Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, June 17, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Living Graveyard and Reading of the Names
Tired of paying for war?
Spend your lunch hour lying down for peaceOakland Federal Building
1301 Clay Street
two blocks from 12th Street BARTCovered with sheets to represent the dead of the war of occupation on Iraq, people lie down on the city sidewalk in front of the Federal Building, This is legal, non-violent street theater.
Participants lie at least three feet apart and do not block entry to the building.The names of some of the Californians who have died in Iraq and the names of some of the Iraqi dead will be read. People will hand out flyers, as we do each week at the Tuesday noon vigil.
Please bring a white sheet to cover yourself with. A pad to lie on is recommended.
We will lie at least three feet apart and not block entry to the building.
The names of Californians who have died in Iraq and the names of Iraqis who have died will be read during the event. This is street theater, not CD
For a half page flyer, click here
Contact 510-527-8370.
sponsors include: Ecumenical Peace Institute,
Berkeley Women in Black, Women for Peace,
East Bay Coalition to Support Self-Rule for Iraqis,
Mustardseed Affinity Group.
Wheelchair accessible.
Actions and Other Announcements
Each third Tuesday, 12:00 - 1:00, at the Oakland Federal Building the weekly anti-war vigil is transformed into a "Living Graveyard." Covered with white sheets, participants lie on the city sidewalk, far enough apart to allow for pedestrian and wheelchair traffic. This is legal street theater to make visible the reality of the deaths caused by the war.
Each first Thursday at 1:00 at the San Francisco Federal Building a "die-in" to pressure Nancy Pelosi to take real steps to end the war of occupation in Iraq. The only real way to end the war is to stop paying for it.
Readers are encouraged to support the GI Resisters, such as Lt. Ehren Watada, who is facing heavy charges for his outspoken refusal to fight in the illegal war in Iraq. Other GI resisters are also facing harsh treatment. See Courage to Resist http://www.couragetoresist.org/
& the Lt. Watada support site http://www.thankyoult.org/
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~Ongoing Vigils, Etc.~
Sundays, 3:00 p.m. peace walk around Lake Merritt.
Tuesdays, Noon - 1:00 p.m. Oakland Federal Building, 1301 Clay Street, oppose the continued war on Iraq, informational material given out.
See below for more information****
Wednesdays, 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Castro Valley Peace & Justice Vigils, Castro Valley Blvd. & Redwood Rd.
Thursdays, Noon - 1:00 p.m. San Francisco Federal Building.
Thursdays, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., Jackson, Mission, Foothill triangle, Hayward, Palestine focus.Each third Tuesday, 12:00 - 1:00, at the Oakland Federal Building the weekly anti-war vigil is transformed into a “Living Graveyard.” Covered with white sheets, participants lie on the city sidewalk, far enough apart to allow for pedestrian and wheelchair traffic. This is legal street theater to make visible the reality of the deaths caused by the war.
Wednesdays, noon in front of Boalt Hall on Bancroft Ave. on UC Berkeley campus. Teach-in against Torture.
Fridays, Noon - 1:00 p.m. Women in Black Vigil, UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph.
Fridays, 5:30 - 7 p.m., corner of Mowry & Fremont, Fremont.
Fridays, from 3:30 to 4:30, corner of Tiburon Blvd. and San Rafael Avenue, Tiburon. Rain cancels.
Fridays - 4 to 5 pm, Corner of Miller Avenue and Camino Alto in Mill Valley.
Fridays at 3pm -5pm, at Camino Alto and E. Blithdale, Mill Valley.
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The Ecumenical Peace Institute
sponsors a Vigil from Noon to 1:00 p.m.
Each Tuesday at the Oakland Federal Building · 1301 Clay
(two blocks from the Oakland 12th Street BART Station)
Cosponsored by: Berkeley Women in Black * Women for Peace *Mustardseed Affinity Group * East Bay Coalition to Support Self-Rule for Iraqis *The only legal justification for one country to attack another is to prevent an attack so immediate that the United Nations Security Council cannot be called upon to act.
Some Historical Background:
Post WWI Iraq was ruled by a British-selected monarchy until 1958. In 1968, the Ba'ath party came to power with CIA assistance. Saddam Hussein was supported by both the U.S. and Britain until 1990, throughout the Iran-Iraq war.
In 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. Possibilities to negotiate a withdrawal were impeded by two false stories put out by the U.S.
- Allegations that Iraq was poised to invade Saudi Arabia
- The Incubator Fraud: "Nayirah" claimed that Iraqi soldiers had taken Kuwaiti babies from incubators and thrown them on the floor to die. Later it was discovered that "Nayirah" was the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the U.S.
As the U.S. moved into Iraq in 1991, Shi'ites and Kurds were encouraged to rise against the Hussein government. When they did, the U.S. military stood aside and allowed the revolt to be suppressed by the Iraqi government. United Nations sanctions, imposed in 1990 to bring about Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, were continued to bring about Iraq's disarmament with respect to weapons of mass destruction. On May 20, 1991, Secretary of State James Baker stated, "We are not interested in seeing a relaxation of sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power." This remained the position of the U.S. through two subsequent administrations.
In January 1991, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency reported on the widespread epidemic conditions caused by destruction of the water system under the sanctions in place since August of 1990. This analysis proved all too correct in the ensuing years as 5000 children died each month from water borne diseases. (UN figures)In December 1998 the UN inspectors were withdrawn by Richard Butler in anticipation of the U.S. bombing of Iraq. They were not "thrown out". Hussein did not allow the UNSCOM inspectors to return without a plan to complete inspections and end sanctions. The International Atomic Energy Agency was allowed to continue inspections regarding nuclear weapons.
The road to Gulf War II
- After the attack on the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001, the Bush administration attempted to find a connection between the Islamic fundamentalists and the secular Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein. None was ever found.
- None of the allegations of current Iraqi possession of weapons of mass destruction has been accompanied with supporting data that holds up under examination. Aluminum tubes, African uranium experts and eyewitnesses have debunked all the stories. UNSCOM inspectors found nothing to indicate a current weapons program. Independent observations of alleged sites have turned up nothing.
End the Occupation Stop the War
Stop Killing Iraqi People
Bring Our Soldiers Home AliveAll Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state ...
United Nations Charter
Article 2, Paragraph 4
