulate a community's ideas about politics, religion, and society. How have the rituals of street spectacle functioned in previous centuries, and how might they function in the 21st century?"
For more on John
For more on the presentation.
Edith López Ovalle is a 25-year-old artist and co- founder of Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia contra el Olvido y el Silencio (HIJOS), a human rights organization made up mostly of the children of political prisoners and activists who were killed or "disappeared" in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Edith's mother was imprisoned for her work with a dissident political organization. HIJOS works to reconstruct the history of assassinations and disappearances of social actors, celebrate the memory of the victims, and demand that the perpetrators of human rights abuses are justly punished. Edith will be connecting the work that HIJOS does with current struggles in Oaxaca, Mexico using art.
Three opportunities to dialogue with Edith and see rebellious original artwork and handicrafts from autonomous communities in Mexico.
Mexico Solidarity Network Contact: Corry BantonIn keeping the momentum going following Israel's atrocious assault on Gaza, the loose emergency coalition that formed in opposition to that attack continues to meet to organize around the issue. The group has decided to take on Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) as an umbrella framework through which to plan and organize. Under that umbrella are multiple groups that work on actions, educational events, media messaging, campus activism...etc. If you are interested in organizing around the issue of Palestine, please join us (even if your interests are not BDS-specific).
NOTE: Meetings like this are OPEN and happen EACH TUESDAY, same time, same place.
This documentary separates health care system fact from myth, and features interviews with twelve doctors, including Paul Ginsberg, PhD, President of the Center for Studying Health System Change and former Deputy Assistant Director of the Congressional Budget Office, and Dr. Marcia Angell, Senior Lecturer in Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Emeritus Editor-in-Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and author of "The Truth about Drug Companies."
The U.S. spends more than twice as much per capita than most developed countries. The U.S. taxpayer is already paying for 60% of the total bill, and, by any measure of public health, the results are poor. Driven by technology and fear of liability, physicians order tests and treatments without regard for cost. Drug companies successfully market expensive drugs that, at best, are marginally more effective than less expensive, older ones. As primary care providers disappear costs will rise and outcomes will worsen. Most significantly, the insurance industry adds nothing to "health" and greatly to total cost. State governments divert money to health care from education, infrastructure and protecting the environment. Local governments divert money from schools, libraries, police, and fire services to keep up with ever increasing health insurance premiums.
Health, Money and Fear clearly explains key concepts, and calls everyone to push for a political solution- now.
The topic is "Lowering Your Electric Bills" and will feature a speaker from Next Step Living as well as personal testimonials by GWAC members, who have reduced their own electricity consumption by some 40% by taking some very simple actions.
This is your chance to have all your questions about compact fluorescent light bulbs answered, to learn about "phantom power," and the facts about the electricity the various appliances in your house use and how to lower it, and more.
The final opportunity to hear Rev. Dr. NAIM ATEEK (Anglican priest; Palestinian Christian Arab who is also a citizen of Israel; founder of Sabeel; author of previous book "Justice and Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation"; co-editor of "Faith and the Intifada: Palestinian Christian Voices")
"A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation" is an analysis of the conflict over land between Palestine and Israel by a Palestinian Christian Arab who is also a citizen of Israel. In the final section, Ateek presents a strategy to achieve peace and justice nonviolently that will promote justice for the Palestinians and security for both Israel and Palestine.
Preaching at Christ Church
Zero Garden St., Cambridge, MA
Wednesday, February 25th, Ash Wednesday
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Followed by lunch
CONTACT:
Ann Franklin
Hilary Rantisi
Friends of Sabeel--North America
Visit Chuck's Dudley Office or call (617) 427-8100 to help out or for more info.
A GRIN WITHOUT A CAT is Chris Marker's epic film-essay on the worldwide political wars of the 60's and 70's: Vietnam, Bolivia, May '68, Prague, Chile, and the fate of the New Left.
Released in France in 1978, restored and "re- actualized" by Marker fifteen years later (after the fall of the Soviet Union), we are proud to release the film now for the first time in the United States.
Described by Marker as "scenes of the Third World War," the film (the original French title is virtually untranslatable) is divided into two parts, each weaving together two strands.
Edith López Ovalle is a 25-year-old artist and co- founder of Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia contra el Olvido y el Silencio (HIJOS), a human rights organization made up mostly of the children of political prisoners and activists who were killed or "disappeared" in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Edith's mother was imprisoned for her work with a dissident political organization. HIJOS works to reconstruct the history of assassinations and disappearances of social actors, celebrate the memory of the victims, and demand that the perpetrators of human rights abuses are justly punished. Edith will be connecting the work that HIJOS does with current struggles in Oaxaca, Mexico using art.
Three opportunities to dialogue with Edith and see rebellious original artwork and handicrafts from autonomous communities in Mexico.
Mexico Solidarity Network Contact: Corry BantonSpeakers:
Harris Gruman, Service Employees International Union
Massachusetts Political Director
Elaine Bernard, Executive Director, Labor and Worklife
Program, Harvard Law School & DSA Vice Chair
Steve Schnapp, Education Coordinator, United for a
Fair Economy
The American worker and union organizers face steep
legal and employer-based opposition during
unionization drives. New legislation called the
Employee Free Choice Act would make it easier to
democratically form unions with majority-sign up and
create stiffer penalties for illegal union busting.
Naturally, the bill is facing slander from the right-
wing and weak support from the new Democratic majority
in Washington. Yet, the passage of the Employee Free
Choice Act is very possible. It will only happen,
however, through a massive push from the grassroots
and public education. Join Democratic Socialists of
America, Massachusetts SEIU Political Director Harris
Gruman, trade unionist and Democratic Socialists of
America Vice Chair Elaine Bernard, and a Steve Schnapp
from United for a Fair Economy for analysis and
arguments about the importance of this legislation in
challenging inequality and expanding democracy in
these historic times.
The goal of this presentation is to build knowledge
about the Employee Free Choice Act and its components,
such as majority sign-up, mandatory arbitration, and
increased fines against anti-union activity.
