Peace Group Talks

So My Heart Can Speak:
A Story of Courage in Rwanda

Sister M. Juvenal of the Benebikira Sisters of Rwanda and Sister Ann Fox will discuss the time of the genocide in Rwanda during 1994 in which over one million people were killed in 100 days. During this time the Benebikira Sisters provided singular and heroic leadership and courage in sheltering children, women and elders, and boldly facing those responsible for the genocide. They will also discuss their central role in the remarkable recovery and transformation now taking place throughout Rwanda and share their insights about the country, culture and history of Rwanda.

For their outstanding courage and compassion the Benebikira Sisters were presented with the Courage of Conscience Award by The Peace Abbey on September 26, 2010.

Sister M. Juvenal Mukamurama is the former Superior General of the Benebikira Sisters and is currently studying in the graduate programs at Lesley University and Boston College. Sister Ann Fox is the Co-Director of the Paraclete Foundation that has overseen fund-raising and construction of schools for children, as well as many other services and projects in Rwanda.

The talk is sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group and is being held on Sunday, November 14, 2010, at 7:00 PM at the United Church in Walpole, 30 Common Street. People should park in the parking lot to the right of the church, using the driveway after the Center for Community Counseling and Education house, and enter the church using the door at the front of the church.

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Practices of Peace and Nonviolence

Claude AnShin Thomas, the author of the best selling book “AT HELL'S GATE: A Soldier’s Journey from War to Peace” will speak on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 7:30 PM at the Walpole Public Library. The talk is sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group. In this talk Claude AnShin recounts his dramatic coming-of-age story and spiritual odyssey from combat soldier to Zen Buddhist Monk, International Advocate of Nonviolence, and Author. He offers profound insight into ways we can transform suffering and violence in our own lives and therefore in our world. His struggle to deal with the trauma of his childhood and the war in Vietnam and to find personal peace and spiritual insight is a prism through which to view America over the last thirty years – our difficulty in coming to terms with the legacy of Vietnam, our spiritual hunger, and our need to come to terms with our massive power and our use of violence.

“Everyone has their Vietnam,” Claude writes, “everyone has experienced trauma and everyone, if they want, can find healing and peace through looking deeply at the nature of their suffering. War is a collective expression of individual suffering.” The seeds of war and violence are planted early and often, and it is only through our actions and insights personally that we can hope to end war globally. What is startling in these days of the “war on terrorism” is that we rarely hear from the soldiers themselves. As a highly decorated helicopter crew chief who was wounded in battle and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart, Claude AnShin speaks with an authenticity and an honesty that is extremely compelling to a wide audience. He can speak with direct experience about the realities of war, about what we are sending young men and women to do, and about the effect that making war has on all of us.

Talk by Benebira Sisters on Rwanda on November 14

Please join us for a talk by the Benebikira Sisters of Rwanda on their heroic leadership during the time of the genocide and their role in the recovery and transformation afterwards.

So My Heart Can Speak:
A Story of Courage in Rwanda

Sister M. Juvenal of the Benebikira Sisters of Rwanda and Sister Ann Fox will discuss the time of the genocide in Rwanda during 1994 in which over one million people were killed in 100 days. During this time the Benebikira Sisters provided singular and heroic leadership and courage in sheltering children, women and elders, and boldly facing those responsible for the genocide. They will also discuss their central role in the remarkable recovery and transformation now taking place throughout Rwanda and share their insights about the country, culture and history of Rwanda.

For their outstanding courage and compassion the Benebikira Sisters were presented with the Courage of Conscience Award by The Peace Abbey on September 26, 2010.

Sister M. Juvenal Mukamurama is the former Superior General of the Benebikira Sisters and is currently studying in the graduate programs at Lesley University and Boston College. Sister Ann Fox is the Co-Director of the Paraclete Foundation that has overseen fund-raising and construction of schools for children, as well as many other services and projects in Rwanda.

The talk is sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group and is being held on Sunday, November 14, 2010, at 7:00 PM at the United Church in Walpole, 30 Common Street. People should park in the parking lot to the right of the church, using the driveway after the Center for Community Counseling and Education house, and enter the church using the door at the front of the church.

