Sunday, October 23, 2011

Neighbor to Neighbor: Living the Drill



State Theatre , Deposit, NY; October 23, 2011

How Gas Drilling Changed Bradford County, PA

Introduction by Mark Ohe.

Despite some initial rowdiness (and a couple of F-Bombs) from the audience, Laurie Stratton gives a preliminary presentation as to how leaseholders and local communities can expect to be treated by gas drilling companies.

Carol French and Carolyn Knapp, dairy farmers from Bradford County PA, describe how gas drilling has affected their lives, families, farms, and community, and relay warnings and advice to New York residents.

Sponsors: 

Sanford - Oquaga Area Concerned Citizens 
CDOG (Chenango Delaware Otsego Gas Drilling Opposition Group)
CEEC (Citizens Energy & Economics Council of Delaware County)
Franklin Local 
AndesWorks!
CCSE (Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy) 
C-CARE (Chenango Community Action for Renewable Energy)

Thanks also to Delaware Riverkeeper Network and the State Theatre, Deposit, NY.

Keywords: Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Occupy Binghamton: Days 1 & 3

 



Binghamton, NY; October 15, 2011

Binghamton joins in the global expression of outrage at the corruption, lawlessness, and greed of Wall Street banksters and their lackeys in government and media.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Dr. Helen Caldicott: Lessons From Fukushima




 
Binghamton University; October 10, 2011
 
 What Role Should Nuclear Energy and Natural Gas Extraction play in our Energy Future?

A Talk by Helen Caldicott

Helen Caldicott, MD, is the co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, an  organization of 23,000 doctors committed to educating their colleagues about the  dangers of nuclear power, nuclear weapons and nuclear war, Caldicott was named  by The Smithsonian as one of the most influential women of the 20th century. She  has authored seven books, including “Nuclear Power is Not the Answer” (2006) and “A Desperate Passion: An Autobiography” (1996). Her most recent book is the  newly revised and updated “If You Love This Planet: A Plan to Heal the Earth”  (2009).

Event Sponsors: Binghamton University Student Environmental Action Coalition, Binghamton University Environmental Studies Program, Sierra Club - Susquehanna Group, Broome County Peace Action, New York Residents Against Drilling and helencaldicott.com

Promoter: Jim Little

Monday, September 12, 2011

Kathy Kelly: The Cost of War, The Price of Peace

 


Binghamton and Johnson City, NY; September 12, 2011

Kathy Kelly, the coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, speaks about the war in Afghanistan and the unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) which are killing civilians. A three time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Kathy combines her frequent trips to war zones to see the effects of US policies on ordinary people with repeated acts of resistance involving civil disobedience and with impassioned and eloquent speeches and writings opposing war making and calling on us to be creative and consistent in our speaking and acting for peace through nonviolence.

David Smith-Ferri, a fellow peace activist, author and poet, reads from his poetry.

Voices for Creative Nonviolence
Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Ecological Socialism vs. Capitalist Exterminism

 



Howie Hawkins spoke at NY Green Fest 2011, held in Alfred, NY, August 5 - 7, 2011.

Howie is a Teamster and Green Party activist in Syracuse, NY. He has been an organizer in movements for peace, justice, labor, the environment, and independent politics since 1967. Howie currently serves as co-chair of the Green Party of New York State. In 2010, he was the Green Party candidate for Governor of New York, receiving nearly 60,000 votes and securing a ballot line for the Green Party for the next four years. Howie is the editor of Independent Politics: The Green Party Strategy Debate (Haymarket, 2006).

Saturday, August 6, 2011

The Health of Bees and the Implications of Their Decline

 



A talk given by beekeeper Bob Brachmann at NY Green Fest 2011, held August 5 - 7, 2011 in Alfred, NY.

Cold Country Queens

Thanks to Claudia Flanagan for her assistance shooting this and other NY Green Fest 2011 videos.

Keywords: Colony collapse disorder

Finger Lakes Energy Challenge

 



Working to Reduce Our Fossil Fuel Consumption

A talk by Gay Nicholson of Sustainable Tompkins, presented at New York Green Fest 2011, held August 5 -7, 2011.

Most of the folks showing concern about gas drilling are also interested in living more sustainably – but how do we prove it? How can we demonstrate that we “walk our talk” when it comes to opposing drilling for natural gas? This presentation showcases Sustainable Tompkin's Finger Lakes Energy Challenge, an online platform to demonstrate your commitment to reducing fossil fuel consumption (and give you the tools to do so).

Once you've reduced your fossil carbon consumption, you can offset the rest via the Finger Lakes Climate Fund. Your carbon offset donation will be given out as a grant to low-income households to help them make energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy investments. If you want to avoid charges of hypocrisy and NIMBYism, you'll want to take the Energy Challenge and join the ranks of those who are weaning themselves off natural gas and other fossil fuels.

Gay Nicholson has led Sustainable Tompkins in designing and implementing an integrated program to advance the creation of a more sustainable regional community since 2004. She has also been instrumental in the founding and development of the Green Resource Hub of the Finger Lakes, which focuses on expanding the regional marketplace for sustainable living. Gay serves as chair of the Finger Lakes Bioneers Steering Committee. She served as executive director of the Finger Lakes Land Trust before leading the creation of Sustainable Tompkins. She lives in Ithaca, NY.

Thanks to Claudia Flanagan for videotaping this talk.

The Principle of Green Political Independence


Why Progressive Democrats Reinforce Corporate Rule

Howie Hawkins spoke at the NY Green Fest 2011, held in Alfred, NY.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Chip Northrup: Why Home Rule Matters

 


Norwich, NY; June 16, 2011

Former gas company insider Chip Northrup speaks about the dangers of hydrofracking, and provides guidelines for how to ban it.

