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REDATHE PUBLICATION

OF THE DALLAS PEACE CENTER

NOVEMBER 2012

1 RÉDA November 2012

You + The Dallas Peace Center ________________________________________________

= A Sustainable Future!!!

The Dallas Peace Center is committed to a vision of reconciliation by promoting research, education, dia-logue, and action for peace and justice. By becoming a Peace Patron, you will be a part of progressive and sustainable change that will benefit humanity for gen-erations to come. Your investment will be put to work immediately to make a difference!

Become A Sustaining Member Today!

THE DALLAS PEACE CENTER works for peace through justice in North Texas and around the world.

DPC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & RÉDA EXECUTIVE EDITOR KELLI OBAZEE MANAGING EDITOR PATTY BATES-BALLARD ART EDITOR RHONDA VARSANE DPC PHOTOGRAPHERS WALID AJAJ TUNDE OBAZEE PATTY BATES-BALLARD

2012 BOARD MEMBERS PRESIDENT REV. RYAN KOCH VICE PRESIDENT/TREASURER JOHN FULLINWIDER SECRETARY ZARA TARIQ DR. QAISAR ABBAS REV. DIANE BAKER MAVIS BELISLE SADDYNA BELMASHKAN LEN ELLIS SARA MOKURIA SAM NANCE ERIC REECE AFTAB SIDDIQUI REV. L.CHARLES STOVALL

The Dallas Peace Center 5910 Cedar Springs Rd. Dallas, TX 75235-6806

214-823-7793 www.dallaspeacecenter.org

RÉDA Cover Art Native Lady Justice, 2012 Digital, 11" x 14" Seminole/Choctaw artist Brian Larney’s cover piece contrasts the horrific history of Native Americans with a hope for a just future, using a figure reminiscent of Lady Justice.

RÉDA November 2012 2

Contents Peacemaker Awards Dinner to honor extraordinary advocates ............................................................. 4

Civic Engagement

The Coalition to Lift Every Voice and Vote – Su Voto Es Su Voz .............................................................. 7

Texas Voter Rights ................................................................................................................................... 9

Heritage Month Feature

An American Indian perspective on peace and justice .......................................................................... 11

Direct Action

Walking the talk: trading with peacemakers ......................................................................................... 17

Tar Sands Blockade heats up ................................................................................................................. 18

One Makes A Difference ........................................................................................................................ 19

Middle East

Tensions between Syria and Turkey require diplomacy ........................................................................ 20

The US must end its longest war ........................................................................................................... 21

The threat of a war against Iran ............................................................................................................. 23

Is the two states solution still possible in Palestine? ............................................................................. 25

Drone attacks: promise vs. reality ......................................................................................................... 26

The World

European Union receives 2012 Nobel Peace Prize ................................................................................ 29

Winter Peace and Justice Calendar - Then and Now ............................................................................. 32

RÉDA (Research, Education, Dialogue, Action) is the quarterly publication of the Dallas Peace Center. RÉDA is published in September, November, February, and May. Please click here for submission deadlines. To submit content, please submit an inquiry to reda@dallaspeacecenter.org.

31 years

The Dallas Peace CenterCelebrating 31 Years of Peacemaking in North Texas and Beyond

26th Annual Peacemaker Awards Dinnerpresents the

honoring

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Peacemaker of the YearDr. Basheer Ahmed

Lifetime Achievement AwardVivian Castleberry

Lifetime Achievement AwardRichard Sambrano

Peacemaking Organization of the YearUnity of Arlington Media Peacemaker of the Year

Bob Ray Sanders

Reception - 5:30PM • Dinner - 7:00PM • Doubletree Hotel • 4099 Valley View Lane, Dallas, TX 75244

For Tickets, go to www.DallasPeaceCenter.org or Call (214) 823-7793

Vivian Castleberry receives the Lifetime Achievement Award for her lifelong devotion to peace, in particular her passion for peaceful resolutions to conflict.

Richard Sambrano receives the Lifetime Achievement

Award for his distinguished career

dedicated to protecting the rights and liberties of new

immigrants and others living on the margins of

American society.

Unity of Arlington spiritual community receives the Organization of the Year Award for their work in cultivating peace through education.

Bob Ray Sanders receives the Media Peacemaker of the

Year Award for his long history as a voice for the

voiceless, for speaking truth to power, and for challenging

the "conventional wisdom" that dominates local and

national media.

Dr. Ahmed established the Muslim Community Center for Human Services and serves as its chairman. The Center

provides medical and social services in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to people in need

regardless of their religion, race, or country of origin.

Dr. Basheer Ahmed receives the Peacemaker of the Year Award for his extraordinary

commitment to breaking the cycle of fear that many Americans experienced in the aftermath

of 9/11 through creative use of human services, education and constructive dialogue.

RÉDA November 2012 4

Peacemaker Awards Dinner to honor extraordinary advocates By Patty Bates-Ballard

The Dallas Peace Center will recognize a diverse group of extraordinary advocates for peace and justice at our 26th Annual Peacemaker Awards Dinner. Emceed by attorney and former Dallas mayor pro tem Domingo Garcia, the event will take place on Thursday, December 6, 2012 at the Doubletree Hotel at 4099 Valley View Lane, beginning with a reception at 5:30 p.m., and dinner and program at 7:00 p.m. 2012 Peacemaker of the Year Dr. Basheer Ahmed

Dr. Basheer Ahmed receives the Peace-Peacemaker of the Year Award for his extraordinary com-mitment to breaking the cycle of fear that many Americans experienced in the

aftermath of the September 11, 2001 at-tacks through creative use of human ser-vice, education and constructive dialogue. He defends the Islamic religion by explain-ing that Islam is against terrorist activities, emphasizing that the Holy Koran teaches that if you kill one innocent person, it is as if you kill the whole of humanity, and if you save one person, it is equivalent to saving all of humanity. After coming face to face with the horrors

Afghanistan and researching the effects of war on children of Palestine and Bosnia, Dr. Ahmed became convinced of the need to work for peace. As a board member of the Multi Cultural Alliance, Dr. Ahmed has spoken to seminary students about the need for respect and recognition of all reli-gions, with the primary goal of living with each other in peace and harmony.