Peace Vigil on Saturday, August 7, 10am

Please join us for a peace vigil on Saturday, August 7 from 10:00 to 11:00 AM as we call for the end of Afghanistan and Iraqi wars and the redirection of funds to human needs. The vigil will be held at the Walpole Common at the corner of Main and West Streets across from the Walpole Cooperative Bank. We are also observing the anniversary of the dropping of atomic bomb on Hiroshima and calling for nuclear disarmament.

Talk by Gaza Freedom Flotilla Filmmaker

There will be an interesting talk on Friday night by a Gaza Freedom Flotilla Filmmaker. Please see the information at the Justice for Peace web site. An extract is below. It’s an opportunity to hear a first-hand account of what happened.

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Gaza Freedom Flotilla Filmmaker Speaks Out

When: Friday, July 9, 2010, 7:00 pm
Where: Calvary Church, 300 Mass. Ave., Arlington

Scott Hamann, 29 year old filmmaker from Portland, Maine, had joined the Gaza Freedom Flotilla to document its mission when it fell victim to a deadly Israeli attack by IDF navy commandos. On July 9th he will speak about his first-hand experiences and show his own footage from the raid.

Nine passengers--among them a nineteen-year-old American citizen--were shot dead by Israeli forces when on May 31st they descended upon the Mavi Marmara passenger vessel in international waters in the dead of night. The flotilla, which carried more than 600 passengers from nearly 40 countries, was attempting to breach the illegal blockade of Gaza and to bring ten tons of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Scott was traveling on the Challenger I, an American-flagged ship, when it was forcibly overtaken by the Israeli military. He was brought to the Israeli port of Ashdod, detained and then deported along with hundreds of other activists, journalists and human rights workers.

Hamann will speak about his personal experience on the flotilla, the illegality of Israel’s actions, his detainment in Be’er Sheva Prison and about the shameless brutality of the Israeli police and Navy that he witnessed firsthand. Despite soldiers’ efforts to confiscate all media taken by flotilla passengers, Scott was able to smuggle out his own video footage of the Israeli raid.

Medical Responder on the Haitian Earthquake Disaster - Tuesday, May 25 at 7:30

Please join us for a talk by Steven Cohen on his report as a Medical Responder to the Haitian Earthquake Disaster. The talk will be on  Tuesday, May 25 at 7:30 PM  at The United Church in Walpole. See below for more details.
  
A Report by a Medical Responder to the Haitian Earthquake Disaster will be given in Walpole on  Tuesday, May 25 at 7:30 PM.  Steven Cohen, a member of the International Medical Surgical Response Team (IMSURT) will talk about his experience as a medical responder, providing disaster relief in the days immediately following the  January 12 earthquake.
 
Cohen’s description of his work at the Gheskio Clinic in Port Au Prince will give insight into conditions preceding the earthquake, the profound devastation that occurred, and the ongoing needs of the Haitian people. Cohen is a Nurse Anesthetist at Newton Wellesley Hospital. IMSURT is a division ot the US Governments Disaster Team which mobilizes for both national and international disasters.
        
Sponsored by the Walpole Peace and Justice Group, this Report by a Medical Responder to the Haitian Earthquake Disaster will be held at the United Church in Walpole, 30 Common Street, in the chapel. People may park in the parking lot to the right of the church, using the driveway after the Center for Community Counseling and Education house, and enter the church using the right side door.

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Please note - that the meeting will be in the chapel, not the Bradford Lewis Hall.

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Vigil on Walpole Common, Saturday, May 1, 10:00 - 11:00 AM

Please join us for a peace vigil on Saturday, May 1 from 10:00 to 11:00 AM as we call for the end of Afghanistan and Iraqi wars and the redirection of funds to human needs. The vigil will be held at the Walpole Common at the corner of Main and West Streets across from the Walpole Cooperative Bank. Tragically, the number of U.S. service personnel killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of the war reached 1,000 on February 23, not to mention the thousands of Afghanistan troops and civilians killed and wounded and the hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled the ongoing fighting.

