Baltimore Activist Alert - March 26-30, 2014

26] Hear what’s happening in Ecuador and the role of China in Latin America -- Mar. 26
27] United States Re-Balancing In East Asia – Mar. 26
28] The Implications on Deterrence Stability – Mar. 26
29] Citizen Strangers: Palestinians and the Birth of Israel's Liberal Settler State – Mar. 26
30] Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace/Protest at Egyptian embassy – Mar. 26, 27 & 29
31] People’s Hearing on the Iraq War – Mar. 26
32] Mexico's Extraordinary Women – Mar. 26
33] Music for Peace – Mar. 26
34] Cornell West at JHU – Mar. 26
35] Split the Rock Poetry Festival – Mar. 27 - 30
36] Early Childhood Development in the West Bank and Gaza – Mar. 27

26] – Amazon Watch invites you to two back-to-back presentations on Wed., Mar. 26. The first, The Closing of Fundación Pachamama: A Threat to Freedom of Association in Ecuador will go from 10:30 AM to noon. María Belén Páez & Juan Auz will address the issue.

The second presentation is Chinese Investments in Latin America: New Rules of the Game in Ecuador and Beyond with Paulina Garzón, an independent consultant, goes from noon until 1:30 PM. Both events are at Amazon Watch's D.C. Advocacy Office, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, #1100, WDC 20036.

This past December 4th the Fundación Pachamama was arbitrarily closed down by the Ecuadorian government based on unproven accusations. Pachamama wasn't notified ahead of time, did not receive due process, and was not allowed to defend itself in court. The decision, based on Executive Order 16 which regulates the work of non-governmental organizations, creates a horrible precedent for Ecuadorian civil society. Fundación Pachamama is an Ecuadorian non-profit organization that has worked for over 16 years for the conservation of the Amazon and defense of indigenous peoples' rights.

The impacts of Chinese investments in Latin America go well beyond the economic scope and have taken local communities and social organizations by surprise. Although Chinese banks have become the region's largest lenders and Chinese companies dominate oil and mining business - as well as the construction of hydro megaprojects and transport-related projects - very little has been achieved to make Chinese banks and companies environmentally and socially accountable. Paulina will outline the content of the "South-South alliance" and talk about how to make Chinese banks and contractors accountable to their own (which in some cases are better than host-country regulations) environmental and social standards.
27] – The United States Re-Balancing In East Asia will be discussed on Wed., Mar. 26 from noon to 1:30 PM at the Institute for Policy Studies Conference Room, 1112 16th St. NW, Suite 600. There has been much debate on what exactly the phrase “re-balancing” means for the role of the United States in East Asia. Some speculate that we are witnessing the beginning of a Cold War with China, whereas others hope for a greater level of economic engagement with the region as a whole. Unfortunately, few discussions about the United States and its relationship with East Asia take a long-term perspective. Critical questions such as climate change, demographic shifts in the region, and the exponential evolution of technology have been left out of the debate on the American role. This seminar will take a broader view of “re-balancing” while addressing a range of innovative policies that could ensure a long-term and cooperative U.S. presence in the East Asian region. See http://www.ips-dc.org/events/the_united_states_re-balancing_in_east_asia.
28] – Dr. Jeffrey McCausland, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Research and Minerva Chair at the Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, will examine The Implications on Deterrence Stability and Escalation Control of Tactical Nuclear Weapons in South Asia on Wed., Mar. 26 from 12:30 to 2:30 PM at The Stimson Center, 1111 19th St. NW, 12th Floor, WDC 20036. RSVP at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1wJsi1LaBM1j_0WYehAKzwlRdtYum6KaJGlywxH8kXrA/viewform.

McCausland is a retired Army Colonel with more than 30 years of military experience. He has served in a variety of operational and staff positions, including command of a field artillery battalion during Operations Desert Shield and Storm. During the Cold War, he was assigned to numerous units equipped with tactical nuclear weapons and participated in both training as well as planning for their employment. Contact Julia Thompson at jthompson@stimson.org or 202-478-3432.

29] – Find out about Citizen Strangers: Palestinians and the Birth of Israel's Liberal Settler State on Wed., Mar. 26 from 12:30 to 2 PM at The Palestine Center, 2425 Virginia Ave. NW. Following the 1948 war and the creation of the state of Israel, Palestinian Arabs comprised just fifteen percent of the population but held a much larger portion of its territory. Offered immediate suffrage rights and, in time, citizenship status, they nonetheless found their movement, employment, and civil rights restricted by a draconian military government put in place to facilitate the colonization of their lands. Citizen Strangers traces how Jewish leaders struggled to advance their historic settler project while forced by new international human rights norms to share political power with the very people they sought to uproot.

