New York Peace Film Festival - Saturday, March 9 - Sunday, March 10, 2013

English version of "Barefoot Gen's Hiroshima" trailer! 

Showtime: Sat. March 9, 2013 @ 7:00pm.

 Director, Yuko Ishida will join us from Tokyo 

and we'll also connect to Hiroshima via Skype for Q and A!

IMAGINE PEACE

Via Yoko Ono:

New York Times - 1 Jan 2013

IMAGINE PEACE

love, yoko

IMAGINE PEACE (Friday night) @ NYC & EVERYWHERE

Via Yoko Ono:

Join us to sing John Lennon’s IMAGINE in Times Square NYC on Dec 21st at 11:45pm.

To join the happening, all are invited to meet at the “Red Steps” in Duffy Square, Broadway between 46th and 47th Streets, on Friday, December 21, at 11:45 p.m.

Lead by Thomas McCarger, conductor and singer, and under the auspices of Make Music New York, those who have gathered will sing John Lennon’s “Imagine” at the very moment IMAGINE PEACE lights up the Times Square billboards at 11:57 p.m. Participants—and those who cannot make it to Times Square—are encouraged to follow @TSqArts on Friday night and tweet photos, videos, and peace using the hashtag #imaginepeaceTSQ.

7.7.12 - "SAVE BEAUTIFUL JAPAN & THE PLANET" Demonstration @ NYC

One participant (most whom are New York-based musicians from Japan):

This was the very first time in my life to join a demonstration yesterday 7-7-2012!!!

No more Nukes, Save beautiful Japan.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the movement. It is a huge step for me!!!

Save Beautiful Japan,

Save the Planet,

Rage Against Nukes

美しい日本を守りたい！

地球を汚したくない！

さらば原発！

Nonviolent demonstration & walk

through Union Square, Washington Square, and Astor Place.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/RageAgainstNuke

(Photos: Yutaka Uchida)

Hydrangea Revolution Supporters in Times Square, NYC: "SAYONARA NUKES"

(Photo: Kiyoko Horvath)

July 1, 2012 - ニューヨークタイムズスクエアから原発反対、再稼働反対のメッセージを送ります。諦めるな、頑張れ日本！

（撮影：Kiyoko Horvathさん) — at Times Square, New York City.

June 12: 30th Anniversary of the Historic Million People Nuclear-Free March in New York City

(Photo: Int. Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN))

On June 12, 1982, in New York City, one million people demonstrated against nuclear weapons; and for an end to the Reagan administration's military build-up, arms race, and military violence in Latin America (El Salvador). This was the largest political demonstration in world history (until the Feb. 15, 2003 global march protesting the U.S.-UK "preemptive" war against Iraq).

Many thanks for the reminder of this anniversary to No More Fukushimas Peacewalk, organized by the engaged Buddhists of Nipponzan Myohoji, a group known for global witness for peace:

June 12th will be the 30th anniversary of the anti-nuclear rally that drew a million people to New York City. That event was a major touchstone for Nipponzan Myohoji-- 5 peace walks converged on NYC with their teacher, Venerable Nichidatsu Fuji (Guruji). Here is some great archival footage (in Japanese) of Nipponzan Myohoji & Guruji in NYC and then Bainbridge Island Seattle.

(Photo: Int. Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)

Found this short overview video of the march by theAmerican Friends (Quaker) Service Committed (AFSC) :

...And this funky but also great English language footage of the march by NY cable television producers Coca Crystal and Jonathan Burke.

New York Peace Film Festival - this weekend @Unitarian Church, NYC

New York Peace Film Festival

"Reconciliation Efforts Throughout World"

Sat. March 10 & Sun. March 11, 2012
1:00PM-9:00PM

UNITARIAN CHURCH OF ALL SOULS
1157 LEXINGTON AVENUE ((between 79th and 80th Streets)

Admission: $12 in advance/$15 at the door (cash only day-of)

The 5th Annual New York Peace Film Festival (NYPFF) commemorates the nuclear disaster in Fukushima with several films that address the issue of nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

The festival kicks off at 7:00 p.m. Friday night with a gala featuring several of the filmmakers whose works will be screened this weekend. These artists will have the opportunity to discuss their films. The kickoff party is free but an RSVP is requested. Send an e-mail to info@nypeacefilmfest.com or call 917.692.2210.

