Minutes of General Meeting
November 20, 2008

A general meeting for USC4P&J was held at Marilee’s apartment on November 20, 2008. Attending were Becky, Cherine, Gene, Gretchen, Ilona, Kathy, Maria Chiara, Maria Vasquez, Marilee, and Stephanie. Marilee chaired the meeting and Gretchen took the minutes.

1) The first item on the agenda was a discussion about how USC4P&J should function in a post-Bush era. The group presented many ideas. In the end, we concluded that it is most important to keep focused on the USC4P&J mandate, i.e. to advocate to end war and to support peace and justice.

Marilee noted that she hopes we can go beyond protest in the new Obama era look for opportunities to take positive action in support of policies and legislation that promote peace and justice.

Becky suggested that we write a letter to President-Elect Obama, outlining our concerns for his new administration. Many other groups (e.g. MoveOn, Code PINK, ACLU) have done this already, but we have our own unique perspective, as U.S. citizens living abroad, in this case, in Italy. We could draw on the issues we raised in the Bush-Cheney protests and turn them around to be positive.

It was proposed that the letter include at least the following issues: rescinding the Patriot Act; closing Guantanamo; ending the Iraq war; not sending more troops to Afghanistan; not adding new (or preferably closing existing) bases in Italy. We discussed many other important topics as well but felt our message would be diluted unless we focused only on issues with an international impact.

Becky agreed to take the lead in drafting the letter, along with Kathy Ford, with other volunteers being asked to provide input. (See invitation in Annex at end of minutes.)

Greg, unable to be at the meeting, sent in a comment about our future in an Obama era: “The election is a very great thing! Inspiring! Bound to be an improvement over the last eight years. Of course. But we should keep our purpose in mind. We oppose war. Obama wants out of Iraq. Good. But he's too slow, there are too many conditions. Plus: Afghanistan. He wants to stay there, even escalate. To do what? I don't think we agree with his stance on Israel-Palestine. At least not with the tone. And he IS a politician. The most successful one in the world, at the moment. Keep him under scrutiny! But of course, wish him the best. And I have to admit, it's nice to feel good about something my country does! (:-) For a change.”

2) The next item on the agenda was the Palestine demonstration on November 29. It is an annual national manifestazione, already endorsed by the PdCI (Partito dei Comunisti Italiani), among others. However, some of the organizers support all forms of resistance, including violence, which has split our group in the past. We have three choices: 1) to go as individuals, with no mention of USC4P&J; 2) to go as a group, stating that we only support a non-violent approach; or 3) to stand on the sidelines, in support of the Palestinian people, but not in support of violence. We decided to support individual participation, without use of the USC4P&J name. Only a few indicated that they would be able to participate.
[NB: An alternative appeal for the demonstration was announced after our meeting, which we endorsed. See Neither Walls Nor Silence:Peace, Justice and Freedom in Palestine]

3) We then talked about the film series for the remainder of 2008 and for the first half of 2009 (Feb-May). The next film is ‘Body of War’, on 27 November, Thanksgiving Day. It is a long film, so there will be no outside presenter. For the final 2008 film, ‘Iran (Is Not the Problem)’, on December 11, Cherine is searching for an expert to introduce the film.

Ilona and Gene mentioned they had found an additional member, Kathy Ford, and welcomed her. They then listed the new films, neatly summarized on a handout. Films include ‘I.O.U.S.A.’, ‘It's No Dream’, ‘Religulous’, ‘Boogie Man’, ‘China Blue’, and ‘Flow: For the Love of Water’, covering a range of topics (e.g. politics, economics, the environment), with the order still to be determined. Other possibilities include ‘Pray the Devil Back to Hell’ and ‘Nerakhoon: The Betrayal’. Two commercial films were also mentioned, outside of the series, which could provide opportunities for ‘film nights out’: ‘Redacted’ and ‘War Inc.’.

Some films were deleted from the list, including: ‘Standard Operating Procedure’, ‘The 11th Hour’, ‘Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?’, and ‘Stealing America’, because they are not high quality enough or sufficiently interesting, even though current. There is a sense that we should look back at older films and not try to get only the latest ones.

We also discussed again the need to encourage new people to come to the film screenings and how to make them feel more welcome. Cherine and Becky agreed to send messages to the VCN Network and Craig’s List, mentioning the chat time before the film and the discussion afterward, without making them feel obliged to stay for it. We will also ask Molly Gage to send the schedule to the Americans in Italy for Obama.

Stephanie then raised the idea mentioned earlier of trying to link a Palestine event, such as a panel discussion, to the film about the Israeli occupation of Palestine, ‘It’s No Dream’. Others felt it might be too complicated, and would be unwieldy, to have all in one evening. Instead, it was proposed that experts could be invited to be in the audience as resource persons or respondents. In addition, that evening we will have the pleasure of having the film director, Joseph Rochlitz, introduce the film, as he is a friend of Gene’s. (Stephen Natanson, a member, who has also shot a documentary on Palestine, could be a resource person.)

4) We then discussed the misuse of our members’ mailing list for messages. Some individuals seem to send many messages, which other members do not wish to receive, as they are too frequent and often very partisan or opinionated. However, the limit per person is two messages per day, according to our e-mail rules, and no one goes beyond that limit. Stephanie mentioned that in fact our e-mail exchanges are very few in comparison to many other more active lists. No decision was made, although the general consensus was that we should not change the rules, for fear of stifling discussion, and that everybody should decide to read all the messages circulated by USC4P&J members, or only the ones he/she finds interesting, or just cancel them without even looking at them.

5) The last item on the evening’s agenda was the Action for Peace campaign, ‘Un futuro per Gaza,’ which entails getting the word out on what is happening in Gaza as well as trying to raise money for specific projects. Stephanie had a flyer from Giovanni Franzini, a former priest, with details on one of the projects, e.g., solar energy for the cardiology department of a hospital in Gaza City. Stephanie encouraged us to provide volunteer help and to offer to spread information. All agreed that we should be involved. There will be a meeting on the campaign with Action for Peace on December 2.

Other business: Maria Vasquez announced that she will be leaving Rome on December 31 for a new assignment in Kenya, where her husband is newly posted with UNICEF. She thanked the members for making her life in Rome interesting and fulfilling, and for being nice friends. We all wished her well in her new adventure and asked her to keep in touch.

Thanks to Marilee for hosting the meeting. A special thanks also to Maria Chiara who brought a delicious red onion-olive torta and to others who brought wine and other snacks.

Next general meeting: date to be announced. Join our mailing list for updates.

Annex: Invitation to Participate in Letter for President-Elect Obama

Dear USCPJ Members,

In our general meeting the other evening, we agreed that we as a group would like to write an open letter to President Elect Obama to emphasize our wishes for the New Year and the new Administration. Kathy Ford and I agreed to coordinate this effort and we would like your input. Given our unique perspectives as Americans living abroad, it would be ideal to focus more on issues with an international focus keeping to the themes that our group has focused on over the years.

This would mean: withdrawal from Iraq & Afghanistan , serious reduction in obscene military spending, closure of Gitmo and the establishment of a truth & justice commission , prosecution of Bush and Cheney for war crimes, end to rendition and torture, diplomatic talks with Iran & N. Korea and an end to unconstitutional signing statements that have had disastrous consequences abroad.

I know that there is a possibility of receiving every grievance of the last 8 years, but that would require an encyclopedia rather than an open letter. So, the goal is to make it relatively succinct focusing on the above- mentioned international issues.

So given this, what other topics would you like addressed in this open letter? From your ideas, we will draft a (relatively) brief letter. Thanks in advance for your contributions and suggestions.

Cheers,

Becky

Top