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Dare to End the War in Iraq: A Nonviolent CampaignIn August, 2005, Cindy Sheehan made headlines around the world with her five week vigil outside George W. Bush's Texas ranch. Her demand for a meeting with the President was denied, but hundreds joined her at what became known as Camp Casey. Support for her struggle came from all over the U.S. and the world, and became a visible point of reinvigoration for the movement to call for an end to the war in Iraq. Now, the movement is spreading as others follow her example and set up Camp Casey encampments across cities in the U..S. Camps are being established throughout Indiana to witness, create dialogue, and support community organizations to end the war in Iraq. During our time we meet with students, churches, veterans, families who have lost loved ones in the war, and all those who want to share the voice of urgency concerning this war. Our campaign involves three important spheres of action:
You are invited to join us when you can, be it an hour, or several days camping out with us. In the morning we pray and meditate for clearness and for those suffering from the war. We promote an ongoing constructive program to reduce the use of oil and gas by walking, biking, and busing when trips are under a mile. We also organize nonviolent direct actions. Please look at and agree to our Nonviolent Discipline Statement. For more information on Camp Casey, please contact Peter at 574-532-3720 or look at the Camp Overview Schedule. For more information on the Christian Peacemaker Teams, look at CPT Description. To comment on anything in the blog, send an email to mpjc@michianapeacejustice.org |
We had a pre-Camp Casey event on January 6 at the Catholic Worker house down
the street with Mass at 5:30, a potluck dinner at 6:30 and a talk by Joe Mueller,
a Catholic Worker person from Cleveland who served on a 2 week CPT delegation
to Iraq. The evening went very well. One of the highlights was some wonderful
accordion music after the talk. You should have seen some of the folks trying
to do the Polka. Here is a picture of Joe provided by Tom Brown from the Greens.
There was a good turnout on Saturday for the 1pm vigil at Grape and Cleveland
and a number of folks came over to St. Augustines afterwards to help set up
Camp Casey. We put up three good sized tents and one backpacking one. We also
put up our Camp Casey sign on one of the tents.
We planted at least 55 crosses to signify the Indiana soldiers killed in Iraq,
although these do not have names on them. We also place a crescent and a star
of David and several mounds of stones to represent those of other religious
or non-religious beliefs. We are sensitive to those families who do not want
us to use the names of their children who have been killed.
Folks setting up the camp stayed for a simple soup, bread and fruit supper and watched a short video on Gandhi's work with nonviolence in India. The weather cooperated with unseasonably warm weather for early January with no precipitation. Rey's campfire was much appreciated. We had two folks stay overnight at the site -- all in all a good beginning.
The day started with a prayer service led by Danile and Brenna and focused
on the litany of resistance written by Jim Loney, one of the captured CPT folks.
There was spirited discussion after both masses at St. Augustine's as the parishioners
questioned the camp that had arisen on the vacant lot next to the church. Fr.
Chuck blessed the camp with holy water. Some of the comments are listed below:
"Cannot make change"
"We'll always need prepared military so why stop recruiting"
"Recruiters at our school were allowed everywhere - even given offices
- they looked for failing kids. They are still doing it."
"How do I resist paying war taxes? Interest in non compliance vs penalties"
"The only power is the power of the gun."
"Who will fight for others and for our country if we don't enlist new recruits
now? It takes about 8 years to really train a soldier."
"There are people who do not agree with this war but do support the military."
The parish council met and approved the Camp Casey project. "We are happy
that you are doing this." One of the neighbors stopped to tell the folks
outside that the war is for nothing and she would tell her friends about Camp
Casey. There were about six Camp Casey participants there all day with folks
coming and going. The pastor of the church on whose lot we are camping came
over after their church service to ask about Camp Casey. He decided to let us
stay after hearing about the project.
Four of us camped out in the tents. The night was cold but nothing like Elkhart.
No snow and the ground was not frozen.
We repeated the litany of resistance and Danile chose a scriptural reading
to get us started. Lois joined the campers for prayer. We decided to spend the
day at the camp as Monday is soup kitchen day at St. A's. Peter spent the morning
cooking the soup and the others sat outside around a fire talking with various
folks coming to get soup. An army vet was particularly vocal about the war being
wrong. He was knowledgeable about the Abu Ghraib scandal. A woman was also opposed
to the war and would talk to her bible class to see if she can pull together
a small group to discuss the war. She will let us know by Friday. Another man
who asked what we were doing said he would try to get his church to host a discussion
group. 
The lead soup kitchen person engaged the campers in a spirited discussion about the war and the soup kitchen leader for Wednesdays stopped by for a short discussion about Camp Casey and later attended the vigil at the federal building, a simple soup and bread supper at the camp, and watched a video in the Power of Nonviolence series. The leader of Friday's soup kitchen and his wife are staunch Camp Casey supporters and also attended vigil, supper, video and discussion.
