Brooklyn For Peace Newsletter Archive http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:53:53 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 Tues 2/14, 7 pm: Community Meeting on Iran; Sat 4/28 Bklyn Peace Fair! & More http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=126 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=126#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:48:08 +0000 admin http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=126 War on Iran? How great is the danger? How should we respond?

Come to a Community Meeting sponsored by Brooklyn For Peace to discuss the current situation in the Gulf, the possible actions of the U.S., Israel and Iran, and how the peace movement can respond to avoid another war.

Arang Keshevarian, a NYU political scientist and Iran specialist will open the meeting with a talk on the domestic situation and issues in Iran and in countries which might intervene there.

WHEN: Tuesday, Feb 14, 7 pm
LOCATION: The Commons, 388 Atlantic Ave, downtown Brooklyn (between Hoyt and Bond)
Train:A/C/G to Hoyt Schermerhorn; F/G to Bergen St; B/Q/R/2/3/4/5 to Atlantic/Pacific; LIRR to Flatbush
Bus: B63 and B65

Inform yourself on this issue:

Questions? Email: bfp@brooklynpeace.org or call 718-624-5921

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday April 28, 11 am to 5 pm
Brooklyn Peace Fair at Brooklyn College
Visit our website for details of this and other upcoming events

Support Brooklyn For Peace!�
We need and appreciate your support!
Click here to donate and become a member.

]]> http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?feed=rss2&p=126 0 Sept 8, 2011: Children of Abraham Peace Walk & More http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=117 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=117#comments Thu, 08 Sep 2011 05:02:59 +0000 admin http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=117 Sun Sept 11, 2 pm: 
Children of Abraham Peace Walk
+ More
Included in this message:
**Events commemorating 9/11:
Visit our website www.brooklynpeace.org  for details on upcoming events, including:
**Support Brooklyn For Peace! Become a member!
** Make a financial donation to support our work!
 
Sunday Sept 11, 2 pm:
 
Children of Abraham Peace Walk (8th Annual)
 
Join BFP and many others at the Children of Abraham Peace Walk, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
Walk together in a spirit of peace, as we remember those who died on Sept 11, 2001, and commemorate the spirit of friendship that supported so many thereafter. 
2 pm: Start at Dawood Mosque, 143 State St (between Court and Clinton), Brooklyn Heights.
We’ll visit two local synagogues and a firehouse, where we will bring a gift of support and connection.
We’ll then walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
In Manhattan, we’ll proceed to “Charlotte’s Place”, a new community center on Greenwich Street, affiliated with Trinity Church. 
Refreshments will be served.
All ages welcome.
Questions? E-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org or call 718-624-5921.
 
Also TODAY, Thursday  Sept 8:
5:30 pm Guantanomo Lawyers Panel
7:30 pm Performance: “Another Life!”
 
Please join us for a dress rehearsal of Another Life at Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College (in Manhattan) on Thursday, 9/8 at 7:30 pm. There will be a Guantanamo Lawyers Panel at 5 pm in the theater lobby before the show. Admission is free to both events.
 
GUANTANAMO LAWYERS PANEL: 5 pm, Theater Lobby
These are the lawyers who stand for justice and the rule of law in the face of torture and indefinite detention: Alexander Abdo (ACLU), Jonathan Hafetz (Seton Hall), Martha Rayner (Fordham Law), Gitanjali Gutierrez (CCR); Chaired by Kathleen Chalfant, actress, social justice activist.
 
ANOTHER LIFE: 7:30 pm, Gerald W. Lynch Theater
Written and directed by Brooklyn’s own Karen Malpede
Starring George Bartenieff (4 time Obie Award winner, Drama Desk), Eunice Wong (Helen Hayes Award), Omar Koury (Drama Desk), Ariel Shafir (Barrymore Award), Christen Clifford, Dorien Makhloghi.
 
FREE ADMISSION TO BOTH EVENTS
LOCATION: Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College
899 10th Ave, between 58 & 59th St, Manhattan
 
Questions? Visit BFP’s website.
 
7–9 pm Vigil: Our Diversity is Our Strength: Standing Together 10 Years Later
 
We welcome New Yorkers and visitors of all backgrounds who want to reflect on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 in a way that celebrates the diversity and vibrancy of New York. We are a coalition of organizations and individuals that works to promote the constitutional and American values of diversity, equality and freedom of religion. Please do not bring any political signs or placards.
 
  • Location: Corner of Church and Park Place, New York, NY 10006
  • In event of rain, location will be moved to indoors.
  • Check www.nyneighbors.org after 12 noon today, Thurs Sept 8, for confirmation.
 
Support Brooklyn For Peace! Become a member!
 
**10 billion dollars have been taken from Brooklyn taxpayers and wasted on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. A total of more than a trillion dollars overall has been spent on the wars. U.S.foreign policy and tax dollars are supporting the wrong policies in Israel, Latin America, Africa and the Mid East. In addition to countless lives here and abroad both lost and permanently maimed, we are also seeing this misallocation of resources result in drastic cutbacks of public services.
 
**Brooklyn For Peace provides a voice for resistance! We participate in demonstrations, vigils, letter-writing, phone-call and petition campaigns. We work with a wide variety of other groups. We’re out on the street with flyers and at neighborhood festivals. We provide visibility to the need for peaceful alternatives.
 
If you aren’t already a member, please take the opportunity now to join as well as to make a financial contribution.
Your financial support is an important way of participating. Annual membership is a suggested donation of $30 ($10 for students and those on a limited income). You can also mail your check to BFP, PMB 106, 41 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. 
 
