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ISSUES & FORUMS
Archives – Peace & Justice Issues:
On January 27th, 2007 - 200 concerned citizens braved the freezing elements to march silently on behalf of peace. People drove from all over the Quad City area, from Clinton, Iowa City and Henry County, IA to join us. Marchers carried signs that read "The People Have Spoken", "No More Troops" and "End the War", among other messages of peace...
A couple whose son is in Iraq brought a poster with his picture on it. Here are some of the moments:
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We were happy to thank Senator Harkin for his leadership on this issue -- his letter to the marchers which was read by his staff is shown below. We were also received at the end of the march by staff of Congressman Braley's office, where a letter from the Congressman was also read (see below next to Harkin's). Congressman Hare, Senator Obama and Senator Durbin were invited to send staff but did not.
Our message was strong and was well represented on both Channels 4 and 6. (The reporter for Channel 4 did an especially good job). Barb Ickes was also there from the QC Times. The fears of the elected officials regarding the press coverage of our event were not realized. We were portrayed as a thoughtful, SILENT group expressing views about the war held by a majority of Americans. It was very exciting to see the 4 block long line of citizens marching down Main Street to a solemn drum beat, making public their convictions.
What you can do - *Let your voices be heard:*
Contact your representatives, today!
Call our Senators at: 202-224-3121
Call Congressmen Hare: 202-225-5905
Call Congressman Braley: 202-225-2911
AND Send letters to the Editor:
btubbs@northscottpress.com
letters@qconline.com
letters@dmregister.com
letters@rcreader.com
opinions@qctimes.com
LETTERS READ DURING THE RALLY:
Letter from Senator Harkin: January 27, 2007 To Participants in the PACG Rally: Thank you for your work to oppose escalation of the War in Iraq, and your call for an orderly and safe withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. I deeply appreciate your support for my efforts to deny funding for President Bush's escalation of the war in Iraq. We are in good company in opposing this new escalation. The Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously opposed it, as did our generals on the ground. The bipartisan Iraq Study Group unanimously recommended redeployment of our troops, saying that there cannot be a military solution to the chaos in Iraq. Most importantly, the American people said loudly and clearly on Election Day that they want our troops out of the civil war in Iraq. |
Letter from Congressman Braley: January 27, 2007 Dear Concerned Constituents- Thank you for sharing your opinions today on the critical issue of the war in Iraq. |
Pray for Peace in the Middle East
Pax Christi Quad Cities is sponsoring an Interfaith Prayer Service for Peace in the Middle East, especially for those families who find themselves in harm's way.
The prayer service will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes Church,
Sunday, July 23rd at 7:00 P.M.
The church is located at the corner of Brown and Mississippi Streets, Bettendorf, near the I-74 Bridge.
There will be interfaith prayers as well as music. People of all faiths and all who wish for peace in the Middle East are welcome.
Pax Christi is a Catholic Peace Movement that promotes the following goals for bringing about peace and justice in our world:
1. A Spirituality of Nonviolence and Peacemaking
2. Disarmament, Demilitarization and Reconciliation with Justice
3. Economic and Interracial Justice in the United States
4. Human Rights and Global Restoration
All are invited to attend the prayer service. Please come and pray with us. For more information, please contact #563-359-0345.
REPORT ON LOURDES PRAYER SERVICE
from Cathy Bolkcom
I attended the prayer service at Our Lady of Lourdes Church. It was a powerful and moving event organized by Pax Christi and including faith prayers and comments from people of different faiths: one offered in Hebrew by Linda Golden; Scripture reading by Ollie Finn, petitions that moved me to tears from Bert Finn; moving words from Rev Ron Quay, singing and the taking of ribbons blessed by Rev Greg Moore to take away to remind us of the need to repent for the actions of our government.
Let's all remember that violence and anger beget violence and anger.
We can all do one thing every week to show our oppostion to this war.
Fellowship of Reconciliation - Quad Cities Chapter
This is a forum of Progressive Action for the Common Good where all Progressive-minded people, all peace-minded people are invited to join. We are pleased to have Pax Christi and Churches United work with FOR. And we all are committed to working for peace for our world. There are no dues for our Chapter.
