International Peace and Human Rights Conference
Hiroshi
Takakusaki, General Secretary of the Japan Council Against A- and
H-Bombs addresses AFSC's international conference at the Boston
Social Forum. Seated speakers, from left to right are Achin Vanaik
from India, Rae Street from Britain, Leslie Cagan of UFPJ, and Dennis
Brutus from South Africa. Photo: Pat Westwater-Jung
The Peace and Economic Security program saw the Boston Social Forum
and the Democratic National Convention as important opportunities
for public education and to press the Democratic party to oppose the
Iraq war and to support policies that nurture peace, justice, and
common security.
We committed major resources to help build the Boston Social Forum,
and we were heartened and impressed by the more than 5,000 people
who came to participate in more than 500 forums, workshops and convocations
during the three-day Forum. For additional information about the BSF
go to the Boston Social Forum Website (http://www.bostonsocialforum.org/news.php)
.
The international peace conference “A World Working Together
for Peace” which we organized with the European Network for
Peace and Human Rights, was an enormous success. Several of our plenaries
drew more than 500 people. U.S. activists drank in the perspectives,
analyses, and movement news from leading European, Asian, South African,
and Middle Eastern activists, and our international speakers and activist
audiences were deeply moved and inspired by what they learned from
leading U.S. activists including Leslie Cagan of UFPJ, Phyllis Bennis
of IPS, Nancy Lessen of Military Families Speak Out, Sgt. Jimmy Massey
of Iraq Veterans Against the War and others.
Video tapes of the international conference are now being edited
and should be available in the coming months. We have the written
texts of several of the talks which were given:
With the support of City Councilor Chuck Turner, District 7, and
many who signed a full page advertisement that
appeared in the Boston Metro on the first day of the Democratic Convention
we sent a powerful message to end the war and to “fund the dream”
Following the convention, the Boston Globe editorialized that the
Eyes Wide Open exhibit was the best peace demonstration during the
convention. In addition to profoundly moving all who saw it, including
convention delegates, news about and images of the exhibit were widely
reported, from National Public Radio to the BBC, and from ABC Nightly
News to Newsweek magazine. For information about Eyes Wide Open and
its current schedule, go to AFSC’s home page: www.afsc.org.
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