Peace and Social Concerns Newsletter
Minneapolis Friends Meeting
February 2001

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Martin Luther King 20^th Memorial Concert at the University of Minnesota - Free!
Where: Ted Mann Concert Hall, 2128 4th St S, Minneapolis
When: Sunday, Feb. 18, at 2 p.m.
For more information contact: Tom Donaghy at 612/624-1069 or donag003@umn.edu

JRLC - Joint Religious Legislative Coalition's "Day on the Hill" (www.jrlc.org)
Thursday, February 15, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
        starts at River Centre (7th and Kellogg, St. Paul)
Keynote speaker: Commissioner Jan Malcolm. Issue briefings and workshops -- shuttle to be provided to and from Capitol to meet with legislators. Registration $20 (includes lunch).
Phone: 612/870-3670. Minnesota toll free: 888/870-1402. E-mail: info@jrlc.org.

Affordable Housing - On February 25, at 10:15 a.m. at Minneapolis Friends Meeting, Rev. Becky Myrick from JRLC will talk to us about affordable housing and how we can make a difference.

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El Salvador - Urgent Action Needed!

Earthquake victims in El Salvador need our help. There are serious problems with access to clean water, food is scarce. Dehydration, poor sanitation and crowded conditions in centers are causing health problems. There is a great need for basic hygiene supplies. How can you help? AFSC needs basic hygiene kits consisting of the following items:

1 bar of bath soap     1 toothbrush      1 tube of toothpaste (4.5-6 oz.)

1 small box of band aids      1 washcloth      4 emergency (plumbers) candles

Please pack in a clear plastic ziplock bag and send to: "El Salvador Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction," AFSC/EMAP, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102. AFSC also requests a minimum contribution of $5.00 per kit to pay for shipment and the purchase of needed supplies. Please send a check or money order payable to AFSC and marked "El Salvador Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction." To contribute via Visa or MasterCard, call 1-888-588-2372, ext. 1. For more info: www.afsc.org/emap/help/elsalv.htm.

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Back from the Brink - National Call-In Days: February 5-6

During his Presidential campaign, George W. Bush said that having thousands of U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert, "may create unacceptable risks of accidental or unauthorized launch." One false alarm could turn into nuclear war. Tell President Bush he should work with the Russians to get all nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert. Ask your friends to participate in these National Call-In Days to the White House. Your efforts can help prevent nuclear war!

Call 202/456-1414 or 202/456-1111. Follow directions to the Comment Line. Ignore the message "The survey has been removed." PRESS "0" [zero] FOR THE COMMENTS LINE OPERATOR. If you cannot get through on Monday or Tuesday, keep calling throughout the week. Or, send a postcard to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC 20500. Or send a fax to 202/456-2461. Let your voice be heard. Sponsored by Back From the Brink, A Campaign to Take All Nuclear Weapons off Hair Trigger Alert http://www.backfromthebrink.org

Sunday Feb. 11^th - Town Hall Forum on Colombia with Paul Wellstone
3:00 p.m. at First Universalist Church, 3400 Dupont Avenue S,
Minneapolis (Free, open to the public. FFI call 612/276-0788 Ext.10)

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Leonard Peltier’s Current Situation

Despite the defeat, Peltier and supporters say they will not give up. They plan to launch a major campaign calling for the declassification of the 6000 documents pertaining to the Peltier case still being withheld by the FBI. Supporters believe these documents contain evidence that will further expose misconduct in the gaining of Leonard Peltier's conviction. Their disclosure, they say, could lead to Peltier's acquittal.

Here is the address by which you can write to Leonard Peltier and send him words of encouragement:

USPL, Leonard Peltier #89637-132, P.O. Box 1000, Leavenworth, KS 66048

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A Day Without Diamonds

Join Amnesty International groups nationwide in a Valentines Day call to action on Conflict Diamonds. On February 14, student groups will be sending a powerful message to their peers, the diamond industry, and Congress about the importance of effective legislation that will ban the importation of Conflict Diamonds into the United States.

Some of the world's most beautiful gems are helping fund violent and brutal rebel insurgencies across Africa, most notably in Sierra Leone where the Revolutionary United Front pays for their weapons by selling illicit diamonds onto the world market. Until an international certification system is functional and is backed-up by the support of critical countries like the United States, the diamonds used to fund the Revolutionary United Front will continue to find their way into jewelry stores across the United States. No jeweler can guarantee that the symbol of love you are buying is not a Blood Diamond.

Here in the U.S. we expect legislation banning Conflict Diamonds to be introduced early in the 107th Congress (February 2001) and we want this bill passed by July 4, 2001. We will need to mobilize people and make sure Congress acts quickly to ban Conflict Diamonds.

· Visit your local Diamond jeweler or retailer; ask if they know about conflict diamonds and provide them with information. Ask them to appeal to the U.S. Diamond industry to vigorously and quickly lobby Congress to pass legislation banning conflict diamonds from the United States.

· Join Amnesty International USA's Action on Conflict Diamonds and help educate consumers about conflict diamonds.

For more information, contact Mona Cadena at 202/544-0200 or mcadena@aiusa.org or Amanda Blair at 202/544-0200 or africa@aiusa.org or go to: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna/ and see Action Alerts.

Movie 2/8 -- PANAMA DECEPTION: The untold story of the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama, revealing General Manuel Noriega’s long-standing relationship with the CIA, the DEA and George Bush. It documents the horrific events of the assault and its aftermath, uncovering the true motivation for the invasion and explaining why the mainstream media collaborated with the U.S. government to censor information and deceive the American public. Narrated by Elizabeth Montgomery. 120 minutes (in English) 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Oscar Romero Room.

Coffeehour 2/17 -- NUKEWATCH: Two hundred scientists, veterans, legal scholars, journalists and anti-war activists from 18 countries recently converged in Manchester, UK to focus attention on the health and environmental impacts of using depleted uranium (DU) weapons. John LaForge speaks about depleted uranium weapons, the Energy Department's Yucca Mountain nuclear waste plan and the international campaign to ban uranium weapons. John is a plowshares activist on the staff of Nukewatch, an anti-nuclear power and weapons group based in Wisconsin and is editor of its quarterly newsletter, Pathfinder. 10-11:30 a.m. $4.

Coffeehour 2/24 -- THE CHANGING FACE OF MEXICO? After more than 70 years in power, the "perfect dictatorship" of Mexico's PRI was defeated on July 2, 2000 when Vicente Fox was elected president. Fox faces many challenges during this transitional period, including the ongoing Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas, continuing high levels of poverty and underemployment and corruption fueled by drug smuggling. Jay Miskowiec is a staff writer for La Prensa de Minnesota, where he specializes in Mexican politics and culture and is an advocate for one of Mexico's political prisoners, General Jose Gallardo. 10-11:30 a.m. $4.

La Mesa do Abajo: March 10­18. It will be time to put up firewood for the year again. The road needs repair and a special need exists for a technician who can troubleshoot the electric motor that runs the pump that supplies water to this village from the spring at the bottom of the mesa.

Trigo Moreno: March 24­31. We have found many ways to assist the families in Trigo Moreno since we began working there in 1996. We have improved two mountain springs and piped the water to homes in town. This year, we hope to be able to build another cistern to hold water in that system.

Contact Mike Gray, coordinator, 2852 W. Gamez Road, Benson, AZ 85602
Phone: 520­212­4696. Email: afsc_imym_jsp@worldnet.att.net