Click here to make a donation. All contributions are fully tax-deductible, and will be acknowledged with our thanks!
 
Visit our website www.brooklynpeace.org for current and upcoming opportunities for participation.
Questions? Call 718-624-5921 or e-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org
]]> http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?feed=rss2&p=117 0 August 31, 2011: How Could NYC Prepare for a Nuclear Disaster? & More http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=114 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=114#comments Wed, 31 Aug 2011 04:57:52 +0000 admin http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=114
What have we learned from emergency preparations for Hurricane Irene?
+ More
Included in this message:
**Could NYC evacuate for a nuclear attack or accident??
   Only protection is prevention: Make NYC a Mayor’s City of Peace!
**Call Congress: Vote Against Free Trade Agreements
**How Do Brooklynites Think Our Tax Dollars Should Be Spent?? See results of our “Penny Polls”
**Support Brooklyn For Peace! Become a member! Make a financial donation to support our work!
 
Visit our website www.brooklynpeace.org  for details on upcoming events, including:
Could NYC evacuate for a nuclear attack?
What about a nuclear accident at Indian Point?
The recent preparations for Hurricane Irene are only a small part of what would be necessary in the event of a nuclear attack, or a nuclear accident an Indian Point. While this experience is still fresh in our minds, let’s remind Mayor Bloomberg that the only way to keep NYC safe from these disasters is to make it a City of Peace, and to close Indian Point.
 
Mayor Bloomberg has ignored our request that he join the international campaign to abolish nuclear weapons, saying that “he’s not interested.”  How can he NOT be interested? NYC would be a target in the event of a nuclear attack; the resulting destruction would be unthinkable, and is unacceptable. 
 
This is the time to INSIST that he make NYC a Mayor’s City of Peace. Sign our on-line petition to tell Mayor Bloomberg to Make NYC a Mayor’s City of Peace!
 
The rapidly growing number of Mayors for Peace is a powerful force generating real momentum toward peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons.Only by an international effort can we protect ourselves and future generations. 
 
The recent earthquake also serves as a wake-up call of the vulnerability of NYC to an accident at Indian Point. Join BFP and other groups in a renewed effort to demand that Indian Point be closed.
 
Check out our Nuclear Zero Committee. Next meeting: Thursday Sept 22, 7 pm. E-mail nuclearzero@brooklynpeace.org for the location or to be informed of future opportunities for action.
 
Action Alert: Call Congress: Vote AGAINST Free Trade Agreements
 
The package of three free trade deals – Korea FTA, Panama FTA and the Colombia FTA– is moving forward on the “fast track” in Congress. Despite the widespread opposition of labor and human rights supporters to the Colombia FTA in particular, the Obama administration is pushing to pass all three. 
 
The Trade Adjustment Assistance Program which is part of these agreements acknowledges the loss of jobs a a consequence of Free Trade Agreements. As a result of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement, involving United States, Canada, and Mexico) 2 million jobs in the U.S. were lost in ten years. However, Republicans are objecting even to the inclusion of the TAA programs in these agreements.
 
We must act NOW to stop these agreements! Call your Congressional Representative TODAY at 202-224-3121 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            202-224-3121      end_of_the_skype_highlighting. Tell her/him that you oppose the Colmbia Free Trade Agreement, as well as the Panama and Korea FTA’s.
 
Click here for local contact information and to learn who represents you. Read the letter which BFP has sent to Congressional Representatives Clarke and Towns, who thus far are on record as supporting these FTA’s.
 
To learn more about Free Trade Agreements, visit Public Citizen (Global Trade Watch). For infomation on the U.S.-Colombia FTA, visit  Washington Office on Latin America and The Mingas Network.
 
E-mail latinam@brooklynpeace.org to let us know that you called and to work with us on further on this issue.

How Do Brooklynites Think Our Tax Dollars Should Be Spent? See results of “Penny Polls”

Brooklyn For Peace and sister organizations, Fort Greene Peace and Flatbush for Peace, are bringing the issues of the current economic crisis and how tax dollars are spent to Brooklynites by hosting Penny Polls at local farmers’ markerts around Brooklyn. 
 
In the 2011 discretionary budget, Congress allocated an incredible 58% for wars and Pentagon spending, leaving just “pennies” for schools, jobs, housing and other important programs. We asked community members how they would prioritize how tax dollars are distributed. Using a bag of 20 pennies, people illustrated what their priorities were by allocating the coins into tubes marked with the spending categories military, housing, jobs, education, transportation, veterans’ benefits, health care and the environment. 
 
We found that the government’s priorities did not match those of our community members. Overwhelmingly, participants put their pennies into tubes labeled “education,” “jobs,” “housing,” and “health care.” At the bottom of the list was war and military spending—the exact opposite of the skewed priorities of Congress. People who participated were surprised to see a visualization on how tax dollars are currently distributed. Check out photos of the Penny Poll in action. 
 
We will be tabling at additional locations throughout the summer and fall, including several street fairs in September and October. Check out the sign up page to see where we will be and to help out.
 
The next meeting of the Peace and Economic Justice Committee is Tuesday, August 30 at 7 pm. Please join us. 
 
For more information, e-mail pej@brooklynpeace.org or call 718-624-5921 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            718-624-5921      end_of_the_skype_highlighting to work with our Peace & Economic Justice Committee on this issue!
 
Support Brooklyn For Peace! Become a member!
 
