Urban Warfare; The War That No one Talks About
The peace movement often concerns itself with the “wars of note,” a fact which has helped to perpetuate the decidedly white, male face of that movement. Women of color and working class women have been struggling with the issues that many peace organizers only began organizing around after 911 – racial profiling, violence, a general lack of human security. However, the primary sponsors of the “terror” in the inner city is clearly state sponsored in communities where police brutality and neglect are the biggest concerns. This panel will consist of theorists, community organizers, and other peace workers who struggle to improve the quality of life for people who live in the “internal-colonies” of the United States.
The Widening War on Terror
It was clear from the start that the war in Afghanistan would not just be limited to that country. Shortly after 911 US troops immediately began mobilizing in the Philippines and Somalia and the list of countries added to the official list of "terrorist nations" grew. Economic sanctions imposed by the UN and strongly supported by the US and Britain resulted in the deaths of well over a million people in Iraq, and now that war has officially been waged against that nation it is certain that the loss of life will be profound. Women from the Middle-East, The Philipines and Southern Asia will speak out on the widening war on terror from the perspective of citizens of those nations that have been officially targeted.
Free Trade; The Cure to Terrorism?
The struggles of the indigenous people of Colombia against the US corporations that are at the center of the violence that has taken the lives of 1,000’s of Colombians as well as the lives of US activists, Ingrid Washinawatok, Lehalane Gay, and Terrence Freitas is rarely spoken of. Instead the national dialogue about Colombia centers itself on the drug trade. “Free” trade has obviously heralded violence in that region and has not prevented it. The failed coup in Venezuela was lead by US corporate interests. Mexico’s Plan Panama is a clear plan to create corporate access to Mexico and the rest of Latin America. If it was not absolutely clear, George W. Bush made it so, after Jimmy Carter’s visit to Cuba. “The United States will not lift the Cuban Embargo until Cuba adopts free trade policies.”
War in the Holy land; Women of Palestine and Israel
The startling incidents of aggression and brutality exerted in the occupied territories of Palestine, and the resulting violence against Israeli civilians, has reached tragic proportions. Palestinians living under occupation struggle to achieve sovereignty in the face of one the most powerful militaries in the world. Israeli citizens live in a constant state of insecurity as a result of this conflict. Women of Palestine and Israel who support the idea of two states, for two peoples living side by side, at peace and with equality and respect talk about how that vision can be achieved.
War In the Domestic Sphere
Women are at battle in their own homes as a result of sexism both institutionalized and cultural. They are often at war with their own partners as victims of domestic violence. They are not secure in the streets due to rape and sexual harassment. Rape itself is often even a weapon of war as we have seen in Rwanda and the former Soviet Union. They struggle to make ends meet for their families in spite of our societies tendency to not offer support in the form of better housing, education, healthcare or affordable childcare. They are not given reproductive freedoms. They are not supported in their choices of traditional child-birthing methods. These panelists will explore all of these issues as they discuss the various battle-fronts within the domestic sphere.
Free Puerto Rico
The people of Vieques, Puerto Rico were non-consensual guinea pigs for the US military weapons for over 40 years. Vieques became the site of a vibrant peace movement whose primary leaders were women. Women and men have been fighting for an indepedent Puerto Rico since the country became a "possession" of the United States. Many people remember Puerto Rican nationalist Lolita Lebron who burst through the doors of the US house of representatives and opened fire. Women of Puerto Rico talk about their struggle.
Indigenous Women; The First Targets of the War on Terror
At every opportunity George Bush extols the virtue of freedom, seemingly ignoring the fact that the United States has lived on occupied lands since the arrival of Colombus to the Americas. Hundreds of thousands of indigenous people died as a result of genocidal practices and were forced to live on reservations on their own land, and at the whim of the US government. Although, CNN does not cover the stories that remind us of this fact, native people are alive and still resistant, and the government is still actively breaking treaties and occupying land that belongs to the original inhabitants of the Americas. Native women from the Dineh tribe will talk about their two decade long struggle against Peabody Coal and the US government that has defined them as trespassers in their own homes.
