It was just a few years ago that someone startled me with the greeting, “Welcome Home.” He was someone who had spent time with Vietnam Vets. I was just another war protestor on a Spokane sidewalk, worlds removed from my jungle boots and flak jacket. We were early into a casual conversation when, somehow, my military experience came up, and he extended his hand and said, “Welcome home.”

My first reaction was that he had the wrong guy. When I went home to Georgia in time for Christmas, 1968, it was not so much as if I had been away from home. I was never called a baby killer although I can’t swear I’m not. My support system was intact. My family had faithfully prayed for me, even when they had forgotten to pray for their “enemies.” I had simply been on assignment, a little further down the road than my brother had been with the Navy. It was 12 months, and my father had been away in WWII for two years, and we were a letter-writing family. It was not as if I were in the infantry, or God forbid, the Marines.

I was whole. No wounds. No PTSD. No addictions. Couple of medals. And a solid confirmation of the long-held suspicion that I was not soldier material.

It still took several years for me to understand my complicity in one of the great crimes of the 20th Century, how I’d been used by corporations to protect their interests and not by a grateful government to protect my country. The domino theory was exposed as a bait-and-switch tactic. My patriotism was exposed as gullibility.

Getting a late start as a peacemaker, it’s been easy for me to oppose every war and military adventure since Vietnam. And then, I learned about the alternatives to war, alternatives which have been around and ignored for many years. Welcome home, lieutenant. Welcome home, radical, fool, communist, anarchist.

And then, there’s the “what ifs.” What if someone had taught me about nonviolence before I began ROTC? What if I’d had just one Sunday School teacher with the slightest comprehension of “the peace that passes understanding,” not to mention, “You shall not kill?” What if I’d been advised to repent for things I’d done in Vietnam? What if I’d been killed or maimed?

This could go on for a long time, but I began it to introduce the picnic for veterans that’s mentioned in this issue. It may seem a strange item for the Handful of Salt, but doesn’t it have something to do with our future, the future of peacemaking, the future of social justice? I’m going to be away from Spokane on September 30—in fact my son is being married in another state that weekend and I’m so grateful he’s not in the military—but perhaps some of you who hate war can go and take the love you have for the veterans who attend, especially those whom we failed to protect from the experience of Iraq and Afghanistan or other ordeals that might have befallen them at Camp Pendleton or Ft. Benning or Fairchild Air Force Base.

The other day, I tried to make another veterans connection. I attended what Rep. McMorris Rodgers called a Veterans Workshop at the Riverpoint Campus. It wasn’t a workshop, at all, as far as I could tell, but I did get to speak for a moment with my congressperson, who lists numerous ways she has supported veterans and who told me she believes the U.S. will have a military victory in Iraq.

I was from Venus. She was from Mars. I really doubt she has ever been exposed to a discussion of active nonviolence, or alternatives to war as national policy before, although I hate to believe she’s never read any of my emails. I’ll give her credit for listening to me without actually rolling her eyes, but she didn’t respond to my request for a meeting.

This was hardly a surprising result, and it can’t even be considered a partisan response. Sen. Cantwell told me to make an appointment, and nothing came of my attempt. Sen. Murray promises to push for a change of direction in Iraq, but doesn’t comment on my suggestions.

Many of you call and write our congressional delegation on a number of issues and have the same experience I have when it comes to war and peace. I know we need more messages from more people, and I’m becoming convinced that we need many of those people to be younger veterans, especially the ones who are still in one piece and are beginning to understand the emptiness of the promise of military victory.

I expect I’ll have more to say along these lines at our September 15th rally, and I always hope such remarks give you some support in your efforts to talk peace with your leaders and your neighbors.

It is my belief that veterans cannot be adequately welcomed and adequately cared for until we stop creating them in the old mold, broken, sick, violent, and discouraged. The only significant thing to do for troops, for veterans, and for young people in this country is to stop war. Why is it so difficult for our country’s leaders to absorb this fact? Welcome home, Peace. - RN

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Celebrating Peace, September 21, 2007

Is it possible to celebrate peace in Spokane while our community is divided over what constitutes peace, what will produce peace, and who should do what to effect peace?