In 1995, Dr. Ahmed established the Mus-lim Community Center for Human Services and serves as its chairman. The Center provides medical and social services in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to people in need regardless of their religion, race, or coun-try of origin. Lifetime Achievement Award Vivian Castleberry

Vivian Castleberry receives the Lifetime Achievement Award for her lifelong devo-tion to peace, in par-ticular her passion for peaceful resolutions to conflict. Ms. Cas-tleberry is the founder

of Peacemakers Incorporated, a local non-profit focusing on peace education and cultural outreach programs. Peacemakers currently is planning the fourth Internation-al Women's Peace Conference. In 1988, Ms. Castleberry served as Chairwoman of Peacemakers' First International Women's Peace Conference, which was attended by over 2,000 women from 57 countries. Exposed through her work as a journalist to some of the most violent acts of human-ity, including domestic violence and child abuse, she was inspired as a child by her father, a veteran of World War I, and her

problems and to include those who might feel excluded. Ms. Castleberry calls today’s youth the architects of the future, and says, “Our generation were citizens of a country, res-idents of a town or city. You are residents of a universe with all its complications and all its rewards.”

of war while seeing victims of conflict in mother to seek out nonviolent solutions to

5 RÉDA November 2012

Lifetime Achievement Award Richard Sambrano

Richard Sambrano receives the Life-time Achievement Award for his dis-tinguished career dedicated to pro-tecting the rights and liberties of new immigrants and others living on the

margins of American society. Mr. Sambrano is an esteemed retiree from the Department of Justice Dallas Community Relations Service (CRS) office and was involved in many high profile mediations throughout the country during his 30 year tenure. He was the lead CRS representative in a landmark dispute at an Amarillo beef pack-ing plant involving an employee walkout and $70 million lawsuit. Through training demonstrators, facilitating mediation be-tween the parties, and fashioning a memo of agreement, the dispute was resolved with demonstrators returning to work at higher pay and to fairer treatment. Today, the company enjoys broad community and employee support. Mr. Sambrano also gave valuable support to the community in Jasper, Texas, after the dragging death of James Byrd, Jr. by three white suprema-cists. The case generated worldwide pub-licity and resulted in the community com-ing together with Richard’s help to develop a plan to address the issue. Subsequently, the James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Act was passed. Mr. Sambrano currently serves as Chair of the LULAC National Civil Rights Commis-sion where he continues to make lasting contributions to the expansion of educa-tion and civil rights for the historically un-der-served and under-represented people of Texas.

2012 Peacemaking Organization of the Year

Unity of Arlington

Unity of Arlington spiritual commu-nity receives the Organization of the Year Award for its work in cul-

tivating peace through education. Begin-ning in 1998, Unity has sponsored ongoing classes in nonviolent compassionate communication, summer peace camps for children and youth, and "Be Peace" study groups to promote healing and unity among diverse peoples of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Compassionate Communications trainings and practice groups promote the idea that “Peace Begins with Me.” This concept helps individuals recognize any tendencies they may have to speak or act aggressive-ly when they believe that something they value highly is being threatened, and pro-vides them skills to choose peaceful re-sponses instead. Participants in this pro-gram regularly inspire each other when they take responsibility for the peace they want to be and see in the world. Unity stresses to youth the importance of first loving themselves, and then extending the same empathy and compassion with everyone in their lives. The philosophy guiding Unity’s efforts is that peace and justice originate with the awareness that all creation is sacred, and that all creation is essential and equally valuable to the whole. While justice is the expression of the un-derstanding that all of creation is equal, peace is the expression of the knowledge that we are one with all creation; therefore, when one is harmed, we are all harmed.

RÉDA November 2012 6

2012 Media Peacemaker of the Year Bob Ray Sanders

Bob Ray Sanders receives the Media Peacemaker of the Year Award for his long history as a voice for the voice-less, for speaking truth to power, and for challenging the

"conventional wisdom" that dominates lo-cal and national media. Mr. Sanders has been an outspoken op-ponent of the Iraq war, and has begun to sound the alert about the potential costs of a war with Iran, citing the human cost of the suffering and death of veterans and their families not only during their active duty, but after they return home. An opponent of the death penalty and a defender of Planned Parenthood, Mr. Sanders has vigorously condemned recent voter intimidation, suppression, and dilu-tion of poor, Latino, and African American communities, vowing to die fighting to pre-serve the right to vote for all. From his ear-liest days at KERA radio to his most recent

columns at the Fort Worth Star Telegram, Mr. Sanders has demonstrated intellectual honesty and journalistic excellence throughout his distinguished career. Last year’s dinner, pictured below, was attended by over 400 DFW residents committed to a peaceful and just Metroplex, state, nation, and world. Join us this year at the 26th Annual Peacemak-er Awards Dinner and you will be inspired. Please purchase your tickets online from the DPC website. Peacemaker Awards Evening Sponsors To Date

VIP Peacemaker

Unity of Arlington

Drs. Basheer and Shakila Ahmed

Rev. Bill and Fran McElvaney

Peacemaker

Peace Mennonite Church of Dallas

University of North Texas Castleberry Peace Institute

United Nations Association of Dallas

Peacemakers Inc.

Mr. Larry Paschall

Social Action Council of First Unitarian Church

Muslim Democratic Caucus

Richland College Peace Studies

Peace Sponsor

Dr. David and Cherry Haymes

Charles Scurry

7 RÉDA November 2012

The Coalition to Lift Every Voice and Vote – Su Voto Es Su Voz By Patty Bates-Ballard, Kelli Obazee, and Melody White

The Coalition to Lift Every Voice and Vote – Su Voto Es Su Voz is a collaborative coalition fo-cused on engaging underrepresented communi-ties in civic participation. Coalition members are the Dallas Peace Center, the National Associa-tion for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and CitySquare. The Coalition effort engages North Texans by leveraging the leader-ship of faith based organizations, educational institutions, community centers, and other com-munities of influence. The Rising American Electorate – those who are aged 18-35; Hispanic/Latino; African American; or single women – are underrepresented by elected officials. As a result, these groups suffer from social injustice in areas such as financial stress and employment, health, education, crim-inal justice, law enforcement, immigration, and voting rights. On September 29-30, St. Mark AME Zion Church, in partnership with the Dallas Peace Center, held a grant Women’s Day Celebration (pictured below) that included a voter’s registra-tion drive and voter education on the Dream Act, healthcare, and voter rights. In all, the coalition

RÉDA November 2012 8

and our partners conducted more than 15 educational seminars this fall that provided an overview of the political landscape, the Affordable Care Act, and immigration, es-pecially the Dream Act. Coalition members knocked on more than 3,000 doors in South Dallas and Oak Cliff this summer. An amazing 96% of the peo-ple we reached committed to vote, and 16% of them committed to vote ear-ly. The top issues reported by residents were economy/jobs-35%, crime-25%, healthcare-23%, and education-11%. As a follow up to the door-to-door can-vass, we hosted phone banking sessions at Friendship West Baptist Church and Dallas Masjid of AL-Islam, with strong par-ticipation from Church Women United. The calls reminded those who committed to vote that the time to make your voice heard is now, providing the polling location and an offer of transportation. Coalition members also have spoken on local radio shows about what is at stake in this fall’s election. Imam Khalid Shaheed of Dallas Masjid AL Islam, Rev. Deneen Rob-inson of Living Faith Covenant Church, Di-rector External Ministries, Rev. James Larry Sr. Pastor of Bullock Chapel CME Church, Rev. Holsey Hickman Pastoral Care of St.

