Iraqi Women Make Rare Trip to the US for International Women's Day (3/8)

[paineinthearse]

Two posts were started over the past couple days in "Activist" HQ & GENERAL didn't get much notice. Let's try again in GDP.



ACTIVIST HEADQUARTERS - Mon Feb-27-06 09:09 AM
March 8, International Women's Day
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x2701

http://www.womensaynotowar.org/article.php?id=728

Just picture groups of women around the world rallying against the war at US embassies and other symbolic places-all on the same day! It would be hard for US leaders to ignore. It would be hard for the media to ignore. And it would fire us up as women to know that our actions were being replicated by our sisters all over the globe. So what are we waiting for? Let's make March 8, International Women's Day, a time for flexing our collective muscle as women. Let's revive the dream of the women who came before us and carved out March 8 as a day for us to be a visible, vocal and vibrant force for peace and justice!

Join us in Washington DC: Consider joining us in Washington DC on March 7-8. A delegation of Iraqi and American women, including mothers who have lost their children in this war, will travel to Washington DC to pressure the Bush administration, meet with Congresspeople, hold public events and strategize for future actions. It will be an emotional and historic time, and we'd love for you to be there.

Much more at http://www.womensaynotowar.org/article.php?id=728

&

GENERAL DISCUSSION - Wed Mar-01-06 07:19 PM
Iraqi Women Make Rare Trip to the US for International Women's Day
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=550874&mesg_id=550874

From: Casey's Mom
To:
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 12:58 PM
Subject: Please send far and wide

Please post and send to your lists...especially media contacts. I will be in NYC and DC with these women the entire time.
Love and peace
Cindy Sheehan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 1,2006
CONTACT:
Andrea Buffa 510-xxxxxx
Tony Newman 646-xxxxxxx
Medea Benjamin 415-xxxxxxxx

Iraqi Women Make Rare Trip to the US for International Women's Day

Will speak with members of Congress, meet with Cindy Sheehan, and deliver an urgent call for peace to the UN and White House

Two delegation members whose families were killed by US troops were denied visas.

New York, NY – Seven Iraqi women will converge in New York on Sunday, March 5th to begin a speaking tour to educate Americans about the reality in Iraq and meet with UN and US officials to call for a peace plan to end the escalating spiral of violence. The delegation is a diverse group, including Shia, Sunni and Kurdish women - some secular, some religious. All have paid a very high price for the war and occupation of their country, and want to tell their stories to the American people. Unfortunately, two Iraqi women whose families were killed by US troops were denied visas to enter the US as part of the delegation.

"These women are not politicians, but ordinary Iraqis who are desperate to see an end to the violence and are taking great personal risk to come to the US," says Medea Benjamin, cofounder of the CODEPINK and Global Exchange, the two groups organizing the delegation. "It's a rare opportunity to hear from Iraqis themselves, and we hope that US officials will listen."

The delegation is promoting a Women's Call for Peace, signed by over 50,000 women from around the world. The Call for Peace requests the withdrawal of all foreign troops and foreign fighters from Iraq, negotiations to reincorporate disenfranchised Iraqis, full representation of women in the peacemaking process, and a commitment to women's equality in the post-war Iraq. This Call is part of a Women Say No to War campaign ( http://www.womensaynotowar.org ) designed to bring women together across borders to demand an end to the bloodshed in Iraq.

Below are brief bios of the Iraqi women who'll be visiting the US as well as some highlighted events from their itinerary. To schedule an interview with any of the delegation members, contact Andrea Buffa at 510-325-3653, [e-mail] .

HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS

•March 6, 12 Noon: In New York, the women will hold a press conference in front of the UN, and then march to the US Mission to the UN to deliver the Call for Peace.

•March 7, 11 AM: In Washington, DC, the delegation will join with US women, including Iraq veterans and Gold Star mothers Cindy Sheehan and Elaine Johnson, to meet with members of Congress.

•March 8, International Women's Day, 12 Noon: In Washington DC, Iraqi and US women will march from the Iraqi Embassy to the White House to deliver the Women's Call for Peace. On the same day, women in a dozen other countries will deliver the Call for Peace to US embassies around the world.