The short answer is “yes,” but caveats and subjunctives pile up quickly. The solution is to go ahead and celebrate out of hope, and desperation and determination.

Even as we rage against war and decry the leadership vacuum, PJALS is pleased to join UNA-Spokane and the local chapter of The World Affairs Council with an invitation to observe the International Day of Peace, Friday, September 21, at Gonzaga University. The event begins at 7:00 pm in the Globe Room of Cataldo Hall. Raymond Reyes, GU Vice President for Diversity, will speak, and music will be provided by Melanie Luedders and the Community Choir.

Peace One Day is the theme of this celebration and also the name of a film that is closely connected to the effort to make this day significant for global cease-fire and nonviolence. You will want to see Jeremy Gilley’s film in advance of the celebration on the 21st, and there will be a free showing at the Magic Lantern Theatre at 7:00 pm on Monday, September 10.

Locally, Marcia Loft was inspired by Gilley’s film to make sure Spokane would have an observance of the International Day of Peace. As a member of the UN Association, she enlisted Golie Jansen who had recently assumed the presidency of the Spokane Chapter of UNA. The World Affairs Council, the Community Building, Gonzaga University and PJALS came on board to plan an event.

Unlike many PJALS events, the observation of the International Day of Peace is not to list grievances and war crimes or call for the accountability of parties or individuals. It is to gather persons of good will with a variety of understandings and approaches to peace, to build upon our common ground, share our dreams and facilitate common hopes for Peace One Day.

PJALS feels particularly grateful to be included in producing a program that features Raymond Reyes and the Community Choir, remarkable resources in Spokane for peace on a number of levels. It is also a good exercise to put aside the rage, the fear, the scoldings and pleas that are so much a part of our routine, in order to become a more organic part of the whole community. This too, is peacemaking, and it is our hope that PJALS will be well represented at this celebration.

As usual for this time of year, schedules can be a problem, especially as more and more social justice opportunities come to Spokane. The weekend of the 21st appeared uncluttered when we began planning for the International Day of Peace, but the grand opening of the Community Building/Saranac had to be pushed back a couple of times. And this grand opening is a big deal for all of us who are attached to the Community Building.

The Saranac will be home to the Magic Lantern, Community Minded Enterprises, and the Lands Council, as well as some offices moving out of the current space to provide more room for the Center for Justice.

I hope you will be able to celebrate peace and justice in both venues that weekend and urge you to consider what works best in your situation.

May you find refreshment and solidarity there and in other oases for peace challenges that lie ahead. - RN

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PJALS Review/PJALS Preview

One might hesitate to put too much emphasis on the PJALS Annual Meeting on August 22. After all, it was something different, and in August, and might have been pretty dreary fare for those of us conditioned to expect an action agenda, a diatribe against the status quo or a political debate when we are convened.

When it was over, Nancy and I decided it was worth the trouble, but our presentation had lacked energy, and it was good that several other members had contributed comments that added some zip.

For those of you who might have come if your schedule had allowed, here’s a bit of a recap:

The meeting came in a busy week, a day after a living wage meeting and the day before the “No to Torture” demonstration at the offices of Mitchell and Jessen, the Spokane psychologists who design torture programs for the CIA and U.S. military. For the weekend, we had also scheduled a nonviolence training, which didn’t work out, and we expected PJALS folks to attend the Women’s Equality Day picnic. We also billboarded our peace march on September 15th and the film, Total Denial, on the following day.

Reviewing the PJALS portfolio, we briefly discussed the status of our continuing projects. Handful of Salt, for example, seems to be winding down as the primary outreach and communication tool of our organization. It is hoped that less frequent publication will result in the long-awaited email edition of the newsletter and better cyber communications with all our online members. We are still struggling with our database and some addresses that don’t work.

Joni gave a summary of our Economic Justice situation, as we try to build Spokane Citizens for a Living Wage and make another run at getting the big box proposal on the ballot. We will make the ordinance simpler and attempt to enlist more allies in the petition process while considering new efforts to include the rest of Spokane County.