On Saturday and Sunday, festival organizers will screen ten films, including documentary shorts, full-length documentaries, an animated short, and the 1975 anti-nuke classic Who Will Be Next? which includes portions of an interview with Major General Charles Sweeney, the pilot of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Saturday’s films focus on peace efforts in Africa and the Caribbean and reconciliation in Japan, and Sunday’s screenings are dedicated to the nuclear issue – both nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

In addition to Who Will Be Next?, there are three other Japanese-related films in the festival’s lineup.

In the documentary short Return to Hiroshima, Takashi Tanemori and his sister survived the Hiroshima bombing as children only to be estranged as adults for 50 years. Their reconciliation mirrors the forgiveness they promote in world affairs. Q&A with the filmmaker follows the screening.

Recruited from internment camps, Japanese Americans reflect on the accomplishments and the horrors of their battalion’s experience during World War II in 442: Live with Honor, Die with Dignity.

Ashes to Honey chronicles one Japanese island’s struggle to halt a nuclear power plant and build a sustainable future.

To purchase tickets in advance for each day’s festival, go to http://nypff2012.eventbrite.com/. Ticket prices, whether in advance or at the door, are for an entire day’s screenings.

Still Present Pasts: Korean Americans and the “Forgotten War”

Still Present Pasts:
Korean Americans and the “Forgotten War”




A/P/A Institute at NYU
41-51 East 11th Street
7th Floor Gallery
New York, NY 10003

A multi-media exhibit that combines installation and performance art, documentary film, archival photographs, and oral histories to explore memories and legacies of the Korean War. Embodying life stories of ordinary Korean Americans who survived the war, the exhibit is a public space of remembering that breaks the silence about a tragic episode in U.S. and Korean history. Featured artists include Sukjong Hong, Deann Borshay Liem, Yul-san Liem, Yong Soon Min, Injoo Whang, Ji-Young Yooo.

NYU exhibition curated by Yul-san Liem. Project Director: Ramsay Liem.

Community cosponsor: Nodutdol for Korean Community Development.

The Korean War took the lives of 3 million Korean civilians and 1.2 million combatants, ushered in the Cold War era, and remains stalemated in an armistice agreement nearly 6 decades since its signing - yet most Americans remember it only as the “forgotten war.”

Listen to the Asia-Pacific Forum radio program on the exhibition, featuring curator and artist Yul-san Liem here.

Yul-san Liem is a social justice activist and artist whose work addresses issues of war, trauma and resistance. She is a long-time member and leader of Nodutdol for Korean Community Development (NDD), a Queens-based organization dedicated to achieving peace in Korea and empowering the Korean American community.

New York Cares for Japan - Event Listings, Relief Resources; Prayer Service Tonight

3.
New York Cares for Japan - Event Listings and Resources for Support Relief

Ongoing community relief support events of all kinds, from arts to running to praying.

March 18 - Prayer Service and Candlelight Vigil for Japan

Who: coordinated by Rev. T.K. Nakagaki
Place: The Church Center for United Nations, 777 First Ave. at 44St
Time: 5:30PM

Candlelight Vigil

Place: Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47th St. between 1st and 2nd Ave.
Time: 7:30PM

Info: New Yorkers gather for prayer and hope in the aftermath of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami. On Friday, March 18th, marking one week since Japan was devastated by the massive earthquake and tsunami, New Yorkers will come together to pay respect to the victims of this tragedy and send solidarity to all those affected.

Countdown 10 days! New York Peace Film Festival

Countdown 10 days!!


Peace Film Festival Features Peace Efforts in 10 Countries

4th Annual New York Peace Film Festival

www.nypeacefilmfest.com

2 World / 1 US / 3 New York Premiere Films!!

Starts with Kick Off Party!
Friday, March 11, 2011 at 7:00pm-9:00pm
Seating is Limited! Reserve your spot now!
RSVP info@nypeacefilmfest.com


2 day Peace Film Festival
Sat. March 12 & Sun. March 13, 2011 at 1:00pm-9:00pm

Films:

A Thousand Cranes / Flash of Hope: Hibakusha Traveling the World / Standing Army
Another Courage / Twice Bombed, Twice Survived: the Legacy of Tsutomu Yamaguchi
Beating the Bomb / Death & Taxes / Free World
Billboard from Bethlehem / The Children of Adam / Silent Screams
Un Pokito De Tanta Verdad (A Little Bit of So Much Truth)



(See more trailers at the festival website)

Follow us on Twitter: @NYPeaceFilmFest

Be a fan of our Facebook page

Special Free Event:
Japanese Storytelling "Kamishibai" on Sat. March 12 at 1:00pm-2:00pm
For Age 3 and up!


