ARKANSAS ACTION FOR PEACE
WAND wants you to be aware of a new initiative by peace makers in Arkansas called ARKANSAS ACTION FOR PEACE. We want you involved. Our current organizational sponsors are:
Fred Darragh Foundation, Morris Foundation, First Presbyterian Church of Little Rock, Women's Action for New Directions (WAND), Arkansas Coalition for Peace and Justice (ACPJ), Clinton School of Public Service, Peace Ministry at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, Just Communities of Central Arkansas (JCCA), Methodist Federation for Social Action, Amnesty International, Lakewood United Methodist Church, First United Methodist Church of Little Rock, Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas, OMNI Center for Peace, Justice and Ecology
ARKANSAS ACTION FOR PEACE
Our mission is to forge lasting friendships and partnerships for raising awareness about the urgency of peaceful policies.
Our Vision. We are initiating an effort to bring to our community national and international leaders who represent points of view which lead to peaceful solutions.
Our first project is to bring Gila Svirsky, an Israeli activist, writer and leader in the women's peace movement, to Arkansas to facilitate discussions about the Women's International Peace Movement and strategies for promoting peace and reconciliation.
Who is Gila Svirsky? Gila Svirsky is an Israeli writer and peace activist, who has headed Israel's major peace and human rights organizations. In 2000, she co-founded and led the Coalition of Women for Peace, which brings together nine Israeli women's peace organizations, raising the visibility and volume of the feminist peace movement in Israel. Svirsky has been an activist with Women in Black since its inception in 1988, helping grow the movement into a network of vigils spanning the globe. She is currently chair of B'Tselem, Israel's foremost human rights organization in the Occupied Territories.
In 2002, Svirsky addressed the UN Security Council about Resolution 1325 - the decision mandating the involvement of women at all levels of policy-making. She maintains active board membership in the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel - a program sponsored by the World Council of Churches that brings people of all faiths to accompany Palestinians and Israelis in their non-violent actions for peace.
Svirsky has written extensively on current events in the Middle East, giving special attention to the grassroots feminist peace movement in Israel and Palestine. For her writing, she was awarded a prize by the PEN Association of Writers in Germany and the Solidarity Prize of Bremen - both together with Sumaya Farhat-Naser, a Palestinian woman writer. Svirsky was also honored by the New Israel Fund, the largest funder of progressive causes in Israel, for her "contribution to strengthening Israeli democracy".
http://www.gilasvirsky.com/
Time Frame. Gila will travel to Arkansas September 17, 2009 and leave September 24. This project was planned around the International Day of Peace, September 21.
http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/
Be part of Arkansas Action for Peace. We are seeking several sponsors for this. The organizational sponsors will facilitate Gila's itinerary and be able to use her as a resource for their organizations. The minimum organization's contribution is $100. We are also seeking individual sponsors and the minimum contribution is $25. Please mail your checks to:
Arkansas Action for Peace
805 Beechwood #2
Little Rock, AR 72205
If you have questions email: Katherine West:
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; Anncha Briggs:
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; JoAnne Mills:
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; Caroline Stevenson:
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. Call Katherine West at 501-240-4745
Look at the schedule below to see how you can participate. We need your ideas and energy. We need you, right here in Arkansas, to raise awareness about the urgency of peaceful policies.
ARKANSAS ACTION FOR PEACE: Gila Svirsky tentative SCHEDULE
Friday night, September 18, we will have a sponsor's reception. This is underwritten by Amnesty International and WAND. Our sponsors are organizations and individuals who are financially and otherwise supporting Gila Svirsky's trip to Arkansas. It will be an informal mingling and chat. 501-663-1016
Saturday is women and peace. In the morning there will be activities at the River Market including a "Women In Black " vigil. Saturday night will be a gathering of women with the theme "Women as Subversive Agents. 501-223-9584
Sunday morning will be Sunday School class at 1st Presbyterian and the service following. Wendell Griffin will be giving the sermon. 501-603-0826
Sunday evening at 6 pm Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church will hold an ecumenical gathering in Wesley Hall. About 30 members of their youth group will be there in addition to the various faith communities. This is the presentation where we want to discuss the religious issues impeding peace. Local journalist Steve Barnes will moderate this dialog.
Monday is a presentation by Gila Svirsky at the Clinton School of Public Service at noon. Live of a Peace Activist in a WAR Zone. Just Communities of Central Arkansas, JCCA, is asking for those people who can to stay about an hour and ½ after this presentation to divide into groups of 10 to have facilitated discussions around questions prepared by JCCA.
Tuesday and Wednesday will be for high schools and colleges and other sponsors.
Tuesday 7 PM public lecture and discussion , U of A Cooperative Extension Service auditorium. Hosted by ACPJ. 501-952-8181
Wednesday noon to 1 PM class at Hendrix College.
Also: Wordsworth will be featuring books about Israel, Palestine, Gaza.
In the weeks before September 17 we are arranging showings of the film "The Day After Peace" - A documentary by Jeremy Gilley. This film is about the establishing of International Peace Day on September 21 each year. Would you like to show this at your church or for friends in your home etc.?
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