Attendees of this event will leave more prepared to
talk with their friends, family, and colleagues about
the bill and build grassroots pressure to push
Congress and the White House in the right direction.
Please contact David Duhalde (david.duhalde@gmail.com)
for more information. The event is cosponsored by
United for a Fair Economy and Massachusetts Jobs with
Justice.
You can download a PDF flyer here.
Boston Democratic Socialists of America
P.O. Box 51356, Boston MA 02205
(617) 354-5078
Come join us at the intersection of Center and Beacon Streets in Newton Center - 5:00PM-6:00PM, every Thursday.
Sunlight has been sighted at the Vigil as late as 5:30pm. So if you were not coming because you were afraid of the dark, the days are really getting lighter (not longer - they are always 24 hours). You are free to leave when the sun goes down. (Actually, you are free to leave at any time since we do not take attendance or use any kind of restraints.) We have plenty of signs but feel free to bring your own (tastefully done) signs.
If you have some computer skills and you are interested in helping create a new, redesigned, easier to maintain Newton Dialogues website, please contact me, Dave Ascher to discuss further. The current site is in need of serious repair and the tools we've used to maintain it, no longer work as they should. This is why the site has not been upated in quite some time.
Dave Ascher
Newton Dialogues on Peace and War
LET'S TELL THE GOVERNOR WHAT COMMUNITIES OF COLOR WANT, NEED, and DESERVE from the ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE.
Please join us for this theatrical performance.
Agitating the authorities of the afterlife to clear his name, Karl Marx is sent to earth for one hour to make his case. But bureaucracies are the same in heaven as on earth, and due to a clerical error, Marx lands in Old City Philadelphia rather than his stomping grounds in London. Fed up with the gloating of the right wing that "Marxism is dead" after the fall of the Soviet Union, and eager to reclaim his ideas from the distortion of Stalin's brutalities and pseudo-socialism's repressions, Marx urgently uses current news and events to show how his ideas still resonate by launching into a passionate, funny and moving defense of his life and political ideas. He shares his reflections on history and philosophy as he retells the very human and personal story of his life in Soho through encounters with the anarchist Michael Bakunin, the revolutionary P. J. Proudhon, his brilliant daughter Eleanor, and his wife, Jenny. The play is more than just a political discussion - it is the experience of the life and mind of Karl Marx. Bob Weick's powerful performance portrays the largeness of the ideas and the human nature of the man. The intimacy, honesty and power of his portrayal makes MARX IN SOHO a rewarding and affecting experience.
Howard Zinn shows his characteristic gift of accurately humanizing but not sentimentalizing people most historians ignore at best or disfigure at worst. Zinn doesn't preach, but rather uses mischievous humor to tackle the United State's educational system, super- rich ruling class, corporate mergers, prisons, political chicanery, and media. The play provides a dynamic way to open discussions about contemporary politics, historical analysis and economic philosophy.
Sponsored by the following Clark University Departments: International Studies Stream, Higgins School of the Humanities, Graduate School of Geography, History Department, and International Development Community & Environment
Praxis is a loosely organized, democratic collective
dedicated to action for social change. The aim is to
cultivate critical thinking, increase sensitivity to,
and develop a spirit of inquiry on important local &
global issues. Praxis is not a membership
organization, club, or political party.
Praxis Email Contact
Panelists:
Dr. Michael Phillips MD. Clinical Assistant Professor
in Ophthalmology at the University of Illinois in
Chicago. Specialty Coordinator for Ophthalmology at
the Christian Medical Association and organizer of
humanitarian medical missions to Ghana and Haiti with
Global Health Outreach.
Dr. Arachu Castro. Ph.D., MPH Assistant Professor of
Social Medicine, Academic Director Program in
Infectious Disease and Social Change, Department of
Global Health and Social Medicine Harvard Medical
School
Dr. Padma Balasubramanian, MD, Endocrinologist,
Internal Medicine and Diabetes Specialist, fellow of
the American College of Endocrinology, Consultant
staff at Caritas Norwood Hospital
Panelists will provide an insight view of the
successful Health Care Programs:
Mission Milagro: Venezuelan-Cuban anti-blindness
program that has restored sight to close to 700,000
people from 30 countries and aims to reach 6,000,000
blind people by 2015.
Barrio Adentro (Inside the Neighborhood): A public
health initiative that provides preventive, primary,
secondary and specialized health care to millions of
Venezuelan through a network of community clinics
located mostly in poor urban and rural communities.
It is a partnership between the Venezuelan Ministry of
Health, the Cuban Medical Mission in Venezuela, and
the Pan American Health Organization.
Sponsored by the Latin American Medical Students
Association and Global Health Interest Group at Tufts
University School of Medicine.
Open to the Public. Medical Students, Nursing and
Public Health Students, Clinicians, Researchers,
Undergraduates and interested community members are
encouraged to attend.
For more information contact:
info.venezuela.event@gmail.com
or 312-731-6652
The City School is a nonprofit organization offering afterschool, weekend and summer programs which help young people develop leadership skills for community service and social justice.
"The Life Cycle of a Social Movement" is part of The City School's Community, Socialization, & Investigation (CSI) series. At our last discussion, we defined what a social movement is and what it can be. Rest assured that we will delve a bit deeper into this topic and we will all learn from each others' personal insights on social movements. Join the conversation on Friday, February 27th. It's free and open to anyone and everyone interested. If you cannot attend, please spread the word and let others know about this discussion.
Dinner will be served at 5:00pm. Please come prepared to eat!
RSVP if you can attend. Contact Allain Cherenfant at (617) 697-1862 or Ruby at (617) 767-7829.
Using the city as a school, The City School creates out-of-school time programming that builds the leadership and communication skills of teenagers from across Greater Boston. Our mission is to develop the power of youth to work toward building a just society. We do this through creative education and critical thinking; leadership development; action and service; and promoting understanding and relationships across difference.
Please join us every fourth Friday of the month!
