September 29, 2007
Schedule of Events
Event Schedule Handout - .pdf fileContingent information below | |
| 1:00 - 2:00 PM |
Rally at the Everson plaza in downtown Syracuse
Info on speakers below |
| 2:30 PM |
March begins to Syracuse University
The march from Everson Plaza to Walnut park will be about 1.5 miles long (the direct route from Walnut Park back to Everson Plaza is actually shorter). See Event Schedule pdf on Materials page for a map of the route. |
| 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM |
Rally at Walnut Park (by Syracuse University - Music starting at 3:30 pm) Map - Walnut Park is between Walnut Ave. and Walnut Pl. to the East and West, and Harrison and Waverly to the North and South. See also SU North Campus map linked below |
| 6:00 - 7:00 PM |
Regional Network Meetings (Hendricks Chapel - SU): Students - Small Chapel Room Veterans - States Conference Room Regional Representatives - Noble Room Civil Disobedience caucus - Noble Room |
| 7:30 PM | Evening Panel at Hendricks Chapel (Syracuse University) - flyer |
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Syracuse University North Campus Map
Directions and parking | |
Contingent Information | |
| Youth Contingent Feeder March | 12:30 PM at the Galleries (441 S Salina St) march to Everson Plaza |
| Families & Children | Southeast corner of Everson Plaza near portapotties |
| Greens and Allies Feeder March | 12:00 noon at 206 Gifford St. March to Everson Plaza. All welcome. www.Syracusegreens.org |
RALLY SPEAKER BIOS | |
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Moderator:
Gabe Barry is a native of the Westcott Nation in Syracuse, NY. In high school Gabe organized youth to speak our against the war in Iraq and was named as CNY Peace Actions's Young Peacemaker of the Year in 2004. For the past year, Gabe has been living in New Orleans where she works with a number of community organizations and serves as co-editor for an e-newsletter called In the N.O. | |
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Music:
Colleen Kattau is a bi-lingual singer who combines activism and music in the tradition of nueva cancion artists of Latin America where music and the arts have played a central role in social movements. Her latest CD, Inhabited Woman. http://www.colleenkattau.com/ The Raging Grannies work for peace, and for social and economic justice, through song and humor. They write their own satirical lyrics to old familiar tunes, and perform whenever and wherever their message needs to be heard - whether they're invited or not. There are now more than 100 gaggles of Raging Grannies throughout the world. Pat Humphries brings her powerful, singable songs to concert halls, coffeehouses, festivals, and demonstrations across the country. In addition to performing at local and national demonstrations, Pat has written music and advocated for migrant farmworkers in New York State, the Refugee Women's Network in Atlanta, United Students Against Sweatshops and the School of the Americas Watch. Pat is now performing with her partner, Sandy Opatow, who adds exquisite vocals, guitar playing and songwriting. http://emmasrevolution.com/ Mother McCrees Band | |
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OPENING RALLY SPEAKER ORDER Greeting from the Onondaga Nation by Chief Jake Edwards These rallies and march are taking place on Onondaga land. The Onondagas are the central Firekeepers of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy which inhabited this territory for hundreds of years before Europeans arrived. Democracy was born several miles from here on the shores of Onondaga Lake when the Peacemaker gathered the warring nations together to make peace and establish a powerful confederacy. We are grateful to the Onondaga for their leadership as peacemakers and healers. To learn more, see www.onondaganation.org Welcome by Syracuse Peace Council and SEIU 1199 SPC: Jessica Maxwell, SPC staff person. SEIU: Al Davidoff has worked as a leader in the labor movement for the past 30 years. He has organized and served as President of UAW Local 2300 at Cornell University, and as the AFL-CIO's Director for NYS. For the past 5 years he has been a Vice President for SEIU 1199 in CNY. Al has worked in coalitions with community, faith-based and labor organizations for many years. SEIU 1199 represents 8,000 healthcare workers in the local area. http://www.1199seiu.org/ Representative from Military Families Speak Out Marilyn Lambert Fisher and Bill Fisher Bill Fisher and Marilyn Lambert-Fisher of Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) are the parents of an Army Reserve soldier who served 9 months in Iraq in 2004. Together, they are the co-founders of and currently co-chair the