P.O. Box 81, Swarthmore, PA, 19081-- brandywine@juno.com (610) 544-1818
2007 EVENTS
TUESDAY, January 2 at 5PM, in order to mark the 3000th American soldier killed in the Iraq war, people gathered at the west side of Phila. City Hall, 15th & Market Streets, for a solemn sundown candlelight vigil with bell-tolling for all the war dead and reading of many of their names - U.S. and Iraqi. read about it
January 11 - Noon, as part of the WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE campaign to Shut Down Guantanamo Bay Prison, Brandywine Peace Community and the ACLU held a vigil in Front of the Phila. Federal Courthouse, 601 Market St., to"break the chains" of Guantanamo that included a dramatic tableau and the reading of names of those imprisoned without trial at Guantanamo. (*On January 11th, 2002, the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo. January 11th, 2007, will mark five years of indefinite detention, without charges, without trial. WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE, www.witnesstorture.org, called for January 11th, 2007 to be an International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo and to either try in Federal Court the detainees or release them.) report/photos
Saturday, January 13, 7PM - Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday
in a Special Evening Concert with Tom Mullian ("Six Strings Against the
War", www.tommullian.com) & Friends at the Peace Center of Delaware
County, 1001 Old Sproul Rd., Springfield, PA. Directions at www.delcopeace.org. Co-sponsored by the Brandywine Peace Community.
Monday, January 15, 2007 (the birthday of Rev. Martin Luther King,
Jr.), Noon - Martin Luther King Day of Nonviolent Resistance to the War &
the War Maker, Lockheed Martin, Mall & Goddard Blvds., Valley Forge, PA.Join us in hearing the words of Dr. King for justice, peace, and
nonviolent action. Resist the works and profits of war, stand up to the
injustice that is Lockheed Martin, as the Brandywine Peace Community
begins its 30th year and continues our campaign of
nonviolent resistance.
Those planning or considering facing arrest for nonviolent civil
resistance on January 15, need to call the Brandywine Peace Community by
January 2, 2007 for the date, time, and place of the planning and
preparation meeting. report/photos
February 11 - "What's Going On: Can the Activist Generations 'Converge'"? Showing of the short film, "The Generation Gap", a film that explores the
perceptions and perspectives of different generations of activists, by
Raeann Drew and Alana Hoffman, University of the Arts Film Students. The
film, which includes varying views on activism and the nature of social
change commitments, includes extensive time with Tom Mullian,
singer-songwriter, and Robert M. Smith, long-time Brandywine Peace
Community. The film showing will be followed by a panel discussion on
the film's topic that will include the film makers, people featured in
the film, and Sally Milbury-Steen of Delaware's Pacem in Terris.
March 11 - "The Media Versus the Public in the Iraq Invasion-Occupation,
Professor Edward S. Herman
Edward S. Herman is a Professor Emeritus of Finance at the
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He has a Ph.D. in
Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, and has
written extensively on economcs, political economy, foreign policy,
and media analysis. He has a regular "Fog Watch" column in the
monthly Z Magazine. He also runs a web site monitoring the
Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inkywatch.org. Among his 22 published
books are The Political Economy of Human Rights (2 vols, with
Noam Chomsky, South End Press, 1979); Corporate Control,
Corporate Power (Cambridge University Press, 1981);Manufacturing
Consent (with Noam Chomsky, Pantheon, 1988, revised ed. 2002);
The "Terrorism" Industry (with Gerry O'Sullivan, Pantheon, 1990);
Triumph of the Market (South End Press, 1995); The Myth of the
Liberal Media: An Edward Herman Reader (Peter Lang, 1999); and
with co-editor Philip Hammond, Degraded Capability: The Media
and the Kosovo Crisis (Pluto, 2000).
March 19-20 WE DECLARE PEACE! March '03 - March '07 - Four Years of War in Iraq - Report
PEACE 2007, Brandywine Peace Commuity turns 30! Walk in the Steps of Dr. King, Close Guantanamo, End the War, Resist Lockheed Martin.