There were 14 people at the weekly vigil at the federal vigil and we talked to all of them about Camp Casey. Several plan to drop by and/or cook a meal for us. Danile's husband came by with a load of wood for our campfire which we kept going all day. We set up a notepad and large easel where people can write feelings about the war. We hope to turn this info into an action idea. We also set up more signs around the camp so it is easier for folks to identify.
Sheila Provencher, who was with CPT in Iraq for the last two years, came to the vigil and stayed for supper, the video, and discussion. She will talk about her experience at 7pm on Wednesday, January 18 at the camp. Tom Benevento from Goshen, who was involved with the Elkhart Camp Casey called with encouragement and to say he would try to come tomorrow to stay overnight. We have an appointment to meet with Rep. Chocola's aide on Wednesday morning. We might start to meet with recruiters tomorrow and/or do some leafletting on the corner downtown to try to engage folks.
Ben stopped by on his way back from Ann Arbor to say he will return to stay
overnight after going home. Three of the four who camped Sunday night will do
so again tonight.
We woke up to cold dew on the tents. Rachel from Kern Road led us in a beautiful prayer service focused on the corrupt judge who eventually listened to and helped the persistent widow. Carol alerted us that the Tribune was sending a reporter at 10:30 to interview folks. We had a good group for her to interview. Peter was driving to the interview after a brief stop at home to upload Monday's blog to the website when he saw Sheila biking to the library. She locked her bike and rode with him to Camp Casey.
The Tribune reporter lives in the neighborhood and someone asked her last night what those white women were doing camping next to St. A's. They were concerned about our safety and were watching out for us. She didn't know why we were here so asked her editor this morning if she could cover the story and was given permission to do so. Sheila compared this situation to the CPT team in Iraq. They live in an ordinary neighborhood outside the green zone and depend on their neighbors to look out for them. The reporter hoped to be allowed to do a separate story on Sheila. She asked each of us why we were involved in Camp Casey and there were many good reasons. She asked us why the west side of South Bend and we explained about the disproportionate number of soldiers from poor families and about how the money were are wasting in Iraq could fund many services for the poor.
Most folks left for various reasons right after the reporter left, so Ben handled the first TV station to arrive - WSBT with only a cameraman. Peter returned in time to talk to the reporter from WSJV, and Ellyn did an interview with a WSBT reporter. In one day we were covered by two TV stations and the newspaper.
Peter and Ben helped unload a van full of food from the food pantry for the soup kitchen. Ellyn and Lois arrived and we all brainstormed a strategy for the Wednesday morning meeting with Chocola's aide. We want a presence outside the office as well as inside. We are making a mask with Bush's face and asking passersby to tell Bush what they think of the war. We will have a pup tent and Camp Casey signs and hand out information flyers. The folks inside will focus on asking him to visit the camp, end the war and minimize the damage from the massive sum of money we are spending on the war.
We had supper from delicious soup brought by Little Flower church, watched
another episode of Power of Nonviolence (Chile), and discussed the film and
tomorrow's activities. Ben, Peter, and Ellyn camped out.
It rained lightly during the night, but all stayed dry and slept well. Andre,
a pastor at Kern Rd Mennonite Church came at 7:30 to lead prayers. Texts were
Psalm 33 and 1Cor 1:18ff. Tom and Juanita from the Elkhart Camp Casey joined
us for prayer and stayed for the morning. Andre told us about the good newspaper
coverage - story with pictures on page 1 of the local section and a long point
of view article by Sheila. Fox news had decent coverage on the 10:00 news, but
WSBT did not. Perhaps we were on their 5:00 news.
We left for the meeting at Chocola's office about 8:20, six walking and the rest driving. The plan was to take six up to the meeting and the rest ask for comments to the President on the war from passersby outside the office building.
A reporter and intern from WVPE met us but did her interviews before and after the meeting as no taping was allowed during the session. Sheila came in later. Tom wanted to film the meeting but the aide said no. Here is Tom's view of the session.
The group met with Cory Martin for over an hour. There was good conversation that started heating up, but with reminders we were able to continue respectful, orderly dialogue. We all shared our reasons for opposition to the war. Cory did some on-the-spot responding and so did we. Sheila's presence helped break stalemates like "The war is helping" vs "the war is hurting." Some things came through fairly clearly: The complexity and misery of the situation; the enormous cost; the misinformation that got us there (Cory took exception to someone saying Bush lied, said it hurt our efforts to say he was a liar.) Sheila and he had an exchange about the circumstances of folks she knew vs the reports he'd heard. Carol pressed him about Jesus way of treating enemies, and asked him what his church taught. He responded truthfully about his pacifist background in the Church of the Brethren but said the book of revelation approved of war like the one in Iraq.
