Stopping violence, war, and terrorism trough peaceful, just, and democratic means
Kevin Zeese: “Declining U.S. Empire and the Peace Movement’s Role”
Friday, July 24th, 2020 at 7:00 pm
Join us on Zoom (details to follow)
Kevin Zeese is the co-director of Popular Resistance. He was a co-founder of the Venezuelan Embassy Protectors Defense Collective and was prosecuted in federal court in Washington, DC for protecting the Venezuelan embassy. The trial resulted in a mistrial because jurors could not unanimously agree on a verdict.
Contact: Mark Weber, 216-870-1594
The Board of Cleveland Peace Action condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the murder by Minneapolis police officers of George Floyd, unarmed and handcuffed, a Black man and city resident. This latest murder of an African American citizen calls to mind earlier cases of police killings of people of color: Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, and Breanna Taylor to name a few. Beyond the usual expressions of concern by civic and political leaders, there is a desperate need for systemic change. Two concrete reforms should be mentioned.
We’ve been missing our monthly rendezvous at the pub and we hope you have too. Plotting how to meet virtually during the pandemic, we’ve settled on ZOOM meetings.
On Tuesday June 9th, Philip Metres will read some poetry from “Shrapnel Maps,” talk about the role of the arts in peace and justice work, and reflect on his 25-year personal journey, seeking a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis. DOORS OPEN AT 6:45 – MEETING STARTS AT 7:00 PM
We’ll do our virtual best to provide “interesting conversation and camaraderie,” as always. As for food and drink, it’s BYO. Grab a brew or whatever is your cup of tea. Curl up at home and join us via laptop or phone. You can actively participate with or without video. See June 9th on our Calendar for more on connecting via Zoom.
You are invited to a Zoom meeting. When: Jun 9, 2020 06:45 PM Eastern Time Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIldOquqD0sGtHzFuTZj-j0uFNUH_0bngh4 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting on June 9.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the world, Cleveland Peace Action calls upon the United States and Israel to immediately end the blockades or embargoes that they have imposed. It is critical that badly-needed medical supplies and personnel be able to enter all nations in order to treat people and families suffering from the virus. End the blockades and embargoes now!
*****In Iran, there are almost 70,000 confirmed cases of the virus with almost 5,000 deaths. The US maintains sanctions against this country after the President Trump tore up an arms control treaty negotiated by the Obama Administration.
*****In Gaza, Israel maintains a 13-year-old blockade of this tiny strip of land that is home to more than 2 million people. With many hospitals destroyed due to Israeli bombing and medical supplies kept out by the blockade, the people of Gaza face a grim future as the virus begins to spread in this densely-populated land and there are about 60 ventilators.
As the COVID-19 pandemic rivets our attention, imagine how 1.8 million Palestinians feel, living in Gaza, densely populated and mostly cut off from the outside world. With our freedom and security under siege by pandemic, we can begin to appreciate life there. Palestinians in Gaza are used to such confinement and danger, living under Israeli-Egyptian military siege since 2007. The USA’s $5 billion annual contribution of weapons, military equipment and technology helps maintain it.
On March 22nd, the first two COVID-19 cases were announced in Gaza. They are two Palestinian men, aged 30 and 40, returning from Pakistan, now quarantined in Rafah on the Egyptian border. As COVID-19 spread in neighboring Egypt and Israel, the Hamas-led government began quarantine of travelers into Gaza. Given the limited capacity of Gaza’s healthcare system due to the blockade and three Israeli offensives over the past 12 years, an outbreak would be catastrophic. For example, Gaza has fewer than 200 test kits and about 20 available ventilators.
Cleveland Peace Action endorses: Vision & Policy Demands for Justice from Palestinians in the United States
See video of Meghan Donovan’s [email protected] talk
Meghan Donovan, is chair of CPA’s Advocacy Committee. She discusses war and militarism’s impact on women and girls; rape as a war crime; military sexual trauma; why permitting or requiring women to serve in combat is not a feminist act; and how women have been part of peace movements throughout history.
Shelley Rose, Ph.D.
Tuesday, February 11th, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Market Garden Brewery, 1947 W 25th St, Cleveland
Dr. Rose will discuss the physical and online spaces of activism and protest events in the 20th and 21st century, including the use of social media as a tool for organizing in cases like Standing Rock. As a historian, she examines the changing modes of protest events as well as common practices between activist communities.
Shelley Rose, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of History at Cleveland State University who specializes in protest history and digital humanities. She is the author of several articles on gender, protest, and European history and leads the Protest Spaces transnational research network.
Free and open to the public. [email protected] is a monthly meeting featuring interesting conversation, camaraderie, food and drink.
Cleveland Peace Action supports Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) for her reintroduction of House Resolution 2407. HR 2407 forbids U.S. aid to Israel to be used for the jailing and incarceration of Palestinian children in the West Bank, which has been under illegal Israeli military occupation for more than a half-century. Each year between 500 and 1,000 Palestinian children are thrown in jail by Israeli occupation forces. Then they are often subjected to torture and abuse before receiving a “trial” in a military tribunal, usually without legal representation and with court documents in Hebrew, not Arabic. Cleveland Peace Action applauds the example set by Rep. McCollum who has put her values of democracy, tolerance, and equal rights for all into practice with the reintroduction of this important bill. Cleveland Peace Action urges Cleveland Area voters to contact their U.S. Representatives and ask them to support HR 2407 by becoming a co-sponsor.
This action coincides with our No Rights/No Aid campaign urging Congress to restrict military aid to Israel until the rights of Palestinians are equal to the rights of Israeli Jews. https://www.facebook.com/No-RightsNo-Aid-100418671345351/
For further information, please contact Cleveland Peace Action at [email protected] or 216-205.1427.
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.