1 day all day ticket: advance $16, $18 at the door (cash only)
Advance Ticket is now on Sale!
http://nypff.eventbrite.com/


All Souls Unitarian Church
1157 Lexington Avenue (at 80th Street), NYC
Subway: #6 Line 77th Street Station


Co-Sponsor: The Peace & Justice Task Force of All Souls Unitarian Church

Partners: American Friends Service Committee, NY Metro Region; Granny Peace Brigade;
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW); New York War Resisters League;
Pax Christi, New York; Peace Action New York State (PANYS); and Resistance Cinema

8th Anniversary of Global Protest Against Iraq War—Relook at Phyllis Bennis' Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, & the UN Defy U.S.

Thousands in NYC protest the Bush administration's planned invasion of Iraq war on February 15, 2003. (Photo: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton, via Common Dreams)

On February 15, 2003, tens of millions of people, on the streets of 600-800 cities worldwide, co-created the largest anti-war demonstration in history to protest the US/UK invasion of Iraq.

Among the people who marched for peace: 3 million in Rome • 750,000 in London • 50,000 in Glasgow, Scotland • Between 100-200,000 in Paris (total of 500,000 in 80 cities in France) •  Between 300-500,000 in Berlin (joined by Germans in 300 cities and towns, including trade unionists and church leaders •  100,000 in Brussels •  10,000 in Warsaw • 150,000 in Athens • 80,000 in Lisbon • 60,000 in Oslo • 60,000 in Stockholm & Gothenberg, Sweden • 100,000 in Montreal •  80,000 in Toronto • 40,000 in Vancover (& more in 67 other Canadian cities) • 300,000 to one million in NYC • 50,000 in LA • 4,000 in Colorado Springs (withstanding violence from police using tear gas, stun guns and batons) • 100-300,000 in Damascus • 10,000 in Beirut • 5,000 in Jordan • 25,000 in Tokyo, followed by another 5,000 the next day (including protests at some of the 100 US military bases located in Japan and Okinawa-- where the U.S. train and station troops before deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan) • 10,000 in India • 3,000 in Seoul • 20, 000 in Cape Town, South Africa • 200,000 throughout Australia • 10,000 in New Zealand.

As global mass protests shake up Empire as usual—on the 8th Anniversary of Global Protest Against Iraq War—we're taking a relook at Democracy Now!'s Feb. 15, 2005 "Look at Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, & the UN Defy U.S. Power" by Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, who advises we must work to stop upcoming wars before they start.

AMY GOODMAN: Phyllis Bennis has a new book, arguing the anti-war movement has evolved into a major force for global change. The book is called Challenging Empire: How People, Governments and the U.N. Defy U.S. Power...

PHYLLIS BENNIS:...We didn’t succeed at stopping the war. But I think that would be a very partial assessment. What was created—and it wasn’t only around February 15, but that emerged as the centerpiece of this extraordinary global mobilization—was an exemplar of what it’s going to take to challenge this global drive towards empire, this drive towards war that has been so characteristic, not only of the Bush administration, but in a far more blatant and aggressive way than we had ever seen before.

It was an amazing thing, because I think what was so important was not only that you had so many people in the streets in so many different cities mobilized under one slogan in so many different languages—"The world says no to war"—but it was powerful enough that governments around the world were forced, for a combination of reasons, the pressure of their own citizens being the most important, but for their own opportunist reasons, as well, to do the right thing, even if, for the wrong reasons sometimes, to stand up to the U.S., to refuse to give in to the pressure that not only the powerful countries like France and Germany, but smaller, weaker countries, those on the Security Council, the six so-called uncommitted six, that refused to give in to U.S. pressure, under enormous threats. Chile, Mexico, Angola, Cameroon, Guinea, Pakistan. These were not countries that could ordinarily go head to head with the U.S. When there were enough of them, it forced the U.N. to do what the U.N. is supposed to do, but so rarely does, which is to stand against what its own charter calls the "scourge of war."

AMY GOODMAN: Phyllis, I wanted to stop you for a second on the issue of the U.N. Security Council right before the invasion, which goes to another controversy that the Bush administration is trying to deal with right now, and that’s the issue of domestic spying, the idea of spying on Americans.

PHYLLIS BENNIS:: Right.

AMY GOODMAN:: But we saw this before the invasion, and that was on the U.N. Security Council members.

PHYLLIS BENNIS:: That’s correct.

AMY GOODMAN:Can you remind us what happened?