PeaceWorks is the current vehicle for the traditional PJALS job of waging peace. We are always looking for input, leadership and detail work for rallies, educational programs, and other activities that fall into this category.

Attention to miscellaneous items gives us the flexibility to be present in the community for important issues that may arise suddenly or lack any organizational sponsor. Police accountability and urban, low-income housing are among local issues which are compelling for PJALS membership.

Networking has never been more important, and it comes naturally in the environmental area where so many PJALS members are already engaged. We also value our contacts with moveon.org, Progressive Democrats, VOICES, women’s groups, and a few schools and churches. The Fig Tree has been a valuable ally and link to the progressive religious community and the Center for Justice and become even more significant as it provides us with legal representation. ASAP has emerged as much more than a link to alternative youth in Spokane and may help revive our counter-recruitment program while providing a window to a number of urban justice issues.

PJALS financial information is always available to our members, but it is good to discuss our budget and our problems with our supporters. Summer is a stressful time, fiscally, but if we make it to October, gain a few new dues-paying members, and get our database healthy, we should be strong for social justice in the Spokane area in 2008.

It was pointed out that many PJALS members are constantly doing special things for our community and should have our support and recognition. Perhaps the annual meeting will be a good way to make the most of these important connections. - RN

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Welcome Home Picnic For Veterans

We plan to host an all day Veterans’ Family Day at a Spokane’s Coeur d’Alene Park, Browne’s Addition, on Sunday September 30, 2007 from noon to 5 pm. This family picnic will be a community thank you to our area veterans who have served our nation and our community in Afghanistan, Iraq, or other combat zones. It is vital to our future together that we acknowledge their service, show appreciation for the sacrifices they make, and find ways to move forward together.

We will be asking area businesses, groups, and individuals to lend their support through donations to cover the cost of the event. The scope of the event is variable, depending on the response. Our belief is that the vast majority of our community supports our veterans, and will be excited and grateful for the opportunity to show their appreciation in a forum not tied to any external agenda.

We propose Veterans’ Family Day:

Area restaurants are being asked to donate prepared dishes to feed veterans and their families. The music community is donating time, expertise and equipment to provide family oriented entertainment. And we have asked the local art community to assist us in providing an art area for kids.

Support and Endorsements include: Browne’s Addition Neighborhood Council, Spokane Firefighters Benevolent Association, CFDR (Community Focused Disaster Response).

Working Committee: Scott Coldiron, Matt Jorgensen, Elaine Tyrie, Darrin Coldiron, and Alan Eschenbacher.

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THANK YOU PJALS MEMBERS

We on the steering committee and staff are grateful to all of you who have responded to our request for support through updating your membership dues.

Along with some old renewals, we received some very nice gifts which arrived at a particularly good time. Don’t feel left out. We will be contacting everyone soon about our continuing needs as a nonprofit peace and justice organization.

There are still many peacemakers out there who may have been cut off from PJALS over the last couple of years, whether by our computer glitches, staff error, or changed addresses and edresses. We need help from all of you who might have continuing contact with these folks.

New members would be particularly helpful right now, and the staff would love to get names and addresses of people you consider to be prospects. These folks don’t have to be rich or radical, just the kind of people who think it’s important to support local efforts for peace and social justice. We’ll send them a Handful, or give them yours and ask what they think.

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Perhaps the PJALS staff is in denial about past efforts to attract film audiences, but we’re trying it again. We will host EarthRights International for one of a hundred screenings of Total Denial at 3 pm on Sunday, September 16, at the brand new Magic Lantern Theatre.

EarthRights is coordinating the nation-wide showings and a conference call with the filmmaker and two of the protagonists to follow. Most of the screenings will be at house parties, but we have the opportunity to help initiate the long-awaited re-emergence of the Magic Lantern as a community treasure. In fact, Kathryn Graham is so enthusiastic about this project that she will open the smaller theatre if we have over 100 people attend.