**10 billion dollars have been taken from Brooklyn taxpayers and wasted on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. A total of more than a trillion dollars overall has been spent on the wars. U.S.foreign policy and tax dollars are supporting the wrong policies in Israel, Latin America, Africa and the Mid East. In addition to countless lives here and abroad both lost and permanently maimed, we are also seeing this misallocation of resources result in drastic cutbacks of public services.
 
**Brooklyn For Peace provides a voice for resistance! We participate in demonstrations, vigils, letter-writing, phone-call and petition campaigns. We work with a wide variety of other groups. We’re out on the street with flyers and at neighborhood festivals. We provide visibility to the need for peaceful alternatives.
 
If you aren’t already a member, please take the opportunity now to join as well as to make a financial contribution.
Your financial support is an important way of participating. Annual membership is a suggested donation of $30 ($10 for students and those on a limited income). You can also mail your check to BFP, PMB 106, 41 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. 
 
Click here to make a donation. All contributions are fully tax-deductible, and will be acknowledged with our thanks!
 
Visit our website www.brooklynpeace.org for current and upcoming opportunities for participation. Questions? Call 718-624-5921 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            718-624-5921      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or e-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org
]]> http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?feed=rss2&p=114 0 August 24, 2011 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=93 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=93#comments Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:42:21 +0000 admin http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=93
Action Alert: Call Congress:
Vote Against Free Trade Agrements
Included in this message:
**Call Congress: Vote Against Free Trade Agreements
**How Do Brooklynites Think Our Tax Dollars Should Be Spent??
See results of our “Penny Polls”
**Make NYC a Mayor’s City of Peace! Sign on-line petition!
Visit our website www.brooklynpeace.org for details on upcoming events, including:

Support Brooklyn For Peace! Become a member! Make a financial donation to support our work!
Action Alert: Call Congress:
Vote AGAINST Free Trade Agreements
The package of three free trade deals – Korea FTA, Panama FTA and the Colombia FTA– is moving forward on the “fast track” in Congress. Despite the widespread opposition of labor and human rights supporters to the Colombia FTA in particular, the Obama administration is pushing to pass all three.
The Trade Adjustment Assistance Program which is part of these agreements acknowledges the loss of jobs a a consequence of Free Trade Agreements. As a result of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement, involving United States, Canada, and Mexico) 2 million jobs in the U.S. were lost in ten years. However, Republicans are objecting even to the inclusion of the TAA programs in these agreements.
We must act NOW to stop these agreements!
Call your Congressional Representative TODAY at 202-224-3121.
Tell her/him that you oppose the Colmbia Free Trade Agreement, as well as the Panama and Korea FTA’s.
Click here for local contact information and to learn who represents you.
Read the letter which BFP has sent to Congressional Representatives Clarke and Towns, who thus far are on record as supporting these FTA’s.
To learn more about Free Trade Agreements, visit Public Citizen (Global Trade Watch). For infomation on the U.S.-Colombia FTA, visit  Washington Office on Latin America and The Mingas Network.
E-mail latinam@brooklynpeace.org to let us know that you called and to work with us on further on this issue.

How Do Brooklynites Think Our Tax Dollars Should Be Spent? See results of “Penny Polls”

Brooklyn For Peace and sister organizations, Fort Greene Peace and Flatbush for Peace, are bringing the issues of the current economic crisis and how tax dollars are spent to Brooklynites by hosting Penny Polls at local farmers’ markerts around Brooklyn.
In the 2011 discretionary budget, Congress allocated an incredible 58% for wars and Pentagon spending, leaving just “pennies” for schools, jobs, housing and other important programs. We asked community members how they would prioritize how tax dollars are distributed. Using a bag of 20 pennies, people illustrated what their priorities were by allocating the coins into tubes marked with the spending categories military, housing, jobs, education, transportation, veterans’ benefits, health care and the environment.
We found that the government’s priorities did not match those of our community members. Overwhelmingly, participants put their pennies into tubes labeled “education,” “jobs,” “housing,” and “health care.” At the bottom of the list was war and military spending—the exact opposite of the skewed priorities of Congress. People who participated were surprised to see a visualization on how tax dollars are currently distributed. Check out photos of the Penny Poll in action.
We will be tabling at additional locations throughout the summer and fall, including several street fairs in September and October. Check out the sign up page to see where we will be and to help out.
The next meeting of the Peace and Economic Justice Committee is Tuesday, August 30 at 7 pm. Please join us.
For more information, e-mail pej@brooklynpeace.org or call 718-624-5921 to work with our Peace & Economic Justice Committee on this issue!

Make NYC A Mayor’s City of Peace!