Any donations toward the cost of paper/postage are appreciated.
FOR-QC meets:
The first Tuesday of every month at 7:00 p.m.
Illinois Center for Intellectual Thought
1810 Second Avenue Rock Island,
Illinois Tel: 309-314-5122
Iraq War Forum
August 26th, 9am
Kahl Education Center, Tenth Floor
326 W. 3rd St
Davenport, IA 52801
This forum will address these three topics:
1) What are the mental health needs of our returning veterans, and is our community prepared to meet them?
2) What is the economic impact of the Iraq War on our community?
3) Now that we are in Iraq, what are our options for getting out?
Please register, and make sure to check the RSVP box when registering. Its posted on DFA-Link, a great new tool for organizing local events. For more information about this event, contact Alta Price at DFA-Quad Cities 563-332-5051.
Giving Witness to Nonviolence
September 29, 30, October 1, 2006
Ashford University Campus - Clinton, Iowa
Sponsored by the Clinton Franciscans and Friends
For more information on this event got to: www.clintonfranciscans.com
The Christmas for Our Troops project was a great success thanks to all of the PACG members and others who helped by donating items, money for postage, individual cards and notes for the troops, as well as their time to help sort and package items and to mail them. We ended up with a total of fifteen boxes, each filled with a different category of items. Some contained food items, others toiletries, and others all kinds of games, puzzles, cameras, socks, hats, CD's, movies, etc. One box even contained holiday decorations for the troops and a bunch of cards and notes from grade school kids. Eleven boxes went to Iraq and four boxes to Afghanistan. One stocking went to an individual troop whose name was sent in by a PACG member.
Instead of filling individual stockings, (except for the one above) we decided to mail the empty stockings inside each box, because the two recipients agreed to distribute the items according to need to the 120 troops in Iraq and 35 in Afghanistan, respectively. They had told Alta they know which troops don't usually get much mail and agreed to make sure they receive full stockings.
We are glad that we could help make the holidays brighter for some of our troops overseas. We will keep working to bring them home safely as soon as possible. Thank you again for your help and support, and we hope you have a safe and peaceful Thanksgiving.
Sincerely,
Caryn Unsicker
REPORT ON PEACE VIGIL
Held on Wednesday, August 17th, 2005
Quad Citians showed up at the Unitarian Church on Weds evening, August 17 to stand with Cindy Sheehan and to welcome home Caryn Unsicker from her trip to Crawford Texas. Nearly 200 people came together to stand against war, to sing for peace, to hear Caryn's story. It was a moving and energizing evening. Hazel Wilson led us in song - after performing the Irish Pieta - we all sang "Can't Turn me Around" and then welcomed Caryn Unsicker home as Dick Fallow played "The Bridge over River Kwai" on his accordion.
Cathy Bolkcom made opening remarks, in which she invited all to join Progressive Action for the Common Good in our efforts to end this war and take on other pressing issues. Amongst her comments were the following:
"We cannot defeat this enemy (name the enemy) with hatred or violence - not of a military sort and not in our hearts. To the extent that we hate those with whom we disagree, we empower them. I challenge all of us to come at this work with open hearts, with compassion for those who are so terribly misguided in their convictions and to work for what is possible from a position of love and strength."
"Caryn Unsicker is (she would tell you) an ordinary woman. She felt compelled over the last several months to put her convictions into action - she was the driving force behind our sponsorship of the Eyes Wide Open combat boots memorial held in July. She helped to organize the Nagasaki Memorial in August. And last Wednesday morning she drove 16 hours alone in her car to Crawford Texas to hold vigil with and support Cindy Sheehan."
"She would tell you that she is not extraordinary - she answered phones, placed crosses along the road side, did dishes, slept on the floor at the Peace House - but she is indeed a model for all of us --- ordinary people who are capable of extraordinary things when we stand up for our beliefs."