Peace Advocates task force of the First Unitarian Church of Rochester. In March of 2006, they walked with MFSO, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Veterans for Peace from Mobile, Alabama to New Orleans to call attention to the Bush administrations' criminal neglect of our own citizens while spending billions on war. www.rochesterunitarian.org/peaceadvocates.html BringOurSoldiersHome.org Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is an organization of people opposed to the war in Iraq who have relatives or loved ones currently in the military or who have served in the military since the buildup to the Iraq war in fall of 2002. Membership currently includes over 3,400 military families, with new families joining daily. http://www.mfso.org/ MFSO continues to call on Congress to end funding for the war in Iraq, save what is needed to bring our troops home quickly and safely. Funding the war is not supporting our troops. The way to support our troops is to bring them home now and take care of them when they get here. Representative from Veterans for Peace Elliott Adams is national President of Veteran For Peace, was a paratrooper in the infantry serving in Viet Nam, Japan, Korea, and Alaska. Elliott moved from being a soldier to a nonviolent warrior. He is Nonviolent Training Coordinator for Veterans For Peace. Is a nonviolence trainer for many other organizations. He is now dedicating his life to stopping this war and stopping all war. Veterans for Peace includes men and women veterans of all eras and duty stations including from the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), World War II, the Korean, Vietnam, Gulf and current Iraq wars as well as other conflicts. Collective experience tells us wars are easy to start and hard to stop and that those hurt are often the innocent. Thus, other means of problem solving are necessary. VFP is an official Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) represented at the UN. http://www.veteransforpeace.org/ Representative of Iraq Veterans Against the War Phil Aliff is an active-duty member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) who deployed to Iraq in 2005 and is now stationed at Fort Drum in upstate New York. Iraq Veteran Against the War (IVAW) was founded by Iraq war veterans in July 2004 at the annual convention of Veterans for Peace (VFP) in Boston to give a voice to the large number of active duty service people and veterans who are against this war, but are under various pressures to remain silent. IVAW members educate the public about the realities of the Iraq war by speaking in communities and to the media about their experiences. Members also dialogue with youth in classrooms about the realities of military service. IVAW supports all those resisting the war, including Conscientious Objectors and others facing military prosecution for their refusal to fight. IVAW advocates for full funding for the Veterans Administration, and full quality health treatment (including mental health) and benefits for veterans when they return from duty. http://www.ivaw.org Representative From Campus Anti-War Network When the war started in 2003 Ken Love left behind his goals of being a career army officer and transferred to RIT where he is a fourth year student. He has been organizing in CAN for 4 years and most recently over the summer in Rochester he and other CAN students built a network of students and groups in High Schools and Colleges in the Region with the goal of laying the foundation for a grassroots student movement across the region. Since its founding in January, 2003 the goal of the Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) has been to amplify the student voice within the antiwar movement by building a nation-wide network of high school and college student organizations working against the Iraq War by calling and organizing for the Immediate Withdrawal of US forces. http://www.campusantiwar.net Rev. Fred Daley Rev. Fred Daley has a long history of peace and social activism in Utica and is the recipient of many awards for his compassion and concern for justice His recent teachings have been on War, Morality and the Christian Conscience, as well as Christianity and the Muslim world. He is currently on temporary assignment at Christ Our Light Parish in Pulaski, NY, filling in for a priest who is now serving as a chaplain in Afghanistan. Representative from the Labor Movement Steve Kramer is a graduate of Queens College (CUNY). He organized in the Anti-Poverty Program in the 60's in West Virginia and Kentucky and was active in the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti Vietnam War Movement. Steve worked at Presbyterian Hospital in NYC for 17 years