Sign the on-line petition to ask Mayor Bloomberg to Make NYC a Mayor’s City of Peace!
Ask Mayor Bloomberg to join the international effort to protect future generations. The rapidly growing number of Mayors for Peace is a powerful force generating real momentum toward peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons. To bequeath to our children a cleaner, safer, more peaceful and sustainable world, please join this effort toward genuine and lasting world peace. Please sign the petition today.
To learn more, check out our Nuclear Zero Committee. The next meeting: Thursday Sept 22, 7 pm. E-mail nuclearzero@brooklynpeace.org for the location or if you have any questions.
Support Brooklyn For Peace! Become a member!
**10 billion dollars have been taken from Brooklyn taxpayers and wasted on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. A total of more than a trillion dollars overall has been spent on the wars. U.S.foreign policy and tax dollars are supporting the wrong policies in Israel, Latin America, Africa and the Mid East. In addition to countless lives here and abroad both lost and permanently maimed, we are also seeing this misallocation of resources result in drastic cutbacks of public services.
**Brooklyn For Peace provides a voice for resistance! We participate in demonstrations, vigils, letter-writing, phone-call and petition campaigns. We work with a wide variety of other groups. We’re out on the street with flyers and at neighborhood festivals. We provide visibility to the need for peaceful alternatives.
The following are a few of our activities thus far in 2011:
  • Peace Fair at Brooklyn College, with Juan Gonzalez as the keynote speaker, emphasizing “Cut the Military Budget! We Need New Priorities!”
  • Participation in April 9 National Anti-War demonstration
  • Nuclear Zero Town Hall Meeting, launching petition campaign to have NYC declared as a Mayor’s City of Peace
  • Distributing flyers emphasizing cost of war to Brooklyn, on Tax Day in Brooklyn (Flatbush-Midwood) and on May 12 at the city-wide demonstration against cutbacks
  • Community Meeting on Libya, resulting in a statement and petition calling for alternatives to military action
  • Ongoing vigils for Darfur, keeping this issue in public view
  • CineForos (films with discussion) on Latin America
  • Joining with community members to support the building of a mosque in Sheepshead Bay, and sponsoring a workshop on Islamophobia at the Peace Fair
Most of our work is done by volunteers. However, even this e-mail message which you are now reading costs money to send!
We are only able to maintain our multi-faceted program by employing a full-time Program Coordinator. Funds are also needed to rent space in which to hold events, to print flyers and publicity materials, and to video our events to make them accessible to those not able to attend in person.
If you aren’t already a member, please take the opportunity now to join as well as to make a financial contribution.
Your financial support is an important way of participating.
Click here to become a member. Annual membership is a suggested donation of $30 ($10 for students and those on a limited income.)
You can also mail your check to BFP, PMB 106, 41 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Click here to make a donation. All contributions are fully tax-deductible, and will be acknowledged with our thanks!
Visit our website www.brooklynpeace.org for current and upcoming opportunities for participation. Questions? Call 718-624-5921 or e-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org
]]> http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?feed=rss2&p=93 0 August 17, 2011 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=107 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=107#comments Wed, 17 Aug 2011 19:47:51 +0000 admin http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=107
Penny Polls, Hydro-Fracking
& The Mayor’s City of Peace
Included in this message:
**Penny Polling: How Do Brooklynites Think Our Tax Dollars Should Be Spent? and Peace & Economic Justice Meeting
**What The Frack is Going On? Viewing of Gasland and Discussion, 8/18, TH
**Sign on-line petition: Make NYC a Mayor’s City of Peace!
Support Brooklyn For Peace! Become a member! Make a financial donation!
Visit our website www.brooklynpeace.org for details on other upcoming events, including:

Penny Polls: How Do Brooklynites Think Our Tax Dollars Should Be Spent?

- Hide quoted text -
Brooklyn For Peace and sister organizations, Fort Greene Peace and Flatbush for Peace, are bringing the issues of the current economic crisis and how tax dollars are spent to Brooklynites by hosting Penny Polls at local farmers’ markerts around Brooklyn.
In the 2011 discretionary budget, Congress allocated an incredible 58% for wars and Pentagon spending, leaving just “pennies” for schools, jobs, housing and other important programs. We asked community members how they would prioritize how tax dollars are distributed. Using a bag of 20 pennies, people illustrated what their priorities were by allocating the coins into tubes marked with the spending categories military, housing, jobs, education, transportation, veterans’ benefits, health care and the environment.
We found that the government’s priorities did not match those of our community members. Overwhelmingly, participants put their pennies into tubes labeled “education,” “jobs,” “housing,” and “health care.” At the bottom of the list was war and military spending—the exact opposite of the skewed priorities of Congress. People who participated were surprised to see a visualization on how tax dollars are currently distributed. Check out photos of the Penny Poll in action.
We will be tabling at additional locations throughout the summer and fall, including several street fairs in September and October. Check out the sign up page to see where we will be and to help out.
The next meeting of the Peace and Economic Justice Committee is Tuesday, August 30 at 7 pm. Please join us.
For more information, e-mail pej@brooklynpeace.org or call 718-624-5921 to work with our Peace & Economic Justice Committee on this issue!

What the Frack is Going On?

Please join us for a viewing of Gasland and a discussion about the controversial new form of natural gas drilling – hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” on Thursday, August 18 at 7 PM at the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepard Soul Cafe.
Featuring the film, Gasland, and guest speaker, Carl Arnold, a member of CDOG (Chenango Delaware Otsego Gas Drilling Opposition Group), Sierra Club and the Green Party.
The state of New York is currently considering lifting its ban on hydrofracking and adopting a set of regulations that allows the practice in some parts of the state but not others. The latest version of those regulations could directly affect water supplies in New York City.
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepard Soul Cafe
7420 Fourth Ave, Between Bay Ridge Parkway (75th) and 74th St.
Brooklyn, NY 11209