Through Barbed Wire was created by Arnie King to
(re)establish and maintain ties to our neighborhoods
and to offer and provide genuine service to society.
Due to the heavy chains around our hands and feet, as
well as CORI and other stigmas, such efforts face
severe restrictions. These obstacles can be lessened,
and eventually eliminated, with virtues of honesty,
open-mindedness and willingness flowing through barbed
wire into the community.
ALL prisoners' poetry will be read! Please mail poems
to Fourth Friday Poems c/o Community Church of Boston,
565 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116.
Light refreshments will be served
Contributions greatly appreciated (including snacks!)
Email: throughbarbedwire@yahoo.com
Venue information: Jason - (617) 266-6710
Website: www.arnoldking.org
Enjoy a fun & relaxing evening brimming with local
music, fantastic Salvadoran food, & refreshing
beverages to send off boston cispes delegates in
style.
Suggested Donation: $10
Music By: Fluttr Effect, The Grass Gypsys, Gary
Backstrom, Dean Stevens, Chris Eastburn, Mary
Casiello, avi Jacobs, Joseph Ziemba, and more.
Support Cambridge Sister Cities Project, Boston
CISPES, and Lawyers Guild delegates, all off to
monitor the March 15th elections. Hear first-hand
reports from the January 18th municipal and
legislative elections in El Salvador and the current
situation leading up to March presidential elections.
Delegates:
Matthew Andrews
Alana Epstein
Julia Finkelstein
David Grosser
Paul Peckham
Catherine Hoffman
Judy Somberg
Emily Achtenberg
Phyllis Ewen
Sponsored by Cambridge-El Salvador Sister City
Project, Boston CISPES, National Lawyer¹s Guild
For more info, contact cispes:
Tel: 617.576.1709
Email: boscispes@speakeasy.net
www.cispes.org
In Commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr's Birthday and African American History
Month...
Endorsed & hosted by the Boston School Bus Union USW.
Flyer
Conference Call
Download BOPM Working Paper
Panels + Invited Guests
Topics include:
Organizing a movement to fight foreclosures, evictions
and homelessness
Mobilizing students & youth
Building solidarity with immigrant workers
Turning back the rightwing attacks on women and lgbt
workers
Organizing unemployed workers
International solidarity
Merging the antiwar and social justice movements
Fighting back against budget cuts, wage freezes,
layoffs, and concessions
Organizing against the racist attack on school
desegregation in Boston
Standing against the attack on Boston City Councilor
Chuck Turner and other elected leaders of the African
American community
Relevance of King's legacy today
Action Proposals include:
Bail Out the People First: A Fightback Program
Combining a Strategy of Mass Action and Direct Action
The Next Phase of the Fight Against Foreclosures and
Evictions
Opening the Fight for Jobs or Income Now: Challenging
Organized Labor to Do More
APRIL 3 AND 4TH, 2009: National March on Wall Street
on the Anniversary of Dr. King's Assassination -- Some
peace activists are planning peace mobilizations,
possibly on Wall Street, in New York City on April
4th.
Sponsored by:
Bail Out the People Movement Boston
617-522-6626
bopmboston@gmail.com
http://bopm-boston.blogspot.com
National Office
212-633-6646
bailoutpeople@safewebmail.com
http://www.BailOutPeople.org
Speaker: Peter Lems (invited) will address the war and occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gaza. Discussion will follow.
Lems is the AFSC Program Director for Education and Advocacy on Iraq and Afghanistan. In December 2008 he visited Afghanistan to meet with AFSC staff. In November 2007 he was part of an assessment team that visited Syria and Jordan, exploring opportunities to work with Iraq refugees. He led delegations to Iraq in 2002 and 999.
Working Group reports and strategy discussion: there will be brief reports from the new groups including Afghanistan, Cutting the Military Budget, Spring mobilizations, Nuclear Disarmament, Israel-Palestine, and broadening the UJP agenda (eviction moratorium campaign).
Following will be a strategy discussion: what does this all add up to? What is the moment and where are things going? What will 2009 bring for the peace and justice movement? Structure Reports: The On-Line Organizing Committee will report on progress with the new website and communications tools. There will be a brief report on a new decision-making process with opportunity for input. We need your participation in this important meeting!
United for Justice with Peace is a coalition of peace and justice organizations and community peace groups in the Greater Boston region. The UJP Coalition, formed after September 11th, seeks global peace through social and economic justice.
United for Justice with Peace
P.O. Box 390449, Central Square, Cambridge, 02139
617-491-4UJP
Edith López Ovalle is a 25-year-old artist and co- founder of Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia contra el Olvido y el Silencio (HIJOS), a human rights organization made up mostly of the children of political prisoners and activists who were killed or "disappeared" in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Edith's mother was imprisoned for her work with a dissident political organization. HIJOS works to reconstruct the history of assassinations and disappearances of social actors, celebrate the memory of the victims, and demand that the perpetrators of human rights abuses are justly punished. Edith will be connecting the work that HIJOS does with current struggles in Oaxaca, Mexico using art.
Three opportunities to dialogue with Edith and see rebellious original artwork and handicrafts from autonomous communities in Mexico.
Mexico Solidarity Network Contact: Corry BantonJOIN US on Sunday, March 1st, at rallies outside of three Massachusetts coal plants to call for an end to the deadly use of coal and start building a secure green future!
The next day, authors/activists Wendell Berry and Bill McKibben will be joined by thousands of people -- young and old alike -- in the largest mass civil disobedience for the climate in US history at the Washington DC coal plant that powers Congress with dirty energy (www.capitolclimateaction.com). Please join us locally to help put an end to the unsustainable and destructive use of coal that is harming our health, fueling war and endangering our climate.
Help us spread the word and send the message to the powers-that-be that a rapid phase-out of all coal- powered plants is needed NOW! We are planning legal demonstrations, and ask that all participants respect the call to refrain from civil disobedience on March 1.
