IRAQ PEACE ACTION COALITION

With the Obama Afghanistan war escalation speech occurring Tuesday evening, the plans that we have discussed at recent IPAC coalition meetings are being put into motion.

1) News Conference – Tuesday, December 1
There will be a news conference Tuesday evening right after the speech ends. A news release is going out inviting the press to the Mayday Bookstore at 7:00 PM. When the speech is over there will be very brief 1 (one) minute statements. The reporters will be in a big hurry to make deadlines, so we will need to be fast.

After the news conference there will be a brief organizing meeting for the Saturday, December 5 protest. This meeting will deal with logistics, signs, banners, peacekeepers etc.

2) A leaflet is being prepared for the Saturday protest. Copies will be available at Mayday Tuesday evening.

3) An IPAC meeting had been set for this Saturday, December 5 at 1:00, with the understanding that if the escalation was announced, the protest would change the meeting time. The meeting will be held shortly after the protest ends. A location will be announced.

The IPAC coalition will be meeting:

Saturday, November 7
1:00 PM
Mayday Books
301 Cedar Ave. South
Mpls

agenda items will include: News updates; October 17 wrap-up; Afghanistan escalation action(s); Rethinking Afghanistan movie; March 20th anniversary date(s); and more.

The Endless Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan…
And Those Who Refuse to Fight

DAHR JAMAIL, the award-winning journalist, will discuss his new book
The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thursday, September 3rd
7pm, Willey Hall, Room 125
U of M West Bank Campus
Minneapolis

The event is free and open to the public.

Parking on the West Bank U of M Campus:
19th Avenue Ramp 300 19th Avenue S
 one block off Cedar Ave. on 3rd Street
Surface parking lot at 1920 SOUTH 2ND ST, next to the U of M Law School.

ABOUT DAHR JAMAIL

In late 2003, weary of the overall failure of the U.S. media to accurately report on the realities of the war in Iraq for the Iraqi people and U.S. soldiers, Dahr Jamail went to the Middle East to report on the war himself. Since then, he has become world-renowned for documenting the human cost of the Iraq war: the everyday violence and terror, the deterioration of the healthcare system, the shortages of clean water and the resulting rise in sickness, the lack of jobs and economic opportunity, the refugee crisis, and the detention and torture of civilians and resistance fighters. Through his uncompromised reporting and news photos, Dahr reveals a map of Iraq’s misery and resistance, politics and everyday survival in the face of overwhelming military destruction. Most recently, he has covered the stories of U.S. soldiers resisting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He is the author of Beyond the Green Zone (Haymarket Books, 2007) and The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan (Haymarket Books, 2009). Jamail writes for the Inter Press Service and many other outlets and is a regular guest on Democracy Now! Dahr’s reporting has earned him numerous awards, including the prestigious 2008 Martha Gellhorn Award for Journalism, The Lannan Foundation Writing Residency Fellowship, the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, and four Project Censored awards. His ongoing coverage of the occupations and soldiers’ resistance can be read at http://www.facebook.com/l/;dahrjamailiraq.com

Sponsored by: Socialist Alternative, Twin Cities Peace Campaign – Focus on Iraq, and Mayday Books. Endorsed by: Anti-War Committee, Youth Against War & Racism, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Peace Action Coalition, Students for a Democratic Society. For more information contact 612-522-1861 or 612 827-5364.

—————-
Dahr Jamail will also be speaking on Friday, Septmber 4 at:
JUNKYARD EMPIRE’S REBELLION POLITIK CD RELEASE SHOW – FEATURING DAHR JAMAIL
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH, Doors open at 7pm, ALL AGES
Junkyard Empire will release their new album REBELLION POLITIK with special guest speaker DAHR JAMAIL plus CARNAGE, GUANTE, AND SAMOSA! Co-Sonsored by SUBSTANCE

Cedar Cultural Center
416 Cedar Ave. S
Tickets: $10 advance / $12 at the door
For more info contact junkyardempire@gmail.com /
6123382674

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Two announcements:

1) Next IPAC meeting
2) IPAc at our meeting yesterday endorse a protest planned by Anti-War Committee for this Thursday.
!) The next meeting of the IPAC coalition will be:

Saturday, September 12
1:00 PM
Mayday Books
301 Cedar Ave. South
Minneapolis

There will be a Program Committee for the October 17 protest meeting at 12 Noon that day before the full coalition meeting.

Agenda items for the 1:00 PM meeting will be October 17 plans and build-up.

2)
Foreclose the War Not People’s Homes!
Thursday, August 27th @ 5pm @ Rosemary William’s home, 32nd Street and Clinton Avenue in Minneapolis
As people in the United States like Rosemary Williams fight to keep their homes, the US government continues to fund wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Join with us as we demand the end of the US occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and stand in solidarity with Rosemary, her neighbors, and fellow activists as they reclaim her home from GMAC. We say money for housing not for war! Co-sponsored by the Anti-War Committee, sds – U of M, and WAMM. Endorsed by IPAC.