City of Peace Petition

Sign the on-line petition to ask Mayor Bloomberg to Make NYC a Mayor’s City of Peace!
Ask Mayor Bloomberg to join the international effort to protect future generations. The rapidly growing number of Mayors for Peace is a powerful force generating real momentum toward peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons. To bequeath to our children a cleaner, safer, more peaceful and sustainable world, please join this effort toward genuine and lasting world peace. Please sign the petition today.
- Hide quoted text -
To learn more, check out our Nuclear Zero Committee. The next meeting: Thursday Sept 22, 7 pm. E-mail nuclearzero@brooklynpeace.org for the location or if you have any questions.
Support Brooklyn For Peace! Become a member!
**10 billion dollars have been taken from Brooklyn taxpayers and wasted on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. A total of more than a trillion dollars overall has been spent on the wars. U.S.foreign policy and tax dollars are supporting the wrong policies in Israel, Latin America, Africa and the Mid East. In addition to countless lives here and abroad both lost and permanently maimed, we are also seeing this misallocation of resources result in drastic cutbacks of public services.
**Brooklyn For Peace provides a voice for resistance! We participate in demonstrations, vigils, letter-writing, phone-call and petition campaigns. We work with a wide variety of other groups. We’re out on the street with flyers and at neighborhood festivals. We provide visibility to the need for peaceful alternatives.
The following are a few of our activities thus far in 2011:
  • Peace Fair at Brooklyn College, with Juan Gonzalez as the keynote speaker, emphasizing “Cut the Military Budget! We Need New Priorities!”
  • Participation in April 9 National Anti-War demonstration
  • Nuclear Zero Town Hall Meeting, launching petition campaign to have NYC declared as a Mayor’s City of Peace
  • Distributing flyers emphasizing cost of war to Brooklyn, on Tax Day in Brooklyn (Flatbush-Midwood) and on May 12 at the city-wide demonstration against cutbacks
  • Community Meeting on Libya, resulting in a statement and petition calling for alternatives to military action
  • Ongoing vigils for Darfur, keeping this issue in public view
  • CineForos (films with discussion) on Latin America
  • Joining with community members to support the building of a mosque in Sheepshead Bay, and sponsoring a workshop on Islamophobia at the Peace Fair
Most of our work is done by volunteers. However, even this e-mail message which you are now reading costs money to send!
We are only able to maintain our multi-faceted program by employing a full-time Program Coordinator. Funds are also needed to rent space in which to hold events, to print flyers and publicity materials, and to video our events to make them accessible to those not able to attend in person.
If you aren’t already a member, please take the opportunity now to join as well as to make a financial contribution.
Your financial support is an important way of participating.
Click here to become a member. Annual membership is a suggested donation of $30 ($10 for students and those on a limited income.)
You can also mail your check to BFP, PMB 106, 41 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Click here to make a donation. All contributions are fully tax-deductible, and will be acknowledged with our thanks!
Visit our website www.brooklynpeace.org for current and upcoming opportunities for participation. Questions? Call 718-624-5921 or e-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org
]]> http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?feed=rss2&p=107 0 August 11, 2011 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=96 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=96#comments Thu, 11 Aug 2011 19:43:37 +0000 admin http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=96 Thursday Aug 11, 6-7:30 pm
NYC Rally to Close Indian Point
& More
Included in this message:
**Thurs 8/11: NYC Rally to Close Indian Point (United Nations, Dag Hammarskjold Plaza)
**Sign on-line petition: Make NYC a Mayor’s City of Peace!
Visit our website www.brooklynpeace.org for details on other upcoming events:
Tonight: Wed 8/10, 10 pm: Does the U.S. Violate International Law? On BCAT or your computer
Thurs 8/18. 7:30 pm: What the “frack” is going on? Viewing of “Gasland” and discusision (Bay Ridge)
Thurs 9/15, 7:30 pm (Save the Date!): Open Jewish Conversation on Cultural Boycott of Israel
Support Brooklyn For Peace! Become a member! Make a financial donation!

Thurs 8/11, 6–7:30 pm:

NYC Rally to Close Indian Point

Join with concerned citizens to call for shutting down the troubled Indian Point nuclear reactors, 35 miles north of Times Square. Demand clean, safe energy alternatives to power New York,
Express solidarity with the people of Japan who are suffering the consequences of the ongoing nightmare at Fukushima. Reactors at the Fukushima Daichi complex are still emitting massive amounts of radioactivity into the air, water and food supply five months after the disaster struck on March 11.
WHERE? Dag Hammarskjold Plaza  (47th St. between 1st and 2nd Avenues), Manhattan
WHO? Public officials including Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), NGO leaders and concerned citizens will speak at the rally.
WHY? The ongoing tragedy in Japan highlights the serious threat that nuclear energy poses to the safety of the New York area.  Reuters this week reports that the Fukushima reactors are still not under control five months after the meltdown, and that “Nearly 80,000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes… Living in fear of radiation has become part of life for residents both near and far from the plant.  The crisis has prompted Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan to say he believes Japan should wean itself off nuclear power and to call for a bigger role for renewable sources.”
The Indian Point nuclear reactors are located just 35 miles north of midtown Manhattan.  More than 20 million people live and work within a 50-mile radius of Indian Point, including all of Manhattan and most of New York City.  Governor Cuomo and other prominent leaders have called for the closure of Indian Point.  The rally will call on our state and federal officials to heed the lesson of Fukushima, oppose the relicensing of Indian Point’s aging nuclear reactors, retire them and replace them with clean, safe, renewable and efficient energy.
Co-Sponsors: 350.0rg, Citizens Awareness Network, Riverkeeper, Time’s Up, UPROSE, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, and others
E-mail nuclearzero@brooklynpeace.org to work with our Nuclear Zero Committee on this issue!
Sign on-line petition to Mayor Bloomberg: Make NYC a Mayor’s City of Peace!
Ask Mayor Bloomberg to join the international effort to protect future generations. The rapidly growing number of Mayors for Peace is a powerful force generating real momentum toward peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons. To bequeath to our children a cleaner, safer, more peaceful and sustainable world, please join this effort toward genuine and lasting world peace. Please sign the petition today.
Work with our Nuclear Zero Committee.
Next meeting: Thursday Sept 22, 7 pm (POSTPONED from August 11.)
E-mail nuclearzero@brooklynpeace.org for the location.
Support Brooklyn For Peace! Become a member!
**10 billion dollars have been taken from Brooklyn taxpayers and wasted on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. A total of more than a trillion dollars overall has been spent on the wars. U.S.foreign policy and tax dollars are supporting the wrong policies in Israel, Latin America, Africa and the Mid East. In addition to countless lives here and abroad both lost and permanently maimed, we are also seeing this misallocation of resources result in drastic cutbacks of public services.
**Brooklyn For Peace provides a voice for resistance! We participate in demonstrations, vigils, letter-writing, phone-call and petition campaigns. We work with a wide variety of other groups. We’re out on the street with flyers and at neighborhood festivals. We provide visibility to the need for peaceful alternatives.
The following are a few of our activities thus far in 2011:
  • Peace Fair at Brooklyn College, with Juan Gonzalez as the keynote speaker, emphasizing “Cut the Military Budget! We Need New Priorities!”
  • Participation in April 9 National Anti-War demonstration
  • Nuclear Zero Town Hall Meeting, launching petition campaign to have NYC declared as a Mayor’s City of Peace
  • Distributing flyers emphasizing cost of war to Brooklyn, on Tax Day in Brooklyn (Flatbush-Midwood) and on May 12 at the city-wide demonstration against cutbacks
  • Community Meeting on Libya, resulting in a statement and petition calling for alternatives to military action
  • Ongoing vigils for Darfur, keeping this issue in public view
  • CineForos (films with discussion) on Latin America
  • Joining with community members to support the building of a mosque in Sheepshead Bay, and sponsoring a workshop on Islamophobia at the Peace Fair
Most of our work is done by volunteers. However, even this e-mail message which you are now reading costs money to send!
We are only able to maintain our multi-faceted program by employing a full-time Program Coordinator. Funds are also needed to rent space in which to hold events, to print flyers and publicity materials, and to video our events to make them accessible to those not able to attend in person.
If you aren’t already a member, please take the opportunity now to join as well as to make a financial contribution.
Your financial support is an important way of participating.
Click here to become a member. Annual membership is a suggested donation of $30 ($10 for students and those on a limited income.)
You can also mail your check to BFP, PMB 106, 41 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Click here to make a donation.
All contributions are fully tax-deductible, and will be acknowledged with our thanks!
Visit our website www.brooklynpeace.org for current and upcoming opportunities for participation.
Questions? Call 718-624-5921 or e-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org
]]> http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?feed=rss2&p=96 0 August 3, 2011 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=98 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=98#comments Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:44:10 +0000 admin http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=98 Make NYC a City of Peace!
August is Nuclear Free Future Month
Support BFP & Become a Member!
August is Nuclear Free Future Month. The anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima is August 6 and Nagasaki is August 9.
Brooklyn For Peace is petitioning Mayor Bloomberg to make NYC a Mayor’s City of Peace. We are asking him to join the international effort to protect future generations. The rapidly growing number of Mayors for Peace is a powerful force generating real momentum toward peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons. To bequeath to our children a cleaner, safer, more peaceful and sustainable world, please join the effort toward genuine and lasting world peace. Please sign the petition today.
For more information about the Mayor’s City of Peace and the petition, check out our Nuclear Zero Committee page. You can also sign the the Mayor’s For Peace CANT Project Petition, which petitions for the total abolition of nuclear weapons by 2020.
There are also additional community events in August. All are welcome to attend.
  • August 5, Friday: There will be a viewing of the documentary, In Our Hands, in Bay Ridge at 7:30 PM.
  • August 6, Saturday: There will be a Silent March and Vigil in Bay Ridge at 1:30 PM. We will be marching under one banner–Abolish Nuclear Weapons!
  • August 7, Sunday: Hiroshima/Nagasaki Memorial Event in Manhattan (sponsored by Pax Christi), 2:30-4:30PM. The event will be at Casserly Hall, below St. Joseph’s Greenwich Village Church. Enter on Washington Place just off Sixth Avenue, Manhattan.
  • August 10, Wednesday: War No More is Brooklyn For Peace’s monthly television program. It appears on the BCAT cablecast on the second Wednesday of every month at 10:00 p.m.
Please also consider joining Brooklyn For Peace as a member. You should become a member because:
10 billion dollars have been taken from Brooklyn taxpayers and wasted on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. A total of more than a trillion dollars overall has been spent on the wars. U.S.foreign policy and tax dollars are supporting the wrong policies in Israel, Latin America, Africa and the Mid East. In addition to countless lives here and abroad both lost and permanently maimed, we are also seeing this misallocation of resources result in drastic cutbacks of public services.
**Brooklyn For Peace provides a voice for resistance! We participate in demonstrations, vigils, letter-writing, phone-call and petition campaigns. We work with a wide variety of other groups. We’re out on the street with flyers and at neighborhood festivals. We provide visibility to the need for peaceful alternatives.**
The following are a few of our activities thus far in 2011:
  • Peace Fair at Brooklyn College, with Juan Gonzalez as the keynote speaker, emphasizing “Cut the Military Budget! We Need New Priorities!”
  • Participation in April 9 National Anti-War demonstration
  • Nuclear Zero Town Hall Meeting, launching petition campaign to have NYC declared as a Mayor’s City of Peace
  • Distributing flyers emphasizing cost of war to Brooklyn, on Tax Day in Brooklyn (Flatbush-Midwood) and on May 12 at the city-wide demonstration against cutbacks
  • Community Meeting on Libya, resulting in a statement and petition calling for alternatives to military action
  • Ongoing vigils for Darfur, keeping this issue in public view
  • CineForos (films with discussion) on Latin America
  • Joining with community members to support the building of a mosque in Sheepshead Bay, and sponsoring a workshop on Islamophobia at the Peace Fair
Most of our work is done by volunteers. However, even this e-mail message which you are now reading costs money to send!
We are only able to maintain our multi-faceted program by employing a full-time Program Coordinator. Funds are also needed to rent space in which to hold events, to print flyers and publicity materials, and to video our events to make them accessible to those not able to attend in person.
If you aren’t already a member, please take the opportunity now to join as well as to make a financial contribution.
Your financial support is an important way of participating.
Click here to become a member. Annual membership is a suggested donation of $30 ($10 for students and those on a limited income.)
You can also mail your check to BFP, PMB 106, 41 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
Click here to make a donation.
All contributions are fully tax-deductible, and will be acknowledged with our thanks!
Visit our website www.brooklynpeace.org for current and upcoming opportunities for participation.
Questions? Call 718-624-5921 or e-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org
]]> http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?feed=rss2&p=98 0 July 27, 2011 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=100 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=100#comments Wed, 27 Jul 2011 19:45:25 +0000 admin http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=100 Support Brooklyn For Peace:
Become a Member!!
Why should you become a member?
**Since 2001, ten billion dollars have been taken from Brooklyn taxpayers and wasted on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan  . A total of more than a trillion dollars overall has been spent on the wars. U.S.foreign policy and tax dollars are supporting the wrong policies in Israel, Latin America, Africa and the Mid East. In addition to countless lives here and abroad both lost and permanently maimed, we are also seeing this misallocation of resources result in drastic cutbacks of public services.
**Brooklyn For Peace provides a voice for resistance! We participate in demonstrations, vigils, letter-writing, phone-call and petition campaigns. We work with a wide variety of other groups. We’re out on the street with flyers and at neighborhood festivals. We provide visibility to the need for peaceful alternatives.
**Just a few of our activities thus far in 2011:
  • Peace Fair at Brooklyn College, with Juan Gonzalez as the keynote speaker, emphasizing “Cut the Military Budget! We Need New Priorities!”
  • Participation in April 9 National Anti-War demonstration
  • Nuclear Zero Town Hall Meeting, launching petition campaign to have NYC declared as a Mayor’s City of Peace
  • Distributing flyers emphasizing cost of war to Brooklyn, on Tax Day in Brooklyn (Flatbush-Midwood) and on May 12 at the city-wide demonstration against cutbacks
  • Community Meeting on Libya, resulting in a statement and petition calling for alternatives to military action
  • Ongoing vigils for Darfur, keeping this issue in public view
  • CineForos (films with discussion) on Latin America
  • Joining with community members to support the building of a mosque in Sheepshead Bay, and sponsoring a workshop on Islamophobia at the Peace Fair
Most of our work is done by volunteers. However, even this e-mail message which you are now reading costs money to send!
We are only able to maintain our multi-faceted program by employing a full-time Program Coordinator. Funds are also needed to rent space in which to hold events, to print flyers and publicity materials, and to video our events to make them accessible to those not able to attend in person.
If you aren’t already a member, please take the opportunity now to join as well as to make a financial contribution.
Your financial support is an important way of participating.
Click here to become a member.
Click here to make a donation. Annual membership is a suggested donation of $30 ($10 for students and those on a limited income.)
You can also mail your check to BFP, PMB 106, 41 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
All contributions are fully tax-deductible, and will be acknowledged with our thanks!
Visit our website www.brooklynpeace.org for current and upcoming opportunities for participation.
Questions? Call 718-624-5921 or e-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org
]]> http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?feed=rss2&p=100 0 July 13, 2011 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=91 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=91#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:46:18 +0000 admin http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=91 Brooklyn Reps Oppose War Spending: Call to thank them for their votes Action Alert