Organizers and Endorsers: Mass.Coalition for Healthy Communities (MCHC) / Secure Green Future (SGF), Toxics Action Center, Clean Air Coalition, Clean Water Action, Green Action Citizens v. Coal, HealthLink, Massachusetts Global Action, Peace Institute at Salem State College, North Shore Colombia Solidarity Committee, United for Justice with Peace.
Contact Eli Beckerman at 617-821-1453.
Enjoy a fun & relaxing evening brimming with local
music, fantastic Salvadoran food, & refreshing
beverages to send off boston cispes delegates in
style.
Suggested Donation: $10
Music By: Fluttr Effect, The Grass Gypsys, Gary
Backstrom, Dean Stevens, Chris Eastburn, Mary
Casiello, avi Jacobs, Joseph Ziemba, and more.
Support Cambridge Sister Cities Project, Boston
CISPES, and Lawyers Guild delegates, all off to
monitor the March 15th elections. Hear first-hand
reports from the January 18th municipal and
legislative elections in El Salvador and the current
situation leading up to March presidential elections.
Delegates:
Matthew Andrews
Alana Epstein
Julia Finkelstein
David Grosser
Paul Peckham
Catherine Hoffman
Judy Somberg
Emily Achtenberg
Phyllis Ewen
Sponsored by Cambridge-El Salvador Sister City
Project, Boston CISPES, National Lawyer¹s Guild
For more info, contact cispes:
Tel: 617.576.1709
Email: boscispes@speakeasy.net
www.cispes.org
Be part of the largest mass civil disobedience for the climate in U.S. history.
You know there is a climate crisis. You know we have to solve it. It’s time to take our action to the next level.
With a new administration and a new Congress, we have a window of opportunity. But we have to open it — together.
On March 2, join thousands of people in a multi-generational act of civil disobedience at the Capitol Power Plant — a plant that powers Congress with dirty energy and symbolizes a past that cannot be our future. Let’s use this as a rallying cry for a clean energy economy that will protect the health of our families, our climate, and our future.
This will be a peaceful demonstration, carried out in a spirit of hope and not rancor. We will be there in our dress clothes, and ask the same of you.
It’s time to take a stand on global warming. We can’t wait any longer for the changes we KNOW we can, and must, make today.
Now is the time... RSVP NOW! Action Guidelines
FACEBOOK
Social activist and best-selling historian Howard Zinn introduces his favorite film, the searing political epic Burn! (1969), at the Coolidge Corner Theatre on Monday, March 9 at 7 p.m, as part of the theatre’s 75th-anniversary celebrations.
Gillo Pontecorvo, the acclaimed director of The Battle of Algiers, explores colonialism and insurrection in Burn! Sir William Walker (Marlon Brando) is called to the fictional island of Queimada to instigate an uprising of black slaves against Portuguese rule in order to benefit British sugar traders. Years later, when the same rebels whom Sir William had incited grow to be too powerful, he is called back to destroy the movement he had helped spawn. As Walker, Brando gives a complex, intelligent portrayal of a man who is both gentleman and scoundrel, revolutionary and colonialist. Brando often remarked that he did some of his best acting in Burn!
Howard Zinn has long been active in the civil rights, civil liberties, and anti-war movements, and has written extensively on all three subjects. He is professor emeritus in the Political Science Department at Boston University and has also taught at Spelman College in Atlanta. Zinn is the author of more than 20 books, most notably A People's History of the United States. First published in 1980, A People’s History has sold more than one million copies, making it one of the bestselling history books of all time. Zinn has also written three plays: Daughter of Venus, Emma, and Marx in Soho. He is the subject of the 2004 documentary biopic, Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train.
Tell the Obama Administration and Congress: End the Bush Administration's Frame Ups Designed to Politically Assassinate Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner and Other Progressive elected Leaders
Sign online petition at www.iacboston.org/chuckturnerpetition.html
View youtube video of Ramsey Clark press conference defending Chuck Turner at: www.youtube.com/user/IACBoston
For more info and to donate to Chuck's defense, go to www.supportchuckturner.com
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation How You Can Sustain the US Campaign
To generate more momentum and bring us closer to our goal, we need sustained support. That's why we're asking you to join our Olive Branch Club and make a regular monthly tax-deductible contribution of $5-$200 per month.
IMEMC (Internal Middle East Media Center) seeks urgent funding and/or logistical support to maintain its operations.
One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. it is simply too painful to acknowledge ~ even to ourselves ~ that we've been so credulous: Carl Sagan
Here is a must see hour-long BBC film that effectively makes the case that the "war on terror" is a blatant scam to keep people fearful, politicians powerful and provide an effective smokescreen for the implementation of the New World Order. A must see video.
After watching this film you will always cringe when you hear the phrase "The War on Terror " and recognize it as both a bamboozle and scam perpetrated by the prince of darkness himself, Richard Perle, as well as Tony Blair and the Cheney/Bush crime syndicate in order to accomplish their global neocon objectives.
From U.S. Rep John Conyers: A Serious Reformer Needed for Surgeon General
Earlier this month I raised concerns about the trial balloon floated for Surgeon General, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
The doctor is a health commentator for CNN who dispenses medical advice with a breezy style appropriately suited to the brief two-minute segments of television. While he has earned praise for his television persona, there are undeniable drawbacks that would limit his effectiveness as an advocate for the comprehensive health care reform this country urgently needs.
The TV Doctor has close ties to the pharmaceutical and health care industries and for not disclosing the sources of his speaking fees which command up to $50,000 per appearance.
His strong criticisms of reform beg the question whether his cozy relationships with the health care industry would compromise his ability to lead the U.S. Public Health Service and serve as a vocal advocate for change.
Please Act Now. Demand a Serious Reformer for Surgeon General.
Too many questions linger about the qualifications of Sanjay Gupta for him to lead our Public Health Service. Thank you again for your commitment to a better democracy.
Your Friend,
John Conyers, Jr.
If you could help end modern-day slavery in Florida's fields with an email, would you?
Click here to take action today!