John Missionary Baptist Church, Kelli Obazee, Director of the Dallas Peace Cen-ter, Allecia Pottinger of Project VOTE, and Elizabeth Walley and Claudette Brown of GOTV all made radio appearances. Imam Shaheed spoke about living in Mis-sissippi decades ago and working with the local NAACP president to secure voting rights. His colleague’s house was fire-bombed, and as he and his family escaped from the house, someone shot at them. This incident is just one of the many rea-sons that the right to vote is precious and must be preserved and exercised. Our message to the Rising American Elec-torate is:

It is vital to cast your vote and hold your elected officials accountable.

No special ID is required to vote this year.

Do not be intimidated at the polls – you have a constitutional right to vote.

Stay engaged. Voting is just the first step to creating the change we want to see.

Volunteers are still needed for Election Day! Call 214-823-7793 or email us at vote@dallaspeacecenter.org. The civic en-gagement efforts will continue next year, focusing on the 83rd Texas Legislative Ses-sion. Join us!

9 RÉDA November 2012

Yes, Voters Can

Bring this flier, a sample ballot, printed

voter’s guide, or your own notes on how

you want to vote into the voting booth.

Bring someone with you into the voting

booth to help you read or understand

the ballot.

Ask a poll worker to help you read the

ballot (but not tell you how to vote).

Bring your own interpreter or ask for an

interpreter if you do not read English

well enough to understand the ballot.

Bring your minor child with you into the

voting booth.

Ask a poll worker to help you get to the

voting booth if you have a mobility re-

striction.

Vote from your vehicle or at the curb or

entrance to the building if you have a

mobility restriction.

Bring a service animal into the polling

place if you have a disability.

Voters, Please Do Not

Use a wireless communication device

(cell phone, camera, etc.) within 100

feet of the polling place.

Wear campaign paraphernalia (t-shirts,

buttons, etc.) into the polling place.

Texas Voter Rights

Elected officials make decisions about our lives every day, so voting is vital to our civil socie-

ty. Your vote matters. Please be informed about your rights. In 2012, the voting rules have

NOT changed in Texas.

Types of ID accepted

1. Voter registration card (okay if expired)

2. Driver’s license or identification card issued by

the Texas DPS or other state (okay if expired)

3. A form of photo ID that establishes the person’s

identity (example – military ID, employee badge,

student ID, Sam’s card)

4. Birth certificate

5. U.S. citizenship papers

6. U.S. passport (okay if expired)

7. Official mail addressed to the person by name

from a governmental agency

8. A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement,

government check, paycheck, or other govern-

ment document that shows the name & address

of the voter

General Assistance

Voters are allowed to bring notes and guides for

personal use into the polling place and voting

booth. Minors and helpers can accompany vot-

ers. Voters can ask officials for assistance. Poll

workers cannot give voting advice.

Language

All Texas polling places must have an official

fluent in both English and Spanish.

Complaints

If you have a complaint, contact 1-800-252-

VOTE (8683) or http://votetexas.gov/your-rights/

RÉDA November 2012 10

11 RÉDA November 2012

An American Indian perspective on peace and justice By Peggy Larney, citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and retired director of the American In-dian Education Program of the Dallas ISD

In 1990, President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 as “National American Indian Heritage Month.” Similar proclama-tions, under variants on the name (includ-ing “National Native American Heritage Month” and “National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month”) have been issued each year since 1994.1 As a full blood American Indian, my per-spective on the subjects of peace and jus-tice is quite different from the mainstream society in USA. American Indians, as de-pendent wards of the United State gov-ernment, have a limited-sovereign status. There is a long history of traumatic rela-tions between the tribal nations and the federal government. Throughout that history, Indigenous peo-ple have sought redress to injustice. One effort to seek redress that all Texans can support is a bill that will be introduced at the 2013 Texas Legislative Session de-claring an “American Indian Heritage Day” in the State of Texas on the last Friday in September. The bill states, “It is inappro-priate for Indian children and children of America to celebrate a day honoring a person for discovering a nation of people and not having a holiday/day paying trib-ute to the people of those nations.” In the United States, there are 565 federal-ly recognized nations and 34 state-recognized tribes.

1 The terms American Indian, Indian, Native

American, Native, first American, first people,

and Indigenous people are used interchange-

ably throughout this article.

Prior to the admission of Texas as a state in the union, most of the populations of American Indians in Texas were either eradicated or removed. In the 1950s, the Relocation Program of the Bureau of the Indian Affairs was in-strumental in bringing Indians back to Texas. Now there are approximately 110 tribal nations represented by citizens from throughout the United States residing in Texas. Today, Texas has the fourth larg-est population of Indians in the United States. While the majority of American Indians in Texas live in urban centers, there are three Indian reservations in Texas: The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas at Liv-ingston, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas at Eagle Pass, and the Tigua Tribe of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo at El Paso. On March 18, 2009, Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas became the only state-recognized tribe.

RÉDA November 2012 12

What?! -- no Indian on the cover of the U.S. History text book above? Correction – In the lower left hand corner, is Ira Hayes. A Pima Indian and a Marine, Ira Hayes is one of the six men immortalized in the iconic statue of the flag-raising on Iwo Ji-ma during World War II. Most textbooks in public schools gloss over the holocaust and the genocide con-ducted against American Indians, yet somehow most schoolchildren get the idea that American Indians are a historical phe-nomenon. I worked for many years with Native children in Dallas ISD schools, as director of American Indian Education Program (AIEP) of the Dallas Independent School District. They often told me that they felt invisible.

Many non-Indian school children are sur-prised to know that there are close to 30,000 American Indians living in Dallas County today. While millions of Indians died as Europeans established them-selves in the United States, Indians have played a pivotal role in American History and will continue to do so. For example, most schoolchildren know that the first European immigrants would not have survived long enough to form the 13 colonies. They learned from observa-tion and sharing of information how the Natives survived, especially the usage of the planting fields and storage of the food. Yet most Americans are completely una-ware that Indians contributed much more than food knowledge to the U.S. Indeed, the U.S. Constitution itself has an Indian foundation. Ben Franklin, one of the Amer-ica’s ‘founding fathers,’ modeled much of the constitution after the Iroquois Confed-eracy. Even today, the way the Congressional House of Representatives works with the Senate is rooted in how the Iroquois Con-federacy functioned. In 1988, Congress formally recognized the Iroquois influence on with the concepts of freedom of speech, the separation of governmental powers, and the system of checks and balances between the branches of gov-ernment. To help increase understanding of the contributions of Native Americans, the online resource Teaching Respect for Na-tive Peoples by Cynthia Leitich Smith is a valuable and very much-needed resource. It addresses the many stereotypes that still abound about American Indians.

