Granny Peace Brigade Blog

Interested activists gathered at The Riverside Church on Sunday, March 28, 2010 for a forum on The U.S. and the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons sponsored by the Granny Peace Brigade, The Mission and Social Justice Department of The Riverside Church and the Black Radical Congress, New York Chapter.  The United Nations Five Year Review of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, scheduled for May 2010, will involve many nations in that review, so the forum was timely.  Peace advocates want to ensure that their voices are heard before the official review, especially to push for the elimination of weapons in the lifetime, for example, of President Obama who has said this would not happen in his lifetime.

The Reverend Thomas of The Riverside Church welcomed those present and said that the church was supportive of the forum’s goals and for years had promoted reconciliation between and among individuals and nations.  Vinie Burrows, Actor, Writer and UN Representative for the Women’s International Democratic Federation, moderated the program.   In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ms. Burrows read a portion of his speech, Quest for Peace and Justice.

The first speaker, Frida Berrigan, a Writer and Associate with the Arms and Security Initiative of the New America Foundation provided background on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which was signed by 170 countries in 1970.  Five nations were Nuclear Weapons States (NWS) at the time of the treaty’s signing: USA, USSR, China, France and Great Britain.  Now there are nine [the added nuclear powers are India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel].  Signing countries without nuclear weapons are called Non-Nuclear Weapon States, or NNWS.  An NNWS nation could be provided with a “carrot” to encourage them to forego nuclear weapons: help with establishing nuclear energy.  Two countries mentioned by Ms. Berrigan which had intended to develop nuclear weapons but discontinued doing so are Brazil and South Africa.

She also discussed nuclear energy, nuclear waste, the cost of both weapons and energy, and the political situation.

About weapons: The US has 27,000 nuclear warheads.  President Obama’s budget request for research and development of nuclear weapons for FY 2011 [Oct. 2010 – Sept. 2011] is $7 billion.  Non nuclear weapons also continue to be developed by the US, some with power comparable to the smallest “tactical” nuclear weapons, although still 1000 times weaker than the Hiroshima bomb.

The offer of $7 billion to weapons firms was a starting salvo on the complex problem of getting approval in Congress for an agreement to destroy weapons.  The problem is that US and Russia will be signing a START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) agreement on April 8^th this year, which will call for reductions in the number of missiles that each side has, both deployed and in reserve.  The $7 billion is an attempt to buy the acquiescence of the nuclear component of the military industrial complex in this reduction, since they would otherwise tell their friends in Congress to kill the treaty.

About energy:  Development of nuclear energy requires uranium which is highly toxic in its extraction from the ground, in testing of weapons and, after it is used, when it is “waste.”  The US government has established National Sacrifice Zones, which have been rendered unfit for human beings forever.  These areas, in several western states, were deemed by Native Americans as sacred ground for religious reasons, and they have been grievously harmed by the policies of all Federal administrations since 1940.

Currently the US has 104 nuclear reactors which produce 20% of the nation’s power, as well as 2,000 metric tons of waste annually.  Meanwhile, 75,000 tons accumulated over years await a storage location.  Due to accidents in the industry from 1973 and later, no new reactors have been build for over 30 years.  Now, however, for FY 2011 the administration has offered $54 billion in loans to help nuclear power development firms develop 26 new nuclear reactors, at a cost of $12 billion each.

Fortunately the Yucca mountain site which for years was targeted to receive nuclear waste has been ruled not eligible to be the waste disposal reservoir, because scientists discovered that the area is crossed by a large number of geologic faults, among many reasons.  Ms. Berrigan urged participation in a War Resisters’ League’s action on May 3rd to declare Grand Central Station a nuclear weapon-free zone.

At the end of Ms. Berrigan’s talk we viewed a 20 minute excerpt of a documentary film by John Pilger titled “Stealing A Nation.” The film documented the Crimes Against Humanity perpetrated on the previous residents of Diego Garcia by Great Britain, in collusion with the US which wanted the site [an island in the Indian Ocean] for military purposes.  Its residents had lived there peacefully for three or more generations although Great Britain claimed they were transients.  Their expulsion began quietly in 1965, but was intensified brutally between 1968 and 1973.  First they were subject to withdrawal of imported goods and then all the dogs owned by the residents were killed [by poison gas], among other injustices.  They were then moved from one place to another, subjected to fraud and placed in housing without plumbing; many died of sadness as a result of these atrocities.   The 2000 residents of this tiny island nation were persecuted and had been ignored for decades until, in the 1990’s, evidence of the fraudulent removal of the population was uncovered in Great Britain.