Even as we continue putting the pieces together for a major campaign calling on food service providers to take responsibility for farmworker exploitation, the latest case of slavery in Florida's fields - and Florida Governor Charlie Crist's deafening silence in response - compels us to take action in a different way today.
Please visit the SFA site (sfalliance.org) today and read the below message from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to find out more about this important action alert and to take action now.
Obama's nominee for Deputy Secretary of Defense, the chief operating officer of the Pentagon, is a lobbyist for Raytheon.
William Lynn, is due $1.5 million in payouts for his work lobbying for the defense industry. This revolving door has to stop. We need to break the military-industrial complex and stop having defense contractors and their lobbyists working on the inside of the Pentagon.
Please take two steps:
Write the Armed Services Committee and tell them to reject the nomination. The message - no defense contractor lobbyists inside the Pentagon.
Write President Obama and urge him to withdraw the nomination and replace it with an independent voice who will look critically on the bloated military budget.
Our task is bigger than ending the Iraq and Afghanistan wars - it is to challenge the military- industrial complex that has resulted in a military budget as big as the whole world combined. The nomination of William Lynn is an opportunity to say no to lobbyists inside the Pentagon.
Kevin B. Zeese, Executive Director
Voters For Peace
From Progressive Democrats of America:
"Healthcare, NOT Warfare"
And from Truth & Justice Radio:
"Single Payer, NOT extending Medicare"
Conversion to Single Payer should be included in the
"stimulus" package as it would increase health care
jobs, lower costs for employers, and cost a tiny
fraction of the $700-900 billion stimulus package.
It is estimated that 60% of home foreclosures are due
to a health care crisis on the part of a home owner.
[COMMENT FROM STAN: One person at PDA has bought
somebody's claim that the best way to do this is to
incrementally extend Medicare to all ages (i.e.,
descend the age requirement slowly). It comforts him
that this idea is showing some support in Congress and
the Executive branch. This is frightening. We know
that extending Medicare is NOT the best way. For many
reasons, we need 100% Single Payer, NOT more Medicare.
Medicare, with its thicket of substantial exclusions,
deductibles, copays, gaps, limits, provider
writedowns, privatization scams, and regressive
financing scheme, would be the WRONG way to go.
Congressmembers supporting Medicare extension should
be regarded as dangerous.]
PDA asks that we read the article
linked here.
PDA board member Norman Solomon points out in another
article (
We say "Healthcare NOT Warfare" and ask you to join
our campaign. The time has come to redirect
unnecessary and wasteful military spending to meeting
human needs.
PDA's suggested petition
asks to prioritize "Healthcare NOT Warfare."
In 2008, dozens of local and state parties passed
resolutions supporting single-payer healthcare, and
rejecting the occupation of Iraq. With our allies,
PDA successfully amended the 2008 Democratic Party
Platform to include "guaranteed health care for every
man, woman, and child" and "everybody in, nobody left
out." We hope to pass more resolutions to support
"Healthcare NOT Warfare" at the local and state
Democratic conventions, and in cities, counties, and
states across the country.
Do you know about the Fusion Center?
It knows about you.
Please take a moment to ask your state legislators to co-sponsor Senator Harriette Chandler's new bill -- An Act Regarding the Commonwealth Fusion Center and Other Intelligence Data Centers -- filed on behalf of the ACLU of Massachusetts.
So what is the Fusion Center anyway?
In the aftermath of 9/11, then-Governor Mitt Romney enlisted Massachusetts in a national plan to centralize and expand the government's ability to collect and retain detailed information on ordinary Americans, for the professed purpose of preventing terrorism.
Without public debate, Romney established the Commonwealth Fusion Center, a multi-agency data-mining hub which enables federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to comb through information about Massachusetts residents and engage in domestic intelligence collection beyond the bounds of ordinary criminal investigations.
Take action now! Find and contact your legislators. Urge them to support Senator Chandler's bill to provide oversight of the Commonwealth Fusion Center.
Historically, unregulated database-driven policing has led to broad surveillance of completely lawful activities, including protected First Amendment activity -- and it's happening again in Massachusetts in 2009.
The Fusion Center operates today with virtually no independent oversight, without adequate privacy protections, and without necessary protections for constitutional rights. With your help, we can -- and must -- shine a light on the Fusion Center's operations and insist that any intelligence operations in Massachusetts be conducted in keeping with established civil liberties principles.
The ACLU of Massachusetts Legislative Team
The Employee Free Choice Act is critical to our economic recovery. Good union jobs helped build America's middle class. This legislation will rekindle the American Dream by leveling the playing field and empowering workers to form unions and bargain for a better life.
That's why greedy CEOs are terrified of this bill. One top executive has called it "the demise of a civilization." And they're fighting with underhanded tactics, misleading ads, shady front groups and, of course, big budgets.
But we can win if enough of us get involved. Members of Congress have a weeklong break this month, and we've planned hundreds of lobby meetings at their home offices. Imagine those workers handing over our petition and being able to say, "Two million people support the Employee Free Choice Act."
a href=http://freechoiceact.org>Move us closer to 2 million signatures--it just takes one minute.
Disgrace for Democracy, Israel is detaining right now 40% of the Palestinian MPs who represent the people
Disgrace for Democracy: 51 Palestinian MPs and Ministers are Detained in Israeli prisons along with 11.870 Palestinian citizens
A serious crime and new political slap in the face for democracy is committed by the Zionist system against representatives of the Palestinian people by the abduction of the Palestinian ministers and MPs. The latest of which was the arrest of MP Ahmed al-Haj from the city of Nablus on 16/12/2007. Al-Haj is over Seventy-years old.
Earlier on the 10th MP Dr. Maryiam Saleh Minister for Women in the Palestinian government has been abducted too. Dr Mariyam is a member in the Legislative Council from Ramallah governorate.
The Minister of Palestinian Prisoner is in prison since many years... for the fifth time.
There are more than 11,870 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, 117 of them are mothers. Some give birth while chained, and their children are forced to live in the cells where they do not live their childhood or play or go out.