The group outside asked folks how they felt about the war and taped the answers. The responses have been collated here. Note that most of the comments were against the war. Click here for the literal response list.
We returned and had more interviews with Beth and Tom, ate soup for lunch, and met with Tom and Juanita about how to formulate and carry out a counter recruitment strategy. At the planning meeting, Tom discussed three phases of such a strategy. Phase 1: Hear the recruiters stories and share our own but do not talk about Camp Casey and its goals. Phase 2: ask them to change. Elkhart had a large demonstration where they planted 2000 crosses in front of the recruiting office and try to give the recruiters info about DU and other facts at war. Phase 3 direct action- put ourselves at risk. We decided to do Phase 1 Thursday and Friday morning, On Tuesday, the group thought we could do Phase 2, but we need to get it planned out so we can tell folks at church and during the MLK events on Monday. Juanita emailed phone numbers of some of the groups that responded in Elkhart.
We have to check with Mishawaka city authorities to see how wide the right-of-way is on McKinley since there is no tree lawn there, but lots of grass on the building side of the sidewalk. Ben went to North Manchester to pick up the 2,000 crosses. Arlene is sending up the Camp Casey banners to the Mennonite Central Committee office in Goshen and Danile's daughter will bring them to South Bend.
We did not discuss phase 3. Elkhart had planned to do a slowdown for their direct action, but the weather was so bad that the offices closed shortly after the protesters arrived. We tried to find out if the national guard would be handing out recruitment cards at the theaters this Friday. Mike is waiting for a return call on this.
Since the church had a youth meeting in the Fellowship Hall, so we moved supper,
showing the video, and discussion down to the Catholic Worker House. Danile,
Brenna, Monty, Rey, and Ben plan to stay over.
Lois used some of the resources she had to guide the prayer.
Lois and Ben held down Camp Casey during the morning hours. Peter arrived at 10:30 to free up Ben and Lois to visit the recruiting centers. Lois had to make copies for the meditation corner so they postponed the visit until 1:30. We enjoyed some good vegetarian chili brought by Dale from a recipe he got from the Cornucopia restaurant. Peter prepared for the afternoon's war tax resistance workshop.
Lois and Ben reported back from their visit to the Navy recruiter.
Lois reported: We wove our way through the labyrinth-like hallway, past the army and other offices to find the navy recruiter. Ben's questions were very helpful in setting a congenial sharing of interests and getting acquainted. When asked how he thought the war was going, he pointed to his uniform and said he has his own opinions but cannot state them. We assured him that we understood and that the reason we were here was to create dialog within the community concerning differences re the war. He volunteered that his father was a conscientious objector and his parents were quite unhappy with his decision to join the navy. As we left on a very friendly note, Ben invited him out to Camp Casey. He did stop by in the evening to give Ben some literature he had promised him. We noticed that there is a a grassy plot in front of the building facing McKinley.
Peter, Glenda Rae, Ellyn, Ben, and Neil from Waterford Mennonite in Goshen gathered for the 3pm war tax resistance (WTR) workshop. The discussion was lively and touched on most of the issues of concern to folks when they are considering WTR. Neil made many good points, especially how folks reject those they feel are totally opposed to the government or appear too far left. Also, it is hard to be a WTR today when raising children because the culture is so much against living the simple lifestyle that successful WTR seems to require.
Jim, one of the folks who live down Washington St. towards town dropped by for tea and cookies and chatted about how hard it is to move church congregations to action if the impetus comes from outside. It is better to work with the social action committees and have them work with the other church members.
We had soup and bread for supper and watched a video about the nonviolent struggle against apartheid in South Africa. The discussion centered around when the situation in this country would get bad enough to move people to take similar action. The black Africans in Port Elizabeth got 100% compliance in a boycott of white-owned businesses. The video mentioned that the grass roots organizing work has to be done years ahead of time. Rey, Danile, Ellyn, Peter, Chris, Ben, Bill, Carol, Violet, and her husband watched the video and/or engaged in the discussion.
Afterwards, we discussed the proposed demonstration at the recruiting center on Tuesday. Ben was not sure it was the best location. Several others had doubts as well. We discussed planting the crosses in the grass strip in front of the Morris Auditorium - but the problem is how to make the message clear. We did not decide when, or where, or what to do.
Danile, Peter, and Rey stayed overnight.
Chris, Connie, Jan, Rey, Danile, Lois, and Peter were here for morning prayer. Chris led us in a prayer for resistance service from Taise. The readings were from Jerimiah. We lit candles and each of us read a paragraph from the service. A good way to start the day.
Danile and Rey left shortly after the service. Peter called Mishawaka city engineer's office to find out the width of the right-of-way along McKinley, but the clerk said we could not plant crosses on the right-of-way even for an hour without permission from the city. Peter felt that getting this permission would take too long given the bureaucracy. We are going to check out the area around the National Guard armory which is in South Bend.