IRAQI WOMEN'S DELEGATION BIOS

Nadje Al-Ali is a writer/researcher specializing in women in the Middle East. She is a founding member of Act Together: Women's Action on Iraq and mother of a 3-year-old daughter.

Faiza Al-Araji is a civil engineer, blogger (afamilyinbaghdad.blogspot.com), religious Shia with a Sunni husband, and mother of three. After one son was recently held as a political prisoner by the Ministry of the Interior, the family fled to Jordan.

Souad Al-Jazairy is a writer, journalist and TV producer. Souad is a very active member in the Iraqi Women's League.

Eman Ahmad Khamas is a human rights advocate who has documented abuses by the US military in Iraq. She is a member of Women's Will, and is married with two daughters.

Dr Entisar Mohammad Ariabi, a pharmacist at the Yarmook Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, has documented the deteriorating health system. She is married with five children.

Dr. Rashad Zidan, a pharmacist, works in Baghdad and Fallujah with the Women and Knowledge Society to aid victims of war, especially orphans.

Sureya Sayadi, a Kurdish woman born in Kirkuk, is an activist for human rights in the Middle East, particularly for the Kurdish people. She now lives in the United States, but her family is dispersed in Iraq, Iran and Turkey,

THE FOLLOWING WOMEN WERE DENIED VISAS BY THE US STATE DEPARTMENT

Vivian Salim Mati is a widow who lost her husband and three children when they were fired on by U.S. tank fire as they attempted to flee the bombing of their neighborhood in Baghdad in April 2003.

Kadhim Jawad (Anwar) is a widow whose husband and three children were killed by US soldiers at an unmarked checkpoint.

*****************************************************************
After Killing Families, U.S. Bars Iraqi Women from Visiting
by Brendan Coyne

Feb. 17 – Earlier this month, the US State Department denied the visa applications of two Iraqi women who intended to participate in a speaking tour of the United States. Both women say that US troops killed their families. They were slated to travel with other women activists opposed to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In denying the visas earlier this month, the US Embassy in Amman, Jordan said it could not guarantee that the Iraqi women, Vivian Salim Mati and Anwar Kadhim Jawad, would return to Iraq after their visit, according to the anti-war organizers coordinating the circuit.

In a joint statement, Global Exchange and Code Pink said that according to the embassy, the women's applications were denied because they supposedly do not have enough family members in Iraq to ensure their return. The women were informed of the embassy decision on February 4, after traveling to Amman from Baghdad to apply for the visas, the organizations said.

"It's appalling that the US military killed these women's families and then the US government rejects their visas on the grounds that they have no family to return to in Iraq," Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin said. "These women have no desire to stay in the United States. We had a very hard time convincing them to come, but we told them how important it would be for their stories to be heard by Americans."

The groups were planning to host speaking engagements for the women in New York City and Washington, DC, in addition to helping them meet with legislators and journalists. The groups are urging people to contact the State Department and demand that the visas be granted.

[LWolf]

1. I'll be paying attention.

All these events take place on the opposite coast; my job, bank account, and family responsibilities rule out any cross-country trips at this point in my life, but I'm there in spirit.

[paineinthearse]

2. Cindy's tour continues to southern California

See

Mon Feb-27-06 09:55 AM - MARCH THAW - several siginficant actions posted in ACTIVIST HQ - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=106

We must have turned the corner on winter. With March I see several significant political events for activists on the horizon. See the details in the ACTIVIST HQ -
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x27011

Community Meeting on STOPPING WAR AGAINST IRAN- March 3, DC

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x27011


Ritter, Vidal, in LA, March 4.
U.S. Tour of Duty's Real Intelligence Project, Los Angeles City Beat, and Progressive Talk AM 1150 present an emergency public discussion about Iraq, Iran and America's constitutional crisis with Former UN Weapons Inspector SCOTT RITTER and GORE VIDAL
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x27012


Party for Progressives, San Diego, March 4

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x27013


March 8, International Women's Day

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x27014


Huge March Planned for Eve of Katrina Evictions - DC, March 15

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x27015

KEEP ON!