I don't have to tell you about lack of healthy conditions, or medical negligence. Some prisoners are denied warm clothes sent to them by their families. They are held in 30 different prisons, and detention centers. 1189 prisoners are schools, collage, and universities students of both genders, 330 of the detained are children. Not only the students were detained, but their teachers too, there are 107 Palestinian teachers in Israeli prisons. 1150 Palestinian prisoners suffer acute illnesses.
A large number of the detained are denied visits by family members.
Thousands of Palestinian detainees in the Negev desert prison and other detention camps such as Ofer prison near the town of Ramallah, Hawara, Qadumim, Megiddo, Nafha, Beer Sheva, Ashkelon and other prisons are shivering from the cold under waves of rain and snowfall coming from northern regions of the world especially that some are detained inside tents made of cloth surrounded by walls open to the cruel cold of the desert, living in wet tents caused by snow falls and rain, sleeping on boards made of wood which gets soaked wet.
Soon, April 17th is the International day of prisoners. I hope you can join in denouncing what the Israeli government is doing to those prisoners, and demand their release to join their families.
Do not rely on journalism to get the news, journalists were the first to be attacked and harassed so that you do not know what was going on.
The records documented 1147 aggressive attacks on journalists by the Israelis. Only between 28th of September 2000, and 31st of March 2007.
Please sign the petition and buy those prisoners some happiness.
We are hoping to get at least 11.000 signitures, one for each prisoner, and present this petition to International Human Rights bodies like Amnesty International, and United Nations. Please Circulate this petition to all the people you can get the message through to them. It is about time we show solidarity for each other on human level.
Sponsored by:
Iqbal Tamimi Creator of Palestinian Mothers Network
The Best Way To Light A Fire For Federal Prosecutions of Bush And Cheney Is To Get Collateral State Actions Going.
We have completed compiling a database of the current contact information for every state district attorney, for EVERY county in the country. And we have put it all together into an easy one click lookup function to help organize contacting your nearest state prosecutor, to call on THEM to step up to the plate, to stand up for justice and accountability, by prosecuting George Bush and Dick Cheney for their crimes.
In particular, renowned former prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi has laid out a compelling case for charging both Bush and Cheney with the premediated murder of American service men and women, for starting a war with Iraq on patently false pretenses. By using this new lookup page you can instantly get the mailing address, phone, fax, and in many cases also the email of your local prosecutor. This action is SO critical we have dedicated our entire main site homepage to it.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We are not asking anyone to file a formal criminal complaint yourself. Common sense tells us that state prosecutors will only act, in the exercise of their OWN discretion, if they believe there is a non-frivolous case to bring. But by speaking out, we can let them know there is community support for them to do so.
Israel's recent war on the occupied Gaza Strip brought death and destruction to Palestinians, and a windfall for war profiteers. Around the world, people are standing up and saying "No more" by boycotting and divesting from corporations that profit from Israel's human rights abuses. The people of Stockholm have severed their contract with the transit/waste removal corporation Veolia due to Veolia's involvement with Israel's settlements, and British Telecom company FreedomCall has ceased their cooperation with Israeli counterpart MobileMax due to the war on Gaza.
Join this growing global movement for boycotting, divesting from and sanctioning (BDS) those who support Israel's military occupation of Palestinian territories by becoming an organizer for our Hang Up On Motorola campaign. Motorola makes a lot more than cell phones - they also make at least four products that directly support Israel's occupation of and assaults on Palestinians. This is why we've created a tool-kit for boycotting Motorola until its products are no longer used by Israel to abuse Palestinian human rights.
Why Motorola?.
Bomb Fuses: Motorola Israel sells fuses that the Israeli Air Force uses in its MK-80 series of bombs. On July 30, 2006, during its war on Lebanon, the Israeli Air Force dropped an MK-84 bomb on an apartment building in Qana, Lebanon, killing at least 28 civilians.
Communication Devices for Occupation: Motorola's $100 million "Mountain Rose" communication system enhances the efficiency of Israeli occupying forces. Patterns of human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories include, but are not limited to, the killing and injuring of civilians, torture, extra-judicial assassinations, deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure, acts of collective punishment, and economic warfare.
Surveillance Devices for Israel's Illegal Wall: Motorola supplies the "Wide Area Surveillance System" (WAAS) to monitor and maintain Israel's illegal wall, constructed in violation of the July 2004 International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion. This wall is perhaps the strongest symbol of Israeli Apartheid, carving the West Bank into Bantustans. Surveillance Devices for Israel's Illegal
Settlements: Motorola has made $93 million providing radar detection devices and thermal cameras for 47 illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Israel's confiscation of Palestinian land, its illegal settlements, illegal wall, and continued occupation would not be possible without Motorola's compliance.
The truth is buried about Israel's occupation of Palestine through sophisticated repetition of irrelevant rhetoric, distorted shuffling of time and placement of people's histories and other devious ways of keeping many afraid to form an opinion or act on outrage.
Well, here's a good cure for that - pick up a copy of Occupation 101 and you won't have to worry about being on any fences in regards to this issue. This highly informative video documentary will keep your mind attentive and clear all cobwebs in the brain by getting to the root cause of violence from the occupier and resistance from the occupied, all embellished with current examples and very pertinent comparisons to Apartheid South Africa.
A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Unlike any other film ever produced on the conflict - 'Occupation 101' presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.
The film also details life under Israeli military rule, the role of the United States in the conflict, and the major obstacles that stand in the way of a lasting and viable peace. The roots of the conflict are explained through first-hand on-the-ground experiences from leading Middle East scholars, peace activists, journalists, religious leaders and humanitarian workers whose voices have too often been suppressed in American media outlets.
The film covers a wide range of topics -- which include -- the first wave of Jewish immigration from Europe in the 1880's, the 1920 tensions, the 1948 war, the 1967 war, the first Intifada of 1987, the Oslo Peace Process, Settlement expansion, the role of the United States Government, the second Intifada of 2000, the separation barrier and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as well as many heart wrenching testimonials from victims of this tragedy.
