east bay citizens for peace

April 1, 2016April 1, 2016

Event: Ambassador Chas Freeman on the end of the American Empire

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Ambassador Chas W. Freeman, Jr. will present a talk titled “The End of the American Empire: Foreign Policy without Diplomacy” at The Barrington Congregational Church, Fellowship Hall on Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 7:30 PM at 461 County Rd, Barrington, RI.

Ambassador Freeman is a businessman, author and senior fellow at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. An American diplomat, he was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 1993-94 and honored for his roles in designing a NATO-centered post-Cold War European security system and in reestablishing defense and military relations with China. He served as U. S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1989 to 1992 and was principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the historic U.S. mediation of Namibian independence from South Africa and Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola.

Ambassador Freeman is the author of two books on U.S. foreign policy, two on statecraft and was the editor of the Encyclopaedia Britannica entry on “diplomacy.” After his retirement from government, he served concurrently as co-chair of the United States China Policy Foundation, president of the Middle East Policy Council, and vice chair of the Atlantic Council of the United States. He is a sought-after speaker on a wide variety of foreign policy issues.

The program is sponsored by East Bay Citizens for Peace, the Mission and Justice Ministry of the Barrington Congregational Church UCC and American Friends Service Committee – South East New England. It is free and open to the public.

East Bay Citizens for Peace is a grassroots organization committed to peaceful solutions to conflict, and social and economic justice through open, respectful dialogue. For more information contact 401-247-9738, info@eastbaycitizens4peace.org or www.eastbaycitizens4peace.org

[From a press release]

August 26, 2014

Video: Common ground found at Israel/Gaza forum

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The one thing that virtually everyone who attended last night’s forum, Understanding the Israel/Gaza Crisis, is that the subject is extremely difficult to talk about without extreme emotions hijacking the discourse. Many of us, said moderator Reverend Donald Anderson, executive minister for the RI Council of Churches, have family or friends living in harms way in Israel or Palestine, so this is a hard topic to not take personally.

These concerns did not stop Rabbi Jim Rosenberg, retired spiritual leader of Temple Habonim in Barrington, or Martha Yager, of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), from wading into such treacherous waters as they engaged in an open dialog exploring many sides of the complex issue. Sponsored by the East Bay Citizens for peace, over eighty people attended the event and many posed challenging and interesting questions.

Rabbi Rosenberg began the forum by reading from a piece he had written for the Jewish Voice entitled, “What happens to a dream deferred?” written when the present conflict was just getting under way and the death toll was not quite so high. Rosenberg finds hope in “human solidarity” expressed in small actions of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. “…most Palestinian Arabs and most Israeli Jews contain overflowing reservoirs of human compassion,” he said. “The current nightmare has been brought about by the failure of decent citizens and their governments to condemn and to curb the actions of the lunatic fringe of both societies.”

Martha Yager, who recently visited Gaza as part of an AFSC staff visit sees the issue through a pacifist lens. She decried the militarization of the Israeli economy and pointed out that Palestine is not technically a nation. It is difficult for what passes as government in Palestine to provide national leadership. The occupation of Palestine by Israel is pervasive, and any move towards peace, according to Yager, must begin with an understanding that the occupation is itself a form of violence. “People have a right to resistance,” she declared.

The questions from the audience were pointed. A lawyer specializing in human rights work asked Rosenberg if he believed that Israel, with its greater military and political power had an obligation to use its power to end the occupation. Rosenberg did not hold out hope for an end to this conflict in his lifetime, or in the lifetime of his children. Another audience member took issue with Yager because she had not, in the audience member’s opinion, pointedly condemned the actions of Hamas. Yager assured the audience that she is no friend to Hamas, describing the political party’s rise to power as a protest vote on the part of the Palestinian people.

What might be most surprising to those who follow the terrible and seemingly perpetual tragedy in the Middle East is how much common ground actually exists. Both sides in the conflict and everybody present at the forum last night want peace. Only the most extreme elements on both sides deny that the two state solution provides the best hope for peace.

You can watch the entire forum here:

September 9, 2013

Peace work in RI: The East Bay Citizens for Peace

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Today I am going to write about the end of war.

I’m not just talking about the end of the two or three wars the United States currently find themselves embroiled in, but the end of all war, everywhere on earth. This is not an impossible, utopian dream, but a very real possibility.

With the Obama Administration strongly making the case for a unilateral strike against Syria, the anti-war movement in the United States is starting to heat up. This is a national and international movement, but it has grassroots right here in Rhode Island.

Over the next few days I’m going to talk about these anti-War efforts, starting with the East Bay Citizens for Peace (EBCP). According to their website “The East Bay Citizens for Peace was formed in February, 2003 by a group of Rhode Islanders from Bristol, Warren, Barrington and East Providence, concerned with the imminent war with Iraq and the Constitutional freedoms threatened under the Patriot Act.” Over the last decade this dynamic and plucky group has organized dozens of events that present an alternative to the never-ending War posture of the United States.

I attended a presentation put on by the group last year featuring West Point graduate, Iraq War Veteran, author and peace activist, Paul K. Chappell on the subject of “Why World Peace Is Possible.” It was eye opening and instructive to learn that there are actual paths towards the cessation of war, without compromising our national security. For instance, Chappell pointed out that the United States Navy presently maintains eleven carrier groups. No other country seems to have more than one each.

Perhaps our attitude towards war is shaped in part by our defense expenditures. This is only one of many reasons why the EBCP endorses the 25% solution, which would “cut U.S. military spending by 25% without endangering the country’s security.”

The EBCP holds an ongoing peace vigil from 11am to noon on the second Saturday of every month in Bristol, Rhode Island, in front of the Post Office. I asked a woman at a recent vigil why the library was chosen, assuming that the Post Office represented a convenient federal target for the group’s message, but was assured that the Post Office was chosen because it was centrally located and got a lot of foot traffic.

As I spent time chatting with the group members I observed quite a few people who seemed happy to receive the group’s anti-War literature and say a few good words about peace. This is a dedicated, wonderful group of concerned citizens trying to have an impact on the world, by making small impressions and spreading the word that peace is not only desirable, but completely possible.

Upcoming events include:

Monthly Vigil for Peace & Justice
September 14 at 11:00am
Bristol Customshouse and Post Office in Bristol, Rhode Island

Guns: Public Policy, Politics & Law
September 17 at 7:00pm
Barrington Public Library in Barrington, Rhode Island

Democracy Now!: The War & Peace Report (segments on Syria)
September 23 at 7:00pm
Rogers Free Library in Bristol, Rhode Island

The EBCP is asking us to call our representatives and SAY NO TO US MILITARY INTERVENTION IN SYRIA.

RI SENATOR JACK REED 401-943-3100

RI SENATOR SHELDON WHITEHOUSE 401-453-5294

RI CONGRESSMAN DAVID CICILLINE 401-729-5600

RI CONGRESSMAN JIM LANGEVIN (202) 225-2735

MA SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN 617-565-3170

MA SENATOR EDWARD MARKEY 617-565-8519

Here are photos from Saturday’s Emergency Vigil in Opposition to US Military Intervention in Syria.