Lois, Ellyn and Peter were present during the soup kitchen serving hours, but only one person showed interest in what we were doing and no one wrote what they wanted to tell George Bush about the war.
Joe Miller arrived and Danile, Ellyn, Peter, and Joe had an informal discussion about depleted uranium (DU). When Juanita and her friend from Elkhart arrived, Joe gave his presentation to the five of us, including a just-released German video telling the story of several scientists who had proved that the coalition forces used DU weapons in the first Gulf War and DU was a major contributor to Gulf War syndrome and the horrendous increase of cancer, birth defects, and other diseases in Iraqis, especially children who were playing with unexploded shells and in disabled tanks.
We had a simple supper provided by Pam and Kathy. Carol and Fran made soup. We used some of the soup from last week in the soup kitchen.
Joe had a good turnout (@15) for the 7pm DU presentation. Many MPJC folks came and Tom videotaped it to run on the Green TV program. The event went from 7 to 9 with good discussion after the video. Sam had done extensive reading on DU and Wes had been in Iraq and experienced the precautions now in effect for soldiers exposed to DU. Joe pointed out that the tiny particles of DU can penetrate gas masks as well as the lung/blood and brain/blood barriers. These can be blown around the world and remain radioactive for billions of years, thus permanently raising the background radioactivity planetwide. The following link gives good references to issues raised by Joe in his talks: Depleted Uranium Resources
Wes and Scott stayed overnight. It was too cold, rainy, and windy to sleep
outside so they stayed in the church hall.
Lois, Wes, and Scott read Psalm 48 and then its paraphrase by Sr. Corita. Peter arrived about 9am to relieve Wes and Scott. Ellyn arrived before noon in time to greet Kathy, a former ND student who heard about Camp Casey and decided to drop by and look over the camp. Peter and Lois went to the regular Saturday vigil at Cleveland and Grape. It was fairly well attended by Rey, Glenda Rae, Iris, Dustin, Bonnie, Peter, and Lois. It was very windy and we had to stand on the sign stands to keep them from blowing over. There was a decided negative flavor to the responses as people drove by. At least six fingers, two "Go to Russia," several rolled down windows and yelling at us. No one stopped to dialog. We missed Zae and her Honk for Peace sign since the number of honks was much diminished. I'm not sure how to interpret the negative reaction to our call for the end of the war. I held a sign inviting folks to stop by Camp Casey and giving the address.
While we were at the vigil, Ellyn and Brenna planned how many flyers we needed to cover the churches and organizations that may be responsive to our message. Bonnie ran off a bunch and brought them to the vigil and Ellyn will run off the rest.
Peter and Lois were on site for the rest of the afternoon which was quiet.
Ron showed up with repaired waterproofed body count signs which had been ruined
by the rain Friday night. The wind had also knocked down Rey's tent but he came
over and set it up again.
Lois went home when Brenna showed up. Iris arrived for supper and the three
watched the video "Paying for Peace," about war tax resistance in
the U.S. Brenna's friend Mike arraived at the end of the film and we had a short
discussion about WTR. Dorothy stopped by, thinking that the prayer service was
at 7:30pm rather than 7:30am, but stayed and chatted. Brenna, Mike, and Dorothy
stayed to watch the video "Downfall" about Hitler's secretary during
the last days of the Third Reich.
Brenna, Mike G., Rebecca, and a friend stayed overnight. It was supposed to get down into the 20's, but the sky was clear finally and the moon was full.
January 15 We had a quiet day after the St. Augustine church services. Brenna and Rebecca greeted the folks after the 8:15 mass and then went to choir practice. Peter and Lois greeted the folks after the 10:30 until Lois had to go to a planning meeting at her church. There was some interest in Camp Casey and several parishioners wrote how they felt about the war. One of the college students in the parish talked about her semester around the world. Peter sat out in the warm sunshine during the afternoon and inside until about 8:45. There was no video on Sunday (or Monday). Shortly after Peter left Brenna and Rebecca and Danile and John arrived to stay overnight. Ben came back from Chicago quite late to stay overnight. Brenna locked the keys in the church so it was fortunate that the soup kitchen people arrive early on Monday mornings. The night was cool, but all were warm enough and slept well.
January 16 Because of the key mixup most folks left
early for home. Peter arrived about 7:30 to make soup and saw Brenna and Rebecca
briefly as they went to set up the table at MLK day at Century Center. Ben slept
in. There was no prayer service at Camp Casey, but many of them during the day
at MLK day events. It was fairly busy at the soup kitchen and we had arranged
for all Camp Casey folks to join the celebration downtown, so there wasn't much
interaction with soup kitchen clients, but the pest control guy was very sympathetic.
We all turned up at the County City Building for the annual march preliminaries.
