Peace Council Pages

Student activists who helped SPC organize “Rock Against the War”. From l to r: Laura Bruner (Le Moyne College), Molly Levy-Roseroot, Mariel Fiedler and Emily Elkin (all from Student Peace Action Network at SU). Photo: Carol Baum.

Support IVAW's Winter Soldier
In 1971, Viet Nam veterans gathered publicly in what they called the Winter Soldier Investigation* to testify to war crimes they committed or witnessed in Viet Nam. Now in another war, winter soldiers are speaking out at a four-day hearing organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) called Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan. From March 13-16, veterans will come together in Washington, DC to testify about their experiences.

SPC strongly supports this significant event. We are promoting it as well as raising money to help local IVAW members go to the hearings. On Tuesday, March 4 at 7 pm, SPC will host a screening of the acclaimed documentary on the 1971 Winter Soldier Investigation at the Red House at 201 S. West St. ($5-10 sliding scale). For more details on the hearing and the film, see article on page 7.

SPC recently organized a "Rock Against the War" fundraiser for Winter Soldier. Many thanks to the bands who donated their services: Mandate of Heaven, Tropical Attitude and Mustached Riders (and Elisha Delios who couldn't come due to illness). Also thanks to Funk n' Waffles, the Student Peace Action Network (SU), and the committee of Dave Lester, Laura Bruner, Rose Viviano and Carol Baum.

For more information, contact Carol.

* Winter soldiers, according to Thomas Paine, are the people who stand up for the soul of their country, even in its darkest hour.

No Business as Usual
We will not be having big Saturday afternoon marches in DC or NYC this March to mark the US invasion. As we close the 5th year of the US occupation of Iraq, we ask members of our community to join us on Wednesday, March 19 at noon at Clinton Square for a rally, march and action calling for an end to the war. We encourage everyone to consider taking the day off from work to spend the day engaged in action for peace. Organize your classmates or co-workers to come to the demonstration. There will also be nonviolent direct action happening at multiple sites in DC on the 19th. The focus of local and national actions is the pillars that support the war - Congress, military recruitment, war profiteers and the media. Our next planning meeting will be Wednesday, March 5. Contact Jessica.

Activist Skill Shares
We're now halfway through our series of activist skill shares. Designed to be interactive and informal, they have provided an opportunity for both experienced organizers and new people to share their experience, strengths and questions. We have three programs remaining: March 12 - Street Theatre and Puppets (Artrage Gallery, 505 Hawley Ave.); March 26 - Talking about the War: Presentations (Women's Info Center, 601 Allen St.); April 9 - Outreach & Publicity: Spreading the Word (Women's Info Center). All are Wednesdays, 6:30-8:30 pm.

We're Moving: Please Help
After many months of preparation, SPC is leaving our decades old office at 924 Burnet for the Syracuse Center for Peace and Social Justice at 2013 E. Genesee. We will move in two phases. On March 29starting at 9 am, we hope to move everything on the first floor (desks, tables, supplies, computers, etc.); later we'll attack the attic and the garage.

The IT team preparing SPC’s new home. From l to r: Kanat Bolazar, Mike Miller, Carol Baum, Andy Molloy and Paul Melnikow.

Please help:

•Bring boxes anytime.
• Help pack the week of March 24.

• Help us move on March 29.
•Bring lunch or snacks for hungry movers.
•Volunteer your van, truck or large station wagon.

If you can help with any of the above, please contact Carol or Jess.

Activist Appreciation: IT Team
They're IT - SPC's Information Technology team (aka "radical techies"). They've been meeting for a year, to develop an IT vision for SPC, begin work on it, help with problems, and prepare SPC's new space at the Center to accommodate our technology.

They have recently spent many hours at the Center, drilling, crawling around tiny dusty spaces, putting in wire molding and pulling cable.

Great thanks to Kanat Bolazar, Paul Melnikow, Mike Miller and Andy Molloy for sharing their expertise in such a friendly way, and to Carol Baum (aka "a user") for facilitating. Thanks also to Brian Dominick and Tom Hart for helping out with the wiring project.

If anyone with IT skills would like to join the team, contact Carol.

Tim Judson (far left, next to Peter Swords and Craig Schaub) at Hiroshima Day Commemoration 2004. Photo: Paul Pearce.

Kids and Youth: Express Yourself
The Syracuse Peace Council is starting a new column for kids and youth ages 6 to 18 in the Peace Newsletter. The column will have a variety of topics. April, May and June's topic will be the environment. Entries can be about global warming/climate change, green power, endangered species, Onondaga Creek, Onondaga Lake, bio-regional living, organic food, local food, your future on earth, what kids are doing or could do to protect the earth and anything else that's important to you about the environment.

Submissions should be 200 or 400 word essays, 25 lines of poetry, or black and white drawings no larger than 4"x7". Send submissions to: leyanadessauer@yahoo.com.

- Leyana Dessauer

Beat the Bush to Help SPC
In May, the George W. Bush "stimulus" checks will start going out. George hopes that everyone will go on a shopping spree, his version of saving the economy. What's the last thing he would want you to spend your "stimulus" check on?

Hmmm… It's not hard to think of an answer. If you like the idea of pledging part or all of your check to SPC, please contact Carol (or just send in money when it comes).

MAEP's Active in the Schools
The Military Alternatives Education Project (MAEP) is about to put together a social justice career fair for the inner city high schools in April. In addition we are hoping that juniors and seniors will participate in our MAEP logo contest. All information will be posted on our page at the SPC website. We have monthly tabling in the high schools

providing up-to-date information for all students on alternatives to joining the military. To help out, contact Beverly.

NYC's Gain is Our Loss
The departure of community activist Tim Judson (he's off to work for UNITE Here in New York City) is a great loss for the Peace Council and the broader community. Tim was an SPC staffer during a difficult time in the late '90s and has served on SPC's Advisory Committee since it was founded in 2003. He has played a central role in local and regional organizing for safe energy, environmental protection and more recently for public power. Tim's broad analysis and creative organizing will be sorely missed. We wish him well in the big city, but hope that indescribable Syracuse magnet draws him back here in the future.

Syracuse Youth in Action
Syracuse Youth in Action, a group of high school activists who are affiliated with SPC, had a screening of the documentary The Ground Truth, at Second Story Bookstore (550 Westcott St) on Friday, February 8. High school students and members of the community came to watch this piercing film on young soldiers and their painful experiences in the Iraq War. The event was a great success. Much of this success was due to the student organizers, especially Zack Brady, Ben Burdick, Jackie Parker and Sophie Friedman. Thanks also to Alexis Harwood who provided the group with hospitality at her store. Many more events are planned in the future. Feel free to contact SPC for more information about the group.