13 RÉDA November 2012

For example, with Thanksgiving approach-ing, students may be asked to dress up as “Indians,” with paper-bag “costumes” or paper-feather “headdresses” or “colored-headdresses.” Yet it is much more educa-tional to model accurate portrayals of the east coast tribes who interacted with early European immigrants. I, together with the American Indian Edu-cation Program staff, the AIEP par-ent/student advisory committee, and sev-eral DISD administrators were able to convince DISD in 1999 to eliminate Ameri-can Indian mascots and logos from ten DISD schools, internally and peacefully. Yet Indian mascots and logos are still prevalent nationally. Native American ste-reotyping in the sports world offers one of

the most blatant and overt expressions of racism allowed to exist unchecked in the United States, i.e. the Washington Red-skins. The term ‘redskin’ is an ethnic slur for American Indians that should never be used by anyone, much less a professional sports team. Unfortunately, American Indi-ans protests against the team name have been no match for the powerful NFL team. From insult to genocide, Native Americans have, for over 500 years, endured physi-cal, emotional, social, and spiritual geno-cide from Europeans, Euro-Americans, and government policies. Our nations have seen countless acts of bodily vio-lence perpetuated on our people, as well as the violent removals from their land ba-ses and the emotionally violent attempts to wipe out our traditional cultures.

RÉDA November 2012 14

This massive group trauma has resulted in emotional and psychological wounding over lifespans and generations; the histor-ical trauma is cumulative. The adverse effects of historical trauma and grief include unsettled anger, rage and shame, depression, high mortality rates and suicide, high rates of substance abuse, significant problems of child abuse and domestic violence, and extreme pov-erty. Yet in the face of all of this trauma, Ameri-can Indians have been guided by the many aspects of their cultures that are in-fused with the ideals of peace and justice. From a traditional and historical perspec-tive, the majority of the first peoples of this land lived in communities that were gov-erned by strong values such as an honor system and respect. These values en-couraged ethical behavior with a strong sense of right and wrong.

Yet many have questioned whether their traditional value of respect has much rele-vance, as they consider the rampant injus-tice that exists on many fronts, ranging from blatant human rights violations to alarming environmental justice issues. Still, as American Indians suffered ex-treme hardship and death from the policies and practices of Euro-American and gov-ernments of the United States, they devel-oped a strong desire to redress these his-toric wrongs, and have developed a range of proposals for corrective justice. These mechanisms include apology, repa-rations, criminal prosecution, and truth and reconciliation commissions. It has been through political activism that Native Amer-icans gained their greatest victories. Progress has moved slowly, but each generation built on what the previous one

had started, and regional movements grew into national efforts. With the progressive reforms of the New Deal, an explosion of activism among Native Americans came to national attention. Many groups advocated non-violent activities. Others took a more demonstrative approach and occupied federal land as a gesture of defiance.

Despite the disparity in methodology, the objective of all these organizations was the same – Native American self-

Hannah Galli inner i art

15 RÉDA November 2012

determination and to make America aware of the ongoing struggles that exist. Many American Indian organizations and individuals have worked for justice nonvio-lently. The Four Mothers Society was formed in 1890 as an opposition move-ment to the allotment policies of the Dawes Commission because dividing trib-al lands broke up tribal communities and resulted in "surplus" lands being seized and made available to non-Natives. The Society of American Indians, formed in 1911, urged assimilation and argued that Native Americans should be granted the same protections under the law as American citizens. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 was brought about by years of collective effort by this organization. It was not until Utah guaranteed voting rights to its Native American citizens in 1957 that suffrage became universally recognized in the con-tinental United States. The National Congress of American Indi-ans was founded in 1944, and continues today to protect Native American heritage, secure equal employment opportunities, and protect tribal lands. Individual tribes also made efforts to protect their remain-ing lands from greedy developers.

There are many notable individuals who have worked tirelessly and nonviolently for justice for American Indians. Oren R. Lyons, Jr., (pictured left) is a Na-tive American Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan of the Onondaga and Seneca Na-tions of the Iroquois Confederacy and an advocate of Indigenous rights. Wilma Mankiller (pictured below) was the first female Cherokee Chief and an advo-cate for Native American rights and wom-en’s rights.

Yet the challenges facing American Indian communities continue. American Indians are the most researched but most misun-derstood Americans. Racial profiling, lack of knowledge of American Indians, preju-dice, hate groups, racism, stereotyping are some of the challenges that American In-dians face every day.

I am hopeful because the introduction of Native American Studies in colleges and universities has educated and empowered a new generation of young Native people to take up a different form of activism.

RÉDA November 2012 16

On September 13-14, 2012, the Dallas Indian community had the honor of wel-coming a group of young Indigenous run-ners representing the Peace and Dignity Journey. Every four years since 1992, spiritual run-ners from Indigenous Nations have carried the sacred staffs of the Eagle and the Condor to thousands of Indigenous com-munities throughout the western hemi-sphere (from the northernmost end of North America and the southernmost end of South America) en route to the ancient ceremonial center at Teotihuacan, Mexico. There, they symbolically and spiritually join all Indigenous Peoples together to mani-fest the prophecy of the Eagle and Con-

dor, the foundation of the Peace and Dig-nity Journey. As these young runners passed through many Indian communities, they shared the purpose of their prayer run with dignity, for peace, tradition, pride, the importance of the bundle of staffs, and the beginning-of-the-day and the end-of-the-day blessings. They shared the importance of the 2012 theme of Water, the sacredness of water and the impending scarcity of water. As we look ahead, let us take guidance again from the Iroquois Confederacy. Let us make sure that every decision that we make relates to the welfare and well-being of the seventh generation to come by ask-ing, "What about the seventh generation? Where are you taking them? What will they have?” I will close with this prayer by Bill Mat-thews: "We give grateful thanks to the higher power, the ground of our being, the one God of many names, for the plenteous abundance of life we have received: For Knowledge, for Understanding and Enlightenment, for Insight and Wisdom, for Money and Compassion, and for the Ac-ceptance of Forgiveness for ourselves and for our neighbors, whom we are created to love. We humbly ask that we be given more - the Will to Serve, Courage to Act, and Strength of Character, that we may perform with Honesty, preserve Integrity, and comprehend with Coherence, to put it all together. Let us petition the most high, to so trans-form us in mind, body and spirit, that we may establish Islands of calm in the midst of monstrous seas, to make real the strong relationship with the Source of Life, today and for ages unto ages. In the beauty of holiness, Amen."