PHYLLIS BENNIS: That’s right. In the months leading up to what was hoped by the Bush administration to be a vote on a real resolution endorsing the war, a vote they were never able to get, they were spying—the way they’re spying on the American people now, they were spying on every major country in the United Nations. They were spying on U.N. missions, on U.N. ambassadors, on cars, perhaps on the U.N.’s own territory, something which is not new. We know there has been spying on U.N. delegates ever since 1948—sorry, 1945, when the U.N. was first created. But this was an extraordinary blatant effort to find out what delegations were thinking and figure out ways to pressure them.

But we know it didn’t work, and I think this is what’s important about that mobilization. It wasn’t able to succeed at making this war globally acceptable and legal. That was what the Bush administration desperately wanted, and that’s what they failed to get, because the U.N. refused to vote to endorse the war, because government stood against it, and crucially, because there was this global movement that brought millions of people, somewhere between 12 and 14 million people, what the Guinness Book of World Records said was the largest global mobilization in history. It brought those people into the streets to say no to war. And that meant that when they did launch the war, there was no question around the world that this was an aggressive, illegal war.

And the question of how to mobilize against it was put much more on the agenda. Now, of course, the challenge for us is to figure out how to make real, when the governmental opposition has collapsed, the U.N. opposition has collapsed—what we have left is the most important centerpiece, the global people’s movements against this war, how to remobilize them to take up the demand to end the U.S. occupation of Iraq, bring all of the troops home now at a time when we know there’s going to be troop withdrawals. They will probably be on a large scale but will not lead to an end to occupation, and at a time when we have to be mobilizing to prevent the expansion of the war into Iran in the face of these extraordinary threats that are going on.

AMY GOODMAN: Phyllis Bennis, you met with Kofi Annan, the U.N. Secretary General; Harry Belafonte; and South Africa’s, well, former Archbishop, Desmond Tutu?

PHYLLIS BENNIS: On the morning of February 15, before the demonstrations began, we had an extraordinary moment when that small group went to meet with Secretary General Kofi Annan on the 38th floor in his office at the United Nations, only moments before the rally was to begin downstairs on that freezing cold New York day. And Bishop Tutu opened the meeting, and he said to his old friend—the two Nobel Laureates, African statesmen, who had worked together for so many years—he looked at Kofi Annan across the table, and he said, "We are here today on behalf of the people that are marching in 665 cities around the world. And we’re here to tell you that those people marching in all of those cities, we claim the United Nations as our own. We claim it in the name of the global mobilization for peace."

It was an extraordinary moment. It was the last thing Kofi Annan wanted to hear, at a moment when he was under such enormous pressure from the United States to put the U.N. on the side of the U.S. war. But he refused and ultimately did say the U.S. invasion of Iraq was illegal. We have to reclaim that role for the United Nations. It didn’t last long. It was a blink in history. It was an eight-month moment, when we had the countries, the governments and the U.N. on the side of this popular mobilization, but it’s that three-part mobilization—people, governments, and the U.N.—that we’re going to have to rebuild to stop the war that’s going on now, to prevent the next war that’s emerging as we speak...

URBAN TYPHOON WORKSHOP NEW DELHI @Khirkee Village, Nov. 9-16

Matias Echanove, Geeta Mehta and Rahul Srivastavavarious conceived the idea of URBZ (user-generated cities) with fellow urban planners, architects, artists, and other people engaged in the organic formation and direction of the cities in which they live.

Their goal: to challenge bland generic redevelopment plans presented as urban rationalization and modernization and offer alternative visions of urban community generated by those who actually live in these communities.

While these redevelopment plans usually benefit real estate actors and financing institutions operating on a global scale, they are often threatening local social networks and economic activities.

They began their collaborations in the 2000's in Tokyo (focusing on saving Tokyo's most creative neighborhood, Shimokitazawa) and Mumbai:

The initial concept of URBZ was born in the mind of a restless group of urban planning students in New York in the early 2000’s. The idea was to exchange knowledge about cities, network and travel globally for events and conferences. URBZ was developed as an early and basic prototype of social networking sites such as Flickr and Facebook.

After various phases of trial and development the project nearly died. It was resuscitated in Tokyo and in Mumbai by Geeta Mehta, Matias Echanove and Rahul Srivastava as participatory urban planning, architecture and research tool. The recent spread of open source web content management systems such as Drupal and Worpress made it easier to develop media rich participatory websites.

www.urbz.net functions as a virtual office for projects in cities including New York, Tokyo, Mumbai, Goa and Geneva. In addition to maintaining its website and providing support to partner organizations and initiatives, URBZ members organize workshops where ideas and visions about localities are expressed and shared. URBZ believes that the encounter of local actors and global contributors unleashes new potentials at all levels.

