United National Antiwar Committee: www.UNACpeace.org Voices for Creative Nonviolence: www.vcnv.org
An Important Message from Kathy Kelly in Kabul: An Invitation to Join the United National Antiwar Committee & Voices for Creative Nonviolence In a New Year's Campaign to End the War in Afghanistan! Dear Friends, Greetings from Kabul, where Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers have welcomed us to join their New Year's Eve - New Year's Day call for peace. Please help us distribute this call far & wide. Sincerely, Kathy Kelly [email protected] Dear Afghanistan: A New Year's Call for Peace While the US may be the world's single super power in military terms, it faces another super power: the voices of war-weary millions who detest violence and killing. In Afghanistan, in the United States, and among the populations of countries whose governments have joined the NATO coalition, millions of people are calling for an end to war in Afghanistan. On New Year's Day, 01/01/11, people around the world are invited to raise their voices, through <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Youth-Peace-Volunteers/206186386153#%21/home. php?sk=group_116688258400173&ap=1> Facebook, <http://twitter.com/#%21/DearAfghanistan> Twitter, Free Conference calls, Skype, and <http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog/> blogs at several websites in a massive refusal to accept this war any longer. Let your New Year's resolution be to stand for the people and end wars by sending a digital or spoken peacemaking message to people in Afghanistan. By amassing millions of messages calling for peace, we can create yet another indication that ordinary people within and beyond Afghanistan have had enough of war. Afghanistan's people need food not bombs, health care not warfare and courage for peace, not war. In the words of Abdulai, an Afghan teenager whose father was killed by the Taliban, the "Dear Afghanistan" campaign offers an alternative to the Obama administration's most recent review of the war. Abdulai's experiences of impoverishment, bereavement, and discrimination highlight realities that Afghans face every day. The U.S. government's December review paid no attention to these conditions. You can let Afghan people know that their lives matter as much as yours. Assure them that the U.S. government's war is unacceptable to you and that you are working to end it. We can catch courage from one another, sparking a New Year's momentum to put an end to war. Follow the steps below to communicate the simple yet crucial demand: Stop the Killing in Afghanistan. On New Year's Day 2011, from 7.05 pm Eastern Standard Time on the 31st of December 2010 to 7.05 pm Eastern Standard Time on the 1st of January 2011, from wherever in the world, you can: . Call from your Mobile or Home phone by dialing (661) 673-8600 & access code: 295191#. Please arrange to talk by sending an email to <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] . SKYPE: Please arrange to call Afghanistan by sending your Skype ID in an email to [email protected] . Send an email message to <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] . Text or sms by mobile at +93 7791 84146 or +1 727-248-0308 (001-727-248-0308 if text messaging from outside U.S.) . Facebook: <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Youth-Peace-Volunteers/206186386153#%21/home. php?sk=group_116688258400173&ap=1> Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers . @DearAfghanistan <http://twitter.com/DearAfghanistan> on Twitter For more information: Visit Dear Afghanistan <http://www.thepeoplesjourney.org/?cat=17> A note on timings for the NEW YEAR CALL : Place Time Date London 12.05 am to 12.05 am 1st Jan to 2nd Jan EST 7.05 pm to 7.05 pm 31st Dec to 1st Jan Pacific Std 4.05 pm to 4.05 pm 31st Dec to 1st Jan Jordan 2.05 am to 2.05 am 1st Jan to 2nd Jan Afghanistan 4.35am to 4.35 am 1st Jan to 2nd Jan Kathy Kelly Kathy Kelly, 57, of Chicago, IL, helped initiate Voices in the Wilderness, a campaign to end the UN/US sanctions against Iraq. For bringing medicine to Iraq in open violation of the UN/US sanctions, she and other campaign members were notified of a proposed $163,000 penalty for the organization, threatened with 12 years in prison, and eventually fined $20,000, a sum which they've refused to pay. Voices in the Wilderness organized 70 delegations to visit Iraq in the period between 1996 and the beginning of the "Operation Shock and Awe" warfare (March 2003). After the campaign began, in January of 1996, Kelly went to Iraq twenty four times. In October 2002, Voices in the Wilderness declared their intent to remain in Baghdad, alongside Iraqi civilians, throughout a war they still hoped they could prevent. Kelly and the team stayed in Baghdad throughout the bombardment and invasion and maintained a household in Baghdad until March, 2004. In 2007, she spent five months in Amman, Jordan, living amongst Iraqis who've fled their homes and are seeking resettlement. During the first two weeks of the Gulf War, she was part of a peace encampment on the Iraq-Saudi border called the Gulf Peace Team. Following evacuation to Amman, Jordan, (February 4, 1991), team members stayed in the region for the next six months to help coordinate medical relief convoys and study teams. Kelly helped organize and participated in nonviolent direct action teams in Haiti (summer of 1994), Bosnia (August, 1993, December, 1992) and Iraq (Gulf Peace Team, 1991). In April of 2002, she was among the first internationals to visit the Jenin camp, where conventional military forces of the Israeli Defense Force had destroyed over 100 civilian homes, in the Occupied West Bank. She and three companions from Voices were in Beirut, Lebanon during