Talk on U.S. budget on April 29

On Thursday, 7:00 – 9:00 PM, April 29, at the Natick Public Library, Chris Hellman, Communications liaison from National Priorities Project will present a powerpoint presentation entitled "Out of Balance". The topic will be the US budget and the huge disproportion in military spending vs human needs, with US defense spending almost equaling all other nations. The program is open to the public. Pax Christi Metrowest is organizing the event and Metrowest Peace Action and Military Families Speak Out are cosponsors.

Benjamin Day - The Need for a Massachusetts Single Payer Health Plan

The Walpole Peace and Justice Group is sponsoring a talk by Benjamin Day on The Need for a Massachusetts Single Payer Health Plan on Tuesday, April 27th at 7:30 PM.
 
The health reform plan just passed by Congress leaves millions of people with no or limited health coverage and does little to control costs. Benjamin Day will speak on the MassCare campaign for a single, publicly financed health insurance plan. This plan will cut costs and provide comprehensive health care to all residents in Massachusetts. Almost all developed nations have some form of universal, publicly financed health care which covers all people while realizing enormous savings.  The single payer plan will give the Town of Walpole vital relief, removing the health insurance cost from the town budget, freeing up those funds for other badly needed town services and education.

Benjamin Day is the Executive Director of Mass-Care, the Massachusetts Campaign for Single Payer Health Care. Day's background is in labor research and labor education. He is the co-editor the Encyclopedia of Strikes in American History, and author of a number of articles on labor organizing and health care reform. Benjamin has had the privilege of becoming sick in England, where he lived for a year under socialized medicine. He currently organizes the campaign for single payer health care in Massachusetts and serves part-time as the state coordinator for Massachusetts Physicians for a National Health Program.
 
The talk is being held at the United Church in Walpole, 30 Common Street,  in the Bradford Lewis Hall. People should park in the parking lot to the right of the church, using the driveway after the Center for Community Counseling and Education house, and enter the church using the right side door.

Screening of "View from a Grain of Sand", Tuesday, April 13

The Walpole Peace and Justice Group will be showing the award winning documentary, View from a Grain of Sand, on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 7:30 PM at the United Church in Walpole, 30 Common Street. Filmed by Meena Nanji, View from a Grain of Sand, documents the state of women in Afghanistan through the eyes of three Afghan women: a doctor, a teacher, and a rights activist.
 
 “Illustrated with vérité footage, interviews and archival material, their personal stories lead us through the minefield of Afghanistan’s complex history, and provide illuminating context for Afghanistan’s current situation and the ongoing battle women face, even now, to gain basic human rights. Shot over a four-year period in the sprawling refugee camps of north-western Pakistan and in the war-torn city of Kabul, the documentary constructs a harrowing, thought-provoking, yet intimate portrait of the plight of Afghan women over the last 30 years—from the rule of King Zahir Shah to the current Hamid Karzai government. The women are powerfully moving as they re-define strength and resilience in the face of on-going struggle, and give a full and visceral picture of a still divided and brutalized nation. As world attention has shifted to other crises, this project re-focuses the camera on Afghanistan, remembering the voices of those most vulnerable and most affected by the conflicts: women.”
 
People may park in the parking lot to the right of the church, using the driveway after the Center for Community Counseling and Education, and enter the church using the right side door.

In Natick, protests on war anniversary low-key this year

Demonstrators marched in Natick yesterday to protest US involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. (John Blanding/Globe Staff)

From boston.com:

“Although our numbers may be small, our voices need to be heard,’’ said Rob Kearns, 43, of Walpole, a former Marine, a member of Veterans for Peace, and a regular attendee at any peace events.

Memorial Vigil / Walk to Natick Army Base March 20

The MetroWest Peace Group and the Peace Abby are sponsoring a peace walk to mark the 7th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq on March 20.

They will be meeting at Noon at the gasebo on the Common in downtown Natick. Intersection of Rte 135 and 27 (North Main St. ) They will stand for a short while there, then walk up Rte 27 (No. Main) towards the Natick Labs with their signs. They will stand on the corner of No Main and Kansas Street for a while and then walk back to the Natick Common. It is approximately 2 miles total, maybe less.

See the Metro West press release below for more information.

If you would like to participate in this peace walk and want to carpool from Walpole, please be in touch.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Memorial Vigil and Walk to Natick Army Base March 20 is the 7th Anniversary of our country's invasion of Iraq. On Saturday, March 20, there will be a vigil and march to remember that we still occupy Iraq and Afghanistan, and acknowledge the human toll. Any one who would like to join this event should gather at the Natick Common Bandstand at 12:00. We will then walk to the Natick Army Base where we will read the names of those from Massachusetts who have lost their lives in these conflicts. We will also remember in silence the Iraqi and Afghanistan civilians, dead and wounded in this long conflict.

This is a peaceful, but clear message to remind all of us, that we are at war with no real end in sight. The Peace Abbey has offered the use of the memorial stone which honors unknown civilians killed in wars for this occasion. If enough people would like to participate we would push the stone on its caisson from the Peace Abbey in Sherborn to the Natick Common.

Sponsored by MetrowestPeaceAction
If you are interested in these events you can contact the Peace Abbey at info@peaceabbey.org

Peace Group Events

Next events for the Peace Group are:

Friday, March 5, 7:00 PM, “Follow the Women Tour” at the Peace Abby. See details below courtesy of Madeline. I believe Shelia sent out an email for those looking to car pool.

Saturday, March 6, 10:00 – 11:00 AM – Vigil

Sunday, March 7, 2:00 – 5:00 PM, Peace Group Social and French slides at Czachorowski’s, families, spouses invited

Action Item: Call Congressman Lynch this morning and ask him to support Dennis Kucinich privileged resolution to end the Afghan War, see the attached email from Carol Coakley.

Follow The Women Tour

Friday, March 5th 7PM Collen McGuire will be at The Peace Abbey to make a presentation about the organization that brings over 200 women cyclists every year to the Middle East for peace, solidarity, and empowerment. Colleen, a co- founder and organizer of the tour said,"The tour's purpose is to call attention to the fact that women and children suffer most in regions of conflict-innocent victims of hostile government policies".
Colleen has participated in the tour four times and has met and cycled with some amazing women including the First Lady of Syria and Queen Rania of Jordan.

Colleen will be showing slides and talking about her experiences and inviting American women to join the tour.
Ora McGuire, Coleen's mother, a wonderful peacemaker lives locally in Walpole and will be with us for the evening. All are welcome! We extend the invitation to young people as well.

Walpole Peace and Justice Group on the Walpole Common, Saturday, March 6, 10:00 - 11:00 AM

Please join us for a peace vigil on Saturday, March 6 from 10:00 to 11:00 AM as we call for the end of Afghanistan and Iraqi wars and the redirection of funds to human needs. The vigil will be held at the Walpole Common at the corner of Main and Front Streets across from the Walpole Cooperative Bank. Tragically, the number of U.S. service personnel killed in Afghanistan since the beginning of the war reached 1,000 on February 23, not to mention the thousands of Afghanistan troops and civilians killed and wounded and the thousands of refugees who have fled the ongoing fighting.

Peace vigils are held on the first Saturday of the month from 10:00 to 11:00 AM on the Walpole Common.

NEU Conference on Haiti

The New England United Peace is sponsoring a Conference on Haiti on Saturday, February 27, see below. Please let us know if you are interested in attending.

February 27, 2010
New England United
General Meeting
1:00 - 5:00 pm
Who killed Haiti and why? The US occupation and the fight to rebuild a country free from exploitation.

Hear reports from medical personnel just back from relief efforts, and Ashley Smith, who reported from Haiti during the 1994 occupation. Smith has been active in the Haiti solidarity movement since the 1990's. He has written about Haiti for the International Socialist Review, Znet, and Counterpunch.

This program will be followed by the regular monthly meeting of New England United. Proposed agenda includes:

• the March 20 antiwar march on DC
• new campaigns to end the siege of Gaza
• evaluation of Jan. 30 Conference

Saturday February 27, 1-5 pm
Encuentro 5 , 33 Harrison, Boston, MA

Next Peace Vigil: Saturday, March 6, 10:00 to 11:00 AM