Bruce McKay Yellow Snow Photography

17 RÉDA November 2012

Walking the talk: trading with peacemakers Support for local conscientious objector could be life changing By Patty Bates-Ballard

Matthew and his two brothers lost his mother this year to breast and brain cancer, leaving their father as the sole caretaker and provider for three boys. So Tewelde Teklegiorges, a professional driver, needs to increase his earnings to pay for childcare. Tewelde has all the necessary certifications and insurance, he has a spotless 21-year record: no tickets, no wrecks, no arrests, and lots of contributions to our community. Tewelde emigrated from Eritrea to the U.S. and be-came a citizen in 1998. He was a conscientious objec-tor in the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Impris-oned and tortured for refusing to join the army, he sought and was granted political asylum in the U.S.

He needs to make three trips to DFW Airport per day (or the equivalent) to keep his home and provide for his boys. Please view his webpage for more information or call (214) 597-4798 anytime to arrange your pickup. If you mention the DPC, we will receive 10% of proceeds.

Advertise in RÉDA!

One horizontal half-page ad like this one Cost 6.25 x 4.10 (jpeg format only) $100

One full page ad like our back page 8.5 x 9.55 (jpeg format or PDF format) $200

Next ad deadline: January 10, 2013

Inquire at reda@dallaspeacecenter.org

RÉDA November 2012 18

Tar Sands Blockade heats up By Ramsey Sprague, Tar Sands Blockade

Despite the Texas weather cool-down, the heat is on in East Texas to block the Key-stone XL pipeline. Tar Sands Blockade has launched our largest direct action yet to defend our state from toxic tar sands pipelines that have a terrible record of dirty leaks.

It's been an extremely busy month for us, full of critical support by strong women. Actress Daryl Hannah was arrested with area landowner Eleanor Fairchild (pictured above). Morale was further boosted by vis-its from Julia Butterfly Hill and Colonel Ann Wright, as well as an inspiring action by Gulf Coast activist-mom and offshore oil wife Cherri Foytlin. We also launched the largest mass action around Keystone XL construction yet,

where more than 60 people walked onto what TransCanada claims is their ease-ment so that we could resupply our Winnsboro tree blockade. The tree block-ade has sustained over a month now!

TransCanada has worked hard to stifle coverage of our efforts, including arrest and detentions of New York Times journal-ists. Fortunately, Peter Gorman's profile of Tar Sands Blockade in the Fort Worth Weekly signaled a turning point in our abil-ity to transmit our story accurately in the press.

Also last month, TransCanada launched a second Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP), which named as defendants every single individual who has participated in our actions thus far ex-cept Daryl Hannah, plus one of our spokespersons, Ron Seifert.

We are not deterred by the legal and po-lice threats. In fact, we're growing stronger and more focused than ever before, boosted by food drives from Unitarian Uni-versalist churches, and rallies, benefits, and other creative support. We have a list of needs, and folks can support us by visit-ing our online Wish List.

Tar Sands Blockade

Tar Sands Blockade

Tar Sands Blockade

19 RÉDA November 2012

One Makes A Difference

The Dallas Peace Center’s Peace Education Program

The Dallas Peace Center’s “ONE MAKES A DIFFERENCE” youth cur-riculum provides a strong intellectual and ethical foundation that encourages academic excellence, enhances self-esteem, increases community under-standing and civic engagement, and inspires future global leaders.

The curriculum is inspired by the sim-ple and profound belief that ONE MAKES A DIFFERENCE. The goal of the program is to encourage par-ticipants to piece together their personal stories and histories in a way that deepens their understanding of interconnectedness and peace. When young people have the opportunity to share their knowledge in a group, they can teach each other a lot. Each person in the group is a teacher, learner, and listener creating new knowledge and relationships built on trust. The twelve two-hour sessions included in the ONE MAKES A DIFFER-ENCE program incorporate heart/mind coherence, self awareness, con-flict resolution, non-violent communication, and civic engagement. Join us as we launch a program that empowers our youth to charter their des-tiny for success. The ONE MAKES A DIFFERENCE program currently needs additional funding. You can be the ONE who MAKES A DIFFERENCE for young people in our community by making a donation today. To donate, click here, or for more information, email us or call 214-823-7793.

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Tensions between Syria and Turkey require diplomacy By Hadi Jawad, DPC Middle East Peace Committee Chair

Escalating tensions between Turkey and Syria indicate the crisis in Syria could easily spiral out of control and engulf the entire re-gion. As civilian death tolls in Syria rise dra-matically, a torrent of refugees, fleeing horrif-ic violence, is gathering in the border re-gions. All of Syria's neighbors have been affected by the civil war, particularly Turkey and Lebanon. Retaliatory strikes by Turkey in response to Syrian shelling have created an entirely new dimension to a civil war that now threatens to become a full-fledged regional conflict in the Middle East. Notwithstanding the omi-nous situation, opportunities exist for the United States and its allies to help end the violence and bring about a political solution to the crisis. Current policy debates in Washington and European capitals are focused primarily ei-ther on providing more sophisticated weap-ons to the forces fighting the Syrian govern-ment or implementing a safe zone. Both scenarios are fraught with risks of worsening an already volatile situation on the ground and pouring more fuel on the fire of a terrible civil war. The Syrian re-sistance continues to be fractured and key supporters such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar remain divided on goals. Differences among Syria's various armed opposition groups, not to mention between Arabs and Kurds, could erupt into open hostilities in Syria's mounting chaos. Meanwhile, jihadist elements appear to be gaining influence. US planners must consid-er recent experiences in Iraq and Afghani-stan where the arming process went terribly wrong and weapons fell in the hands of those who seek to harm US national security interests.

The establishment of a safe zone will require a significant US and NATO commitment to dismantle a very complex Syrian air defense system. Even if US involvement is limited to air strikes, an increase in civilian casualties will jump- start jihadist involvement, pulling more foreign fighters into an area already saturated with heavily armed rival factions and militias. It will be indeed a great folly for the United States to choose sides in a sectari-an war. Within heightened risks of a regional war, opportunities exist to reduce sectarian tensions across the region. Rather than pursue military options, the United States needs to build a broad-based coalition for a peaceful transition in Syria. It should seek to create conditions that will alter the dynamic from militarization to di-plomacy. It is obvious to the most casual observer that we are witnessing a proxy war between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some West-ern powers on one hand and Iran, Syria, and Russia on the other. The United States is uniquely positioned to shepherd most of the countries, except perhaps Iran, towards a diplomatic and peaceful resolution of the crisis.