Marie Soveroski, Managing Director of EarthRights in Washington, D.C., contacted PJALS about participating in the screening. If you’ve been around PJALS for a while, you may remember when Marie was a Spokane activist and law student at Gonzaga. Until recently, Marie was Director of the European Centre for Judges and Lawyers/European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) in Luxembourg and in The Netherlands. She was also a Senior Lecturer at the EIPA. At EarthRights, she is engaged in legal and grassroots efforts to stem the human rights and environmental abuses of international oil companies.

Marie will be with us for the Spokane showing.

You will be under no obligation to stay for the conference call. We are not charging admission for the film, but you may be asked for a couple dollars to help pay the projectionist.

Total Denial- a film by Milena Kaneva - and winner of the 2006 Vaclav Havel Human Rights Award, is a dramatic and moving documentary which chronicles the personal and political journeys of the groundbreaking human rights lawsuit, Doe v. Unocal, brought by EarthRights Intn’l and villagers from Burma against oil giant Unocal. - www.EarthRights.org

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PSYCHED OUT

Many Spokanites were shocked to learn of a local connection to the U.S. practice of torture in interrogation of prisoners in such places as Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. As reveled by the Spokesman Review, Democracy Now!, and other media, Psychologists James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, with an office in Spokane and links to the Survival School at Fairchild Air Force Base, have been helping the military and the CIA develop and apply torture techniques.

The American Psychological Association banned such activity by its members at annual meetings in San Francisco in August, and PJALS gathered 30 or so demonstrators to send an anti-torture message at Riverside and Washington where Mitchell and Jessen maintain one of their offices. Ironically, the building housing Homeland Security, as well as Mitchell and Jessen, before extensive remodeling,  was the home of Global Folk Art, while the Fair Trade store was still a project of PJALS.

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Breean Beggs will be featured in the October Spokane-Coeur d'Alene Magazine as the "Best Civil Rights Lawyer" in Spokane. Voting was conducted by a panel of attorneys.

Chief Catalyst for the Center for Justice, Breean is our lawyer. Congratulations to Breean for this appropriate recognition.

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Out With A Scream:

The Gonzales Legacy

Alberto Gonzales may be dodging some bullets for himself and his patron, George Bush, by resigning as Attorney General, but he’s taking with him most of the last remaining protections for death row inmates.

Since Gonzales has long been Bush’s point man on executions, including a stint on the Texas Supreme Court, it’s hardly surprising that he has oiled the process of state killings for the entire country. The issue is Fast Track for the death penalty.

Habeas Corpus has already been gutted, the Constitution trashed, but that’s not enough for a president who was the all time leader in US executions with 152 in eight years as governor of Texas. The plan now is to lop off another layer of condemned inmates’ right of appeal.

Most executing states grow weary of the killing, the bother and expense of it all. Some even grasp the fact that they spend much more money simply to maintain the death penalty than to maintain prisoners for their natural lives.

Fast Track Capital Punishment was not likely to have any life legislatively, so Gonzales, inspired by recent anti-terrorism legislation, framed it within the executive power of the president. The executive order, likely to be approved after a few friendly hearings into September, will allow states to direct final appeals of death row inmates to the U.S. Attorney General, instead of a row of federal courts.

Gonzales watchers have enough history to know that this attorney general has already made up his mind on cases not yet tried. He seems to take to heart the famous quote by his predecessor, Edwin Meese, “If a person is not guilty, he wouldn’t be a suspect.”

The US is already among the top six countries worldwide in its own citizens that it puts to death, but last year’s total was down to 52, as thousands await their fate on death row.

Fast Track would mean different things in different states. In some southern states with no institutional public defenders, the Attorney General would be the arbiter of life or death. In Washington, it’s hard to see anything but pandemonium since we allow death row inmates to fast track themselves.

Three of the four men executed in Washington since the reinstatement of capital punishment demanded that their appeals be stopped, and we complied with state-assisted suicides. The last was James Elledge, whose case for death was so weak he was given a last minute stay by a federal court in spite of his death wish. Christine Gregoire, then state attorney general, immediately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court so the execution could proceed, almost on time.