Dr. Horace G. Campbell, Syracuse University Professor in African American Studies, International Relations and Political Science, was the next speaker.  He praised the important civil rights and peacemaking role played by The Riverside Church and noted Dr. King’s speech therein on April 4, 1967 named Beyond Vietnam, in which he dwelt on how to repair our humanity and called on listeners to develop a new ethos.

Dr. Campbell stated that a radical break in the social organization of society is needed.  All of life and society should be organized to enable everyone to live healthy and whole lives.  The current practice of excessive military spending and the profiteering by banks, insurance companies, and the military industrial complex constitute oppression.  Citizens can be seen as accessories to the warlike policies of their nation.

These horrors are perpetrated by the myth that the people of the US are chosen people who can bring progress and development and freedom to other peoples.  This is accomplished by plunder of lands of others which is not just an unfortunate by-product of what we seemingly set out to accomplish — it is what is intended.  The peace movement has to focus attention on prevalent falsehoods that belong back in the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries such as: individual self interest, and the capitalist idea that land and peoples can be taken in the name of profit, patriarchy and sexism.

Dr. Campbell then spoke of Africa, the Pelindaba Treaty and Diego Garcia.   The treaty states that Africa is a nuclear free area.  Twenty-nine (29) nations have ratified the Treaty which went into effect on July 15, 2009.

Nuclear Weapons States were invited to ratify the treaty and not place weapons in Africa.  France, China and Britain have ratified, but Russia has not because of the placement of US weapons on Diego Garcia.  Although Britain signed the treaty, it believes the treaty does not apply to DG because, it says, Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, not Africa.  The U.S. has not signed the treaty and also does not recognize DG as being subject to the treaty.

Dr. Campbell also recounted other instances of colonial powers’ activities in Africa, which constitute devastating indictments of the ills of colonialism, such as the treatment of the Congo by King Leopold of Belgium.    He said the peace movement needs to pressure governments of the Western Powers to discontinue support for dictators such as Mobuto, who ruled for 37 years.  He criticized aspects of the movement which seeks to “protect” troubled developing areas such as Darfur.  He stated that Africans don’t want humanitarian saviors, and mentioned a book called Saviors and Survivors, by Mahmood Mamdani, that discusses the importance of self determination by developing nations and the frequent tendency of wealthy nations to act first and understand later.

Dr. Campbell pointed to actions taken by the Women’s movement to improve health.  He noted that activities by corporate development firms, such as oil companies, have lead to a decline in life expectancy in Africa from 50 years to 37 years, such as the deleterious effects of corrupt corporate activities by Shell Oil Company’s in Nigeria.  Multi-national firms enable corruption by the leaders in underdeveloped nations and prevent improvement of life for the majority of the populations.

Dr. Campbell said that the Peace Movement needs to support President Obama in his quest to resolve the problem of Israel and Palestine.  He said that peace in the Middle East will not be achieved until this problem is solved.

The final speaker was Judith LeBlanc, Coordinator, 2010 International Planning Committee (IPC) for Nuclear Abolition, Peace and Justice , and member of Peace Action.  Ms. LeBlanc described the upcoming Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [NPT] meetings at the U.N., a conference preceding that event at The Riverside Church (April 30th and May 1st) and a March and Rally planned for May 2^nd.  She stressed the need for everyone to continue gathering signatures on a petition to President Obama urging him to work toward nuclear weapon abolition.  Ms. LeBlanc reported that the disarmament movement in Japan has collected five million names.  She urged attendees to take the NPT material she had provided.   Her message was – Organize, Educate, Activate and Mobilize to make Visible the Need for Disarmament.

A Q. & A. session followed and then The Raging Grannies sang songs about the need to end war and help people, and to close military bases.  Vinie Burrows brought the Forum to a conclusion with thanks to all participants and attendees, and encouraged people to take literature available on tables at both sides of the room.

- Edith Cresmer
for the Granny Peace Brigade

GRANNY PEACE BRIGADE TEACH-IN at HUNTER COLLEGE/CUNY
November 8, 2009

The audience of about 100 people was welcomed by Carmelina Cartei, Women and Gender Studies Department of Hunter College.

Vinie Burrows, actress, poet and our moderator, described the background of the teach-ins and the formation of the “No-Bases” committee of the Granny Peace Brigade. The committee was founded to stand up against the “New World Disorder” that US bases have created.