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The US must end its longest war By Aftab Siddiqui, DPC board member

The almost forgotten war against Afghani-stan became a topic of the Vice Presiden-tial and Presidential debates recently. It was good to know that Vice President Joe Biden insisted that the US combat forces will be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. Even though his rival, Congressman Ryan, did not agree on pace of with drawl process, he agreed on withdrawing the US forces by the end of 2014. It was sort of good news for the peace community that the longest war in our history is finally winding down. The bill to the tax payer will be close to a trillion dollars eventually, if not more (if we stick to the 2014 deadline). According to The Christian Science Monitor of June 11, 2012, so far the Pentagon has spent more than $ 517 billion in military operations and the State Department has spent more than $57 billion in development aid in Afghani-stan. More than 2,000 American soldiers

have died in the combat operations. Hun-dreds more are injured and thousands of the returning soldiers face PTSD and long adjustment to non-combat life. It is a steep price for the country and es-pecially, for those one percent of Ameri-cans who faced the deadly war and its consequences around them while the rest of the 99 percent went about their daily lives feeling no effects of war. The protagonists of continued war claim that Afghanistan will fall into the hands of Taliban once US troops leave. Let’s look at the demographics of the country; 44 percent Pashtuns, 25 percent Tajiks, 10 percent Hazaras, 8 percent Uzbeks, and 13 percent other groups. The Taliban come from the Pashtuns but not all Pash-tuns are Taliban. President Karzai is a Pashtun and no friend of Taliban. The first Government by the Taliban was not liked

U.S. Army

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by the population-at-large including many Pashtuns. In the face of such opposition, it is unlikely that the Taliban will take over easily. Neighboring countries are investing in the country and will not welcome any chaos or take over by the Taliban. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are trying to bring the Tali-ban and US to the negotiating table to fa-cilitate a peaceful process. China has signed a multi-billion dollar contract to de-velop mineral resources; Russia, along with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, do not want to see civil war or the emergence of a Taliban Government. The US supports the construction of a pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India via Afghanistan (known as TAPI). Next door neighbor Iran is dead against rise of the Taliban and has interest in protecting the Shiite Hazara. Turkey and India are also investing in the country. Af-ghans by nature are pragmatic and open to trade opportunities. However, if at-tacked and occupied, they always fight back as Alexander, British, Russians, and now US have learned. Yet with so many interests converging, it will be almost im-possible for the Taliban to overthrow the Afghan Government. Many supporters of women’s rights and well-wishers of Afghanistan feel the need to have continual US military presence be-yond 2014 because they want to see Af-ghanistan as a modern liberal society. It will take many generations to change the Afghan society to the ideals of Jeffersoni-an democracy. American people have nei-ther the will to keep on fighting in Afghani-stan nor the resources for continued pres-ence there. Once, Afghanistan had a cadre of highly educated professionals including engi-neers, professors, teachers, physicians,

scientists, diplomats, and bureaucrats dedicated to making their country a mod-ern state. These capable and liberal mind-ed Afghans were trained and educated in the US, Soviet Union, France, Germany, and UK. There is a saying among Pash-tuns: once elephants start fighting, frogs get crushed. The moment the US decided to arm the rural uneducated Afghans to fight a” jihad” against the “Godless Communists,” the first targets were the liberal and educated members of the society. Through no fault of their own, they became an endangered species in the so-called holy war. Many were killed for simply being in the Gov-ernment, or being liberal, or perceived to be siding with the Soviet forces. The rest went into exile to be save their families and lives. By the time Soviets left, Afghan-istan had lost its precious intellectual capi-tal and the remaining population was made up mostly of uneducated and un-trained Afghans with no expertise to run and manage a modern state. There is nothing that we can do in return to compensate for our policies and actions in Afghanistan. The only viable option left is to encourage the regional powers to help and assist the Afghans in developing and training a cadre of people who can manage the affairs of the state in an effi-cient and modern way. There is no shortcut to gain such exper-tise, but the good news is that the rest of the region is fed up with the instability of war, and wants to see a success story in Afghanistan. Of course, the US must keep on helping and assisting the Afghans in their efforts to rebuild their country and society. In conclusion, it is high time for US troops to come back home. It will be good for the US, Afghanistan, and the re-gion to end the war as soon as possible.

23 RÉDA November 2012

The threat of a war against Iran By Ed Thomas

Threats of war against Iran have been made now and then for quite a long time. In recent years the principal threat-maker has been Prime Minister Benjamin Netan-yahu of Israel. There have been enough of these threats by now that they bring to mind the old adage about someone who cried “fire” so often that no one believed him when there was a real fire, resulting in the death of the skeptics. The prospect of a real war against Iran is so troubling that no threat can be ignored. On September 16, 2012, Netanyahu made the rounds on the Sunday TV talk shows with the pronouncement that Iran was only 6-7 months from having 90% of what it needed to make an atomic bomb. He said the U.S. should draw a “red line.” Iran’s crossing of that line would trigger military intervention. Netanyahu even identified where the red line should be drawn: when Iran has produced one bomb’s worth of medium enriched uranium.

On September 27, at the annual full meet-ing of the U.N. General Assembly, a meet-ing that draws many national leaders to New York City, both President Obama and Netanyahu gave speeches. Obama left right after his own speech, without staying for Netanyahu’s or even meeting him at all. Netanyahu made a dramatic address, illustrating it visually by drawing a red line somewhat below the top end of a drawing representing a bomb. But he acknowl-edged that Iran would not be able to cross his “red line” until next spring or summer.

Since that time most media attention has gone to other important stories, including the killing of the American Ambassador to Libya and three staff members, the many demonstrations against the U.S in the pre-

dominantly Muslim world protesting against an offensive film demeaning the Prophet Muhammad, the civil war in Syria, and of course innumerable stories on the ongoing election campaigns in the U.S., up to and including the presidential and vice presidential debates.