We brought a banner saying Pray for the Peacemakers, End the War, the colorful
Michiana Peace and Justice banner, and a Camp Casey banner we got from Arlene
Kindy. We carried these in the march to the Century Center. 
During the afternoon many of us heard Rebecca describe her efforts to stop Dowagiac High School from cooperating with military recruiters. The young people in the auditorium cheered for her. Also, the opt-out campaign arranged for a young black man to read Dr. Martin Luther King's speech against the Vietnam War. There were drill teams, rappers, mimes, dancers, and other acts put on by young people. We handed out over 1200 fliers for the Jan 20 coffee house event, and the table was well visited all day. We had our usual vigil against the war from 5 - 6 at the Federal Building. (see January 9 entry). The response was better than on Saturday, and Sheila came to vigil with us and to tell about her weekend workshop which had its ups and downs. She had just done an interview with the Tribune for the Community section this coming Sunday. Ellyn had written the weekly letters to our Representative and Senators and delivered them after the vigil. We planned our hour on WUBS for Tuesday afternoon. Opt-out, CPNV, Camp Casey, and CPT will all have 15 minutes to talk about their efforts. Also we have an appointment with Bayh's aide at 4pm. The WUBS interview is 6-7, and William Lottie will speak at 7pm. We came back to Camp Casey for tasty soup warmed up over the campfire, which Ben started with one match and car trash while waiting for Peter to get there with the key. Ellyn, Peter, Ben, Brenna, Monica, Mike, Rebecca, and Bobby sat by the fire drumming, rapping, and just hanging out. Brenna arranged to borrow Liz's TV and vcr for Lottie's talk Tuesday evening since we forgot to ask Fr. Chuck to leave the church TV for us and tomorrow is his day off. We need to do some serious planning for the rest of the week. Planting the crosses is out for tomorrow. Sheila suggested we bring fliers to give to the recruiters. We still have not ruled out planting the crosses at Morris Civic. Peter, Ben, and Danile will stay overnight tonight, which is supposed to be mild but rainy.
Peter, Lois, Danile, and Imam Nabar had a discussion and morning prayer. The emphasis was on taking responsibility and control of oneself and using our minds to take care of the mess we are in.
The folks from St. Jude's ca me in to make soup. They asked about the tents and we had a dialog about Camp Casey. They all thought the U.S. should stay in Iraq until the "job" is finished. Everyone needs to support the government and those who protest should leave the country. Perhaps the U.S. should not have gone into Iraq, but once there everyone needs to support the troops. Peter tried to point out that the country was founded by those who couldn't stay in their own countries and protest is an integral part of our history. The protesters also support the troops and want them out of harms way.
Seven folks went to Senator Bayh's office at 4:00pm for a scheduled visit. We each expressed our reason for opposition to the war/concern about foreign policy. What was mentioned was: money taken from health care to fund war that is unhealthy; concerns about having effect of war/depleted uranium on soldiers' health; concern about Iran and about Bayh's statement that Iran is an "instigator" of trouble in the Middle East; concern about having lost moral image before the world; concern about the legal status for COs to this war; questions about Bayh's motivation for going to war; concern about Bayh's comment: "It's the wild west - what else can we do?" in response to the attack on the Pakistani village; retooling Indiana industry for peace - our state has lots of military contracts.
Hodge Patel, Bayh's aide, said: Senator Bayh thinks we are in the war because of misinformation; we can't leave now until it is stable; they step up, we step down; and that Senator Bayh has stated that force should be the last option for dealing with Iran.
Lois, Mike, Ellyn, Rey, Andrea, and Lawrence were on the Andrew Brown and Juanita Winston show on WUBS from 6-7pm. They spoke about Camp Casey, symbolic war tax resistance, military recruitment, and MLK and war.
At 7pm, William and his wife Deb came to talk with us about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We first watched a video on the subject that followed a number of returning vets from the war in Iraq and explained how their minds and emotions were not able to cope with the violence they saw and did in Iraq and how hard it was for them to get help upon their return, both because their fellow soldiers would look down on them for seeking help and because the VA is so poorly funded. This led them to drinking to excess, getting into fights, and in some cases committing suicide.
William talked about his experience as a 19 year-old gunner's mate in Vietnam. He had o shoot anything that moved when on patrol on the rivers, be it a tree, a pig, or a human. He came home physically intact but with a bad case of PTSD. He was able to find no help for his nightmares, violent behavior, and inability to be in groups of people. He turned to drugs for over 20 years, and finally, after PTSD was accepted as a legitimate illness, got help from the VA in the late 90's. He would never have been able to stand in front of us 2 years ago and talk about what happened to him. His worried about returning soldiers from the war in Iraq - how we have to support them and make sure they get the treatment they need for their PTSD. Also, he was very much against military recruiters talking to students in high schools. They do not accurately portray the dangers and unlikelihood that promises made to convince young people to join will be kept.