Call Congress: Vote AGAINST Free Trade Agreements Wed July 13, 10 pm: Does the U.S. Violate International Law?

Support Brooklyn For Peace: Become a member! Brooklyn

Congressional Reps Oppose War Spending   In two key votes in the House of Representatives last week Brooklyn Congressional Representatives took a clear stand in opposition to the Pentagon budget.  Representatives Clarke, Towns, Velazquez and Nadler all voted against the entire FY 2012 Defense Appropriations bill of $648.7 billion. (Unfortunately, however, the bill passed: Vote in the House was 336 in favor, 87 against.)   Brooklyn’s Jerrold Nadler, together with Barbara Lee, (D–California) and Walter Jones (R–North Carolina), sponsored an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill which would have stopped all funding for combat and allocated funds only for the safe withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan. (Also unfortunately, this amendment did not pass: Vote in the House was 97 in favor, 322 opposed) Once again Nadler, Clarke, Towns and Velazquez were in solid support of this important antiwar amendment.   In Brooklyn, the exception is Rep. Michael Grimm (R), whose district includes all of Staten Island plus part of Bay Ridge. Grimm continues to support spending on war.

If Clarke, Nadler, Towns, or Velazquez represents you, please call again to thank them for their vote. If you’re in Grimm’s district, also call to let him know what you think.