Their latest gathering is upcoming in India:

The Urban Typhoon Workshop New Delhi will be held in Khirkee Village from November 9-16, 2010.

The Urban Typhoon Workshop invites artists, architects, academics, activists and other practitioners to work in Khirkee Village and conceptualize alternative scenarios for its future along with its inhabitants.

The workshop will start on November 9th with the self-formation of the participants into small groups and end on November 16th with collaborative output in the form of plans, projections, installations, multimedia events being presented to the inhabitants and the city at large.

Khirkee, where KHOJ International Artist's Association has its studios, is one of the several urban villages that make New Delhi's fabric unique. KHOJ is one of the leading contemporary art incubators in India. Its presence in Khirkee has made it possible for artists and inhabitants to interact and start a conversation about alternative ways of experiencing and developing the village.

URBZ brings its expertise of organizing cross-disciplinary dialogues in the area of urban planning. The partnership between URBZ and KHOJ hopes to forge new relations between art and urban practices along with encouraging constructive dialogues and collaborations between residents, civic officials and urban practitioners of all kinds.

For more info, see the Urban Typhoon New Delhi's website.

For more background on user-generated cities, see Urbanology (fascinating page on Tokyo), and Save the Shimokitazawa.

The Practice of the Wild featuring Gary Snyder comes to NY starting Nov. 10

John J. Healey's The Practice of the Wild featuring deep ecologist and poet-essayist Gary Snyder and author Jim Harrison comes to NY this month.

There will be a screening at the Jacob Burns Film Center on Wednesday, November 10. The second event will be an opening night screening at the Quad Cinema (13th Street in Manhattan between 5th & 6th Avenues) on Friday, November 12.

The San Francisco International Film Festival description:

The wild requires that we learn the terrain, nod to all the plants and animals and birds, ford the streams and cross the ridges, and tell a good story when we get back home.

So writes legendary Beat poet Gary Snyder in his influential 1990 collection from which this celebratory documentary takes its name and finds its restoring rhythms of nature, image and word. Occupying a hallowed yet humble position within the realms of poetry, academia, ecological activism and spiritual practice, Snyder has distinguished himself among peers such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac by becoming both a countercultural hero and a Pulitzer Prize winner.

Director John J. Healey skillfully intertwines the many fascinating aspects of Snyder’s journey through nature and across the page, sagely pairing the poet with his cantankerous compadre and fellow scribe Jim Harrison. Together, the two old friends roam the verdant hills of the central California coast, musing eloquently and with hard-won wisdom and earthy humor on Bay Area bohemia, Zen Buddhism and the morally charged interdependence of all living things.

Whether reminiscing about a camping trip with Kerouac, recalling the writing of his seminal Turtle Island or being held by his ankles and dangled over a cliff in Japan as a test of truth-telling, Snyder is a warm and captivating presence.

“Life in the wild is not just eating berries in the sunlight,” the poet tells us, and true to his ageless inquisitiveness, The Practice of the Wild seeks out and finds so much more.

KJ's biodiversity issue features Snyder's seminal "Ecology, Place and the Awakening of Compassion" (first published in Buddhist Peace Fellowship's quarterly, Turning Wheel):

Oecology, as it used to be spelled, is a scientific study of relationships, energy-transfers, mutualities, connections, and cause-and-effect networks within natural systems. By virtue of its finding, it has become a discipline that informs the world about the danger of the breakdown of the biological world. In a way, it is to Euro-American global economic development as anthropology used to be to colonialism. That is to say, a kind of counter-science generated by the abuses of the development culture (and capable of being misused by unscrupulous science mercenaries in the service of the development culture). The word “ecological” has also come to be used to mean something like “environmentally conscious.”

Read Gary Snyder's entire essay — "Ecology, Place, and the Awakening of Compassion" — at KJ online at this page.

(Gary Snyder during his Japan years (1956-1964). Image: Modern American Poetry)

For more on Gary Snyder, see this comprehensive collection of background info at Modern American Poetry.

A set that includes The Practice of the Wild DVD and a companion book (The Etiquette of Freedom) is available at online book dealers for around $US20.

September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows launch 911 Stories: Our Voices, Our Choices

Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Earlier this year, September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows joined with Hibakusha groups (and Peace Philosophy Centre) to hold "Wisdom of the Survivor," a conference seeking to draw from the wisdom of survivors to stop chains of revenge, hate, violence, and wars:

Seeking to influence the debate on nuclear disarmament and abolition, many Hibakusha have made the pilgrimage to past Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conferences, which are held at the United Nations every five years. Now they are getting older and their chance to witness their dream of a nuclear-free world is growing shorter. Inspired by President Obama’s Prague pledge to work for “a world without nuclear weapons,” and knowing that the entire non-proliferation regime is hanging by a thread, they come this time with a greater sense of urgency than ever...