FRIDAY, April 6, Noon - Good Friday Stations of Justice & Peace & Trail of Mourning & Truth at Lockheed Martin, Valley Forge, PA (behind the King of Prussia Mall) Preparation Meeting for those doing civil disobedience - April 2, 7PM, at Tabernacle Church, 3700 Chestnut St. (corner of 37th & Chestnut Sts., enter on 37th Street), Phila., PA
Tax Day, Tuesday, April 17 - Noon, Phila. Federal Building
(and Phila. office of Sen. Arlen Specter), 601 Market St., Phila., PA "!YES!" DEMONSTRATION FOR JUSTICE & PEACE
"!YES!", The American people have with their voices and votes said "NO!" to war in Iraq. Our Senators and Congresspeople - the
Congress we elected! - must now stop funding the war. Imagine if
the billions and billions of dollars now going every month to continue
the war in Iraq were instead given to stop global warming, restore
the environment, and for programs of social uplift.
This past Tax Day, April 17 - the Brandywine Peace Community Organized
demonstration said ""YES!" at the Phila. Federal Building (Phila. office
of Sen. Arlen Specter and regional headquarters of IRS) to: universal
health care, stopping global warming and restoring the environment, ending handgun
violence, job creation, and ending hunger here and around the world.
Joined by: Catholic Peace Fellowship; Community of the Christian Spirit;
Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia; EthicalAction Committee/Phila. Ethical Society;
Phila. Committee to Free the 5;
Philly Delaware River Area Code Pink; Women's International League for Peace &
Freedom [WILPF], Phila. Branch; the "!YES!" DEMONSTRATION FOR
JUSTICE & PEACE included Music by Tom Mullian and members of Granny Peace
Brigade, Poetry, Speakers (Dr. Adam Tsai, Phila. Area Committee to Defend
Health Care; Stelle Sheller, WILPF; Jeff Garis, PA Action; Steve Gulick,
Phila. War Tax Resistance/War Resisters League) Banners, Puppets, and a
Tax Day "People's Priorities" Penny Poll.
Monday, April 23 - Trial of the "PHILA. DECLARE PEACE 14" in
Phila.Municipal Court [Criminal Justice Center, 1301 Filbert Street]
on misdemeanor charges of defiant trespass, criminal trespass, and
criminal conspiracy. The first trial, in Philadelphia, for nonviolent
resistance to the war in Iraq; the first trial in Philadelphia for war
resistance since the 80's.
The "PHILA. DECLARE PEACE 14" were arrested on September
25, 2006, as part of the Declaration of Peace Campaign, at the
Phila. office of former Senator Rick Santorum for nonviolently
demanding that our Senators and Congresspeople act to end the
war. More
Stand with the "PHILA. DECLARE PEACE 14" Vigil, Broad
St. & JFK Blvd., (across the street from the northeast side of Phila.
City Hall and a short block from the Criminal Justice Center);
Continue the Stand for Peace, after the 14 leave for court, until
9:30AM and the trial.
Tuesday, May 1, Four years - and the deaths of thousands and thousands of
Iraqis and U.S. troops - after Bush Announced "Mission Accomplished" from
the deck of an aircraft carrier, he vetoed legislation that included
provisions for a timelime and deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops
from Iraq. The Brandywine Peace Community and PA Action organized a VETO
RESPONSE RALLY at Phila. City Hall to:
-Say "No!" to Bush's Insistence For More War
-Don't Let Congress Buckle to Bush and The War
-Stand Together Saying: END THE WAR, NOT WAR WITHOUT END!
See photos. The rally was endorsed by:
Americans Against Escalation in Iraq,
Coalition for Peace Action,
Delaware County Wage Peace & Justice,
Delaware Valley Veterans for America,
Drexel Students for Peace,
Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia,
Main Line Citizens for Impeachment,
MoveOn Philadelphia Coordinating Council,
MoveOn North West Philly Coordinating Council,
Philadelphia Buddhist Peace Fellowship,
Philadelphia Regional Anti-War Network (PRAWN),
Veterans for Peace, Chapter 31,
World Can't Wait, Philadelphia.
SUNDAY, MAY 13, MOTHER'S DAY - MOTHER'S DAY FOR
PEACE
and May's Brandywine Peace Community Potluck Supper &
Program, 4:30PM, University Lutheran Church, 3637 Chestnut
Street, Phila., PA
"...Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of
justice..." - from the original MOTHER'S DAY FOR PEACE
PROCLAMATION, Julia Ward Howe, 1870.
Buthaina Hawas-Neveln is an Iraqi woman and mother who grew up
in Baghdad where she was a teacher at the School of Music & Ballet
and a newscaster in the Iraqi National TV. On March 19, 2003,
Buthaina was in Iraq (where all of her family remain) during the
bombardment and invasion. Buthaina left her country a year later
and married Bob Neveln, peace activist and university professor.
