February, 2004

Saturday, February 21st, 10am - 5pm
Think First! Military Counter-Recruitment Training

Think First!
Countering the Military Presence in Our Schools
Training for South Bay Community

Saturday, February 21st, 10 am - 5 pm
First Unitarian Church, 160 North 3rd St., San Jose

For more details on the Think First! Campaign, click here...

For more info on the Training Collective, click here...

To help anyone interested in participating get a good grounding in both military recruitment (and their lies), what life is really like in the military and how we can set up an effective project to counter the military in our community, we will be holding an all-day training on Saturday, February 21st, from 10am-5pm at the First Unitarian Church in downtown San Jose.

The trainer will be Rick Jankow from Project YANO (Youth and Non-Military Options) in San Diego. We’re asking for a donation on a sliding scale of $10-50 (if you can’t afford that, OK; and if you can afford more, that’s OK too!) to cover the costs of the training and provide some financial resources for our new project. We are especially looking for youth (and especially Spanish-speaking youth) and have 15 scholarships for youth who want to attend. We have limited space, so be sure to reserve your place at the training right away.

If you can, please send a note along with your workshop donation to: First Unitarian Church, 160 North 3rd Street, San Jose, CA 95112, attn: Patrick O’Connell. Make the checks out to FUCSJ and put Think First! in the memo. If you want to pay at the door, you can email Pat (socialjustice@sanjoseuu.org) or call us (408.292.3858 x29) and we’ll put you on the list.

Friday, February 20th, 7:30 pm
"The Battle of Algiers", Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo

SBM Movie Night:

"The Battle of Algiers" Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, 1965 (117 min) Academy Award Nominee, Best Foreign Film Most Important Film of 2004! "If you want to understand what's happening right now in Iraq, I recommend 'The Battle of Algiers'", Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national-security advisor [ Download the flyer... (384 KB) ]

7:30pm - Friday, February 20th, 2004

First Unitarian Church, 160 North 3rd St.
San Jose, California

Fundraising Event for the
San Jose March 20th March & Rally
to End the Occupation of Iraq
Suggested donation: $10
(no one turned away for lack of funds)
Call 408-998-8504 for more information

This film is as relevant today as it was in 1965!
Format: Black and white, French & Arabic w/subtitles
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo, 117 min

"Re-creating the carnage of fifties Algeria—bombings, assassinations, police torture—The Battle of Algiers is as relevant today as it was in 1965 [and was screened by the Pentagon in August, 2003]. I wonder if these politicos are aware that Pontecorvo’s epic was once used by the Black Panthers as a training film? In fact, not much in the current Iraq situation is historically comparable to the late-fifties Algerian struggle for independence dramatized in The Battle of Algiers, but its anatomy of terror remains unsurpassed—and, woefully, ever fresh."

"The horror unleashed in The Battle of Algiers cannot be fitted into neat partisan formulations, which is perhaps why so many disparate groups, from the Panthers to the Pentagon, have tried to claim the film for their own agenda. What reveals Pontecorvo as an artist, and not simply a propagandist of genius, is the sorrow he tries to stifle but that comes flooding through anyway—the sense that all sides in this conflict have lost their souls, and that all men are carrion."
-- Peter Rainer, New York Metro

www.southbaymobilization.org
For more information, call (408) 998-8504
Educate, Involve and Mobilize for Peace and Justice

Thursday, February 12th, 7:30 pm
"The Road Map Hits a Wall", with Prof. Khalil Barhoum and Jennifer Kuiper

World Affairs Council presents:

"The Road Map Hits a Wall"

Power-point presention on the "Wall" by Jennifer Kuiper
and talk by Prof. Khalil Barhoum

Stanford University
Bechtel International Center (Assembly Room)
Thursday, Feb. 12th
7:30 pm - Reception
8:00 pm - Program

Since it was officially disclosed at the end of April 2003, the "Road Map" to peace in the Middle East has been plagued by multiple setbacks that have led some people already to predict its early demise. Critics point out that the map contains the same elements of failure that finally brought the Oslo process to a screeching halt. Although the Map sets forth a phased approach for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, it also delays discussion of all crucial issues (i.e., settlements, refugees, Jerusalem) and deliberately leaves vague the perimeters of any final status. Equally unsettling to critics is the fact that the process offers no enforcement mechanism for the resolution of potential disputes between the two parties. Despite its vagueness, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has yet to accept the initiative developed by the Quartet of the US, UN, European Union and Russia without reservations.

In June 2003 the Israeli Government embarked on a massive construction project to build a wall, much of which falls within the Palestinian territories that Israel occupies. Sharon claims that Israel is constructing a 'security fence' necessary for the protection of its people, while Palestinians call the barrier an 'apartheid wall' aimed at completely encircling the occupied West Bank, caging the Palestinians into Bantustan-like areas, and annexing more Palestinian territory for Israeli settlements. Having experienced the inability of the Oslo process (1993-2000) to stop more encroachment on their land, Palestinians therefore remain largely ambivalent toward the US-sponsored road map.

Monday, February 2nd, 6:00 pm
- 6:00 pm: Reception with Lynne Stewart
- 7:00 pm: Talk by Lynne Stewart, Attorney and Civil Rights Activist

DEFENDING THE DEFENDER!

MEET WITH
ATTORNEY AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST

LYNNE STEWART

CURRENTLY FACING TRIAL ON CHARGES OF AIDING "TERRORISM" BY REPRESENTING HER CLIENT

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2004

First Unitarian Church, 160 North 3rd St.
San Jose, California

RECEPTION: 6:00 P.M.
SUGGESTED DONATION FOR RECEPTION & TALK: $25 - $50

TALK: 7:00 P.M.
SUGGESTED DONATION FOR TALK: $5 - $15
(NO ONE TURNED AWAY FOR LACK OF FUNDS)

[ Download flyer here (86 KB) ... ]

Lynne Stewart is a dynamic, dedicated, civil rights attorney based in New York City. On April 9, 2002, Lynne was indicted by John Ashcroft for providing aid to terrorists. While most charges were originally dismissed, Lynne has recently been re-indicted. Please come and learn how this case affects all of our civil rights and liberties. Donations for Lynne's defense will be accepted at the door. For more information about Lynne, contact: www.lynnestewart.org. For more information about the event, contact Constance Carpenter or Jeff Lake at (408) 287-1916.

The Reception will feature a display of political posters by artist Doug Minkler. Posters will be auctioned with proceeds to the Defense Committee.

SPONSORED BY:
NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD: (408) 287-1916, www.nlg.org/sf
SOUTH BAY MOBILIZATION: (408) 998-8504, www.southbaymobilization.org