The Unofficial Website of PPRC - Portland Peaceful Response Coalition

Tuesday, June 15th 2004 7:00 PM - �REFUSENIK!: Israel�s Soldiers of Conscience" � Public Lecture and Reading by Israeli journalist and author, Peretz Kidron
Contact: (503) 344-5078
Location: First Unitarian Church, 1011 SW 12th Avenue, Portland (The Salmon Street Sanctuary)
Admission Free!
Full Page Flyer
1/4 Page Handbill
Israeli journalist and author, Peretz Kidron, will be speaking about and reading from the new book REFUSENIK!: Israel's Soldiers of Conscience, at 7:00 pm on Tuesday evening, June 15th, at the Salmon Street Sanctuary of the First Unitarian Church, 1011 SW 12th (S.W. Salmon & SW 12th), in downtown Portland. Admission is free. This moving book is a first-time look at Israeli soldiers who have refused orders on moral grounds, earning the name of �Refusenik� along with a prison sentence. These are the stories of people who believe in their country, but not in its actions beyond its borders. For more information, please call (503) 344-5078.

Peretz Kidron, a long-time Israeli citizen, retells the stories of the refuseniks from the 1982 invasion of Lebanon up to the current situation with Palestine. The stories, experiences, viewpoints, and even poetry from a great spectrum of Israelis are presented � officers, ordinary foot-soldiers, men and women, from various ethnic backgrounds and classes. The book also reveals the cautious and embarrassed response of the authorities, and the wider implications of the philosophy of selective refusal for conscientious citizens in every country where conscription still exists. Peretz Kidron is a freelance journalist, broadcaster and writer.

This program is sponsored by the Portland Peaceful Response Coalition, Jews for Global Justice, the Peace Action Group of the First Unitarian Church, and Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights. Co-sponsors include the War Resisters League of Portland, the Military & Draft Counseling Project, American Friends Service Committee, Northwest Veterans for Peace, Friends of Sabeel, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Workers International League, Hands Off Venezuela Campaign, Freedom Socialist Party, Libertarian Party of Multnomah County, Radical Women, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, East Timor Action Network of Portland, Portland Solidarity, Veterans for Peace Chapter 72, and by KBOO 90.7FM Community Radio.

�Resistance to crimes of state, and refusal to participate in them, has been and remains one of the most significant achievements of people of decency and courage throughout history. The Israelis who have undertaken this honorable course merit the greatest admiration and respect. Their testimonies are a memorable contribution to this noble cause.� � Noam Chomsky

�Our greatest admiration must go to those brave Israeli soldiers who refuse to serve beyond the 1967 borders. These soldiers, who are Jews, take seriously the principle put forward at the Nuremberg trials in 1945-46: namely, that a soldier is not obliged to obey unjust orders - indeed, one has an obligation to disobey them.� � Susan Sontag (author of the preface for the book)

Tuesday, June 15th 2004 12:00 PM NOON - NATIONAL JUSTICE FOR JANITORS DAY!
Contact: SEIU Local 49, (503) 236-4949 ext: 45
Location: Terry Schrunk Plaza, SW 3rd & Madison, downtown Portland
Please join PPRC, SEIU Local 49, the Justice for Janitors Campaign and Jobs with Justice for NATIONAL JUSTICE FOR JANITORS DAY! Labor, faith and community organizations will be holding a march and rally to celebrate. Starting at Terry Schrunk Plaza at 12:00PM noon, the celebration will march past key downtown buildings and end at the South Park Blocks. There will be food and music! Please come out to support Portland's janitors!

Wednesday, June 16th 2004 9:00 AM - Call for Justice! Stop Police Killings! Pack City Hall!
Contact: AMA Ad Hoc Coalition for Community Justice - [email protected]
Location: City Hall, 1221 SW 4th (at Madison), downtown Portland
Take the morning off! The AMA Ad Hoc Coalition for Community Justice has lined up five speakers to address changes to police policies and urge action on the James Jahar Perez case. It is unclear right now whether the Council will formally propose a resolution (which would open up the testimony to the general public) but either way it would be great to see a packed chambers, just like when the Joint Terrorism Task Force was up for renewal a few years ago...

This should be the very first thing on the Council agenda at 9:30 but the length of time depends on whether Council responds and whether public input is taken.

Local organizations sign onto letter to Portland�s mayor and police chief, object to police tactics, restrictions imposed at Cheney�s Republican fundraiser.
Well over a dozen local organizations, and over sixty Portland-area activists have signed onto a letter to Mayor Katz and Police Chief Foxworth taking issue with police tactics and restrictions imposed on protesters at the site of Dick Cheney�s recent visit to Portland.
For the full text of the press release,click here
To read the letter click here
To add your signature to this letter, send email to [email protected]
Mayor Katz and Chief Foxworth Respond Page 1 (pdf file)
Mayor Katz and Chief Foxworth Respond Page 2 (pdf file)
Mayor Katz and Chief Foxworth Respond Page 3 (pdf file)
Mayor Katz and Chief Foxworth Respond Page 4 (pdf file)
Entire Letter (Rich Text Format file)

