Stopping violence, war, and terrorism trough peaceful, just, and democratic means
Tuesday, October 8, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Melekte Melaku, Campaign Manager for bail reform at ACLU of Ohio. She will speak on her work on bail/pretrial reform, which would decrease the number of people held pretrial and help ameliorate the inhumane conditions at the Cuyahoga County Jail.
Free and open to the public. [email protected] is a monthly meeting featuring interesting conversation, camaraderie, food and drink.
Thursday, September 19th
Cleveland Hts.-University Hts Library, 2345 Lee Rd, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
6:00PM Registration – 6:30PM Program – Light Refreshments
Cleveland Peace Action invites you to a panel discussion on Islamophobia, the social and political discrimination against Muslims in the U.S., with panelists:
Isam Zaiem, Board Member, Council on American Islamic Relations, Cleveland Office
April Stoltz, Coordinator,Teatime for Peace
If you agree with our press statement below, contact your Senators and ask them to support S.1039 – Prevention of Unconstitutional War with Iran Act of 2019. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or use this link from AFSC.
This statement by Don Bryant and Francis Chiappa was sent to the media on June 20, 2019
Cleveland Peace Action calls on the Trump Administration to reverse military escalations in the Gulf of Oman and vicinity, to cease its bellicose and dangerous rhetoric, and to either return to the bargaining table with Iran or opt back in to the Iran-US nuclear agreement. While Secretary of State Pompeo was swift to blame Iran for the attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last Thursday, saying “the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for the attacks that occurred in the Gulf of Oman…that no proxy group operating in the area has the resources and proficiency to act with such a high degree of sophistication.” Yet there are at least three other proxy groups operating in the area that have such military capabilities: the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Israel. We should be wary of false intelligence as it has justified past wars.
by Mark Weber
Steve Cagan’s very informative talk last night got me to thinking. He mentioned that the United States was less of a presence in Colombia now than in years past. In the early 2000’s there was in South America what journalists dubbed the “pink tide.” In countries like Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela socialist or left populists came to power. Most famous was the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela led by Hugo Chavez. The United States feared that Colombia might be “lost” as well. Insurgent forces in Colombia controlled almost half of the country. I think these were mainly the FARC and the ELN, the two largest groups of insurgents at that time. The United States was determined to keep Colombia as an ally. U.S. representatives worked with then President Uribe (elected in 2002). The result was an agreement called Plan Colombia coupled with counterinsurgency training, which resulted in a spike in U.S. assistance making Colombia the highest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel. With an increase in military aid and funds for aerial spraying of some coca growers in the remote parts of the country, Colombia moved much closer to the top of the U.S. strategic priority list. The aerial spraying program was and continues to be a failure.
By Mark Weber
Colombia, a South American nation of about 43 million people is seldom in the news. It is a beautiful country endowed with a biodiversity exceeded only by that of Brazil. However, it is a nation with the worst human rights record in the world. More targeted killings occur in Colombia than the rest of the world combined. Together, an oligarchy of the military, the large landowners, the church, narco-traffickers, and conservative business elite run the country through a combination of selective enforcement of the law and outright intimidation up to and including murder. Colombia is a worn-torn nation that has just emerged from a 55-year-old civil war with several insurgent groups…Most notably the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the National Liberation Front (ELN).
Pessimism and hope, three years after the peace accords
Tuesday, June 11th⋅7:00 – 8:30pm
Market Garden Brewery, 1947 W 25th St, Cleveland, OH
Peace accords between the Colombian government and FARC guerrillas in 2016 raised hopes. Steve Cagan will report on his most recent visit with the people of El Chocó, along with his photographs. The renewal of armed conflict in the countryside, repression of community leaders, environmental destruction, and regressive economic policies are worrisome, but there are also glimmers of hope.
Steve is a Cleveland-based long-term activist and activist-photographer. He’s made 18 visits to Colombia and the El Chocó area since 2003, working closely with the activist Catholic Diocese of Quibdó, federations of Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities, and activist NGOs. His photography and writing about the area have been exhibited and published on four continents, though his greatest satisfaction is seeing his photography used as an instrument of struggle by his friends in Colombia.