helping to organize over 3000 workers in the Union. Steve was also a leader in the reform movement in 1199 Healthcare Union that brought 1199 from 90, 000 members to nearly 300, 000 now. Presently he is an Executive Vice President for major Hospital Networks in Queens and LI. Steve has been a leader in 1199 SEIU's participation against the War in Iraq, which started prior to the war beginning in January of 03'. Representative from Syracuse Citizen Action Tanika Jones is the organizer that holds Citizen Action together in Syracuse. She a lifetime resident of the city, a parent, and a community advocate. Citizen Action is a powerful membership organization working for economic, racial, social and environmental justice. They fight every day for quality affordable health care for all; quality public education, from pre-school to after-school; full public funding of campaigns so that grassroots candidates can compete for public office; a fair federal budget; good jobs and safe workplaces. We're concerned about the endless war in Iraq, and beginning in 2007 started to help lead the opposition. Citizen Action stands for a society based on justice, liberty, and respect for privacy. We work for opportunity for all in our nation and the world. Citizen Action wants an America that builds partnerships for peace and democracy around the world. | |
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY RALLY SPEAKER ORDER | |
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Representative from Student Peace Action at Syracuse University
Marshall Henry is a senior at Syracuse University, majoring in Music. He is the President of the Syracuse University Student Peace Action Network. The Syracuse University Student Peace Action Network is a student driven peace and justice organization. They organize for an end to physical, social and economic violence caused by the world's military powers. Representative from the International Socialist Organization Ashley Smith serves on the editorial board of the International Socialist Review and is the Northeast Organizer for the International Socialist Organization. He is a member of the National Writers Union, UAW 1981, and has served as the Secretary of the Vermont Chapter. He writes for Socialist Worker, ZNet, Dissident Voice, and Counterpunch. He recently published an extensive article entltled ÒThe Invasion and Occupation of Iraq: Anatomy of an Imperial War CrimeÓ that appears in the current issue of the International Socialist Review. He has been active in the Vermont anti-war movement, serves on the Coordinating Committee of New England United for Peace that is planning the October 27th Demo in Boston, and has worked with IVAW and Different Drummer Cafe in helping to build the Fort Drum Chapter of the IVAW. The International Socialist Organization has branches across the country. Members are involved in helping to build a number of struggles: the movement to stop the war on Iraq, fights against racism and anti-immigrant scapegoating, the struggle for women's rights like the right to choose abortion, opposing anti-gay bigotry, and standing up for workers' rights. ISO is committed to building a left alternative to a world of war, racism and poverty. http://www.internationalsocialist.org/ Representative from Gold Star Families Speak Out Derek Davey is the father of Seamus Davey, a corporal with the United States Marine Corps, from Lowville in Lewis County was killed in Iraq on Oct. 21, 2005, three days before his 26th birthday. This past July, his father, Derek Davey, also a Marine Corps veteran, organized a tribute to fallen soldiers in Turin, similar to the one that recently was displayed in Utica. Derek served as director of the Lewis County Veterans Service Agency in Lowville from 1987 to 2004, and was director of the American Legion's Appeals and Special Claims Unit at the Board of Veterans' Appeals in Washington D.C. from 2004 to October 2005. He returned to Lowville following his son's death. Gold Star Families Speak Out is a chapter of Military Families Speak Out, and is comprised of members whose loved ones served in the military during the period including the build-up to the war in Iraq (fall, 2002) to the present, and have been killed or have died. GSFSO believes the best way to support our troops is to BRING THEM HOME NOW and to take good care of them when they get here. http://www.gsfso.org/ Dr. Dahlia Wafsi Dr. Dahlia Wasfi spent her early childhood in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, until she returned with her family to the United States in 1977. In 2004 and 2006 Wasfi visited Iraq to see her family in Basrah and Baghdad. Based on her experiences, she is speaking out against the negative impact of the