[Hon]

From: Weekly News Update Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive Subject: CREED Calendar: 2 specials Followup-To: alt.activism.d Date: 4 Jan 2002 19:35:43 -0600 Organization: ? Lines: 180 Sender: daemon@pencil.math.missouri.edu Approved: map@pencil.math.missouri.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: pencil.math.missouri.edu X-Trace: dipsy.missouri.edu 1010194543 10185 128.206.49.147 (5 Jan 2002 01:35:43 GMT) X-Complaints-To: news@dipsy.missouri.edu NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002 01:35:43 +0000 (UTC)

1) KPFA ELECTIONS ORGANIZER SPEAKS IN NYC!!! JAN 5, 2002 2) Your support is requested for a very special delegation to Afghanistan

=======================================================================

David Greene, Election Coordinator at KPFA in Berkeley, will be talking on the election process in NYC. The details are below.

The Exploratory Committee of WBAI Local Advisory Board and the Elections Committee of Concerned Friends of WBAI

invite you to a

discussion of station board elections with David Greene, KPFA Election Coordinator

Saturday, January 5, 2002, 4 PM to 6:30 PM Seafarers & International House, 123 East 15th St at Irving Place, 2nd floor

o The WBAI community of staff and listener-supporters is going to elect a station board for the first time ever.

o The recent Pacifica settlement agreement requires station board elections within a year, based on the model used at KPFA in 2000 and 2001.

o David Greene will tell us how elections are conducted at KPFA. The information should aid us in electing the first station board at WBAI.

o As future voters, take advantage of this unique opportunity.

BE THERE AND START THE NEW YEAR RIGHT! =========================================================================

2)From: Leslie Cagan Subject: your support is requested... Date: Thu, 03 Jan 2002 19:04:01 -0800

Dear Friends,

I hope everyone had a good holiday and a happy New Year. I cant think of a better way to start this new year than to let you know about an important trip to Afghanistan and to ask for your financial support for this effort.

A friend of mine, Rita Lasar, lost her brother in the attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11th. You might have heard the story about the man who would not leave his friend in a wheelchairthat was Ritas brother, Abe Zelmanowitz. Now, Rita, along with a small delegation of others who lost loved ones on 9.11, is planning on traveling to Afghanistan to meet with the families and friends of people killed during the war. (More details about the trip and people participating are included below.)

I first met Rita in the fall of 2000 as I and others started to develop Concerned Friends of WBAI, the community based activist group that as been fighting to reclaim WBAI and is part of the national movement to return the Pacifica radio network to its mission. When I learned of her loss during the 9.11 attack I contacted Rita to see if she would speak at a demonstration I was helping to organize against the coming war in Afghanistan. Still grieving, Rita decided she had to speak out and delivered an eloquent statement at the October 7th Not In Our Name demonstration here in New York City.

The delegation to Afghanistan is being organized by Global Exchange; a San Francisco based organization I have worked with for many years. The group is scheduled to leave in a little more than a week, and as you might imagine there is a great deal of work still to do to put everything together. One critical piece is the need to raise upwards of $5,000 to make sure all of the costs of Rita and the others will be met. I am sending a donation today and hope you will do likewise!

If you can, please take a moment right now to send a donation: checks should be made out to: Global Exchange/Afghan trip and sent to 2017 Mission St. #303, San Francisco, CA 94110. They are tax deductible.

On their return I am sure the groups participants will share their experiences as a contribution to the work of the anti-war movement around the country. In addition, Global Exchange will be setting up a Fund for Afghan Victims of U.S. Bombing.

I hope this important trip to Afghanistan will be a sample of many good, strong, positive organizing efforts we can all participate in as this year unfolds. Thanks in advance for your financial support of this trip!

Peace, Leslie Cagan ------------------------------------------------- DRAFT ITINERARY FOR 2-WEEK TRIP TO AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN Based on 10 days in region, two days travel on each end

Day 1: Arrive in Islamabad, drive immediately to Peshawar (2 1/2 hours) Peshawar: stay in Green Hotel Evening meeting with Head of Pakistan Human Rights Commission on refugee crisis Day 2: meeting with victims families, arranged by Afghan Womens Network and International Human Rights Law Group Meet with HAWCA: Humanitarian Afghan Women and Children Association Dinner with family Day 3: 9am depart for Jalalabad 3 hour ride Visit refugee camp outside Jalalabad (Sir Shaliee camp) Visit hospital where many of the bomb victims were treated Meet with the Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross Dinner with Mayor, stay at Mayors house Day 4: Visit Girls School - do a dedication for a sister school Visit nearby villages that were targets of air strikes Day 5: Travel to Kabul - six hour ride Intercontinental Hotel Dinner with several invitees: UN rep, Rep from Dept. of Womens Affairs Day 6: childrens hospital Home visits Orphanage Dinner with family/spend night Day 7: Meetings with victims families Meeting with World Food Program Widows Bakery project Dinner with advisors/potential people to run fund Day 8: Internally displaced peoples camp Street childrens center US Embassy and new government rep Press briefing Going away party Day 9: leave for Peshawar Day 10: travel to Islamabad; return home ------------------------------------------------------

BIOS OF THE PARTICIPANTS. David Potorti is a writer and radio/television producer residing in Cary, North Carolina. He lived and worked in New York City and Los Angeles for eighteen years, where he served as a trade journalist covering the television business, a writer/producer of network television promotion, and a print news reporter. He was a staff producer in the marketing and promotion department of the ABC television network and has worked as a freelance marketer and producer for NBC, HBO/Cinemax, Showtime/The Movie Channel, The Cartoon Network, UPN and The WB. Since moving to North Carolina, he has become a regular writer for The Independent Weekly newspaper in Durham, a writer/researcher for UNC-TV's "Folkways" series, a part-time host on WUNC-FM in Chapel Hill, and a correspondent for Pacifica Network News in Washington, DC. He also works with Democracy South, the North Carolina Center for Voter Education, and the Empowerment Project on issues of social justice. David's brother Jim was killed in the World Trade Center attack.

Colleen Kelly is a family nurse practitioner working in an urban high school. She has worked as a pediatric nurse in various hospitals as well at Covenant House, a residence for runaway adolescents. Along with two other nurse practitioners, she started a free clinic in 1997 serving the adult uninsured population of East Harlem. The clinic was recently renamed in memory of her brother William H, Kelly Jr. who was killed at the World Trade Center on Sept 11. She lives in New York City with her husband and three children, ages 5, 7 and 9.

Rita Lasar is 70 years old, the mother of 2 sons, Raphael and Matthew and the grandmother of Emma aged 7 and Jake aged 15. She and her husband, Ted owned a small electronics company which they ran until Ted had a stroke. She closed the business to stay home to care for him until he died. She then was a volunteer and then paid worker in the first Clinton campaign. After that she ran the office of a candidate for a seat for the New York City Council. Recently she was a volunteer in the New York City Schools program where she taught 1st and 2nd graders to read on a one to one basis. Rita's brother Abe Zelmanowitz was killed in the World Trade Center attack.

Barry Amundson is a graphic designer and computer system administrator living in Oakland California. Barry has worked as an art director, interactive designer and production artist for design, advertising, branding and internet companies in San Francisco for the past 6 years. He has a B.A. in Art from the University of Iowa with an emphasis in design and photography, 1995. His brother Craig was killed in the Pentagon attack.

======================================================================= Weekly News Update on the Americas * Nicaragua Solidarity Network of NY 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 * 212-674-9499 fax: 212-674-9139 http://home.earthlink.net/~nicadlw/wnuhome.html * wnu@igc.apc.org =======================================================================

[Hon]

Barry Amundson is the twenty-something America-hating turd who is behind Peaceful Tomorrows, which is the web site that helped to coordinate this attack on the Bush ad.

Peaceful Tomorrow is paid for with money from Teresa Heinz Kerry.

[sport]

Not surprising.

Anywhere in the universe if anything slimy is being done, if you dig deep enough, you will always find a clinton.

[alisasny]

and the plot thickens.....

Heinz Foundation supports this group financially to get out their message.....by their its either Kerry Heinz of the few disgruntled families who think they own the rights to 911.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

WOW.....thanks for this enlightening research. It doesn't surprise me, but your post is a wonderful confirmation.

[backhoe]

Cross-link:

-BUSH TRADE CENTER AD SPARKS CONTROVERSY--Judge for yourself--

[King Black Robe]

hmmm...interesting. Nice work.

[Hon]

Families of 9/11 Victims Report on Their Visit to Afghanistan

On January 27th, several hundred people crowded into the Park Slope United Methodist Church, in Brooklyn, New York, to welcome back some of the family members of 9/11 victims who had returned the previous day from a trip to Afghanistan. Their delegation was organized by the human rights group, Global Exchange, to connect the experiences of families who lost loved ones on September 11th with families who have lost loved ones to U.S. bombing in Afghanistan. Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! hosted the welcome back event, which also served to kick off fundraising for a new Afghan victims' relief fund.

Two of the four family members who made the trip, as well as Medea Benjamin, founding director of Global Exchange, spoke about their experience in Afghanistan. Rita Lasar, a 70 year old New Yorker, lost her brother, Abe Zelmanowitz, at the World Trade Center. Also present was Kelly Campbell, whose brother-in-law and long-time friend, Craig Amundsen, was killed at the Pentagon. Kelly went to Afghanistan representing Craig's widow, Amber, who has passionately spoken out against the U.S. government actions in the aftermath of September 11th. Kelly and Rita were accompanied on the trip by Derrill Bodley and his stepdaughter, Eva Rupp. Derrill's 20 year old daughter, Deora, was a passenger on Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania. He decided to participate in the trip because he knew his daughter would've wanted him to go.

Medea Benjamin began the evening by explaining the genesis of the plan to bring the families together. Global Exchange had sent a delegation to Afghanistan in late November. Surprised by the number of civilians whose lives had been devastated by the bombing campaign, they came back determined to increase American consciousness of what was actually happening to people as a result of the "war on terror." They also came back determined to find out why there has been such a high civilian casualty rate in Afghanistan. Estimates of civilians killed have ranged from 2000 - 4000 and the actual number may be much higher. When the Global Exchange delegation returned from Afghanistan they received a tepid response from a press not eager to cover stories that seemed to place blame on the U.S. government. It was then that Global Exchange devised the family meeting plan, knowing that it would be a once in a lifetime experience for all involved, as well as irresistible to the press. When they began calling up victims' family members, they talked to many people who considered the idea a good one, but were themselves too distraught or who were concerned about the dangers inherent in such a trip.

The first person to commit to go was Rita Lasar. Once she came onboard, they were able to enlist the remaining three family members in the delegation. They spent nine days in Afghanistan visiting people who'd been affected by the bombing, visiting schools, and meeting with government officials. Their goal: to send a message to the world that there are Americans who care about the Afghan people and that there is a response to the tragedy of September 11th that doesn't involve dropping bombs on people.

Amy Goodman welcomed the "return of real heroes" before introducing Kelly Campbell. Kelly spoke about her brother-in-law, Craig. She spoke about his memorial service, which was held the same day that the U.S. started bombing Afghanistan, and about how she was torn on that day between wanting to focus on Craig's life, while at the same time being concerned about what was happening to people on the other side of the world in the name of avenging his death. She thought about all the people in Afghanistan who would be affected by the bombing and whose stories would never be told. When the chance to go to Afghanistan came, she considered it a "gift."

As she spoke about her experience in Afghanistan, she held up photos of some of the people she'd met. The first photo was of a 6 year old boy whose sister had been killed and who had refused to speak or walk since. She held up a photo of a young man who had lost a leg in the bombing and was now unable to work and support his family. She held up a photo of a young woman whose house had been bombed, which killed several members of her family. Kelly ended by noting that they had only visited Kabul, which was not one of the most heavily bombed parts of the country.

She also spoke about visiting a girls' school in Kabul. Kelly's mother is a teacher in Iowa and had enlisted her class to write letters to children in Afghanistan. While there, Kelly delivered the letters to a class at the school for girls. The children there wrote back to the American children and Kelly returned with cards, most expressing sympathy for what had happened on September 11th. As Kelly noted, "These kids understand terror."

Rita Lasar also spoke. She talked about being handed pieces of paper with the names and addresses of people killed by their families desperate to have their grief recognized. She also spoke about meeting a woman whose husband and 5 children had been killed in the bombing. As a result, she'd been reduced to begging. She came to the US embassy to deliver a letter to the American families that she'd had translated, but was turned away by officials at the Embassy who told her "We don't accept beggars." This reminded Rita of the outpouring of sympathy she had received from politicians and from people around the world after her brother was killed. "I lost one person, she lost 8," she said.

Now the family members are traveling around the country to promote the Afghan Victims' Fund. Kelly and Rita, along with other victims' families, are also starting an organization called "September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows." Determined to turn her personal tragedy into something positive for the world, Rita declared, "We're committing the rest of our lives to this cause." The evening raised more than $7000 for the victims fund.

photo: Amy Goodman, Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange, Rita Lasar, and Kelly Campbell

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.

[posted 2/2/02]

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[Sub-Driver]

Great post.

[Fresh Wind]

I first met Rita in the fall of 2000 as I and others started to develop Concerned Friends of WBAI, the community based activist group that as been fighting to reclaim WBAI and is part of the national movement to return the Pacifica radio network to its mission.

WBAI is a cesspool, but I suspect if it gets "back to its roots" it will be even worse. I have an audio file in which one of their personnel proudly proclaims that "we don't celebrate the 4th of July here".

[habs4ever]

Golly, better alert the FRN so they can update their research project ;-)

[jigsaw]

  Rita Lasar

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

To hell with the phoney families of 911,they are just a bunch greedy democrats.If it had been up to John "boy" Kerry,he would've built an airstrip so the terrorists could practice their takeoffs and landings.These 911 families are some of the most ungrateful people i've ever seen!

[Only1choice____Freedom]

Bob:
http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/gallery/DCcivildisobedience/bobsignflag

Rita:
http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/gallery/DCcivildisobedience/ritaspeaking

Peaceful Tomorrows members Adele Welty, Rita Lasar and Bob McIlvaine prepare for march to the Capitol:
http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/gallery/DCcivildisobedience/abrchurch

Oh yea, these are your run of the mill 9/11 relatives.

The media didn't have to go far to get these guys. They were most likely calling Clinton weeks ago.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

Rita is arrested:

http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/gallery/DCcivildisobedience/ritaarrest

[Only1choice____Freedom]

A better lix of Rita:

http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/gallery/DCcivildisobedience/ritahandcuffing

[RightField]

at work ... read at home ... bump

[COURAGE]

I have E-mailed Sean, Brit, Bill, Rush, Laura, Mike, Hugh, etc. etc.. Also GWB and company.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

Give her a call:

Rita Lasar, 212-253-7651

She is planning on protesting the RNC convention in NY.

"The unifying theme about the Republican convention next year is keep your hands off ground zero," said Rita Lasar, a founder of September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a group of about 80 relatives of attack victims. "Do not make a political football out of this. This is a place where very close, dear relatives died. It's not the backdrop for a political campaign."

From:

http://www.rncnotwelcome.org/media.html

We are going to be seeing a lot more of her.

[Hon]

Hey, it looks like Teresa ponied up for a trip to Iraq for these worthies as well:

"Return from Iraq

September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows Fundraiser
Hosted by Amy Goodman ("Democracy Now")
Park Slope United Methodist Church, Brooklyn New York
Wednesday, January 15, 8pm

Join four members of September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, all of
whom lost loved ones on 9/11, as they return from a people-to-people journey
for peace to Iraq. Hear their stories of meeting Iraqi families and touring
hospitals, schools, water treatment plants, and other civilian facilities in
an effort to put a human face on the people of Iraq.

Meet Colleen Kelly, Kristina Olsen, Terry Rockefeller, Kat Tinley, and host
Amy Goodman. Support September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows as it
seeks effective alternatives to war!

Park Slope United Methodist Church, at corner of 6th Avenue and 8th Street,
Park Slope, BROOKLYN NY.

Nearest subway: "F" train to 7th Ave. stop, back of the train coming from
Manhattan.

Contact Elizabeth Braddon
psumcoffice@juno.com
1-718-768-3093

www.peacefultomorrows.org"

http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-nyc-photo/2003-January/001430.html

What a great gig for them!

[Only1choice____Freedom]

Bob from http://www.princeton.edu/webannounce/Princeton_Announcements/Archived/2004/FEB_Text.html

The Princeton Peace Network will present a screening of a documentary about the war in Afghanistan and a short talk by the father of a victim of the Sept. 11 attacks on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

"Civilian Casualties: Fragments From the War on Terror" will be shown at 7:30 p.m. in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall. It will be followed by remarks by Bob McIlvaine, whose son, Robert McIlvaine, a member of Princeton's class of 1997, was killed in the World Trade Center attacks.