The rain turned to snow and by the time Peter, Ellyn, Ben, and Brenna turned in there was a coating of white on the ground and tents. One tent has to be taken down to avoid damage from the snow. All of us were comfortable and warm in our sleeping bags.
Peter, Brenna, and Lois gathered for prayer. Lois read from Psalm 127 and read a hymn that she woke up thinking about. We all recited the Jim Loney's prayer for resistance.
We decided to plant the crosses on Friday morning starting at 10am at the recruiters' offices on McKinley across from Kmart near Grape road. We will gather at Camp Casey for a short prayer and briefing at 9:00am. We have permission from the Mishawaka police to be there. We expect to finish planting the crosses by noon and remain in vigil until 1pm. Some of us will go inside to talk to the recruiters about the war and its effects on both our own soldiers and the Iraqis. We hope as many as possible can join us for some or all of the time.
Ben and Peter plan to pass out leaflets at the corner of Jefferson and Michigan
on Thursday noon hour. We will put up Ben's pup tent and have a sign encouraging
folks to stop by Camp Casey and also come to the Friday demonstration.
Sheila drew a record number of people for her talk at 7:00 p.m., more than 30. This was partly because she had story entitled "Peace activist risks life to oppose war" on the front page of the Community section of the South Bend Tribune and partly because she had spoken to a number of groups on her last visit and folks wanted to wish her well as she leaves to pursue the study of medicine in the Boston area.
Her talk was more low-key than previous ones. She had the slide show of photos of her friends in Iraq playing on her computer in the background, but used no other technology during her talk. She talked about her work recording the stories of Iraqi terror victims and read from some of the testimony. She spoke of the four CPT volunteers who are being held hostage and told stories of the ones she knew well. She related the story of her accompaniment of the 17 Palestinian refugees over the desert to Syria and how they have been settled in a refugee camp. No person of Palestinian descent can gain citizenship in an Arab country even though they are born in the country. She also spoke of her own journey both over the last three years and now that she has transferred to inactive status with CPT. Everyone in the audience was spellbound by her deep concern for all who are hurting and how she can find hope and unity with all humanity by identifying freely with the hurt and sorrow.
Sheila answered a wide-ranging set of questions for nearly an hour after her talk. The talk and question session was videotaped by Green TV, so it may appear on Sunday morning on Cable Access at some point in the future.
Peter, Danile, and Rey spent the night, which was cold but nothing like the frigid weather at the Elkhart Camp Casey.
Tom, a Bremen Church of the Brethren pastor, led us in prayer at 7:30 a.m. He read from a piece by Gene Stoltsfus, the founder of CPT on the necessity for each of us to take action to bring peace to the world. We prayed for soldiers who are wrestling with decisions of whether to return to Iraq for a second term or ask for CO status.
Peter and Lois leafletted downtown with the Cost of War brochure from noon until we ran out of brochures about 12:45. Most folks were cordial and many took the brochure, especially from Lois. Score: Lois 70, Peter 10.
Brenna called that the Mishawaka city public works board had decided that we do not have permission to plant the crosses on public property tomorrow, even though the Mishawaka police had said it was OK yesterday. We decided to talk about what to do about this situation tomorrow at 9 at Camp Casey. It is possible to attach them to strings and hold them up while lining up on the sidewalk, if we have enough people.
Malik Rahim spoke at the Unitarian church at 7 p.m. and we closed up Camp Casey for the evening to go to hear him. He was very solid in his belief in what needs to be done to bring the poor areas of New Orleans into a better situation than before the hurricane. he reminded us that Katrina means cleansing in German, and New Orleans needed to be cleansed from greed, corruption, and racism. He described how his organization, Common Ground, started with $50 at his kitchen table and now needs and receives $27,000 a month to operate. None of this money or supplies comes from FEMA or local government. No elected official at any level has ever visited any of Common Ground's health clinics, food distribution centers, or church and home repair operations. He explained how greed had siphoned off the money to restore the wetlands which would have prevented the flooding. Some of the levies survived a collision with a large ship near the naval base, when another levy was breached by a barge in the 9th ward. Yet, they all were supposed to weather a cat 3 hurricane.
He mentioned how corruption is pervasive in Louisiana and especially New Orleans. One company has a no-bid exclusive contract to install tarps for damaged roofs. They are paid $175/ square foot and pay the subcontractors who do the work $2/ sq. ft. They even tried to bribe him to stop rocking the boat.
It is racism that created the worst problems during the hurricane and its aftermath. No provision was made to provide shelter or transportation out of New Orleans to those who had spent all their money on school supplies and food and rent, since the hurricane came at the end of the month during the first week of school. Those stranded in the city were predominantly black. The hurricane did not hit the city very hard. The worst damage came from the flooding. There was no need to transport people out of greater New Orleans, except for the fact that none of the unflooded areas would allow blacks to enter. There were vigilante groups roaming the city shooting at anyone with a black skin. Malik to this day gets at least 2 death threats a day.