U.S. invasion on the Iraqi people and the need to end the occupation. Anti-War Presentation by Arthur Flowers of Syracuse University arthur flowers, novelist, writer, professor of creative writing at syracuse university, executive director of new ren writers guild, weary veteran of many phases of struggle, pracitioner of the longgame Representative of the Islamic Society of the Niagara Frontier Dr. Othman Shibly, born in Lebanon, fled with his family to Syria where he holds dual U.S./Syrian citizenship and recently returned from a trip to Syria. Dr. Shibly, a Doctor of Dental Surgery, is on the Faculty of the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Buffalo. In 2007 Dr. Shibly received the National Recognition Award by the American Academy of Periodontology for Outstanding Education. As an active member of the Muslim Community of Western NY, he holds Membership in the Islamic Society of the Niagara Frontier, and is an active Member of the Board of Directors of the Network of Religious Communities. Dr. Shibly received the Circle of Distinction Award for Promoting Respect for Diversity; and has received the University of Buffalo 2005 Award for Outstanding Contribution to International Education. Representative from the Green Party Rebecca Rotzler, a Yupik Eskimo, is one of seven co-chairs of the Green Party of the United States, elected to that position on July 24, 2005 . She was deputy mayor and a trustee of New Paltz, New York, elected on May 6, 2003. Formerly, Rotzler served as co-chair of the Green Party Peace Action Committee, and is a New York State delegate to the Green National Committee. Rotzler is also a member of Alternatives to Military, an organization promoting counter-military recruitment and, 9-11 People Against Racism . She attended the State University of New York at New Paltz, majoring in communication studies. There, she served as president of the university's local Students for a Free Tibet. Rotzler recently participated as a panelist at the Cornell ILR Global Labor Institute Conference: A North American Labor Assembly on Climate Crisis: Building a Global Movement for Clean Energy, and was a featured speaker at the World Can't Wait "Impeach Bush" Summit Representatives from Syracuse Solidarity Network and Burning Hearts Anarchist Collective in Binghamton Representative from Iraq Veterans Against the War Mike Blake served in Iraq April 2003 - March 2004, U.S. Army, 92Y, 4th Infantry Division. After his tour Mike filed for and received Conscientious Objector Status, and an honorable discharge. He joined IVAW in March 2005, attended several national events and was elected to the IVAW Board of Directors during the Veterans for Peace Conference that took place in Seattle in August 2006. Mike has also testified before a Congressional Commission on Disability Benefits. | |
The Peoples Response to the Patreaus Report | |
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WHAT: Panel Discussion WHEN: Saturday, September 29, 2007, 7:30 pm WHERE: Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University Campus, Syracuse, New York | |
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PANELISTS: Scott Ritter, Dr. Dahlia Wafsi, Jimmy Massey
MODERATOR: Rev. Dr. Tom Wolfe | |
| PANEL BIOS | |
| Jimmy Massey is a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the Marines during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After witnessing the brutality of the US military's retaliation against the growing resistance of the Iraqi people and participating in the unlawful shooting of unarmed protestors he became one of the first military officers to report widespread human rights abuses in Iraq. He is a leading pro-soldier, anti-war activist and one of the founding members of Iraq Veterans Against the War. | |
| Dr. Dahlia Wasfi spent her early childhood in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, until she returned with her family to the United States in 1977. In 2004 and 2006 Wasfi visited Iraq to see her family in Basrah and Baghdad. Based on her experiences, she is speaking out against the negative impact of the U.S. invasion on the Iraqi people and the need to end the occupation. | |
| Scott Ritter is noted for his role as a chief United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq from 1991 to 1998, and later for his criticism of United States foreign policy in the Middle East . Prior to the US invasion of Iraq in March, 2003, Ritter publicly argued that Iraq possessed no significant weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). He became a popular anti-war figure and talk show commentator as a result of his stance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Ritter | |
Bring the Troops Home Now!