Dr. Shira Robinson will discuss these tensions in the state's foundation - between privilege and equality, separatism and inclusion - which continue to haunt Israeli society today. Visit http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/d/RegisterForEvent/i/43995.

30] – On Wed., Mar. 26 from 6 to 8 PM, CODEPINK and Jewish Voice for Peace are hosting the Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace at Busboys and Poets, 1025 5th St. NW. The women will talk about the coalition’s work to raise awareness about Israel’s culture of militarism, the intersection of gender equality issues and Israel’s military occupation of the Palestinian territories. RSVP at https://www.facebook.com/events/296809417136796/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular.

Join CODEPINK at the Egyptian Embassy o protest the recent death sentence given to 529 Morsi supporters for the alleged killing of one police officer. Amnesty International has called the sentence the largest group death sentence anywhere in the world in recent years. There will be two protests, one at noon on Thurs., Mar. 27 and one at noon on Sat., Mar. 29, and both will take place at 3521 International Court NW.

31] – Eleven years ago, many of us rallied in the biggest global protests ever seen to stop the invasion of Iraq. But we were unable to stop the war and watched in horror as an illegal invasion and occupation killed hundreds of thousands of people, and injured and poisoned countless more. The harms of the war will be felt for generations. The Center for Constitutional Rights [CCR] has joined war-impacted communities in the Right to Heal Initiative to demand that the full costs of the war be assessed and addressed. Join a People’s Hearing on the Iraq War moderated by Phil Donahue which will bring together Iraqi civil society leaders, U.S. veterans and experts in public health and human rights. It takes place on Wed., Mar. 26 at 6:30 PM at the Friends Meeting of Washington, 2111 Florida Ave. NW, WDC 20008-1912. See https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1pd0i03Skp1P9ITayB4DQtfMbN1j5RJ2I8B8XJrcH28o/viewform.

32] – Don't miss this exciting opportunity to delve into the mind of one of Mexico's leading novelists, poets and playwrights, Carmen Boullosa, as part of Mexico's Extraordinary Women on Wed., Mar. 26 at 6:45 PM at Mexican Cultural Institute, 2829 16th St. NW. She is a prolific author, who has had literally scores of books, essays and dissertations written about her work, has been lauded by critics on several continents, and has won many of Spanish literature's top prizes, both in Mexico and abroad. "As playful as a mischievous Puck," says Elena Poniatowska; she has "a heart-stopping command of language," says Alma Guillermoprieto; "one of the most dazzling of Latin America's new generation," according to Publishers Weekly; "Mexico's best woman writer," wrote Roberto Bolaño. Go to http://www.instituteofmexicodc.org/exhibits.php.

33] – Discover music as a means to communicate and connect across cultures. Listen, play, or learn. The event will feature an open mic forum, guitar lessons, and the chance to meet and connect with other musicians in the city. Music for Peace is on the last Wednesday of the month at 7:30 PM at HI Baltimore Hostel, 17 W. Mulberry St. Call 410-576-8880 or see http://www.baltimorehostel.org.

34] – As part of the JHU Foreign Affairs Symposium, Cornel West will speak on Wed., Mar. 26 at 8 PM at Shriver Hall on the Homewood Campus. West is a prominent and provocative democratic intellectual and a professor at Princeton University. He is best known for his classic “Race Matters, Democracy Matters.” His new memoir is “Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud.”

35] – Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness 2014 invites poets, writers, activists, and dreamers to Washington, DC for four days of poetry, community building, and creative transformation. Featuring readings, workshops, panel discussions, youth programming, parties, activism, the festival offers opportunities to speak out for justice, build connection and community, and celebrate the many ways poetry can act as an agent for social change. The festival runs from Thurs., Mar. 27 at 8:30 AM through Sun., Mar. 30 at 5:30 PM at 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW.

36] – Join ANERA for a presentation and discussion on the state of Early Childhood Development in the West Bank and Gaza with Mr. Suleiman Mleahat, ANERA's education program manager. This event is graciously hosted by the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institute on Thurs., Mar. 27 from noon to 1:15 PM in the Falk Auditorium, 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW., WDC 20036. RSVP required at http://connect.brookings.edu/register-to-attend-early-childhood-west-bank-gaza.

Following Mr. Mleahat's discussion, World Bank Human Development Sector Leader Safaa El-Kogali will offer comments drawing on her own work in the West Bank and Gaza and the MENA Region. Brookings Visiting Fellow Tamar Atinc will moderate the subsequent discussion. Visit www.anera.org.

To be continued.

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/.

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs