February 2003 Meeting First United Methodist Church of Normal February 2, 2003 Sunday's BNCPJ meeting, held at the First United Methodist Church of Normal, was attended by 55 members of the Greater Bloomington/Normal community. Following are highlights organized into three sections: Upcoming Events and Opportunities, Recent BNCPJ Activities, and Discussion Notes. A hearty thanks to all who attended and contributed to the strength and energy of the group. A warm invitation to those unable to make the meeting to join us next month: Sunday, March 2, from 4-5:30 p.m. at the Wesley Foundation/First United Methodist Church. Upcoming Events and Opportunities 1 Get a "NO IRAQ WAR" yard sign or magnetic bumper sticker by contacting Mary and David Williams at 452-6742 or mrpwilliams@yahoocom. Donations of $4 for signs, $2.50 for bumper stickers are encouraged and welcome but not required. 2 Watch/listen for details of BNCPJ's action/response to commencement of US attacks on Iraq, as well as those of a February 15 anti-war rally in Chicago. Come out to raise your voice! 3 The B/N community is invited to participate in ISU Student Peace Action Network (SPAN) Peace Week activities: - Thursday, February 6, 7 p.m.: Global Review: Peacemaking - Wednesday, February 5: Viewing of "Dr. Strangelove" - Friday, February 14, 11 a.m. to 12 Noon: Anti-war rally on the North end of the ISU quad 4 Donate cash or supplies to the Peace is Cool Club for Iraq War Relief packages to be sent by March 31 to the American Friends Service Committee/ Mennonite Central Committee for shipment to Iraq. Contact Rachel or Dylan Hile-Broad at 454-5463 or hilebroad@earthlink.net. 5 Participate in the February visits to the offices of Representative Jerry Weller in Peoria and/or those of Senators Dick Durbin and Peter Fitzgerald in Springfield. Contact Leslie Manskey at 829-1297 or lamanskey@webtv.net. 6 Attend a BNCPJ Pot Luck and Salon to view and discuss the video, "Hidden Wars of Desert Storm." Contact Susan Heiser at 828-2507 or sheiser810@aol.com. 7 See the attached update of web addresses as strong resources for alternative and credible mainstream news. Note particularly truthout.com for a daily list of top stories from a wide variety of sources, MoveOn.org, and sites for the major periodicals. 8 Sign a petition calling for a Normal Town Council resolution against war with Iraq modeled on the one considered in Urbana last week. Contact Rachel Goad at 454-2877 or rkgoad@ilstu.edu. 9 Encourage NION letter supporters who missed contributing to and/or signing the letter to write their own supportive letter to the Pantagraph. 10 BNCPJ Calendar - Monday, February 3, 5 p.m.: ISU's Channel 10 "First at Five" interviews BNCPJ's Bob Broad - Tuesday, February 4, 7-9 p.m.: Coordinator/Team Leaders' Meeting - Sunday, March 2, 4-5:30 p.m.: Monthly Meeting featuring a panel discussion of Middle East issues with ISU's Jamal Nassar and others - Monday-Friday, March 24-28: Peace is Cool Club packing and sending Iraq War Relief packages to American Friends Service Committee/Mennonite Central Committee - Sunday, April 6, 4-5:30 p.m.: Monthly Meeting featuring discussion with the Pantagraph's news editor Terry Greenberg and perhaps other local media representatives NOTE THAT ALL BNCPJ MEETINGS FEBRUARY THROUGH MAY 2003 WILL BE HELD AT THE Wesley Foundation/First United Methodist Church, 211 School Street, Normal. Recent BNCPJ Activities 1 January 18 Rally in Washington D.C. was attended by several SPAN members, among them Rachel Goad, Matt Reeder, Matt Hinmann, and Christopher Ball. We applaud this group's courage, clarity, and commitment and look to support them in future SPAN activities. 2 January 18 Not In Our Name letter printed in the Pantagraph . Coverage of the ad by the paper's Scott Richardson and by Heart of Illinois television. BNCPJ raised more than $600 for this effort which galvanized the local peace and justice movement in relation to US tensions with Iraq. Thanks to Jim Skibo, David Feurzeig, Jan Cox, Fariba Murray, and Christina Schulz as well as to contributors and for their work on this effort. 3 January 23 visits to Representative Tim Johnson's office. Leslie Manskey on behalf of MoveOn.org and Bob Broad/Dylan Hile-Broad for BNCPJ talked with Representative Johnson's people and came away with the impression that they are very nice folks who are utterly uninformed of Johnson's position relative to Iraq. 4 Julie Hile telephoned Pantagraph Editor Terry Greenberg on BNCPJ's behalf to acknowledge Scott Richardson's January 18 article about the NION letter, to thank him for the paper's recent more balanced coverage of national and international news, and to invite him to talk with BNCJP. 5 Christina Schulz has made contact with Normal Community High School's Camille Taylor who will work with us to reach area high school students who have peace and justice concerns. 6 Julie Hile will send a letter on behalf of BNCPJ to international media/periodicals early next week. 7 Julie Hile is coordinating the overall organization of BNCPJ by linking member skills, networks and areas of interests with work we wish to accomplish. Please watch for her calls and emails and consider her requests. The goal is to help BNCPJ members do meaningful peace and justice work efficiently and without having to attend cumbersome meetings. 8 Peace is Cool Club has raised $130 through its bake sales and book mark sales. Rachel Hile-Broad reported that the group will contribute $50 to a fund for teachers in Afghanistan and then move on to the purchase of supplies for American Friends Service Committee/Mennonite Central Committee Relief Packages, "family health bags," to be sent to Iraq. During Sunday's meeting, the children created rice bags for BNCPJ members to send with a war protest message to President Bush. People introduced themselves all around and then divided into groups of 4-6 to talk about the current political situation. Comments made about insights from the small group discussion: "None of us knows anyone who is in favor of war with Iraq." "I resent being accused of being un-American. We who are thinking and acting against this war are most American." "It's a great relief to hear others sharing and voicing the concerns I carry with me everyday." "I expected to see mostly college-age people at this meeting; I'm encouraged to see people of all ages here." "People in their twenties remember the last time we went to war with Iraq. We were against that war, too, and we raised our voices but were ignored. So it's frustrating and hard for us to not expect to be ignored this time, too." "The DC rally on January 18 was an amazing experience. There were people as far ahead of us as we could see, and people behind us as far as we could see. People of all ages, skin colors, religious denominations. And as we walked to the area where the rally was held, people on the street stopped to talk with us. They were incredibly supportive." "There is a strong majority of Americans out there who are against this war. But our silence is presumed to mean we are in favor of the effort. We need to break the silence. The yard sign in my front yard calls out to people. It says, 'The people who live here are not in favor of war with Iraq.' And it encourages the people who walk by and drive by to speak up, too." "It's important for us to clarify that we are not anti-veteran. We have veterans in this group and parents of people currently doing military service. In fact, we are looking out for soldiers' best interests."