the final days of the Israel-Hezbollah war in the summer of 2006 and subsequently reported from southern Lebanon following a ceasefire. She visited Gaza during Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" assault (2009) and spent a month in Pakistan, in 2009, writing eyewitness accounts of war's impact on civilians. In 1988, she was sentenced to one year in prison for planting corn on nuclear missile silo sites. Kelly served nine months of the sentence in Lexington KY maximum security prison. In the spring of 2004, she served three months at Pekin federal prison for crossing the line as part of an ongoing "School of the Americas Watch" effort to close an army military combat training school at Fort Benning, GA. Kelly has taught in Chicago area community colleges and high schools since 1974. From 1980 - 1986 she taught at St. Ignatius College Prep (Chicago, IL). She is active with the Catholic Worker movement and, as a pacifist and war tax refuser, has refused payment of all Federal income tax since 1980. She currently helps coordinate the Voices for Creative Nonviolence campaign. www.vcnv.org Other Lands Have Dreams: from Baghdad to Pekin Prison (2005) by Kathy Kelly is available through Counterpunch (www.counterpunch.org) or Voices for Creative Nonviolence, 1249 West Argyle, Chicago, IL 60640 773-878-3815 "In a Time of Siege," a Peace Productions DVD about Voices in the Wilderness, narrated by Studs Terkel, is available from the Voices for Creative Nonviolence office, 1249 West Argyle, Chicago, IL 60640 773-878-3815. Education: . B.A. Loyola University at Chicago 1974 . Masters in Religious Education, Chicago Theological Seminary; part of a consortium of schools which included the Jesuit School of Theology at Chicago where Kelly took courses each quarter Publications: Other Lands Have Dreams: from Baghdad to Pekin Prison Counterpunch Press spring 2005 Editor and contributor: War and Peace in the Gulf Cornerstone Press April 2001 Contributor: Iraq Under Siege Edited by Anthony Arnove 2000 Live from Palestine Edited by Nancy Stohlman and Laurieann Aladin 2003 Articles, essays and interviews printed in: The Sun, The Chicago Tribune Magazine, America, The Progressive, The National Catholic Reporter, Columbia Journal of International Affairs, The Link, Fellowship of Reconciliation Magazine, Lapis Magazine, The Jordan Times, The Washington Report on the Middle East, The Capitol Times, MERIP Magazine, Satya Magazine, Hope Magazine, Peace News,Common Dreams website, Counterpunch website, Electroniciraq.net website, Voices In The Wilderness website, Voices for Creative Nonviolence website, and Antiwar.Com website Awards: . Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace Award, 1998 . Newberry Library Free Speech Award, 1998 . Detroit City Council Testimonial Resolution commending humanitarian efforts, February 1999 . Robert O. Cooper Fellowship in Peace and Justice Award, Southern Methodist University March 1999 . University of the Incarnate Word Distinguished Speaker Award March 1999 . California State Assembly Certificate of Recognition for Founding of Voices in the Wilderness November 1999 . Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award, 1999 . Consortium on Peace Research and Development Social Courage Award, 1999 . Dan Berrigan Award, DePaul University 1999 . Office of the Americas Peace and Justice Award November 1999 . International Fellowship of Reconciliation Pfeiffer Peace Award, February 2000 . Nobel Peace Prize Nominee with Denis Halliday 2000 . Arab American Anti Discrimination Committee Humanitarian Award June 2000 . Nobel Peace Prize Nominee 2001 . Chaldean Iraqi American Association of Michigan Appreciation Award for Dedication in Lifting Sanctions Against Iraq July 2001 . Newberry Library "1st place" orator - Bughouse Square Debates August 2001 . Life for Relief and Development Humanitarian Services Award September 2001 . Global Exchange International Women's Rights Awardee May 2003 . Archbishop Oscar Romero Award, Mercyhurst College March 2003 . Nobel Peace prize Nominee, with Voices in the Wilderness 2003 . Call to Action Leadership Award, with Voices in the Wilderness 2003 . Thomas Merton Center Award, Pittsburgh, PA 2003 . Adela Dwyer St. Thomas of Villanova Peace Award, Villanova University, Voices in the Wilderness 2003 . William Scarlett Award from The Witness, Voices in the Wilderness 2003 . Association of Chicago Priests, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Common Ground Award with Voices in the Wilderness 2004 . First Annual Award for Justice on behalf of the Religious Orders Partnership given to Kathy Kelly and Voices in the Wilderness . Cranbrook Peace Foundation Annual Peace Award 2004 . Houston Peace and Justice Center National Peacemaker Award . Peace Seeker of the Year 2005, Montana Peace Seekers Network . Doctor of Theology honoris causa from Chicago Theological Seminary awarded May 14, 2005 . Honorary degree awarded from Lewis University, May 15, 2005 . Elliott Black Award for 2006 awarded by the American Ethical Union . De Paul Center for Church/State Studies 2007 John Courtney Murray Award April 2007 . Bradford-O'Neill Medallion for Social Justice Recipient, Dominican University September 2007 . The Oscar Romero Award presented by Pax Christi Maine October 2007 . The Washington Peace Center Lifetime Achievement Award October 2009 Voices for Creative Nonviolence: www.vcnv.org 1249 W Argyle Street #2 - Chicago, IL 60640 Phone: (773) 878-3815 - Email: [email protected] United National Antiwar Committee: www.UNACpeace.org UNAC at P.O. Box 123, Delmar, NY 12054 Phone: 518-227-6947 - Email: [email protected] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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