The unprecedented interaction between the Hibakusha and the 9/11 community will constitute the center of this conference. We believe that bringing together these two groups for a day of testimony and conversation will provide an understanding of the unique political, psychological, and spiritual contributions that survivors of atrocity and their families can make towards a peaceful future.

Today Peaceful Tomorrows launched a new website, 911 Stories: Our Voices, Our Choices, to enlarge and moving this global dialogue between survivors of collective violence online at 911 Stories: Our Voices, Our Choices:

SEPTEMBER 11th: STILL A TEACHABLE MOMENT?

David Potori
Co-Founder, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

Like the proverbial tree, if a teachable moment occurs and no one hears the lesson, is it still a teachable moment? If you’ve been paying attention to the controversy, real or imagined, over the so-called “Ground Zero mosque” you may have found yourself considering some form of this question. How, nearly ten years after the 9/11 attacks, can some remain so insular, so ill-informed? How has anger managed to keep so many from completing—or even starting—their necessary journey through grief to wisdom and understanding? How are we even having this conversation in 2010?

For the members of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, we’ve been having conversations of a different sort since the fall of 2001. That’s when a handful of family members of 9/11 victims decided to turn their grief into action for peace by calling for alternatives to war during a symbolic walk from the Pentagon to the World Trade Center facilitated by Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness (now Voices for Creative Nonviolence). A person-to-person trip to Afghanistan under the auspices of Medea Benjamin and Global Exchange took place in January, 2002, putting us in contact with our counterparts, family members of those lost to the U.S. bombing done in reaction to 9/11. Our group was launched that Valentine’s Day with the sponsorship of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the support of the American Friends Service Committee and the Hague Appeal for Peace and goals that included promoting dialogue on alternatives to war, supporting others seeking non-violent responses to terrorism and calling attention to threats to civil liberties and other freedoms as a consequence of war.

It was the stories we told of our own losses, and the stories our members brought back from Afghanistan of losses inflicted in our names, that forged a connection among our members and people around the world who had similar experiences, shared our desire for non-violent alternatives and had formed like-minded organizations. They included Israeli and Palestinian members of The Parents Circle, Japanese Hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivors, family members who lost loved ones in the 2005 train bombings in Spain, the Iraqi peace coalition La’Onf, the South African Institute for Healing of Memories, and a host of others.


Bringing our stories, and their stories, to a wider audience is one of the goals of our new web site, 911 Stories: Our Voices, Our Choices. In the critical year leading up to the tenth commemoration of the September 11th attacks, it will provide a key opportunity to revisit the paths that could have been taken in the days after 9/11. How could we have responded differently? What could 9/11 families, and citizens around the world, have taught us about their experiences of terrorism, political violence and war? What choices could we have made, and what choices can we make today, to create peaceful tomorrows for everyone?

911 Stories: Our Voices, Our Choices will profile our members, collecting their public statements, speeches, essays, letters to the editor and telling stories of the projects they have undertaken. Through a dedicated YouTube channel it will feature film and television appearances and interviews with Peaceful Tomorrows members everywhere from Afghanistan to Iraq, from Hiroshima to Oklahoma City. It will also shine a light on the work of those others around the world who have been similarly affected by terrorism, political violence and war and have chosen to work for peace and nonviolence.

Utilizing the latest technologies with an eye toward accessibility, 911 Stories: Our Voices, Our Choices will serve as a rich, user-friendly resource for a range of constituencies at a time of unprecedented interest. We will partner with progressive educators to develop an array of downloadable, age-appropriate curricula for students in grade school through adult education. For the media, the stories will provide ideas and contact information for interviews and articles. For politicians and policymakers, the Web site will be a source of successful, real-world examples of the power of non-violence. And for the general public, the stories will serve as a source of hope, inspiration and new ways of envisioning their world.

We will work with advocacy organizations, peace and justice organizations, places of worship, public libraries and other organizations to ensure the project’s prominent visibility and broad distribution. And we hope the web site will be the centerpiece of a series of public and online forums that will increase dialogue among those with differing points of view. It will remain as a living document to the love we feel for those we lost on 9/11 and our enduring hope for peaceful tomorrows for everyone.

"911 Stories: Our Voices, Our Choices"will appear at www.911stories.org beginning September 11, 2010 with a small sampling of our work. As our inventory of stories grows week by week over the coming year, we welcome your reactions and invite you to share your ideas about how we can partner with you to keep the events of September 11th a teachable moment for future generations of Americans and others around the world.

