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Fwd: Peace Rally



Forwarded Message:
> From: "Tara Howe" <elsewhere10@hotmail.com>
> Subject: Peace Rally
> Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 20:11:59 
> -----
> 
> I have received several of the negative commentaries on the Peace Rally to 
> be held this Saturday via forwards to my address.
> 
> As an organizer in the peace rally, I write this letter now because the 
> responses I've seen are so very opposite the intention of a rally based on 
> Peace- a comment made by Keith Howe in his response to Duncan Palmatier's 
> letter. This Peace Rally is not intended to be  a divisive action.  Two huge 
> events have just occured: a terrorist attack on Sept. 11 and a declaration 
> of war.  Innocent lives have been taken because of each. But to advocate 
> peace does not suggest we condone terrorism.
> 
> No one who is organizing this rally supports the actions of Bin laden or the 
> Taliban.  Speakers residing in various regions in the Middle East spoke at a 
> conference at WSU yesterday and agreed to the fact that the  majority of 
> folks in the Middle East also do not support the Taliban.  There are many 
> forms of retaliation.  Keith brings up the very good point that it sometimes 
> requires an act of violence to maintain the peace.  I believe there are many 
> ways to approach such a situation and would never claim to 'have the 
> answer'.  To the same effect, we should all be careful when believing we 
> have the answer; strong belief is what any kind of fundamentalism is based 
> upon.
> 
> Still, the organizers of this peace rally do not support further bombing of 
> the Afghanistan nation.  We are concerned that people may forget there are 
> indeed people in Afghanistan being directly affected.  I understand that we 
> have lost people here too.  But as it always is, the governments attacking 
> are not typically the arenas in which lives are lost; it is always the 
> civilians. Whatever our actions as a nation, we must at very least 
> acknowledge this further loss of innocent lives- even if many believe it is 
> in the name of good.
> 
> Now, in the same vein, this is the time we must also acknowledge the ways in 
> which our lives here in the U.S. can often play a negative role in the lives 
> of others, both here and abroad.  This is not to say in anyway that we 
> deserve a terrorist act.  Terrorism is never the answer.  But while we are 
> here, searching for answers and looking for ways to live in a world of this 
> size, we must acknowledge that Americans are not exempt from scrutiny.
> 
> As a Canadian coming to the States I can attest first hand to all the 
> wonderful benefits of entering a country with a strong economy and real, 
> viable options for work and education, entrepreneurialship and such. I have 
> used these options available to me and am greatly indebted to a nation in 
> which this is possible.
> As part of this education, however, I am coming to grips with certain 
> realities about American and global histories not relayed in everyday media. 
>    Mixed in with the positive aspects of life in America and the spread of 
> corporatization throughout the world- a process largely funded by American 
> companies and backed by the U.S. military- there are problems. En masse, 
> corporatization of the world (not simply an AMerican phenomenon, but a 
> process in which we do have to take responsibility for our role) is 
> oppressing many for the few.
> In talking about peace, how can we even get anywhere near the idea without 
> dismantling so many of the inequalities inherent in today's political 
> structure?  But how do we do this without educating ourselves as the to 
> nature of global politics AND acknowledging that we play a role in this 
> schema that is at once positive and negative?
> 
> This Peace Rally is foremost an arena for the education and for dialogue.  
> WE chose the arts as a medium for expression because that is an arena which 
> many of the organizers use for expression, and it is a very powerful medium 
> for synthesizing the intellect with the emotions.
> Unfortunately it tends to take dire situations to finally snap people into 
> action; not only should we have had a rally on Sept. 11th, we should have 
> had a rally when it first became apparent there was an imbalance in the 
> world requiring action.  There are many people throughout this country and 
> throughout the world already striving to effect change and broaden the 
> general understanding.  Here, we finally reached a critical mass.
> Regardless, here we all are in the middle of something bigger than us all, 
> and we need to communicate.
> 
> I ask that folks remain cynical of the news coverage and dig deeper into the 
> books gracing our public libraries; books we are actually able to read 
> freely because we live in a country that values freedom and democracy.  In 
> these books, there is a global history that sheds light on how we came to be 
> at this point in time.
> There will be speakers at the Rally who will speak to this effect.
> there will be informational pamphlets to further educate.
> We will have lists of readings and alternate news sources to which folks can 
> turn for a balanced coverage of the events.
> 
> I am not attacking America.  The statement, 'we are terrorists in our own 
> right' has a very good foundation in the historical facts, but it must sound 
> very out of place at this point in time if one is unaware of the absolute 
> interconnectedness of global politics.
> Please come down to the peace rally so we can all find a forum to discuss 
> the issues at hand.  To strive for peace is in no way to attack.
> 
> We are not running about blindly yelling 'peace' without recognizing the 
> complexities at hand nor are we saying that nothing should be done; it is in 
> recognition of the extreme nature of this situation that we hope to bring 
> everyone together to work through the ideas rather than leave everyone to 
> individual isolation in which misperceptions can lead to uncalled for 
> retalliatory acts, or misguided non-action.
> 
> We are all a part of this world we live in.  We can decide to create further 
> violence, or we can set a precedence more befitting a nation based on life 
> and liberty, and come together in support of Peace as a larger notion, much 
> larger than the simple end of war.
> 
> with sincere regards,
> tara howe
> 
> _________________________________________________________________
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