Malik believes that the New Orleans' government and city elders wanted to get rid of a good portion of the 9th ward population and make it someone else's problem. Common Ground is striving to make this ward livable. He coordinates hundreds of young white folks in the 9th ward on bicycles who are scrubbing out the mold and providing cleaning supplies and personal hygiene kits to the residents. Both the white kids and the black inhabitants are learning not to hate each other. When a predominantly white section of the city asks Common Ground to set up a distribution center, they staff it with African Americans, much to the irritation of the requesting group. In this way, Malik is taking this opportunity to fight racism.
There were many questions, all given carefully thought-out answers. The organizers, three brothers who had driven a truck and trailer full of supplies down to New Orleans and happened to stumble upon Common Ground, took up a collection to help sustain Malik's efforts. He invited folks down to help out, and the Mroczek brothers are trying to start a Michiana Common Ground effort to help root out greed, corruption, and racism in South Bend and make sure no one goes hungry or without needed health care or housing.
Ben, Brenna, Liz, and Mike stayed overnight at Camp Casey. It was still 50 degrees at 11 p.m. They sat around the fire until 2 a.m.
We gathered at Camp Casey at 9 a.m. to recite the prayer of resistance and hold a briefing for the action at the recruiting center. Mike, Peter, Cathy and her 4 kids, Brenna, Lois, Ben, Pam, and Tom were present. Mike told us that he thinks Mishawaka would have given permission for us to plant the crosses in the public right of way if we had petitioned a few hours earlier since we missed the Tuesday morning board of works meeting. The right of way is only a foot in from the sidewalk, so we would not have been able to plant many crosses even with permission. Peter showed how the crosses could be strung up on long sections of string and we decided to do that while holding signs and banners.
Danile, Andre, Jay, Rey, Iris, Mike, and Ron met up with us at the recruiting station. As soon as we arrived the police met us to tell us that the building owner has refused us permission to enter his premises and we could not plant crosses on his property. We would be arrested if we tried. We parked in the payroll cashing parking lot next door and formed an assembly line to tie on the crosses. We probably tied on 150 or so in all. When one string was finished three people walked it onto the sidewalk in front of the station. We stayed for two hours, then walked around the block with the crosses and signs before disbursing. The building owner was glad to see us go. The people passing by in cars honked or yelled at us, and one misguided soul threw his chinese dinner all over Mike. Mike did an interview with WUBS by phone from the vigil site.
Several of us came back to Camp Casey for soup, but there had been a greater than usual demand from the soup kitchen folks so it was all gone. Peter and Hattie quickly whipped up some beef stew and fed the hungry vigilers.
There were a string of visitors all afternoon after all the Camp Casey folks except Peter had left. Bill, a retired English professor, stopped by the chat about the war and other subjects. He hopes to come back tomorrow night for Brenna and Mike's talk on the GI hotline and counter recruitment. A woman dropped off some muffins for the campers. Lee and his friend from Indy, one of the organizers of the Indiana Peace and Justice Network stopped by to meet up with Malik, Denise and her three sons, but they were an hour late. We chatted about Camp Casey and tax resistance, and IPJN, and had some coffee and tea. Malik & Co. arrived about 3:30 and stayed for ¾ hours. Malik was so interested in all the posters that Lois had decorated our section of St. A's fellowship hall with. He was very sorry to have missed Lois and wanted her to know she was more than welcome to visit him and his partner in New Orleans. Brenna stopped by just before everyone left and was thrilled to meet Malik. He and Peter had a picture taken out by the crosses.
The evening brought Malik's IUSB presentation at 6:30 and the Chickory cafe event Dr. King, Youth, and War from 8 - 11.
Brenna and Mike organized a coffee house info session at the Chicory House café, 105 E. Jefferson, South Bend, for Friday night. It was titled "Dr. King, Youth and War." It was a full house for several hours, with people coming and going, sipping beverages and partaking of the fine café menu. Many stayed for several hours, listening as various folks from high school age up talked about their experiences with military recruitment, military service, and the aftermath of war experiences. The speakers included a former military recruiter, a Vietnam veteran, an Iraq war veteran, and a family member of several veterans. Mike was an indefatigable and skillful emcee, pulling forth volunteer speakers and scheduled ones.
Danile, John, and Peter camped for the night. It rained during the evening
and snowed about 2 inches during the night, but the temperature remained in
the 20's.
Danile and John left early before Peter arose. Lois and Peter prayer the litany of resistance to start out the last full day of the camp. We noted that the camp had exceeded our expectations and that we had made many good connections, especially among the CPNV, CPF, Michiana Common Ground, and MPJC folks. We will take down the camp around 1:00 p.m. tomorrow after the St. Augustine services are finished. We are so grateful to the parish. Having the fellowship hall available for these two weeks has been a godsend.