NYC: The Hiroshima Panels & Pink Action on May 7 Urges Nuclear-Free World & U.S. Citizen Inquiry into Iraq War • Pink Peace/Code Pink event on May 8

Performance artists Kunihiko Ukai and Rena Masuyama in front of the Hiroshima A-Bomb Dome Memorial

In conjunction with the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) conference now taking place in New York City, grassroots Japanese anti-war art group Pink Action will hold a peace event in front of the United Nations Headquarters on May 7, 2010 from 11:00 AM to 4:00PM in collaboration with the Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels.

Tokyo-based painter and performance artist Rena Masuyama, who started Pink Action in 2003 following the launching of the Iraq War, will perform on Friday in front of the Hiroshima Panels—large-sized paintings that depict shocking images of the human suffering wrought by the atomic destruction of the city in 1945.

Also present at the event will be staff from the Maruki Gallery, as well as floral artist Hirokuni Ozawa and image scorer Michiko Motosugi. The group will distribute carnations to passersby, together with note cards bearing the following message:

"Toward a Nuclear-Free World”

In August, 1945, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan by the hands of the United States of America.

At this time, mothers and children could be seen running away from the flames; others later embraced their children who were stricken with cancer from the radioactivity.

"The Hiroshima Panels" are images which Mr. and Mrs. Iri and Toshi Maruki began painting after witnessing the horrifying damage of this nuclear weapon. Their poignant body of work was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the United States, people seem to have little knowledge about the damage of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As a result of this lack of knowledge, damage from nuclear weapons continues to occur to this day.

For example, in addition to over 220,000 people being killed from the impact in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, more than 150,000 Iraqi people were killed in the recent Iraq war, in which the U.S. Army used depleted uranium ammunition. 4,394 American soldiers were also killed during this war, while others returned home after having been exposed to radiation from this depleted uranium.

Citizen-led inquiries are now being made in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Japan regarding the unjust launching of the Iraq War. It is now our sincere hope that the same thing will occur in the United States. There is no individual nor any country existing on earth that desires to see people suffering from nuclear weapons!

In dedication to all mothers who have given birth to us, we declare our hopes for creating a bright future without nukes. Our strong message is the following:

"Toward a Nuclear-Free World. No More War, No More Nuclear Weapons!"

Japan's citizen-led inquiry into the Iraq War was spearheaded by a group of activists, aid workers and other professionals including freelance journalist Shiva Rei, who recently spoke at Peace Not War Japan's Spring Love event (and who is also Rena Masuyama's partner). The text of the inquiry reads as follows:

What was the Iraq war!?
(The Network to Create an Iraq War Inquiry, Japan)

In March 2003, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi—ignoring a poll which showed opposition to be as high as 80%—made a commitment to support the United States-led military campaign against Iraq. In addition to this attack not having been authorized by the United Nations Security Council, the reason used to justify it—that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction—also proved to be wrong, which was later admitted by U.S. President George W. Bush.

In spite of such circumstances, warfare kept escalating, with deaths of both Iraqi citizens and multi-national troops continuing to increase. While the Japanese government dispatched its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to Iraq to render “humanitarian support,” according to reports disclosed to the public by the Defense Ministry in October 2009, the main mission of the Japan’s Air SDF was revealed to have been the transportation of military personnel and goods of the multi-national forces, including those of the United States.

The Iraq War has unleashed the worst kind of humanitarian crisis. The World Health Organization estimated that 150,000 civilians were killed, and another estimate from Johns Hopkins University estimated the number to be several hundred thousand.

Even now, used depleted uranium bullets and cluster bombs continue to damage Iraqi communities. The public peace is not maintained; to the contrary, the situation continues to worsen. While more than ten people lose their lives every day in army attacks or terrorist bombings, one out of six Iraqis live in shelters in and out of Iraq. Most of them suffer from overwhelming poverty.

Whether or not Japan makes a commitment to address such humanitarian crises is the looming question of the Japanese state, which claims to be a peace oriented, democratic nation. The British government has already launched an independent inquiry to verify the administration’s policy-making process to join the U.S.-led Iraq invasion, as well as the legitimacy thereof. It is also important for us to verify the propriety of Japan’s having supported and joined the U.S. military action. This is critical for the following reasons: so that in the forthcoming years, our right as Japanese citizens to live in peace will be respected; we will never again take part in warfare; and we might settle the resentment of the Iraqi civilians who were killed during the war.