BIG THANKS to all of YOU took the time to make these calls. The continued pressure from grass-roots folks in Brooklyn has made our delegation one of the most consistently antiwar delegations in the country. However, we stilll have a long way to go!

The Obama Administration has clearly decided to continue the war in Afghanistan until at least 2014. At a time when vitally needed domestic programs are being cut, $648.7 for military spending is far in excess of what is needed to protect national security. ($530 billion is for the Pentagon, and $118 billion is to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.) These misplaced priorities affect everybody! We need to make stronger connections with a wide range of communities to make our voices heard. Work with our Peace and Economic Justice Committee to reach out to new constituencies in Brooklyn and beyond. Next meeting Tuesday July 19, 7 pm. E-mail pej@brooklynpeace.org for location and to be kept informed of future activities. Action Alert: Call Congress: Vote AGAINST Free Trade Agreements The package of three free trade deals – Korea FTA, Panama FTA and the Colombia FTA– is moving forward on the “fast track” in Congress. Despite the widespread opposition of labor and human rights supporters to the Colombia FTA in particular, the Obama administration is pushing to pass all three.  (The President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is even optimistic about having the agreements in place this month, during July.)   The Trade Adjustment Assistance Program which is part of these agreements acknowledges the loss of jobs a a consequence of Free Trade Agreements. As a result of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement, involving United States, Canada, and Mexico) 2 million jobs in the U.S. were lost in ten years. However, Republicans are objecting to the inclusion of the TAA programs in these agreements.

We must act NOW to stop these agreements! Please call your House Representative TODAY at 202-224-3121. Tell her/him that you oppose the Colmbia Free Trade Agreement, as well as the Panama and Korea FTA’s. Click here for local contact information and to learn who represents you.

Read the letter which BFP has sent to Congressional Representatives Clarke and Towns, who thus far are on record as supporting these FTA’s. To learn more about Free Trade Agreements, visit Public Citizen (Global Trade Watch).

For infomation on the U.S.-Colombia FTA, visit  Washington Office on Latin America  or The Mingas Network   To let us know that you called, or to work with our Latin America Committee, e-mail latinam@brooklynpeace.org

Wednesday June 8, 10 pm Does the U.S. Violate International Law? A Forum Series sponsored by BFP and others addressed this question in fall, 2010. Did you miss it? Catch the highlights! From Session Two: Tina Foster, Esq., International Justice Network Tune in by cable in Brooklyn at: Channel 35 (TimeWarner); Chanel 68 (Cablevision); Channel 83 (RCN); Channel 43 (Verizon) Don’t have cable access or you’re not in Brooklyn? Watch from anywhere on your computer: Live video-stream, must watch at time of the cablecast Go to BCAT TV Network,  scroll down to Channel 2 and Launch! (Requires Windows Media Player) DVD of the complete program is available. Have a friend or neighbor (especially a senior citizen) who can’t get out to our events? Let them know how to tune in on BCAT or get the DVD. “War No More” is BFP’s monthly Cable TVprogram, cablecast on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, 10 pm

Coming up:Wednesday August 10, 10 pm: From Session Two: Q & A with Tina Foster and Shahid Buttar (Bill of Rights Defense Committee) Questions?

Call 718-624-5921 or e-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org

Support Brooklyn For Peace! Become a member! Participate in one of our committees. Make a tax-deductible donation to suppport our work! Your financial support is an important way of participating. Questions? Call 718-624-5921 or e-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org

]]> http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?feed=rss2&p=91 0 July 6, 2011 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=109 http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=109#comments Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:48:33 +0000 admin http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?p=109
Brooklyn For Peace
Action Alert: Call Congress!
Bring War Dollars and Troops Home!
Included in this message:
Action Alert: Call Congress TODAY! (Vote imminent on Defense Appropriations Bill)
Support Brooklyn For Peace: Become a member!
Action Alert: Call Congress:
Vote to Bring War Dollars and All the Troops Home!
Call your Representative: (202) 225 3121
The House is expected to vote today or tomorrow (July 6 or 7) on the FY 2012 Defense Appropriations bill, which appropriates $648.7 billion to the military: $530 billion for the Pentagon, and $118 billion to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Obama Administration has clearly decided to continue the war in Afghanistan until at least 2014.
We need our Representatives to stand up and say “No!”
At a time when vitally needed domestic programs are being cut, $648.7 military spending is far in excess of what is needed to protect national security.
Call your Representative: Congressional switchboard  (202) 225 3121
Click here for local contact info and to learn who represents YOU.
Ask him/her to support the Lee/Nadler/Woolsey Amendment which limits funding for the Afghanistan War to the safe and responsible withdrawal of all US troops.
At the same time, insist that your Rep to vote NO on the entire Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations bill. Funding another bloated DoD budget, which devours 52% of all discretionary spending, is not making us safe or secure here at home.
As you make your call, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) will be delivering this letter (signed by Brooklyn For Peace and more than 100 national and local grassroots groups) to the Congressional Progressive Caucus and to key House Leaders:
Next meeting: Tuesday July 19, 7 pm.
E-mail pej@brooklynpeace.org for the location and to be informed of ongoing actions you can take.
Support Brooklyn For Peace!
Become a member! Participate in one of our committees.
Make a tax-deductible donation to suppport our work!
Your financial support is an important way of participating.
Questions? Call 718-624-5921 or e-mail bfp@brooklynpeace.org
]]> http://brooklynpeace.org/blog-newsletter-archive/?feed=rss2&p=109 0