Buthaina and Bob have a 16 month old son, Ibrahaim.
TUESDAY, JULY 3, DECLARE PEACE PARADE, OLDE CITY PHILADELPHIA, PA Report
July 8 - "Stumbling into the Future: The Prospects for Nuclear
Disarmament and Non-Proliferation" - Craig Eisendrath
Craig Eisendrath served as a Foreign Service Officer in the US Department
of State handling questions of nuclear disarmament and outer space. For
some years he directed the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, and was
during that period, co-founder of the National Constitution Center. He
is presently Chairman of the Project for Nuclear Awareness. His most
recent books are "Bush League Diplomacy" and just published, "War in
Heaven: The Arms Race in Outer Space", written with Helen Caldicott.
JULY 26, 2007 BUSH PROTEST, PHILADELPHIA,
Many thanks to all that made the Bush Protest in Philadelphia such a
powerful anti-war expression.
Yesterday, July 26, George W. Bush came to Philadelphia to speak
to a breakfast meeting of the American Legislative Exchange
Council, comprised of conservative state legislators, for "the
advancement of free markets, limited government, federalism, and
individual liberty". At the same time, more than 300 people
participated in a protest demonstration organized by the Brandywine
Peace Community, PA Action, and American Against Escalation in
Iraq.
The Bush Protest took place at the site of both previous Bush visits
as well as protests of the Bush Agenda of war and militarism around
the world and here at home: the Downtown Marriott Hotel. The
demonstration loudly with drums and noisemakers and visually with
banners, signs, and impeachment demonstrators wearing orange
jumpsuits, began at 8AM - more than an hour before Bush was
scheduled to arrive - on the northeast side of the Marriott at 12th &
Filbert, near the Reading Terminal Market.
All indications - prior presidential visits to the Marriott and the
presence of dozens of media sound trucks - were that the Bush
motorcade would approach the Hotel on 12th Street. This time,
however, Secret Service pulled a quick one and avoided passing the
protest by bringing the motorcade south on northbound 13th Street.
After the motorcade arrived at the 13th Street entrance to the
Marriott, most of the demonstration moved to the front door of the
Marriott with a few demonstrators remaining on 12th & Filbert,
leafletting people going in and out of Reading Terminal Market or
enroute to the PA Convention Center.
Bush arrived at the Hotel with Republican Senator Arlen Specter
and U.S. Representative Jim Gerlach. At 7AM, a large mobile
billboard,from Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, targeting
Senator Arlen Specter and his support for Bush and the war of
occupation, began circling the Marriott.
Go to http://www.philly.com/philly/multimedia/8729937.html for the
sights and sounds of the Bush protest on July 26.
MONDAY, August 6 -
HIROSHIMA DAY DAY OF REMEMBRANCE & RESISTANCE,
LOCKHEED MARTIN*, MALL & GODDARD BLVDS., VALLEY
FORGE/KING OF PRUSSIA, PA (behind the King of Prussia Mall)
[8:02 AM, time of the Hiroshima bombing, til Noon: Vigil & Bell-
Tolling for the Victims of War, Nuclear Weapons, and Lockheed
Martin, with hourly siren blasts and bell-tolling 62X, once for each
year of the nuclear age.
NOON - Hiroshima Day '07 Commemoration - Account of the
Hiroshima bombing;
- "Die-In" - on the sidewalk in front of Lockheed Martin - dramatizing
the consequences of nuclear weapons, Lockheed Martin's war
profits and weapons economy, and the policy of war and occupation;
- Ms. Yuko Nakamura, Hibakusha/Hiroshima survivor, &
- Nonviolent Civil Disobedience REPORT
Thursday, August 9, 6PM, Nagasaki Day Peace Dedication SS Peter & Paul Roman Catholic Cathedral*,
18th & Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Phila, PA
[*August 9, 1945, the Urakami Roman Catholic Cathedral was
ground zero for the Nagasaki bombing which destroyed at the time
the largest Catholic city in all of Asia]
Co-sponsored by: Phila. Catholic Peace Fellowship, Northwest [Phila.]
Greens. REPORT
Sunday, September 9 (Anniversary of the Plowshares 8, September 9, 1980): Brandywine at 30 Celebration of Peace & Nonviolent Resistance on the Anniversary of the historic "Plowshares 8" disarmament action (September 9, 1980, at GE - now Lockheed Martin - in Valley Forge, PA, featuring music by Tom Mullian ("Six Strings Against the War", www.tommullian.com) with Wayne G. Harvey, Poetry by Laurie Pollack ("Peace Walk"), theater, and much more in dedication to upcoming demonstrations and acts of nonviolent resistance to Declare Peace and De-Fund the War in Iraq.
