Community Calendar, 2003

Wednesday, August 27th, 7:00pm-9:00pm
Silicon Valley for Civil Rights, General Meeting

It's no secret that since September 11th, the federal government has engaged in a massive crackdown on civil liberties. Muslims, Arabs, and South-Asians have been rounded up for interrogations, detentions, and deportations. FBI agents have been authorized to spy on political and religious gatherings. And the Patriot Act threatens all of us with its provisions for expanded surveillance and invasions of privacy.

138 cities and counties nationwide have passed resolutions opposed to the Patriot Act and this crackdown on civil liberties. With the Bush Administration about to introduce "PATRIOT Act II", it is important for Congress to know that there is local opposition. That is why it is critical that Santa Clara County take a stand for civil liberties and pass a resolution against the PATRIOT Act.

Location: 2nd Floor Conference Room
South Bay Mobilization
480 North First St, Suite 205 in downtown San Jose

Tuesday, August 19th, 7:30pm
SBM Movie Night: "Jenin, Jenin"
- Repeat Showing at SBM Office on Wednesday, August 20th, 7:30pm

A Film Series & Speakers
by South Bay Mobilization

Sponsored by: San Jose Peace Center, Jewish Voice for Peace, Palestinian Heritage Committee & SJSU Students for Justice

Israel and Palestine:
Into the Heart of the Conflict

"Jenin, Jenin" Directed by Mohamed Bakri, 2002, 54 min Banned in Israel!

[ Click here for more information about this film... ]

[ Download the flyer here... ]

Winner: Best Film, Carthage International Film Festival

'Where is God,' an elderly man desperately wonders when surveying the debris in the Palestinian refugee camp Jenin.

The film, directed and co-produced by Palestinian actor and director Mohammed Bakri, includes testimony from Jenin residents after the Israeli army's Defensive Wall operation, during which the city and camp were the scenes of fierce fighting. The operation ended with Jenin flattened and scores of Palestinians dead. Palestinians as well as numerous human rights groups accused Israel of committing war crimes in the April 2002 attack on the refugee camp. "Jenin, Jenin" shows the extent to which the prolonged oppression and terror has affected the state of mind of the Palestinian inhabitants of Jenin.

Bitterness and grief are the prevailing feelings among the majority of the population. Many have lost loved ones or are still searching for victims and furniture among the debris. A little girl, who does not seem to be much older than twelve, tells her story but knows no fear. The ongoing violence in her day-to-day life only nourishes her feelings of hatred and the urge to take revenge. She tells what she would do to Prime Minister Sharon if he visited the camp and she shouts that the Palestinians will never give up the struggle. They will keep on producing children, who can continue the fight against injustice.

The sad question forces itself on the spectator. What will become of a country, a people when its children are confronted with war and violence from a very early age?

Banned in Israel, "Jenin Jenin" is dedicated to Iyad Samudi, the producer of the film, who returned home to Yamun after the shooting of the film was completed. On June 23, as Israeli forces besieged Yamun, Samudi was shot and killed as he was leaving a military-closed area with three friends.

Location:
Camera Cinema #3
288 South Second Street
San Jose, CA 95113
(408) 998-3300

- Repeat Showing at the SBM Office on Wednesday, August 20th, 7:30pm

For more information, call SBM at: (408) 998-8504

Tuesday, August 19th, 11:00am
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Passed a
Resolution Against the PATRIOT Act

Anti-Patriot Act Resolution
Passes in Santa Clara County!

On August 19th, 2003, a Resolution Opposing the PATRIOT Act was passed by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors with only one opposing vote.

The driving force behind the resolution was a coalition called Silicon Valley for Civil Rights. Congratulations to Silicon Valley for Civil Rights, the South Bay Mobilization, and all the other member organizations and individuals for all their hard work to make this happen! We also want to thank the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors for taking a stand for civil liberties and against the PATRIOT Act!

[ See the actual resolution that was passed here... ]

"I am very happy today," said Samina Faheem, Executive Director of American Muslim Voice, and member of Silicon Valley For Civil Rights. "This is the Miracle I have been talking about. I truly believe that our fellow Americans are open minded, kind, generous and fair people..."

