ARMISTICE DAY 97 YEARS LATER

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ARMISTICE DAY 97 YEARS LATER Ninety-seven years ago, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, fighting ceased in the "war to end all wars." People went on killing and dying right up until the pre-designated moment, impacting nothing other than our understanding of the stupidity of war.  Thirty million soldiers had been killed or wounded and another seven million had been taken captive during World War I. Never before had people witnessed such industrialized slaughter, with tens of thousands falling in a day to machine guns and poison gas… Believe it or not, November 11th was not made a holiday in order to celebrate war, support troops, or cheer the 15th year of occupying Afghanistan. This day was made a holiday in order to celebrate an armistice that ended what was up until that point, in 1918, one of the worst things our species had thus far done to itself, namely World War I.   More

British War Cemetery, Beirut   In the Middle East we are still living with the colonial legacy of World War I

“Known Only to God”

 

The Bond Between War and Football: It Started Right Here

Re: the Globe story last week that much of the military-inspired pageantry at football games is a recruitment effort paid for by the Department of Defense. The teams on the receiving end of that largesse (the Patriots, Falcons, Bills and Ravens top the list) have bristled at the notion that they have been in it for the money… Football and war are intrinsically inseparable… The link between our military institutions and our athletic ones started right here in Boston. Four Bostonians, who were of fighting age during the Civil War and then went on to prominence in American intellectual life, did more than anyone else to forge the bond between our armed forces and our sports teams (the name "Patriots" didn't win the nickname contest back in 1960 for nothing).   More

 

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TWO LOCAL CONFERENCES

 

Tomorrow! - Saturday, November 14  (** CORRECTION**  from last week’s “November 21”)

A NEW DAY? Organizing to Change US Policy on Israel and Palestine

12:30 – 4:30pm, Harvard University, Jefferson Lab 250, 17 Oxford St, (behind the Science Center and next to the Law School)

 

Speakers: Rami Khouri, a Palestinian-Jordanian and a U.S. citizen, is attached to Middle East research centers in Beirut and at Harvard and Tufts; he is editor at large of the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut.

MJ Rosenberg, after thirty-five years in government and four years at AIPAC, has become a champion of Israeli-Palestinian peace and a vocal opponent of the "pro-Israel" lobby. 

Nadia Ben-Youssef, the first US Representative of Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, is now working to promote a human-rights-based approach in US policy toward Israel/Palestine.

 

The conference will bring together activists from local organizations and movements to ask:

·         What is the current state of US politics and policy regarding Israel-Palestine?

·         What new opportunities arise from the growing partisan divide on the issue?

·         What lessons, if any, are there from the struggle against South African apartheid?

·         How can we organize more consistently and effectively to pressure our elected representatives?

In addition to other important efforts--such as direct solidarity, BDS and public education--we need a simultaneous campaign to contest US government policies, which enable Israeli occupation, oppression and military aggression.

The conference aims to establish the organizational basis and mechanisms for more effective work with our Members of Congress.

 

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Lobbyist-Paid Israel Junkets Undermine our Democracy

You may have followed the recent news stories about past and upcoming Israel trips by Massachusetts public officials — paid for by local lobbying groups… Of course, we know that these all-expense-paid junkets are an important part of the pro-Israel political machine that influences public policy in our country.  What is new is the media spotlight on this practice, which has been operating quietly for many years. Scores of other public officials have been on these trips previously.

Click here to see if your State Senator is one of the junketeers and to learn more.

 

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Saturday, November 21

BUILDING SUSTAINABLE SECURITY

9am to 5:30pm Harvard Law School, Wasserstein Hall

In the name of national security, our coun­try's policies  are caus­ing multiple, sys­temic cri­ses.  These include cli­mate ca­tas­trophe, ex­treme inequality, con­stant wars, deep-seated racism, mass incar­ceration, and a militarized cul­ture. Only large social movements can remove these barriers to genuine security and construct a society based on Sustainable Security.

This conference will explore three pillars of sustainable national and world security:

·         A fairly-shared global prosperity based on economic, social, and racial justice

·         Emergency action to address climate change and build a new, fossil-fuel-free energy system

·         A Foreign Policy for All based on even-handed diplomacy, ending our disastrous military interventions, abolition of nuclear weapons, and reclaiming war resources for the urgent needs that face our world

Confirmed Speakers: Noam Chomsky, Michael McPherson (Exec. Dir Veterans for Peace), Harris Gruman (SEIU. RaiseUpMass), Carl Williams (MassACLU), Cassandra Bensahih (EPOCA), Barbara Madeloni (Pres. MTA), Chung-Wha Hong (Grassroots Int’l), and others; topical workshops.

 

Contact Massachusetts Peace Action, info@masspeaceaction.org, 617-354-2169, for information.

Members $25 • Non-Members $35  • Students/Low Income $10  • Lunch Included.  Register Now

Student Recorders Needed to take notes in workshops.  They will receive a small stipend and free registration.  Sign up here