Tripoli Productions, DVD, NTSC all regions, 1.5 hour
plus bonus features.
leftbooks.com
From our activist friend Sandy Coy, who runs a weekly vigil Thursday afternoons in Wayland:
I am writing to ask activists, as well as my family and others who are not political activists, to join me in a simple action to launch what the whole world hopes will be a fresh start in a better direction. I feel I must write after reading a book today that one of my children gave me for Christmas, "Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak."
Most of the detainees do not know these poems were saved, declassified (much of their writing still has not been), translated and published. But it has happened, through the persistent work of many volunteer legal advocates. In these poems, the goodness of many souls and their hope in God and their fellow men for justice comes through. Some of the poems moved me to tears of both sorrow and shame.
But tears for them or anyone unjustly imprisoned will do no good. Doing something as simple as writing a brief card can actually help people who are being unjustly imprisoned.
How? When prisoners receive volumes of international mail, their jailers know they have lost the cover of anonymity. This leads to better treatment for the prisoner and ultimately their release, just to get the public spotlight to go away.
So, here's what I am asking of myself, my family and of you, which shouldn't take more than a few minutes:
Write out one or more cards for selected prisoners of conscience from any of 12 countries (one is a Guantanamo detainee) identified by Amnesty International.
This card to a prisoner of conscience is probably going to mean more than any other card we sent this year.From the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between
People (via our correspondent Mazin Qumsiyeh):
So far hundreds of civilians have been killed in Gaza.
Five sisters in one family, four other children in
another home, two children on a cart drawn by a
donkey. Universities, colleges, police stations,
roads, apartment buildings were all targeted. The UN
Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied
Palestinian areas issued a statement that "The Israeli
airstrikes on the Gaza Strip represent s evere and
massive violations of international humanitarian law
as defined in the Geneva Conventions, both in regard
to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the
requirements of the laws of war."
Twenty-five things to do to bring peace with justice:
1) First get the facts and then disseminate them.
Here are some basic background information
The Lucy Parsons Center is proud to demonstrate that an all-volunteer, collectively-run radical bookstore and community center can survive in the capitalist United States, but the majority of our income comes from book sales and most of that goes straight to pay our landlord and bills.
That's why we need you! Without support from our community, we could not continue to function.
As the year draws to a close we are asking you to pledge to support the Lucy Parsons Center in 2009. We want 100 new monthly supporters kicking in $5 a month to help ensure our ability to offer radical books, talks, workshops, movies, meeting spaces, and whatever else you want to see happen as we work to build the better world.
100 supporters sounds like a lot and we are challenging ourselves to meet this goal. On the other hand, $5 a month isn't that much. It's the price of a beer with tip, less than a falafel, and come January less than the priority mail postage you'd have to pay to order the books you can ONLY find at the LPC over the internet.
Lucy Parsons Center
549 Columbus Avenue
Boston's South End
Telephone: (617) 267-6272
Email: lucyparsons@tao.ca
From Lexington Global Warming Action Coailtion LGWAC
In an 11th hour, blatant, political move that is similar to the one Ted Stevens tried to pull in 2005, on December 12, Congressman James Oberstar (D-MN) launched an effort to derail Cape Wind (proposed windfarm of 130 turbines in Nantucket Sound off Massachusetts).
Oberstar sent a letter to Commandant Thad Allen of the Coast Guard "requesting" an extraordinary and unprecedented review of the Coast Guard's OK as regards navigation hazards.
Oberstar's letter comes at the request of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, a group backed and fronted by Bill Koch, CEO of Oxbow. Oxbow's primary businesses are the mining and marketing of energy and commodities such as coal, petroleum coke, oil production, and composite pipe manufacturing. The Alliance's central mission is to stop Cape Wind, no matter what it takes, and has spent well over $15 million dollars, primarily on lawsuits, lobbying efforts and deliberate public relations campaigns promoting fearmongering and misinformation.
So we need you to help resist this maneuvering, and here's how.
ACTIONS:
1. Call Chairman Oberstar's offices
Washington DC: (202) 225-6211
Duluth, MN: (218) 727-7474
Tell him he should withdraw his request to the Coast
Guard Commandant.
2. Call the Coast Guard's public affairs office:
Telephone: (202) 372-4620
Tell them you support their efforts and to stand up to
Oberstar's bullying and that the American people
support Cape Wind and clean renewable energy.
3. Hit up Commandant
Thad Allen on his Facebook page
Tell him you support him and will join him in standing
up to Oberstar's bullying and that the American people
support Cape Wind and clean renewable energy.
Please call right away.
The damage from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike persist in Cuba. Tens of thousands homes need to be rebuilt, while building supplies remain limited due to the US Embargo. The following contacts can be used to assist Cuba in its continued reconstruction.
The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) in Jerusalem has been informed that its request for re-funding has been rejected, in high probability because of pressure brought to bear by right-wing Israeli neo-cons who have campaigned obsessively against our funding while threatening publicly to close us down.
Tax-deductible donations needed.
We have quietly been working away at TecsChange in Roxbury to refurbish computers. We recently sent one of our bigger shipments of 15 computers to a series of radio stations in Oaxaca, Mexico.
We work most Thurday evenings and Saturday afternoons
(1pm to at least 4 PM, usually longer)
We have one day a week where daytime volunteers come in. Presently it's Mondays but it might change soon.
Please call if you are interested.
TecsChange Office
617-442-4456
Doris Tennant and Ellen Lubell (of Newton) are representing a Guantanamo prisoner pro bono, so they are providing their time at no charge. However, their costs, including their own travel and that of a translator, translator fees, and Freedom of Information Act requests, are running at least $20,000 for this year, and will likely continue at that same pace or more. Most of the other attorneys who are representing Guantanamo detainees are members of large law firms that can cover these types of expenses, but in their case the two of them are the firm.