We then sang a song written by Dick Fallow to honor Caryn, to the tune of "It's a Long way to Tipperary" retitled "It's a Long Way to Crawford Texas - it was amazing. Caryn then spoke movingly about her trip to Crawford, what it felt like to be there, how she feels about the war and what we must do to stand up. She is an amazing woman - a model for us all in speaking out and taking action on those issues that most concern us. She now wants to go to Washington DC to the national demonstration on Sept 24 - we will be organizing a bus trip.
Hazel then led us in the singing of "Imagine". Rev. Roger Butts made remarks noting the greats of history who have lived their beliefs and added Caryn Unsicker's name to that book. He then led us into a candle lighting ceremony while we sang "Gonna Lay Down my Sword and Shield" and "We Shall Overcome". We ended in a huge circle and finished with a prayer for peace.
Thanks to Nancy Flaherty, Hazel Wilson, Bev Stray hall and all the others who volunteered for their contributions to this event.
If you would like to join our efforts, email Cathy Bolkcom at CBArts4@aol.com. There will be ongoing events for peace.
PACG also co-sponsored an event to draw attention to what is happening in the Sudan on Aug 24 at 6 PM in the District in Rock Island - 2nd Ave and 18th St. - with music, interfaith prayers and stories told by Sudanese families.
REPORT ON PEACE EVENT
ON MONDAY, JULY 11, 2005
Thanks to all of you who made a great and moving event on July 11 with the Eyes Wide Open exhibit to demonstrate opposition to the war in Iraq. It was a moving and beautiful event. We will be posting photos on the website. 236 pair of combat boots were set out in Upper Lindsay Park in military style rows - each with the name, age and home state of a fallen member of the National Guard. For two hours , the names of the Guard dead, American Military dead and Iraqi civilian dead (as many of the 11,000 names as could be read in two hours) were read from three different microphones and a chime was struck after the reading of each name. People walked amongst the rows and placed flowers in the boots in honor of the dead. Olenka Gadzick and Chris Dunn played and sang along with others from the crowd. The media covered the event well; the 100 people who attended found it very moving.
You can do your part by asking our governors and legislators to bring home the National Guard to to set a timetable for bringing home our troops. Take some action to help end this war.
Gov. Vilsack: Phone - (515) 281-5211 website www.governor.state.ia.us_
Gov. Blagojevich www.illinois.gov (217)782-0244 or (312) 814-2121;
Durbin: www.durbin.senate.gov
Obama: www.obama.senate.gov
Evans: www.house.gov/evans
Harkin: www.harkin.senate.gov
Grassley: www.grassley.senate.gov
Nussle: www.nussle.house.gov
Letter to the editors are also encouraged:
letters@qconline.com
letters@dmregister.com
letters@rcreader.com
letters@nytimes.com
letters@newsweek.com
opinions@qctimes.com
Kudos to Monica Kurth, Maria Cummings, Caryn Unsicker, JoJean DeGeeter, Alison Kurth, Stephanie Witmer, Sharon Holle and Gwen Lang for organizing this event our musicians, Olenka Gadzick and Chris Dunn, John Kinser for help with sound, Mike Wilcox for photos, the readers: Rita Coyne, Roger Butts, Libbet Brooke, Les Bell, Rhonda Kelley, Connie Sauer-Adams, Lisa Killinger, Cathy Bolkcom, Caryn Unsicker, Kathy Bowman, Carol West,Linda Brundeis, Rick Schloemer, Alison Kurth, Stephanie Witmer, Mary Jane Blough, Caroline Vernon, Monica Kurth. Volunteers: Dorothy Monahan and Johanna Kay.
Special thanks to Kathleen McQuillen from American Friends Services who is traveling with this piece of the exhibit. You can find out more and view a moving brief video about the exhibit at www.afsc.org. The full exhibit includes boots in the number of all the American deaths and 11,000 pair of shoes to represent the loss of civilian Iraqis. Each pair is labeled with the name, age and hometown of the fallen. The exhibit brings home the magnitude and the pointlessness of the loss of all of these lives.