Pete Bronson of Korean War Veterans for Peace emphasized that the Korean War has not formally ended, even after 1.5 million Koreans have died. He directed us to the website endthekoreanwar.com for information and ways to become involved.

Pete emphasized that all are welcome to join with Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against War and Viet Nam Vets against the war in advocating for the rights of active duty soldiers, and in continuing to lobby for an end to the engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan.

(7-minute YouTube video summary)

Here are highlights from each of the three presenters:

Joseph Gerson, Director of Programs for American Friends Service Committee.

A photo sent to Gerson from Okinawa on the day of the teach-in showed hundreds of thousands of demonstrators protesting the US presence in Okinawa, on that day, and demanding the return of their airfield from the U.S. military.

The people of Okinawa clearly want us to know how actively they themselves are protesting the bases and the destruction they have wrought on their island. Okinawans are particularly outraged that a US base is planned on landfill over a coral reef. This base will destroy the ecology and beauty of the place forever.

The US has over 100 military bases in Japan, and through secret treaties has also a nuclear weapons presence there which is political anathema to the Japanese people. The history of Okinawa is one of loss of dignity and sovereignty. The country was an independent kingdom for 200 years, then invaded and conquered by Japan, finally losing ¼ of its population in 1944 in WW II. Because of the mixed racial nature of Okinawans they have been treated as a dumping ground by Japan. Most of the 40,000 US troops in Japan are in Okinawa. 28 percent of Okinawa is occupied by US bases. In the center of a large city in Okinawa is a helicopter strip creating terrible noise and bad air.

Virginia Rodino, Asia Pacific Freeze Campaign and Veterans for Peace-Korea Peace Campaign.

The Korean War has not formally ended.  3,000,000 Koreans having died during the period of active combat, there is a strong wish for peace and unification of the country among Korean people. The Asia Pacific Freeze Campaign led to a candlelight vigil movement involving huge numbers of Korean people. In 2005,six nations agreed to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula ( U.S., Japan, China, Russia and North and South Korea ). Nonetheless, the U.S. continued to demonize N. Korea as a stand-in for China because that important trading partner can’t be targeted. As long as N. Korea can be accused of an interest in nuclear warfare, the excuse for maintaining strong U.S. base presence in S. Korea continues. Both China and S. Korea import large quantities of U.S. manufactured arms. In May 2008 Korean people, concerned about contamination by mad cow disease, staged mass protests against the importation of U.S. beef. The protests were violently put down by the government. The Korean people want to go on with their lives and pursue their common destiny apart from U.S. domination and military base presence.

Ninotchka Roska, Philippine-born activist, novelist, former political prisoner, founder of Gabriela Network/USA, a multiracial women’s solidarity movement.

There have been U.S. bases in the Philippines since 1898. Manila was terribly devastated during W.W. II. The Philippines are very familiar with the way military culture leads to violence and the oppression and exploitation of women. For example, in the Philippines an estimated 50,000 children were fathered by U.S. soldiers since 1945. None of these children receive the healthcare, housing and education which are benefits of U.S. military families. The story of Nicole, a 22 year-old student who has fought for justice in the prosecution of her rape by a US officer points out the way U.S. Service personnel are exempt from prosecution by the judiciary systems of the home nations of Asian bases.

- Caroline Chinlund
for the Granny Peace Brigade

National Organizing Conference on Foreign Military Bases – American University in Washington, DC – Friday, February 27 to Monday, March 2, 2009. Coordinator was Joseph Gerson of AFSC.

Seven Grannies attended – Barbara H, Bev, Carol, Caroline, Nydia, Pat and Phyllis.  A total of 200 participated with 24 representatives from overseas – Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Guam, Hawaii, Italy, Korea, Netherlands, Okinawa, and Vieques.

This was the Granny Peace Brigade’s first sponsorship of a national conference and allowed us to network with other organizations here and abroad working on the issue of No Bases.

Thanks to Vinie’s work with the Women’s International Democratic Federation when she, together with Carol and Phyllis, attended the WIDF Congress in April 2007 – the GPB has reason to take pride. We were the first to recognize the need to educate the US/NYC public about the bases and to work to shut them down. We have pioneered this through our Teach-Ins, phone-a-thons, website, etc. etc.

