Iowa Program

For information on the Iowa Peacebuilding program, click here. For info on the Iowa Immigrants Voice Project, go here. For updated stories about our work, click here.

AFSC announces a new Middle East Peace Education Project blog! Please check it out! To subscribe to the blog, contact Kathleen McQuillen.


Kathleen McQuillen and Wendy Vasquez at the Nakba witness (photo by Amber Grund)

Palestinian Nakba -- "Catastrophe"

AFSC's Middle East Peace Education Project held a Nakba (catastrophe) witness on June 4-5, 2009 at Nollen Plaza in downtown Des Moines.

Nakba is an Arabic word meaning catastrophe and has come to represent the forced displacement of the Palestinian people in the wake of the 1948-1949 war and the establishment of the state of Israel. A major roadblock to any Middle East settlement is the refusal of Israel to deal fairly with the refugees still in UN camps, and the continuing displacement of Palestinians from the land in the wake of Israeli settlement construction and expansion.

MEPEP set up displays, banners, informational tables with petitions and postcards calling for an end to US funding of the Israeli occupation and the continuing displacement of Palestinians from their land. One of the displays was a collection of keys, each with the name of one of the 500+ villages from which Palestinians were driven in 1948 and in subsequent violence.

For more info about this witness and AFSC's ongoing work for peace in the Middle East, please contact Kathleen McQuillen at 515-274-4851, ext. 22.
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Friendly, Affordable Office Space for Rent!

Located at 42nd and Grand Avenue in Des Moines, Friends House currently has two affordable offices to rent. Check out this flyer for more info.
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Des Moines Prayer Service on May 12 Marks First Anniversary of ICE Raid at Postville, Iowa


Sol Varisco of Catholic Charities ogranized an interfaith prayer service at St. Ambrose Cathedral in Des Moines. For more photos of the event, click here. The service marked the one-year anniversary of the detention of 390 workers at Postville, Iowa -- one of the largest immigration workplace raids in U.S. history. Sol also serves on AFSC's Central Regional Executive Committee.
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Jeffrey Weiss and Jon Krieg, both of AFSC, were honored as "Grassroots Heroes" at a recent Drake event featuring Rekha Basu, a columnist with the Des Moines Register. For  photos from the event, click here.

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AFSC Iowa Helps Mark Sixth Anniversary of the Iraq War

Click here to view Roger Routh's video coverage of the Iraq War vigil on March 19, 2009 at Nollen Plaza in downtown Des Moines. A member of Military Families Speak Out and an intern at AFSC, Jade Howser gave this short speech (PDF) at the vigil.


Jade Howser of Military Families Speak Out is an AFSC intern.

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To check out videos from recent peace and justice events in Central Iowa, please visit Rodger Routh's YouTube channel.

Bulletin Board

Central Iowa Peace and Justice Calendar

Information & Resources

"Peace Quake" AFSC Iowa Newsletter (PDF)

Updated stories from our work (PDF)

List of Immigration Lawyers (PDF)

Contact Info for Iowa's Congressional Delegation (PDF)

Iraq Countdown to Withdrawl


Contact Us

AFSC Iowa

4211 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312

515-274-4851 (phone)

515-274-2003 (fax)

Kathleen McQuillen, Program Coordinator, ext. 22

Sandra Sanchez, Immigrants Voice Project Director, ext. 11

Jody Mashek, Immigration Legal Services Director, ext. 17

Jeffrey Weiss, Peacebuilding Program Director, ext. 16

Patricia Martija, Senior Administrative Associate, ext. 10