Free and open to the public. [email protected] is a monthly meeting featuring interesting conversation, camaraderie, food and drink.
Do we truly understand the term “antisemitism”? Mark Weber shed much light on the subject in this talk at [email protected] on May 14, 2019. Many in the audience wanted to read it and share his remarks with others. So here it is, in it’s entirety.
Note that you can also add your comments to this blog!
By Mark Weber
Recently, we’ve watched with dismay as supporters of Israel in the United States have launched attacks on first-term Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), accusing her of antisemitism because she’s been critical of Israel and has raised the specter of “dual loyalty.” This is just the latest of many incidents in which false charges of antisemitism have been used to stifle criticism of Israeli policy and support for Palestinian human rights. In particular, we have seen this term used to bully and to intimidate young activists on campuses across the country. Spineless college administrators and corrupt politicians of both parties in state legislatures, under pressure from wealthy donors and the Israel Lobby, have sought to suppress these student activists’ work on behalf of Palestinian rights.
Today, antisemitism has become associated with Israel and its policies toward the West Bank and Gaza. To put our discussion in perspective, let’s go back to the origins of the term “anti-Semitism.” Let’s reflect on the politicization of antisemitism in the United States and the use of the term “antisemitism” as a cudgel to bludgeon critics of Israel, forcing them to abandon their criticisms of Israel while defending themselves against false charges of bigotry.
Cleveland Peace Action, 2592 West 14th Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44113 – peaceactioncleveland.org
Contact: Don Bryant – 216-255-1576 – [email protected]
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Gaza and Israeli Deaths and Palestinian Human Rights
The recent deaths and violence in Gaza, Palestine and the Negev area of Israel were not initiated by Hamas or Islamic Jihad as described in mainstream news. If we want to lay blame on one entity for the May 4-May 6, 2019 exchange of missiles and bombs, we can site Israel for firing and killing two nonviolent demonstrators on May 3 in the weekly “Great Return March” in Gaza that began in March 2018. The Gaza health ministry reported that the Israeli army has killed 275 pro-democracy demonstrators and wounded 17,000 in the past 14 months of demonstrations at the Gaza – Israel border.
Cleveland Peace Action, 2592 West 14th Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44113
peaceactioncleveland.org
Contact: Mark Weber – 216.870.1594 – [email protected]
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Statement from Cleveland Peace Action on Provocative U.S. Actions Toward Venzuela and Iran
The United States is trying to orchestrate a coup to oust socialist President Nicholas Maduro of Venezuela and install a pro-U.S. regime headed by Juan Guaido. Guaido has already called for U.S. military intervention in Venezuela. He has declared himself to be “interim president” and openly courts a military attack on his country.
At the same time, the United States is dispatching warships to the Middle East to threaten Iran. Pressured by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, the U.S. government is weighing its military options. The Trump Administration has systematically alienated the government in Tehran beginning with the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear treaty negotiated during the Obama Administration.
Neoconservative foreign policy adviser John Bolton is championing BOTH regime change in Venezuela and an attack on Iran or Iranian interests.
Cleveland Peace Action demands that the United States keep its hands off Venezuela and that there be no war with Iran. #
Kim Hill offers his reflections on Noura Erakat’s visit to Cleveland and Oberlin, March 3 and 4, 2019. The video of her complete remarks in Cleveland, produced by Jeff Kassouf, can be viewed here.
After speaking at Cleveland Peace Action’s Annual Meeting on Sunday, Noura Erakat made a presentation at Oberlin College as a guest of Students for a Free Palestine and the students in Jewish Voice for Peace. In Cleveland she stressed that we need, and lack, “an analytical framework” with which to understand the complex issues surrounding the roles of the U.S., Israel and Palestinians in the Middle East.
The issues are nothing if not complex. In Oberlin, she provided this framework, drawing from her new book, Justice for Some. The book is organized historically, with five turning points which she ties to potential issues of law. But ultimately, existing law and international politics render both law and politics tragically impotent to address the obvious human rights outrages. These outrages have been normalized. In 1948 Jews conquered and ethnically cleansed Palestine, and in 1967 Israel occupied the remnants left to the survivors, leaving no real avenue for justice or peace.