Where does the topic of possible war against Iran figure in the U.S. presidential contest? It seems certain that President Obama opposes having any such war, es-pecially before Election Day. Surely he won’t start one himself. After Election Day, he will probably continue his opposition to it, either as re-elected President or as a Lame Duck. As for Governor Romney, if he is elected, it seems improbable that he would want to begin his presidency with a new war while the war in Afghanistan is still winding down uncertainly and there are various other trouble spots, including Syria. So, we come back to Israel. Would Netan-yahu launch a surprise attack on Iran on his own, without U.S. concurrence, rea-

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soning that the U.S. would have no alter-native but to support him? That seems doubtful to me, especially while Obama is President. Regarding Romney, it is true that on his last visit to Israel, he made a point of ap-pearing to be a close friend of Netanyahu; he even said Israel had to make its own decisions and he would back them. That was clearly part of his campaigning at that stage. If he is elected, a President Rom-ney may not be so blindly supportive. If war is provoked, Iran won’t be able to win it, but it can do a lot of damage, both to Israel and to American interests. There is also the question of whether Isra-el is capable of carrying out an effective attack without U.S. military aid. Can Israel get its war planes across unfriendly air spaces without losing some? Can Israel

refuel its planes so that they can make a round trip? On October 9 Netanyahu called for elec-tions early next year instead of as sched-uled in October 2013. The balloting could be as early as January 15, but there is speculation that it might be set for mid-February, which would make Netanyahu’s government the first one in more than two decades to complete a four-year term. The campaign begins with the prime minister and his Likud Party in strong positions. Netanyahu mentioned Iran and other se-curity matters repeatedly in his short speech announcing the elections. None of the above addresses the underly-ing problem: How to get Iran to give up its effort to produce a nuclear weapon – if in-deed it has such an objective. But that is another subject for another article Stay tuned.

“Shut the Door on War” Action 10/6/2012

25 RÉDA November 2012

“The door may

be closing for

good.”

-Ban Ki-Moon

Is the two states solution still possible in Palestine? By Marilyn King

The settlement project has reached its goal: the situation on the ground is irre-versible, and the two–state solution is no longer possible. When Israel and the Palestinians signed the 1993 Oslo Accords, there were 193,000 settlers living in the West Bank, on land confiscated from the Palestinians. Now the numbers have grown to more than 310,000 settlers; another 200,000 living in east Jerusalem; with no hope of stopping the settlements. The presence of these settlements breaks up the oc-cupied territory into “Bantustans” making a viable Palestinian state unattainable. What we have on the ground is what many consider an apartheid state – one group domi-nating and controlling another group with walls and fences separating the two. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon re-cently warned at the United Nation Gen-eral Assembly, “The two-state solution is the only sustainable option. Yet the door may be closing for good,” two days before President Mahmud Abbas launched a bid to upgrade the Palestinian state status. Israel has been allowed to undermine the two-state solution; and they have missed the opportunity to have a sustainable peace. The peace process has been in a deadlock for two years. Reaching a critical

point, a new idea is taking ground; the idea of One State solution. The new state will encompass Israel and the Palestinian Territories and it will be a democratic, sec-ular and a civic state in the historic Pales-tine. The One State solution will strip Israel from its Jewishness statute, as the Jewish population will no longer be the majority in Israel. With that concept in mind, the cur-rent Israeli administration is demanding that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a

Jewish state. They allege that refusal of the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state sug-gests that the Pales-tinians do not really accept Israel. Palestinians counter this argument by pointing out that the PLO has already agreed to Israel’s

right to exist. If the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state, it will jeopardize the negotiation over the right of return of the Palestinians refugees, the status of Jerusalem, and the civil rights of the non-Jewish population in Israel, including the Christians. For a real peace in the Holy Land, Jews, Muslims, and Christians have to live to-gether democratically. The One State solution might not be deemed “fair” by the Israelis; on the other hand a Jewish state cannot claim to be a real democracy.

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Drone attacks: promise vs. reality By Don Dillard

The use of drones to pursue U.S. foreign policy is oftentimes promoted as clean, easy, effective, selective, and without unintended consequences. Nothing could be further from reality. CLEAN Legal: The legality of the use of drones to target individuals has been side-stepped due to the novelty of the mech-anism. Those targeted may indeed be guilty of waging war on the U.S. but no court has convicted them and they have had no due process. The targeting of individual leaders of political factions that the U.S. considers enemies has the dis-tinct feel of assassination. These extra-judicial executions may be someday come to be considered as war crimes. Permission: The U.S. use of deadly force over foreign territory without the permission of the legitimate government is a violation of sovereignty. If this “per-mission” is obtained in secret with the purpose of later deniability then the U.S. may be colluding with that government against the will of its people. Anonymous: At the moment there is little doubt that it is the U.S. or its allies that are responsible and should be held fully accountable for all results of drone at-tacks. Any attempt at deniability is ludi-crous. EASY Targeting: Finding and verifying that a proposed target is indeed the same per-son on a list to be executed is not likely an easy proposition. It is laughable that U.S. personnel are checking I.D.’s.

Therefore, clandestine operations with spies and informants are of necessity to be “trusted” to correctly finger the tar-gets. After the targets are correctly iden-tified, relaying highly specific and accu-rate information about place and time are critical. Room for mistakes is obvi-ous. Cost: I’m certainly unfamiliar with the costs of drones, missiles, intelligence, personnel to launch, and to remotely guide these attacks. Nevertheless, ac-counting most certainly underestimates the support functions of bases, battle ships, risks to local indigenous sources, and loss of political allies and the moral high ground. EFFECTIVE Executing advisories: Of course there have been several high profile execu-tions that have been touted to laude the effectiveness of drone attacks. However, evidence that these executions have been effective in lessening the capability or resolve of enemy organizations is un-convincing. We know they have to re-place the leader, but so far only a brief interim has resulted.

27 RÉDA November 2012

Many of those killed by drones have been

totally innocent civilians.

Precludes the capacity to negotiate: Very few wars end with the total abdica-tion of one side and the total victory of the other. Short of annihilation, the U.S. will ultimately need to have a partner with whom to negotiate, begin the peace process, and the building of a civil soci-ety. Assassination compli-cates and extends the time before negotiations can begin. Assessing the outcome: Assessing the effective-ness of the outcome is complicated when a military operation is conducted

from distance. We have to rely upon ob-servers who are present.

The aftermath of drone at-tacks regularly involves dis-putes as to the facts of who was killed and/or injured. We often distrust the as-sessment of those who were available to witness first-hand the consequences of the attack. SELECTIVE Mistakes/accidents: Our ex-perience is that much too often the supposed target is misidentified or the missile is misdirected and those hit are not a target. The argu-

ment that drones are super-selective or accurate is not born out by the evidence.

Pan African News Wire

The Insider Brief

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No one knows how many have

been killed.