If you would like to make a contribution to help them defray costs, it would be much appreciated. Please make your check payable to "Tennant Lubell Detainee Fund." Your contribution will NOT be tax-deductible, but they promise to put it to good use to help provide fundamental legal rights to a man who remains in indefinite detention.
Doris Tennant, Esq.
Tennant Lubell, LLC
288 Walnut Street, Suite 500
Newton, MA 02460
617-969-9610, X 101
Fax: 617-969-9611
Just a friendly reminder that the holidays are coming and what better gift to give than a bottle of fairly traded extra-virgin olive oil from Palestine. We have plenty of oil available and should be able to fill all orders for the holidays. Think about buying a case of oil and instead of bringing a bottle of wine to your next dinner party, bring a bottle of olive oil instead!
We now ship anywhere in the continental US; please see
our website for details . Olive Branch Olive Oil
comes directly from the Palestinian Agricultural
Relief Committees (PARC)
Olive oil is the backbone of the Palestinian agricultural economy. Eighty percent of cultivated land in Palestine is planted with olive trees, and the olive harvest provides between 25 to 50 percent of a farming family's annual income. As the political and economic situation in Palestine worsens, olive oil has become a matter of basic survival for many Palestinian families. Buying this oil is a constructive and tangible way to help alleviate poverty and build peace.
Olive Branch Olive Oil is extra-virgin and comes in 750 ml (25 ounce) green glass bottles. Produced from the first pressing of the olives, extra- virgin olive oil contains no more than 0.8% acidity, and is judged to have a superior taste. There can be no refined oil in extra-virgin olive oil. Unopened bottles of olive oil are generally good for up to two years, and should be kept in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight. Palestinian farmers traditionally care for their trees without the use of pesticides or sprays.
Olive Branch Olive Oil is an outgrowth of a 2003 effort by Middle East peace activists in the Boston area to support Palestinian farmers. Since then, it has evolved into an ongoing volunteer project to create a U.S. market for Palestinian olive oil. Our goal is to make a tangible difference in the lives of the farmers and their families.
Any funds that are raised above and beyond the cost of the oil, importing fees and administrative and marketing costs are re-invested in purchasing more oil. Out of that amount, 15% is donated directly to worthy projects in Palestine. Past donation recipients include:
Gush Shalom Emergency Relief Convoy
Badil
Palestinian Children's Relief Fund
Gaza Community Mental Health Program
Zochrot
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Birthright Unplugged
American Friends Svc. Comm. Middle East Crisis Fund
American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA)
Olive Harvest Coalition
Union of Palestinian Women's Committees
Ibdaa Cultural Center
Grassroots International
Taayoush
How to Order
On our website with PAYPAL
or send a check to P.O. Box 1064, Arlington, MA 02474.
Each case contains twelve (12) 750ml bottles.
Prices for local pick-up in Arlington or Cambridge:
Case price $170/case
Bulk price for 7+ cases: $150/case
Bulk price for 10+ cases: $145/case
Case price shipped within continental US: $195/case
3 Bottles shipped within continental US: $65/3 bottles
For more information.
Harvard's Palestine Solidarity Committee will be holding a vigil for Gaza from 11:45 am to 12:15 pm on the steps of Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. All who care for Palestine are invited to attend. Please wear black and spread the word widely.
These are the meetings where we decide on events and discuss strategies to end the war. Anyone is welcome -- from seasoned activists to beginners and we look forward to building a dialogue with anyone opposed to the war. Our main tenent is that we are independent of both the Democratic and the Republican Party, such that we can build an anti-war movement that survives elections and continues to oppose the war, regardless of which candidate is in office.
Meet briefly at the statue to exchange thoughts,
then walk silently around the Yard and nearby streets,
returning to the statue by 12:30pm.
Southeast corner of Rt 27 and 30 (nearest to Brooks Pharmacy).
Come for all or part. Bring a candle, lantern, or flashlight.
Organizer: Sandy Coy.
Join the Boston Tea Party Conference call,
Participant call in: 402-756-9100; Access code: 680903#
Socialist Alternative Radio, 91.5 FM Boston
listen anytime on the Web at WMFO.org. A democratic socialist, working-class view of politics and culture, including solidarity announcements, interviews, music, and more.
Write to us at BostonSAradio@aol.com.
Join a Friday fast and/or protest in solidarity with illegal detentions. The fast began in 2005 when Nobel Peace Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Adolpho Esquivel, (Argentina), along with others around the world, chose this method to seek the release of our unjustly detained and tortured brothers and sisters.
In Boston, local activists Susan McLucas and Phoebe Knopf have joined the Friday fast and will protest every Friday in front of the JFK Building from noon to one. The action, which is rooted in nonviolence, includes speakers, music, hand-outs and petitions to create public pressure to stop all illegal detentions and to try those responsible for the illegal treatment of thousands of detainees, most of whom are Arab and Muslim men. Susan and Phoebe will be wearing orange jumpsuits.
On this day, Friday and from there on!, we hereby declare the
establishment of a new DeMilitarized Zone where all those who wish can
congregate to denigrate and repudiate the war machine and celebrate the
growth of the new movement from coast to coast willing to oppose the war and opression in
this country and around the world. Bring your signs, and minds, let's
chalk, talk, play music, paint art with caring and sharing and declaring
that we are "chilling *against* the villins" in this zone to show our
independence!!!!!
We declare our solidarity with the people of the Middle East who share
the misfortune of living on top of the largest oil reserves on the
planet which is the reason behind the current war on Iraq. We declare
our condemnation of those who support this criminal war commanded by
criminals who promote a criminal ideology with criminal intent and
crimes against humanity. We repudiate with prejudice the general assault
on our rights: abuses, excuses, jailings, raids, lies, spies,
xenophobia, torture, extraordinary rendition, and the general police
state system that says we must stand together and support this
generalized oppression. We are no longer the silent generation but are
now willing to Stand Apart and against the mass murdering villins who
are doin the real killin. Join us in the DMZ!!
Chillin against the villin's!!!
Our *DMZ* and our Independence.