Monday, September 17, "DIE-IN" 5PM, Philadelphia, Declaration of Peace Week, *in response to the Petraeus Report* to Congress - Rush-Hour "DIE-IN", west side of Phila. City Hall, 15th & Market, Phila., PA. The "DIE-IN" demonstration, in which people will lie in lifeless pose publicly dramatizing what continued war in Iraq means, will include the American Friends Service Committee's new "One Day of the Iraq War = ..." [720 Million Dollars, 163,525 People with Healthcare, etc] flags. The Solemn "DIE-IN" Demonstration will also include large coffins with the Iraqi and U.S. flags, reading of names of the war dead, and bell-tolling for all the casualties of this war.
Saturday, October 6 ("Columbus Day"
weekend),
Noon: "STOP THE FLOW OF WAR TO IRAQ" Demonstration at the Port of
Philadelphia,beginning with a vigil at Columbus Boulevard & Commons
Avenue (across from the "UNITED STATES" landmark ocean liner) followed by
a short procession to Columbus and Oregon Avenue for a rally at the
entrance to the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.
The Port of Philadelphia is one of the key "strategic" shipping ports for
the maritime shipment of weapons and military equipment to Iraq.
Background on the Port of Philadelphia and military shipments to Iraq
available click here. Read the litany.
Sunday, October 14 - "Crisis in Iraq: Politics, Oil & Refugees"An informative program with RAED JARRAR, Iraqi political analyst, Iraq oil law expert. Raed Jarrar is an Iraqi political analyst and consultant to AFSCs Iraq Program currently based in Washington, D.C. After the U.S.-led invasion, Jarrar returned home to become country director for CIVIC Worldwide, the only door-to-door casualty survey group in post-war Iraq. He then established Emaar, (meaning reconstruction in Arabic), a grassroots organization that provided humanitarian and political aid to Iraqi internally displaced persons (IDPs). Emaar delivered medicine and food as well as helped initiate micro-enterprise projects for IDPs, with specific concern directed towards women and children. Additionally, Emaar engaged in political advocacy on behalf of populations displaced due to ethnic discrimination.
Saturday, October 20 "Did you know that in March 1971 an FBI office in Media, PA was the site of a break-in that resulted in the exposure of widespread spying on Vietnam War protesters and civil rights activists?" Saturday, October 20 (eve of the 40th Anniversary of the historic March on the Pentagon in protest of the Vietnam War) Brandywine Peace Community 30th Anniversary Radical Peace Walk Tour of Media, PA (birthplace of Brandywine Peace Community). With stops at various historically significant sites of peace action. Concludes with lunch and celebration at Media Monthly Meeting, 125 W. 3rd Street.
Saturday, October 27: History Was (Again) Made in Philadelphia
TUES. OCTOBER 30 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES DEBATE AT DREXEL UNIVERSITY,
- JOIN US IN DEMANDING SOCIAL JUSTICE & PEACE
Will we get the same lies and political tricks from the democrats as we
have over the Bush Years of War, Torture, and Social Neglect or will the
candidates promise a fundamentally new course for social justice and
peace?
Sunday, November 11 - "Impeachment Is Not an Option, It's an Imperative: Why letting Bush and Cheney leave office and hand off their crimes to a Democratic successor would be a disaster for America" - David Lindorff (www.thiscantbehappening.net), Award-winning investigative journalist, author (with Barbara Olshansky) of "The Case for Impeachment: Legal Arguments for Removing President George W. Bush from Office"
Sunday, December 9 Celebration and Tribute to legendary peace activists Lillian & George Willoughby. (View the slideshow by Ray Torres)
Christmas Candlelight Vigil for Peace, Friday, December 21, 7PM, at
Lockheed Martin weapons complex, Mall & Goddard Boulevards, Valley Forge,
PA (behind King of Prussia Mall).
The vigil and service, marking the end of the Brandywine Peace
Community's 30th Anniversary year and the start of the group's fourth
decade, will include: reading of names of Iraq war dead (both Iraqi and
U.S.) to the backdrop of Christmas Carols, bell-tolling, poetry and
music, reading of the Christmas story and guest commentary on "Seeing the
World Through Jesus Eyes" by Rev. Al Krass. (Litany)