We regularly learn that the target es-caped or was not in the vehicle or house, and that he just minutes or pos-sibly days before had been there. Many of those killed by drones have been totally innocent civilians without the target even pre-sent or they may have been traveling with the target, but not guilty of any offense wor-thy of execution. This use of drones is not only a “mis-take;” it is the taking of inno-cent lives. A recent report says that no one really knows how many people have been killed by drone attacks. In the photo above, a US Drone attack in Somalia earlier this year killed 39. UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES There are many possible unintended consequences of drone attacks. The out-

of-nowhere emergence of a drone from the sky without notice no doubt creates trauma, fear, and anxiety in a population that the U.S. wants as an ally. Many consider the use of drones as bad

faith, and the govern-ments that do not op-pose the U.S. in drone usage will lose credibil-ity with their people. The picture of a foreign government that re-sorts to drones is one that is weak, ineffectu-al and cowardly. The

U.S.’s use of drones may be used to le-gitimize future drone usage by others. We have come to learn that the promise of the usage of drone attacks to pursue U.S. foreign policy is empty. Drone us-age is not clean, easy, effective, selec-tive, or without unintended consequenc-es.

Pan Africa News Wire

Pan Africa News Wire

29 RÉDA November 2012

European Union receives 2012 Nobel Peace Prize

By Patty Bates-Ballard

The Norwegian Nobel Committee sur-prised the world October 12 by bestow-ing the Nobel Peace Prize for 2012 to the 27-member European Union.

The committee said the award honored the decades of building mutual confi-dence in Europe, noting that countries admitted to the union must demon-strate advancements toward democra-cy and human rights.

The committee acknowledged current grave economic difficulties and social unrest, but said it preferred to focus on the transformation since World War II of most of Europe from a continent of

war to a continent of peace.

Thorbjørn Jagland, Norwegian Nobel Committee chairman, said the prize recognizes the EU’s early role as a peace broker between Germany and France, as well as the EU’s recent progress in the Balkans.

Twenty-three organizations have re-ceived the Nobel Peace Prize, includ-ing the United Nations, Amnesty Inter-national, Medecins Sans Frontieres, the American Friends Service Commit-tee, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

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Still, journalists reportedly gasped au-dibly after the announcement in Oslo, Norway. Perhaps the social unrest in nations such as Greece and Spain

were fresh on their minds.

The Huffington Post reported that re-cently unemployed Athens beautician Chrisoula Panagiotidi asked "Is this a joke?" upon hearing that the European Union had won the Nobel Peace Prize. When she learned the news was fac-tual, she said, "It mocks us and what we are going through right now," she said. "All it will do is infuriate people here."

Others interviewed for the Huffington Post article were more understanding. “It's a good thing," said 48-year-old Howard Spilane in Ireland, where un-employment has tripled since the crisis hit. "Europe's in a crisis, but compared to the wars - even compared to the Cold War - Europe is in a better place. People are suffering, but they are not dying. On balance they have achieved a lot."

Across the political spectrum, vocal critics of the award seemed to out-weigh supporters. Many suggested that the Nobel committee has strayed

from the award’s original ideals. Blog-ger David Swanson wrote, “Europe is not a person. It has not during the past year -- which is the requirement -- or even during the past several dec-ades, done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations. Ask Libya. Ask Syria. Check with Afghani-stan. See what Iraq thinks. Far from doing the best work to abolish or re-duce standing armies, Europe has joined with the United States in devel-oping an armed global force aggres-sively imposing its will on the world.”

A commenter to the Washington Post spoke of his disbelief in “Awarding a Nobel Peace Prize (or any peace prize for that matter), to an oligarchy that watched a massacre in Yugoslavia for five years and did nothing. Well, noth-ing to help.”

The committee considered 213 nomi-nations this year, including 43 organi-zations. Other top contenders for the 2012 prize included American Gene Sharp, Egyptian Maggie Gobran, Bur-mese President Thein Sein, Tunisian Lin Ben Mhenni, Cuban Oscar Elias Biscet Gonzales, and Radio Echo Moscow.

Alfred Nobel’s will directs that the Nobel Peace Prize will be given

“to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

31 RÉDA November 2012

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Winter Peace and Justice Calendar - Then and Now

November 1, 1872 Susan B. Anthony demanded the right and was registered to vote in Rochester, NY. She voted on November 5 and was arrested for voting illegally on November 18, 1872.

November 1, 1995 - The first all-race local government elections took place in South Africa, marking the end of the apartheid system.

November 3, 2012 Austin Pow wow, Toney Burger Center, Sunset Valley, Texas

November 4, 2008 Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected president of the United States of America.

November 6, 2012 GENERAL ELECTION DAY – GO VOTE!!!

November 10, 2012 Richland College Pow wow, Noon-10pm

November 27, 1095 A proclamation by Pope Urban II ushered in the First Crusade against Islam.

November 23-24, 2012 Durant Pow wow, Choctaw Casino Resort, Durant, Oklahoma

November 23-25, 2012 Thanksgiving Pow wow, Lawton, OK

December 1, 1948 President José Figueres Ferrer of Costa Rica abolished the military of Costa Rica.

December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

December 6, 2012 DPC Peacemaker Awards Dinner, 5:30-9:00 pm, Doubletree Hotel

December 10, 1950 Ralph J. Bunche became the first Black American to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

December 14, 1985 Wilma Mankiller became the first woman to lead a major American Indian tribe when she took office as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

December 29, 1890 Hundreds of Lakota men, women, and children were massacred by a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota.

December 31, 2012 12th Annual New Year’s Eve Sobriety Pow wow, Tulsa Convention Center

January 3, 1993 The START II Treaty between the U.S. and Russia eliminated land-based multiple nu-clear warhead missiles and cut the number of total warheads in the two countries in half.

January 15, 1929 Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, GA.

January 17, 1893 A group of American citizens, with the support of U.S. Marines, overthrew Queen Lili’uokalani of the independent kingdom of Hawai’I with the goal of U.S. annexation.

January 18, 1962 The U.S. began spraying cancer-causing Agent Orange in Vietnam.

January 20, 2012 Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday

January 31, 1876 All Native Americans not living on reservations were declared hostile by the U.S.

Historical Dates Source: PeaceButtons.info

33 RÉDA November 2012

The Dallas Peace Center Mission

The Dallas Peace Center, established in 1981,

promotes a just and peaceful world through

constructive action in education, dialogue,

reconciliation, and advocacy.

DPC Guiding Values

Non-violent Action – action that compels us to construct sys-

temic change in conflict by winning over hearts and minds.

Constructive Conflict – a process that provides opportunities

to attend to varied viewpoints, and serves as a mode of truth-

finding and community building.

Collaborative Strategies – the desire to join with others with

similar goals and objectives to build mutual support; generate

ideas and alternatives; take collective action and expand re-

sources.

Inter-connectedness – the discovery of the many reciprocal

connections we have that move us towards a sustainable

and just human presence.