Saturday, June 12th 2004 10:00 AM - 3:30 PM - PORTLAND COPWATCH ORIENTATION & TRAINING DAY
Contact: Portland Copwatch (503) 236-3065 [email protected] http://www.portlandcopwatch.org
Location: Self Enhancement, Inc (SEI) Community Facility, 3920 N Kerby Avenue, Portland
Portland Copwatch, a local organization promoting police accountability through civilian action, will be holding a half-day training and orientation session on Saturday, June 12 from 10 AM to 3:30 PM. The program begins with a one-hour orientation to Portland Copwatch (PCW), continues with a one-hour "Your Rights and the Police" seminar, and concludes with a 2.5-hour Copwatch training (how to observe police and basics of filing complaints, etc). The training will take place at Self Enhancement, Inc (SEI) Community Facility, 3920 N Kerby Ave at Shaver Street.

Portland Copwatch is asking people to RSVP as there will be a limit of 25 people. Please bring a bag lunch. We will provide refreshments but not full meals. There is no cost to attend, however donations are gladly accepted.

With the upsurge in visible police violence, particularly in communities of color and other vulnerable populations in Portland, PCW hopes to prepare more people with the knowledge of what to do at a police stop and how to safely and legally observe police behavior. Ideally, people attending the orientation and training will either join PCW or organize copwatch-type groups in their communities or within their own existing organizations.

Portland Copwatch is a project of Peace and Justice Works, a group promoting non-violent conflict resolution on local, national and international levels. PCW, founded in 1992, promotes police accountability through citizen action. Its goals include a Police Bureau free from brutality, corruption and racism.

Saturday, June 5th 2004 12:30 - 5:30 PM - Change Your Mind Day Buddhist Festival
Contact: Portland Buddhist Peace Fellowship and the Planning Committee for CYMD [email protected]
Location: Colonel Summers Park (SE 17th and Taylor)
Ten years ago, the Buddhist journal Tricycle initiated a celebration of Buddhism in New York's Central Park, called Change Your Mind Day. For the first time this year, Portland will join the more than 40 cities across America that now take part. Representatives from several Portland Buddhist communities have been planning this all-inclusive event since January 2004.

CYM Day is designed to introduce meditation practices in a friendly public setting, free of charge. People who are curious, new to Buddhism, or life-long practitioners are invited to relax and enjoy the event. Teachers from six different sects of Buddhism will give talks, instruction, and lead participants in their particular meditative practice.

Monday, June 28th 2004 7:00 PM - �CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKER BACK FROM IRAQ TO DISCUSS HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
Contact: Peace & Justice Works, 503-236-3065, [email protected], http://www.pjw.info/Iraq.html
Location: Friends Meeting House, 4312 SE Stark in Portland

Matt Chandler, a corps member with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) who has been in Iraq since early this year, will give a presentation on his observations, along with slides, and address issues including the alleged handover of power from the US to the people of Iraq. Chandler will speak on Monday, June 28, 2004 at 7 PM at the Friends Meeting House, 4312 SE Stark in Portland. His talk is titled "The Struggles of Iraq and a Hope for the Future."

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) is an independent, faith-based organization committed to reducing violence sponsored and supported by Christian churches across North America, especially by Mennonite, Brethren and Quaker denominations. CPT has maintained a violence-reduction presence in Iraq since October 2002. The team sought to protect vital civil infrastructure facilities during the bombing campaign, and continues to provide on-the-ground information, observing and documenting the Coalition's post-invasion activities and consequential damages. They also support non-violent efforts of local Iraqis for justice and peace, advocate for just and humane treatment of detainees, and campaign for changes in or development of Coalition policies which threaten the safety of Coalition soldiers, contracted workers and Iraqi civilians.

This event is being sponsored by the Peace and Justice Works (PJW) Iraq Affinity Group, the American Friends Service Committee and others. For more information contact PJW at 503-236-3065, [email protected], http://www.pjw.info/Iraq.html .

More information on Christian Peacemaker Teams is available at http://www.cpt.org .

July 18 - August 7, and July 18 - 31 2004 -Humanitarian Delegation to Colombia
Contact: Chicagoans for a Peaceful Colombia (CPC) [email protected] and Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)
You are invited to participate in and be a cosponsor of a humanitarian delegation to two extraordinary communities in Colombia
The delegation, members of sponsoring organizations plus other professionals, church leaders and volunteers, will visit the communities and lend them support in various ways. Our careful attention - listening, watching, asking questions - honors and encourages them deeply in the midst of their sometimes terrifying struggle to survive. Besides spending time in the communities, we will meet with NGOs, grassroots organizations, and government and diplomatic officials in Bogot� and Medell�n.
Space is limited to 25 delegates, so apply as soon as possible. For more info and an application, contact:

Ruth Goring
[email protected]
www.chicagoans.net

Jutta Meier-Wiedenbach
Fellowship of Reconciliation, Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean
415-495-6334; fax: 415-495-5628
[email protected]
www.forusa.org