Monthly Archive for January, 2007

“Rally To Oppose Escalation of the Iraq War and Calling for the Orderly & Safe Withdrawal of US Troops from Iraq”

Frank Cordaro

It’s an honor to be here at the HyVee Center, and an honor to speak to you, about peace and seeking a peaceful world. You know I belong to the Des Moines Catholic Worker community. We’ve been in this community over 30 years. We are a “radical lay movement” in the Catholic Church. Yes, that is what I said, a “radical lay movement.” We were birthed in the 1930′s by a woman named Dorothy Day and a guy named Peter Maurin. We see the world from the bottom up, liberation theology in practice, from a first world setting. We are an intentional Faith community, living in four houses, with twelve adults and three teenagers in community. There are no salaries; everyone living in the community receives room and board. We have a drop in center for needy people, five days a week between noon and 7 p.m. We serve two meals, the days we are open, and provide a safe place off the streets for those in need. We see between 50 and 150 people a day.

It is from this perspective, from the bottom up, that we exercise our Faith and belief in the nonviolent Jesus. We are pacifists, militant ‘in your face’ pacifists! If you would like to learn more about the Catholic Worker, pick up a copy of the Via Pacis, our newsletter that I placed on a number of the chairs today. Come visit and perhaps join our movement.
Continue reading ‘Talk by Frank Cordaro in Des Moines, IA.’

Issandr El Amrani, TomPaine.com, 25 January 2007

Making a renewed appearance in the State of the Union address this year was Iran. Bush set out an agenda that puts the U.S. on a path of confrontation with Iran�the latest installment in the haphazard collection of ideological fads that passes as Middle East policy in Washington these days.

Having made a mess of Iraq, continuing to refuse to play a constructive and even-handed role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and having gotten bored with democracy promotion, the Bush administration now appears to be fanning the flames of sectarian strife region-wide. Since September 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Vice President Dick Cheney and other senior administration officials have made trips to the Middle East to rally the support of what Rice has described as the �moderate mainstream� Arab states against Iran. This group has now been formalized as the �GCC + 2,� meaning the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman) as well as Egypt and Jordan.

I suggest that this new coalition be renamed to something less technocratic: the Sunni Arab-Dominated Dictatorships Against the Mullahs, or SADDAM. I have to confess I was inspired by historical precedent. In the 1980s, some of you may remember, there was another Saddam who proved rather useful against Iran. Saddam invaded Iran without provocation, sparking an eight-year-long war that was one of the 20th century�s deadliest. Along the way, the U.S. and the Arab states listed above provided much in funding, weapons and turning a blind eye when Saddam got carried away and used chemical weapons against Kurds (it did not raise that much of a fuss when he used them against Iranians, either). [More]

by Arash Norouzi, The Mossadegh Project

Across the world, a dangerous rumor has spread that could have catastrophic implications. According to legend, Iran’s President has threatened to destroy Israel, or, to quote the misquote, “Israel must be wiped off the map”. Contrary to popular belief, this statement was never made, as the following article will prove. [More]

George Bisharat, Houston Chronicle, 28 January 2007

This article was originally published by The Houston Chronicle and is republished with the author’s permission.

One day in 1981, my late father, Maurice Hanna Bisharat, returned from a long day at his Sacramento, Calif., medical office with an extra bounce in his step, his eyes dancing with excitement. His friend, Michael Himovitz, the young owner of a local art gallery, had called, offering to hold a one-person show of my father’s paintings � mostly California landscapes.

My father had taken up painting after immigrating to this country from Palestine in the late 1940s, and although an amateur, had won a national art award within two years. But the demands of medical practice, raising a large family, and other avocations took their toll. It had been many years since my father’s art had been publicly exhibited, and he was tickled.

My father was not a politician, but like any Palestinian living in the United States, he felt obligated to relate his people’s experience to American friends. Educated and articulate, he spoke publicly in defense of Palestinian rights, and was a frequent commentator on Middle East events in the local media. Michael, a Jew, was perfectly aware of this side of my father’s life. It did nothing to diminish his appreciation of my father’s art, nor to inhibit their friendship.

Some weeks later I saw my father sitting, stony faced. He turned to me and whispered: “I just got a call from Michael. My show has been canceled.” Michael, it transpired, had been visited by a group from the Sacramento Jewish community. Their message: “If you show Bisharat’s art, we will boycott your gallery and close you down.”
Continue reading ‘From personal experience’

Report, Enough!, 27 January 2007

The ENOUGH! coalition, representing over three million people in charities, trade unions, faith and campaign groups has come together to mark this year’s 40th anniversary of the Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The launch will come only days after a report, funded by the British government, warned that Israel’s separation wall is trapping 250,000 Palestinians. The report on Israel’s separation wall was produced by the Israeli planning and rights organisation Bimkom. The report says the wall is cutting off Palestinians from employment, education, healthcare needs, undermining social and family life and isolating farmers from markets.

Ms Thompson said: “This report cites the devastating effects on Palestinians’ health and livelihoods of Israel’s separation wall. It shows the vital need for our ministers to make fresh moves for a just peace. It is high time the UK government matched its rhetoric with action which can save Palestinians and Israelis from another 40 years’ conflict.” [ More ]