For more information, call:
South Bay Mobilization at: (408) 998-8504

Friday, August 15th, 7:00pm
SBM Movie Night: "The Execution of Private Slovik"

Military Justice Night:

Film Night & Fundraiser for Marine Lance Corporal Stephen Funk of San Jose, Conscientious Objector to Bush Administration’s War on Iraq

Veterans for Peace, Chapter 101, San Jose/South Bay

"The Execution of Private Slovik" Directed by Lamont Johnson, 1974, 150 min

[ Click here for more information about this film... ]

[ Download the flyer here... ]

Update on Stephen’s Court-martial, then ...

The film: “The Execution of Private Slovik,” starring Martin Sheen, Ned Beatty, Gary Busey. This award-winning 1974 NBC-TV movie, portrays the true, long-concealed story of Army Pvt. Eddie Slovik, age 24, executed in 1945 by the U.S. government for desertion. *Note: due to intensity of movie’s final scenes, young children should not see this movie.

After the movie, another surprise . . . possibly the most suppressed news story in the United States . . . Stephen Funk’s story has received local, state, and even national media coverage. Guess “who” is a military deserter, although mainstream U.S. media doesn’t let American citizens know?

U.S. PRESIDENT & COMMANDER IN CHIEF GEORGE W. BUSH

He’s 30 years overdue a court-martial -- no record of his reporting for Air National Guard duty in 1972-1973. He was suspended, permanently grounded, as a military jet pilot for AWOL/desertion. His military service record/docs are on THE INTERNET.
Go to: www.awolbush.com for starters.

Join South Bay Mobilization & Veterans For Peace, Friday, August 15th, 7:00 pm, Hattie Porter Hall for an informative evening & a great fundraiser!
(All Donations accepted, no one turned away for lack of funds)

Can’t attend? Send a donation to:
Stephen Funk Legal Defense Fund
1230 Market St., #111
San Francisco, CA 94102


Location:
Hattie Porter Hall
First Unitarian Church
160 N. Third St., San Jose

For more information, call:
South Bay Mobilization at: (408) 998-8504
Veterans for Peace at: (650) 207-6073

Friday, August 15th, 4:30-6:00pm
Join us to Commemorate the Tragic 50th Anniversary of the Death of Democracy in Iran

"For nearly five decades, America's role in the military coup that ousted Iran's elected prime minister and returned the shah to power has been lost to history, the subject of fierce debate in Iran and stony silence in the United States. One by one, participants have retired or died without revealing key details, and the Central Intelligence Agency said a number of records of the operation — its first successful overthrow of a foreign government — had been destroyed. But a copy of the agency's secret history of the coup has surfaced, revealing the inner workings of a plot that set the stage for the Islamic revolution in 1979, and for a generation of anti-American hatred in one of the Middle East's most powerful countries. ... The operation, code-named TP-Ajax, was the blueprint for a succession of C.I.A. plots to foment coups and destabilize governments during the cold war — including the agency's successful coup in Guatemala in 1954 and the disastrous Cuban intervention known as the Bay of Pigs in 1961. In more than one instance, such operations led to the same kind of long-term animosity toward the United States that occurred in Iran." ...

"... The Shah requires special preparation. By nature, a creature of indecision, beset by formless doubts and fears, he must be induced to play this role..." TP-AJAX Plan of the CIA. Corbis/ Bettmann The Shah of Iran and his wife, the Empress Soraya, arrive at Rome airport from Bagdad August 18, 1953 after the unsuccessful royalist attempt to oust Premier Mohammed Mossadegh.

"The secret history, along with operational assessments written by coup planners, was provided to The Times by a former official who kept a copy.

It was written in March 1954 by Dr. Donald N. Wilber, an expert in Persian architecture, who as one of the leading planners believed that covert operatives had much to learn from history." (Read the complete details on the New York Times web site )

- Read the CIA secret document describing Project "TP-AJAX", the CIA's actual plan to overthrow the democratically elected government of Iran (written in 1954).

50th Anniversary of the CIA Coup that Overthrew the Democratically Elected leader of Iran, Prime Minister Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh

Related Articles:

The Associated Press, 1953 Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh was democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran in March, 1951.

