Minutes of General Meeting
October 26, 2006

The monthly meeting of U. S. Citizens for Peace and Justice convened at Gene's home at approximately 7PM on Thursday, October 26, 2006. The following members were in attendance: Stephanie, Gene, Elaine, David, Patrick, Barbara A., Michelle, Marco, Una, Maria V., Ilona, Julienne, Nick and Candace.

Stephanie chaired the meeting and Candace took the minutes.

Stephanie informed the group that USC4P&J is now officially affiliated with United for Peace & Justice, the largest coalition of anti-war groups in the U.S. The official enrollment and dues of US$50 supports their efforts and enables our Rome group to be listed on the main web site where we will also be entitled to place announcements of our upcoming events.

The floor inquired about the USC4P&J finances and was told that there is currently E. 469 in the kitty (out of which the annual dues will be paid as well as reimbursements to the film committee for DVDs).

The agenda that had been sent out via email was discussed as follows:

1. Does the group want to do something between now and November 7 mid- term elections? Several ideas were discussed including distributing flyers for voters for peace or to support pro impeachment candidates and remembering the dead on the Italian holiday of November 2. It was considered either too late or of little interest to focus on the elections. However, it was decided to pursue the idea of November 2 holiday remembering the dead, together with Italian groups in Rome.

2. The second item on the agenda, report from the assembly in Florence, was covered only briefly as there was a report sent out from Nancy in Florence which everyone should have received by email. Stephanie did inform the group on the current difficulties in the Italian movement.

3. Upcoming events in the Italian movement were then covered. There will be two marches on November 18, both dealing with the issues of Palestine and Lebanon, illustrating the split in the Italian movement. One will be held in Milan, and organized by the Tavola della Pace in Assisi along with other groups, the other in Rome is organized by the Forum Palestina and others. A general discussion followed regarding the situation with the UN, Israel and Lebanon; Italy signing military cooperation deal with Israel and a follow up on what kind of group USCP&J want to be. The floor agreed that they would prefer to not endorse either demonstration and members could decide based on the platform which demo, if any, they choose to attend.

There was then mention of a national demonstration in Vicenza on December 2 to protest a disused airport in Vicenza being turned over to the U.S. military as yet another base in Italy. It was agreed that the USCP&J would participate in the demonstration in Vicenza on December 2.

4. The fourth item on the agenda, letter writing, was touched on only briefly as the person who brought it up had to leave the meeting early. We discussed our current policy and the floor agreed to continue with it for now: The policy is (1.) form a drafting committee to compose a letter suggested by the membership, (2.) delegate urgent letter writing to the coordinating committee.

5. The film committee reported on the Eyes Wide Open film series. Information was given on the previous week's screening, attended also by a group of students from St. Stephen's international high school, as well as what publicity had been received. A copy of "Roma c'è" was passed around with a nice plug in the English section, including our web site address, and it was mentioned that the film series is also on the Parents' Association newsletter for St. Stephen's School. Volunteers were requested to present the remaining films. Ilona will present "Iraq for Sale", Gene will do "Faith in the White House," Barbara A. will help with "Occupied Minds" and David for "An Inconvenient Truth."

6. The final item was a request to send postcards with messages of support to conscientious objector Agustín Aguayo, who is currently in a military prison in Germany for refusing to return to Iraq. His mailing address was given to us by Meredith of American Voices Abroad, who has been working on Agustín's case. It was mentioned that he is, of course, not the only one refusing and that we should do more to support all military resisters.

Special thanks are extended to Gene for hosting tonight's meeting and to Elaine for providing such delicious international snacks and dips.

Next meeting: Mid November, exact date to be announced. Join our mailing list for updates.