The IPAC coalition will meet:

Saturday, August 8
1:00 PM
Mayday Bookstore
301 Cedar Ave. South
Minneapolis

Agenda items will include News updates; Kathy Kelly visit event; October 17th protest; and more.

Leaflets for July 30 event:

There are several hundred copies of the leaflet for the July 30th event with Kathy Kelly speaking on the situation in Pakistan and the escalation of the war in Afghanistan. The leaflets are at mayday Books on the West Bank in Minneapolis. If you can get any out please stop by and pick some copies up.

Also, as a reminder:

The IPAC coalition will be meeting:

Monday, July 20
7:00 PM
Mayday Books
301 Cedar Ave. South
Minneapolis

Agenda items will include news updates, publicity for the Kathy Kelly event on July 30, fall
actions, report from national Assembly conference, and more.

_

The next meeting of the IPAC coalition will be:

Saturday, June 20
12:00 Noon
Mayday Books
301 Cedar Ave. South
Minneapolis

Please mark you calendar for the meeting.

Agenda items will include news updates, updates on summer speakers and more.

the last meeting of the IPAC coalition we agreed to endorse the May 1st Immigrant Rights march and rally sponsored by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition and the May 1st Coalition.

For more information on the event, go to:

mirac1.wordpress.com

Below is the action alert for aclls to members of the Mpls City Council regarding the permit. The council will be hearing the issue at their meeting this morning (Friday).

CALL-IN TODAY: Permits Denied for Immigrant Rights March

The MN Immigrant Rights Action Coalition and the May 1st Coalition are
planning the 4th Annual March for Immigrant Rights on May 1st, 2009. We
have solicited permits for a march down Lake St. and a rally on Nicollett
Ave, and they have both been denied.

Just as we did two years ago, we are asking the Minneapolis City Council
to pass a resolution to support our march on Lake St. PLEASE CALL today to
let your city council member, the mayor and the chief of police that we
have right to march for immigrant rights on International Workers Day.
Below you will find the information to call or email to show your support.

Also, we are asking all those who can to PLEASE ATTEND the City Council
Meeting this Friday (TOMORROW) at 9:30am at City Hall room 317, 350 S 5th
St in Downtown Minneapolis, and join us for a PRESS CONFERENCE in front of
City Hall at 10:30am after the meeting. The press release is attached.

Thank you for your time! When you call your city council members, please
remind them:

- We greatly appreciate their support in the past and are looking forward
to their continued support as we work toward making Minneapolis a model of
free speech and democracy.

- It is not only in the interests of our freedom of speech to grant a
permit, but also in the interest of our safety. The safety of all the
marchers are at risk if the city refuses to grant a permit.

- It is in the interest of the city to demonstrate its concern for the
protection and safety of its most vulnerable residents. Immigrants and
their allies in Minneapolis have a right to demand equality and justice,
and the city has the responsibility to give them the space for it.

Mayor RT Rybak: (612) 673-2100 – rt@minneapolis.org

Mpls Chief of Police Tim Dolan: (612) 673-3787 -
police@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

Minneapolis City Council Members:
1 Paul Ostrow · (612) 673-2201 paul.ostrow@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
2 Cam Gordon · (612) 673-2202 cam.gordon@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
3 Diane Hofstede · (612) 673-2203 diane.hofstede@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
4 Barbara Johnson · (612) 673-2204 barbara.johnson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
5 Don Samuels · (612) 673-2205 don.samuels@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
6 Robert Lilligren · (612) 673-2206 robert.lilligren@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
7 Lisa Goodman · (612) 673-2207

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/contact/email-form-goodman.asp

8 Elizabeth Glidden · (612) 673-2208

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/contact/email-form-glidden.asp

9 Gary Schiff · (612) 673-2209

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/contact/email-form-schiff.asp

10 Ralph Remington · (612) 673-2210 ralph.remington@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
11 Scott Benson · (612) 673-2211 scott.benson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
12 Sandy Colvin Roy · (612) 673-2212

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/contact/email-form-roy.asp

13 Betsy Hodges · (612) 673-2213

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/contact/email-form-hodges.asp

The next planning meeting for the March 21st anti-war event will be:

Saturday, March 7
12 Noon
Mayday Books
301 Cedar Ave. South
Minneapolis

Agenda items will include updating “day of” issues such as peacekeepers, sound, program etc as well as outreach in the last two weeks. There will be an update on the radio ads.

Hope you can attend the meeting.

The next meeting to plan for the March 21st protest to mark 6 years of war in Iraq will be this Saturday.

Saturday, January 31
1:00 PM
Mayday Books
301 Cedar Ave. South
Minneapolis

Agenda items will include outreach & publicity, program, permits and more.

The program committee will have a short meeting at 12:30 to discuss music, speakers etc.