On August 15th, 1953, the CIA Implemented a Coup, Overthrowing the Democratically Elected Leader of Iran, Prime Minister Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh.

The Associated Press, 1953 Former Iranian Premier Mohammed Mossadegh is helped along as he entered court in Tehran November 8, 1953 where a military tribunal was trying him as a traitor.

Meet on Friday, August 15th, 4:30-6pm, in front of
Federal Building, 2nd St and San Carlos, downtown San Jose

For more information, call:
South Bay Mobilization at: (408) 998-8504

Tuesday, August 12th, 7:00pm
SBM Movie Night: "Tragedy In The Holy Land: The Second Uprising"

A Film Series & Speakers
by South Bay Mobilization

Israel and Palestine:
Into the Heart of the Conflict

"Tragedy in the Holy Land: The Second Uprising" a film by Dennis Mueler, 2002, 71 min

[ Click here for more information about this film... ]

Few films about the Middle East view history through the lens of the Palestinians, even though they are the poeple whose history and daily reality lie at the heart of events in the region. Tragedy in the Holy Land: The Second Uprising fills a void in conventioanl accounts of the Israeli/Palestinian struggle. It gives the viewer access to the voices and background of one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted conflicts of the last century.

This provocative documentary addresses the core issues of land and identity. It probes the evolution of the seemingly incurable conflict in Palestine from a historical perspective that is typically unknown to American audiences.

Using rarely seen archival footage and interviews with various experts and scholars, Tragedy in the Holy Land offers vital information about the roots of the current conflict and the ongoing struggle for survival and dignity.

[ Download the flyer here... ]

Location: 2nd Floor Conference Room
South Bay Mobilization
480 North First St, Suite 205
Downtown San Jose

For more information, call: (408) 998-8504

Tuesday, August 5th, 7:00pm
SBM Movie Night: "People and the Land", by Tom Hayes

"People and the Land", by Tom Hayes Winner of the Silver Screen Award at the International Film & Video Festival 1997, 57 minutes Back by popular demand, our Second Screening of this Film [ Read what Tom Hayes says about his own experience creating this film... ]

[ General information about this film ... ]
[ Watch the entire movie here (a very small & fuzzy version) ... ]

"The point of Tom Hayes' 1997 documentary, "People and the Land," is clear: what Israelis are doing to Palestinians is an American issue. It should be of concern not only to Muslim Americans, or Arab Americans, or Jewish Americans, but to all tax-paying Americans.", says by Jane Adas [ Read the rest of her review of this film here ... ]

Location:
2nd Floor Conference Room
South Bay Mobilization
480 North First St, Suite 205 in downtown San Jose

For more information call South Bay Mobilization at: 408-998-8504

Tuesday, August 5th, 7:00pm
Tuesday, August 19th, 7:00pm
A Study Group of the Book: "Doing Democracy", by Bill Moyer
The Movement Action Plan Model for Organizing Social Movements

This is a study group for activists and citizens who want to understand how social change movements work and how we can become more effective. Because this is such an important topic for the times we are living in, we want as many folks as possible to join us. If we have more than 20 people, we will divide up into two groups to allow for better discussion (more than 40 and we'll form three groups).

Cost: Donation of $5-50 sliding scale (funds will be used support similar programs)
Time & Location: 7 - 9 pm in Hattie Porter Hall
First Unitarian Church, 160 North 3rd Street
(between St. James & St. John in downtown San Jose)
Register: call: (408) 292-3858 x29 or
email: socialjustice@sanjoseuu.org

Books available: Willow Glen Books, 1330 Lincoln Ave. (408) 298-8141

"If every activist could read this book, victory would be certain.
No book combines such strong scholarship, practical know-how, and
common sense to inform and empower activists for change. Doing Democracy
will be required reading for any course I teach on nonviolence and
social movements."
- Stephen Zunes, Chair of Peace & Justice Studies, University of San Francisco

Sponsored by the Peace Makers Action Group of the First Unitarian Church of San Jose

Patrick O'Connell
Social Justice Program Coordinator
First Unitarian Church of San Jose
phone: (408) 292-3858 x29

web: www.sanjoseuu.org/SocialJusticeCouncil
web forum: data.forumhoster.com/forum_patoc
email: socialjustice@sanjoseuu.org