In order to achieve these aims, we recommend the following:

1. The Japanese government should set up an “independent verification committee” to make a thorough review of the following three matters: the then administration’s decision to support the U.S.-led Iraq War; the decision to dispatch the SDF to Iraq; and the involvement of the Japanese government in the reconstruction mission of Iraq. The committee should make careful investigations concerning the above mentioned subjects, disclose the findings, and decide which bodies—including individuals—will take both moral and legal responsibility.

2. The procedure and the final report of inquiry/verification should be disclosed to the maximum extent, and should be available to anyone so requesting.

3. On receiving the final report submitted by the independent verification committee, the Japanese government should make an official statement on the findings to be released on both local and global levels, and should render the necessary humanitarian aid and support to the victims of the war.

Our website : http://isnn.tumblr.com/

Director: Mr. Rei Shiva ++81-(0)90-9328-9861 / mail@reishiva.jp

To date, Pink Action has held performances worldwide in places including China, Germany, Iraq, and Okinawa. More information about founder Rena Masuyama is available on her website, and her performance at a recent World Peace Now demonstration in Tokyo is profiled here.
In addition, the documentary film PINK Jeanne'd Arc , which is presently screening in Japan, depicts Rena Masuyama’s life as an artist, peace activist and mother of two. It explores her exchange with local artists in Iraq, art performance at the Maruki Museum, and protest against the Rokkasho Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plant.

Masuyama asserts that while her flamboyant actions may appear to some as being radical, they all originate in her natural wishes for life—and in her fervent hope for all children everywhere to be able to live in peace.

Pink Action will also hold a joint peace event together with Code Pink NYC in Central Park (59th Street & Central Park West) on May 8, 2010 from 1:00~4:00 PM.

--Kimberly Hughes

Int. Conference For a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just & Sustainable World: Challenging A-P Militarism & Arms Race TODAY in NYC

Peacemakers are gathering together at the Int. Conference For a Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World meeting at the Riverside Church in New York City today and tomorrow.

Gensuikyo, Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament, American Friends Service Committee, People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, the Institute for Policy Studies and Peaceboat is co-sponsoring the "Challenging Asia-Pacific Militarism and the Arms Race" session. Presenters include a Delegate from Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament, John Feffer, Joseph Gerson, Kyle Kajihiro, Melvin Won Pat-Borja, Taeho Lee, Akira Kawasaki, Yayoi Tsuchida, and Katsuma Yagasaki.

Mayors for Peace is sponsoring "The Role of Cities (Economic Jusice/Human Needs Track)." Panelist include Hiroyuki Fujita, Takashi Yoshihara, Hiroshi Shimizu, Michel Cibot, Alain Audoubert, Franck Demaumont, Kheder Kareem Mohammed, and Michael Menser.

Gensuikyo, the International Peace Bureau, and BANg are co-sponsoring "Global Hibakusha: Testimonies of Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb Witnesses/Survivors." Panelists include: Junko Kayashige, Matashichi Oishi, Claudia Peterson, Abbacca Anjain Madison, Kin Yongkil, Claudia Peterson, and Natalia Mironova.

The Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, Peace Philosophy Center, and Vancouver Save Article 9 is co-sponsoring "Atomic Bombings and Indiscriminate Attacks on Civilians." The moderator is Satoko Norimatsu and the panelists are John Chappell, Khder Kareem, Haruko Moritaki, Yuki Tanaka, and Marilyn B. Young.

The International Network for the Abolition of Military Bases and many other groups are co-sponsoring "Winning the Withdrawal of Foreign Military Bases." The panelists include Rubens Diniz (Brazil), Kyle Kajihiro (Hawai’i), Raed Jarrar (Iraq), Oh Hye-Ran (Korea), Katsuma Yagasaki (Okinawa), Baltazar Pinguel (Philippines), Agneta Norberg (Sweden), Carlos Fernando Salamanca (Colombia), Kozue Akibayashi (Okinawa), David Vine (United States), and Melivin Wonpat-Borja (Guahan).

On May 2, people are rallying for an "International Day of Action" to say to the world and the leaders who will come to the UN for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty:

• We want a Nuclear Free Future!
• Fund Human Needs, Not War!
• End the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan!
• Protect the planet instead of destroying it with war and nuclear proliferation!

They will begin at 2:00 with a rally of speakers and performers and greetings from the international delegations. At 3:30, they will have a spirited march across town to the United Nations ending with the International Peace and Music Festival where there will be music from around the world as well as tents and tables that will provide information and organizing resources to support continuing work for a safe, nuclear-free, peaceful and just world for all!