Of more concern are those wrongly convicted and condemned. Fast Track is designed to remove any hint of a safety net for those pesky inmates who have been sentenced without adequate representation and resources in their defense and don’t want to die. This includes persons with strong claims for mitigation, if not outright innocence. The administration finds it unacceptable that convicted killers are among those being exonerated by DNA testing and that last year brought the lowest number of capital convictions in the U.S. since reinstatement.

Texas is hardly an issue. It’s killing machinery predates Bush and Gonzales’ record-setting run. Gov. Ann Richards, in a tight race for re-election against Bush, executed Leonel Herrera although the U.S. Supreme Court acknowledged his innocence. The court declared it had nothing to do with guilt or innocence, only to insure there had been a fair trial. The justices assumed the governor would provide relief in the case of an innocent man, but they underestimated Texas’ loyalty to executions.

Texas was set to execute Kenneth Foster on August 30, 2007. Foster was condemned for a 1996 murder although everyone in the court knew he had nothing to do with it, but was simply with the killers before and after the crime. Texas has a “Law of Parties,” under which it justified executing a person for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The state of Missouri tried to make the shameful Herrera case a precedent about four years ago. The evidence against Joe Amrine disintegrated after keeping him on death row for 17 years. The state argued that Amrine had received a fair trial, procedurally, and therefore should be executed even if he was innocent. Amrine was released, but only through the intervention of a federal appeals court, the safety net that will be removed by the Fast Track plan.

Fast Track advocates point out the high costs of the appeals process but ignore a much better way to save tax dollars. Washington has an alternative to capital punishment, a sentence of life without possibility of parole. We would all be safer if federal and state governments would join the other civilized nations to stop the fatally flawed practice and outworn ritual of capital punishment. There is a high moral cost every time a human being is put to death. That anyone is willing to accept the cost of executing an innocent person is incomprehensible.

Journalistic discussions about the Gonzales legacy are careful to include some positive contributions he has made to the administration. History will not ignore the fact that he helped make killers of us all.

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Democracy School In Spokane

The Center for Justice and New Priorities Foundation Invite you to attend Democracy School. This weekend course was filling fast at press time, so please make arrangements immediately. We know your commitment of time for this class will be enlightening and well worth the weekend. A feature of this School will focus on Charter Amendments for the City of Spokane, and how to drive rights of people and nature into that Charter.

This is a great opportunity to network with other community members that are dedicated to making Spokane the best City not only for us, but for all generations to come.

The Daniel Pennock Democracy School

Friday, September 14, 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Saturday, September 15, 8:30 am to 6:00 pm

Sunday, September 16, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

At the Hamilton Studios, 1427 W. Dean,

Spokane Washington

Democracy School teaches a paradigm shift, a dramatic new way of looking at citizens in a democracy, and how to assert our inalienable rights as a sovereign people.

Attendees explore the limits of conventional regulatory organizing and learn to confront the rights used by corporations to deny the rights of communities, people, and the earth.

Lectures cover the history of people's movements and corporate power, and the dramatic recent organizing in Pennsylvania by communities confronting agribusiness, sewage sludge, and quarry corporations.

Democracy School is an unfolding revelation of how corporations have hijacked democracy. It meticulously deconstructs the historical arc that brought us to this precipice. But most importantly, it then departs into the highly pragmatic and inspiring work now underway to turn the tide. . .

This Second American Revolution may be the most important political work going on anywhere in the country or the world.

    Kenny Ausubel, Founder and Co-Executive Director, Bioneers

Democracy School Schedule:

Friday,

“What is our Current Pattern of Activism?”

“What is Law?” “How is Law Used and for What Purpose is it Used?”

How We Got Here: A Brief Overview

Case Study: Traditional Organizing and Corporate Power – Factory Farms

Saturday,

By the Few, of the Few, and For the Few: The Constitution’s Replication of a Slave and Empire Form of Governance

A History of Peoples’ Movements in the US

From a Slave State to a Corporate State

Building New Models of Organizing

Sunday,

Reframing by Rethinking Several Issues

An Exploration of Jurisdictions and Arenas

Other Constituencies. Critical Mass: Doing it Together and Building a Movement

Groups Across the US Applying New Models

Discussion: How Do We Make Real the Promises of Democracy?