We were quite busy at Camp Casey today. Lois stayed alone for an hour or so while Peter updated the web log. He had returned when Ed, Chay, and Amanda stopped by. Ed vigils with us on Monday, and his son, Chay, just returned from a tour in Iraq. He did not think much of Iraqi ambition, especially the men, and thought ths U.S. had to stay there until the Iraqis were ready to take over their own security, which could be awhile. His job was to find and defuse roadside bombs and he had not been to Baghdad. Most of the Iraqis he had seen lived in villages out on the desert and did not speak English.
A couple from LaPorte who were in the Green Party stopped by on their way home.
They joined the discussion with Ed and his son and daughter-in-law, and looked
over our literature. Peter had to leave for the 1:00 vigil at Grape and Cleveland.
The response from drivers was much more positive. Zae was back with the Honk
for Peace sign, so we attributed the improved response to her. We did have a
first, though. The passenger in one car mooned us. We put up the big banner
"Stop Recruiting for Death" and the MPJC banner. Rey, Peter, Zae, Dustin, Mary
Jo, Dale, Iris, and a young couple whose names I have forgotten participated.
Lois left for home when Peter returned from the vigil and Lisa stopped by for a long visit. She is a long-time peace and justice activist in South Bend. Danile, John, Andre, Cathy, their kids, and two other couples with two kids descended on Camp Casey shortly after 5:00 with a delicious supper of brats, soup, and root beer floats. They started a big fire and we sat around it to eat. Dustin and Brenna came for supper as well. After supper, we all watched the video about how students in Serbia mobilized the entire country to defeat Molesivic in the election and then force him to step down. It showed the power of nonviolence to accomplish what 80 days of U.S. bombing of Serbia failed utterly to do. The bombing actually increased the support for the dictator.
After the video Brenna gave an informal presentation about how the GI rights
hotline works and what are some of the common requests over the hotline. This
led to a good discussion about conscientious objection, the draft, the delayed
entry program, etc. Ellyn and Jim came for the discussion.
Peter, Ellyn, Danile, and Lois cleaned up the fellowship hall so it would be presentable for church use in the morning.
No one stayed at Camp Casey for the last night, but Brenna, Lois, and Peter gathered for prayer shortly after 8:00. We prayed the litany of resistance one last time and all three left to get ready for church. Rey came by and took down his tent during the morning.
Peter had to sweep snow off his tent before church so it could dry out a bit. Lois had returned by the time St. Augustine's Mass let out, and she and Peter began to clear out the displays and literature inside the hall. A few parishioners stopped by to say they appreciated our witness and comment on the war. Peter picked up the crosses and signs outside while Lois was packing up things inside. There sure was a lot of stuff accumulated over two weeks time. Just after Peter had taken down his tent, Lois left for home and Danile and John arrived to take down their tent. We packed up the sleeping bags and gear that Kathy and Scott had lent us, cleaned out the firepit, and officially closed down Camp Casey, South Bend, about 2:30 p.m. All in all it was a good experience.
Ellyn posted the following comments:
The hierarchial approach worked for us in getting the church space.
It is kind of amazing what people who are just sitting around with nothing to do can dream up....those actions we did. That is the benefit of not getting together JUST when there is an event or meeting.
I am hoping for and looking forward to the "ripple" effect from this.
I wish we had made deeper contacts within the churches/black community and something in the Hispanic.
I wish we had planned a party for the whole group at some point....but there were some guitar moments and some drumming and rapping nights.
I would do more definite PR about the video series next time.
Eleven days (two weekends bracketed by a Friday and a Monday) might be a better time frame.
I hope you all will put forth debriefing comments of your own. You can send them to mpjc@michianapeacejustice.org.
"We are stuck with this immoral war -- so what can we do except urge Bush to stop it soon and stop using depleted uranium shells and bombs."
"There is no peace without justice. This is not a just war. There never has been."
"The time to stop it was before it started." Another comment: "I agree with this 100%."
"Our president is too arrogant to admit he was wrong then and continues to be wrong!"
"One man's dream is all men's sorry"
"I feel sorry for the men who served at Abu Graive prison -- they will carry that burden the rest of their lives."
"Use words not guns."
"Pray and keep on praying ceaselessly for peace."
"In this war the means do not justify the end and the end does not justify the means. Without justification, justice does not exist, only lies, pain, and suffering."
"War is not the answer to terrorism. War is terrorism!!" Another comment: "Amen to this."
"Bush, why do you lie?"
"'The worst peace is better than the best war,' Erasmus"
"We have never fought a war in defense of this country. The only goal has been dominance and the raping of other countries for its resources, both human and monetary."
I think they should come home."