& if there are no events in your neighborhood, do as Chevy Chase recommends, "make some news of your own."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x546227

paineinthearse (1000+ posts) Wed Mar-01-06 10:49 AM
Original message
2006 Isla Vista Peace Festival on March 11th
By email

This event -- dedicated to all victims of the industry of violence, including Planet Earth -- will explain why we fight and why there is great hope for ending America's 60-year dependence on manufactured conflict. If you are or will be in the LA/southern California region mid March, this event will be fun, educational and inspirational, as well as productively focused on the anniversary (of current US aggression).

Best wishes for change,

Brian Bogart

=================

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2006 Isla Vista Peace Festival on March 11th

Santa Barbara, CA (February 22, 2006) - The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), UCSB Solidarity Against War (SAW), and KCSB will present the first-ever Isla Vista Peace Festival – “celebrating resistance to war and visions of peace” -- on Saturday, March 11. The event will consist of a teach-in at Isla Vista Theater 1, titled “Peace Now!,” from 1-5:30 p.m., and a concert at Anisq Oyo Park from 6-10 p.m.

The event is timed to coincide with the three year anniversary of the Iraq War, which began on March 19, 2003. In addition to its goal of educating attendees about the current status of that war, the potential for war in Iran, and other timely concerns, the event will shine a spotlight on the underlying causes of wars in general, as well as what ordinary citizens can do in their day-to-day lives to create a more peaceful future.

“The aim of the Isla Vista Peace Festival is to tell an empowering story about the ability of everyone – not just politicians or major business executives, but everyone – to make a major difference in issues related to war and peace,” said Will Parrish, Youth Outreach Coordinator at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and one of the event organizers. “We can’t rely on anyone but ourselves to bring the Iraq War to an end and create a more peaceful world at large.”

The teach-in will consist of three parts: a panel, workshops, and a keynote address. The panel topic will be “The Movement to End the Iraq War: Three Years Later” and will include six local activists, including Parrish, UCSB Professor of Black Studies Otis Madison, and Veterans for Peace member Loretta Redd. The keynote address will be delivered by Brian Bogart, the University of Oregon’s only graduate student in Peace Studies, who went on strike this past fall to protest the dangerous and extensive military weapons and surveillance research projects at his university. Bogart’s “Strike for Peace” campaign has since achieved national success and recognition.

The concert at Anisq Oyo Park will feature three bands, including BIXBY and Crosby Loggins & the Namedroppers, a pair of fast-rising alternative rock groups based out of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, respectively. They will be joined by Isla Vista reggae phenomenon Rebelution. All three bands are noted for the politically-conscious content of their songs.

Adam Fell, the ukulele player in the band BIXBY and the founder of Miracruz Records, said, “Our band BIXBY is honored to be involved with such a necessary event, and we couldn’t be more excited to play alongside Crosby Loggins & the Namedroppers and Rebelution.”

During the concert, tables bearing information on various UCSB and community organizations will be arrayed around the park. There will also be speakers in between each band’s set, as well as various other educational activities to complement the bands’ performances.

Amy Mackreth, a fourth-year UCSB student and event organizer, observed: “This festival will be an extremely entertaining and fun event that will also serve the purpose of providing essential information about current events, especially to UCSB students.”

The Isla Vista Peace Festival is free and open to all who wish to attend. To arrange interviews regarding the Isla Vista Peace Festival, please contact event organizers.

If we do not unite to advance our founding vision for peace, we will perish by advancing our technology for war.

edited links.

[LWolf]

8. A trip to Santa Barbara to support Cindy?

When I was in CA, that would have been an easy choice! Meanwhile, from my new digs, I hope to get over the mountains to Portland this spring and summer when the trip is easier, weather and work wise. I'll bet something will be going on then.

[Cassandra]

3. I think this is the group of Iraqi women...

that is meeting privately with my women's group Sunday morning. I guess I'd better get my act in gear and join them (even though I hate getting up early on the weekend). They were recommended to talk with us because they wanted to see examples of women's empowerment. I'll report back.

[paineinthearse]

5. Be the media

Yes, please report results.

[babylonsister]

4. K&R! nt

[az chela]

6. If we dont act it wont get done

Get the word out.Call everyone you know,email them ,tell them about these events ask them to attend.Support them anyway you can.
STOP THE WAR NOW
PEACE

[paineinthearse]

7. Amen! nt