To be brief, the Conference was excellent in every important respect and this report cannot convey all of the energy, intelligence, and warm interactions that we experienced.
The aims of the Conference were:

• To move toward an ultimate goal of closing and reducing the number of foreign bases, as well as the clean up of military base sites;
• To further integrate anti-bases networks and organizations into a more coherent movement;
• To share and disseminate information about U.S. foreign military bases and resistance;
• To develop new strategies for the U.S. anti-bases movement.

The Conference clearly succeeded in the first three areas and a good start was made on the fourth.

Friday evening at the Pentagon: We gathered at 4 pm in the protest area designated by the Pentagon. There had been a light rain which stopped and as we identified ourselves to others we hung our GPB banner on the fence. Outside the fence a long string of police watched and Art Laffin of Catholic Workers said CW has held a vigil for 22 years on Monday mornings from 7 to 8 a.m. Jonah House (Berrigans) have vigiled for 37 years there. Our friend, Jun Soto and another Buddhist were there with their drum on their walk from upstate NY.

We formed a circle and started a started a brief program with a ceremony requesting permission to stand there from representatives of the Piscataway tribe on whose land it was originally. Then into a large bowl placed on the earth in the center of our circle, those of us who brought vials of water poured it in – Okinawa, Italy, Japan, Hawaii, Maine, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Croton, etc. This opening of the conference was deeply moving. The mood was one respect for the earth and all its creatures with a sense of both formality and friendliness.

Program at American University: The main speaker at the opening plenary was Zia Mian (physicist from Pakistan teaching at Princeton) and he spoke pointedly about the 4 crises the US faces: war, the economy, energy, and a lack of confidence in America’s future. He referred to Obama as a “Restorationist” trying to rebuild the American Dream, not a “Radical” but the Dream is based on Empire. [More of Zia in Bruce Gagnon's report.]

The conference program was jam-packed and, as invariably happens, it was tough deciding which workshop or meeting to attend. The other plenary sessions were excellent with powerful testimony by the overseas guests relating the destructive and toxic impact of the bases on their communities in all areas — social, cultural, economic, environmental.

In the interest of time or for more specifics on the variety of workshops and the titles of the plenary sessions, please visit the conference website. Also, check out these reports: Bruce Gagnon’s March 5 report, and John Lindsay-Poland’s report.
Our Granny Table was set up in a corridor with Laurie’s “We will not be Silent” T-shirts, our buttons, MLK speeches booklet, war budget pens and a sign – Donations Accepted. We generated $375 giving $200 to Laurie and the balance to GPB. Because of a conference shortfall, as individuals we contributed $75 with $25 from the proceeds for a total of $100 which Joe Gerson appreciated.

Our workshop in the afternoon (Taking it to the Grassroots: Granny Peace Brigade Strategies for Informing the Public) went very well, even if attendance was slim.

There were 3 women from Okinawa; one from Tokyo; two from Atlanta Grandmothers for Peace who treated us like royalty; one man with a petition, and Steve Chinlund enlisted on video by Joe Friendly who was elsewhere. One person from San Diego couldn’t stay but needed C/R info from Barbara. With Phyllis moderating, we all did our reports and Caroline with Bev staged a phone-a-thon encounter which everyone loved. Post-presentation our attendees were engaged and would have continued talking but we needed eat and then do the evening plenary.

Evening Plenary The featured speakers were Raed Jarrar (Iraq AFSC), Jana Glivicka (Czech Rep.) Suzuyo Takazato (Okinawa) and Gualdemar Jimenez (Ecuador).  All presenters were superb.

Patriotic and anti-Military Fashion Show This was terrific and worth describing in detail.

For the record though, Bev was one of the stars, first in orange jumpsuit and black hood for Witness Against Torture and minutes later in a Granny outfit complete with a Power of the Purse, black balloon, and photos of her grandchildren.

Sunday Plenary On extremely short notice Phyllis Bennis stepped in to replace the featured speaker, Walden Bello from Manila, and was thrilling in her brilliant, focused and funny style. She emphasized that things have changed in DC. so now is the time to figure out what we need to do. Obama never mentioned bases in his Inaugural address and a new definition of “empire” is taking shape. The time is ripe for pursuing base closings in view of the possible savings of $140 billion, with Barney Frank’s proposal of a 25% cut in the military budget, and the 50-50 split on the legitimacy of an Afghan war. Our movement should say: WE HAVE THE ANSWER!
We packed up and went for dinner, planning to do lobbying the following day – Monday – but weather intervened.

- Nydia Leaf
Photos: Phyllis Cunningham