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Tuition Fee, written materials and lunches: $200

Included with Democracy School is a complete 360 page notebook of background material.

Checks payable to: The Center for Justice,

35 W. Main, Suite 300

Spokane, WA 99201

Attn: Democracy School

Please include your name, mailing address, email and phone number with your registration.

Contact Shallan Dawson to register, or if you have any questions about Democracy School.

sdawson@cforjustice.org or 509 835 5211

September 15th March on Washington - from 29th Avenue

It’s long past time for another march and rally against this war without end, and PJALS has decided to take it to the South Hill, in conjunction with ANSWER’s march to END THE WAR NOW in Washington, D.C. on September 15.

Join us at Thornton Murphy Park for a brief rally, beginning at 1:00 pm, Saturday. Then we’ll walk together to Ray Street, south to 29th, and then west to Southeast Boulevard and back, facing traffic, with our signs and music from the P-jammers, the talented and flashy, peace marching band. The march will be just over a mile, and there will be shorter options for those who need them.

Rally speakers will include Rick Galloway of the Spokane Chapter of Progressive Democrats of America, Marianne Torres, and Rusty Nelson.

Everyone who wants to make a nonviolent statement about the Iraq War is welcome at this march and rally. Co-sponsors include:

No matter what local projects PJALS undertakes, we are known by our position for peace. This may be construed as an anti-war, anti-administration, or anti-military event, but we will take pains to demonstrate that we are pro-peace, pro-people, pro-democracy, and very much for the establishment of what Martin Luther King called the Beloved Community.

It is urgent that thousands of people speak out, in a variety of ways, against the funding of this war which holds no hope of victory and no promise of security.

We must also speak, write and call our elected officials to insist that we not compound the damage to the earth and the Middle East and our country by attacking Iran.

PJALS is glad to offer resources for your important correspondence on these issues.

We hope you will attend, invite others, and continue to speak out against the war and for alternatives to global, area, and personal violence.

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ANSWER Under Fire

One week after it filed a free speech lawsuit, the ANSWER Coalition received a second round of fines for another $10,350 for posters promoting the September 15 March on Washington to End the War on Iraq. That makes a total of $21,000 in fines, and the organization believe several branches of the government are working to disrupt the September 15 march in Washington, D.C.

The march is to be led by Iraq War veterans and their families and is one of the inspirations for the PJALS march and rally on the same day in Spokane.

ANSWER feels the only way to fight back is to have more and more people show up for the march while it mounts a legal challenge to the fines. It’s just too easy for groups and individuals to work against ANSWER by plastering flyers in forbidden places.

PJALS feels, because of distance, we help more by marching here, but encourages peacemakers who are closer to be a part of the D.C. event. Busses have been chartered in a number of cities, and you might encourage Attendance by family and friends within a reasonable range to be there.

The next big D.C. event is by Troops Out Now on September 29. There will be some folks from Spokane going, and there may be a few low cost airline tickets available. You may contact PJALS for information.

Moveon.org advises that the White House is launching another campaign to sell war to the public, so we’ll have no rest from the urgency of our work.

Locally, moveon.org is to be congratulated and encouraged for gathering and empowering people who oppose the Iraq War but are not yet ready for commitment to nonviolence and abandonment of war as a failed means of national security.

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Can you support PJALS?

PJALS is committed to involving individuals and local communities in building foundations for a just and nonviolent world.

Please join PJALS or make sure your annual membership is current.  We are now able to take contributions at this website: www.pjals.net     You do not need a Pay Pal account to make an online donation.

The Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane depends upon gifts and dues from members to continue to work for peace and justice, locally and globally.  We welcome anyone who favors free exchange of ideas and nonviolent action to war or to inaction and ignorance.  PJALS, 35 W Main, Spokane, WA 99201.

        You determine your own level of support and participation.  Members also determine issues and projects that get the most attention and effort.