Keywords: Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling

Julie Huntsman: How to Prohibit Fracking in Your New York Town

 

 

Norwich, NY; June 16, 2011

Julie Huntsman talks about the strategies and tactics activists can use to prohibit fracking.

Keywords: Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Feeling Tricked by a Bad Gas Lease?



United Church of Christ
Norwich, NY; May 26, 2011

The 7th event in The Fourth Thursday Speakers Series sponsored by
C-CARE: Chenango Community Action for Renewable Energy

Ellen Harrison & Joe Heath on ending leases, force majeure & compulsory integration

Ellen Harrison, founder of fleased.org, documents questionable procedures and pressures used by landmen.

Joe Heath, Attorney for the Onondaga Nation, explains what steps a landowner must take to end a lease and stop its renewal.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Ban Fracking in NY: A Statewide Conference



Binghamton, NY; April 16, 2011

The Ban Fracking in NY conference drew activists from throughout NY State and elsewhere for a day-long exposition of strategies and sharing of energies. The focus was squarely on rejecting half measures, and insisting that the goal of anti-frackers should be a complete and total ban on fracking in NY State.

Sponsor: CDOG

In Part One:

Carl Arnold: Opening Remarks

Attorney Mary Jo Long: What Are Lawyers For?

Ben Price: We Don't Have a Fracking Problem, We Have a Democracy Problem

Related Link: CELDF

Rachel Treichler: Water Law

With an afterward by Jack Ossont of The Committee to Preserve the Finger Lakes and The Coalition to Protect New York.

Attorney Mary Jo Long: Powers of Local Governments & the "Takings" Threat

See the Google Doc: Ban Actions and the "Takings" Bogeyman

Mike Bernhard and Ben Price make short presentations on the inherent dangers of regulationism, and specifically the danger of expecting one or more governmental agencies to protect us from the the adverse effects of fracking.

---------------------------------------





In Part Two:

Adrian Kuzminski of Sustainable Otsego, and Carl Arnold of CDOG: Statewide Ban: Legislative & Executive Action.

Adrian Kuzminski of Sustainable Otsego, and Ben Price of CELDF: One Ban at a Time? - Counties, Towns, Villages.

Howie Hawkins: Public Power - Why Philly Could Choose

See video of Jannette Barth's presentation: Gas Drilling - The Economic Impact on Communities.

Read her Google Doc on the same subject.

Related Link: American Public Power Association

Kevin Bunger: Organizing Faith Groups

Related Link: Coalition to Protect New York

Larry Bennett of Ommegang Brewery, and Art Hunt of Hunt Country Vineyards discuss Organizing Businesses.

Mike Bernhard: Outreach to Leaseholders & Prospective Leaseholders

Laura Sheinkopf, LuAnne Kozma, & Sherry Fleming: Interstate, Inter-Issue, Upstate/Downstate Organizing

Related Links: Neogap; Safe Water Movement

-----------------------------------------------





In Part Three:

Rachel Treichler: Electoral Action - Navigating NYS Election Law

Ken Jaffe: Electoral Action - Independent Campaigns

Gloria Mattera: Electoral Action - Party Campaigns

Laurie Spaeth: Reframing

Lindsay Speer: Using Twitter

Outreach - Organizing Resistance

Michael Dineen: Petition Drives

With further outreach commentary by Jan Quarles, Art Hunt, Julie Huntsman, Jack Ossont, and

Keywords: Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling

Friday, April 1, 2011

Cornell 2011 Energy Conference: Keynote Address

 

 
Introduction by Ben Tettlebaum, Environmental Law Society President
 
Keynote Address by Susan Christopherson, J. Thomas Clark Professor, City & Regional Planning

Keywords: Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling
 

Cornell 2011 Energy Conference: Energy Security, Sustainability & Environmental Law

 


Cornell 2011 Energy Conference

Achieving energy independence is a primary goal at all levels of government. But the meaning of energy independence and what that independence looks like vary widely. The United States is clearly in need of a national energy policy that also promotes sustainability. For natural gas to capture more of the market, our energy infrastructure would require change. A distributed energy system with a focus on renewable energy at the local level poses an alternative to fossil fuels. Would the de-centralization of energy production provide greater security? How could the various options map onto plans for a smart grid? And how do existing federal environmental laws play into the quest for sustainability? This opening panel will explore these questions and the critical role that the law must take in attaining energy security that is also sustainable.

Moderator

Mark Milstein, Director of the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise & Senior Lecturer of Management and Organizations, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University

Panelists

Richard Allmendinger, Associate Dean of the College of Engineering & Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University

William Boyd, Associate Professor of Law, University of Colorado at Boulder; Fellow, Renewable And Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI)

Jeffrey Bossert Clark, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis, LLP; former Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice

Wesley D. Sine, J. Thomas Clark Professor in Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise & Associate Professor of Management and Organizations, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University

Jefferson W. Tester, David Croll Professor of Sustainable Energy Systems, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Director of the Energy Initiative, College of Engineering; Associate Director, Energy Programs, David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, Cornell University

Keywords: Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Left Forum 2011 - The Tea Party and the Media


 

Left Forum 2011
Pace University, NYC
March 18-20, 2011


What is the "Tea Party," and how and why did this movement exercise so much leverage in the 2010 midterm elections? What role did the media play in the movement's rise and electoral success? And how can leftists and progressives use their own media to counteract the propaganda that has fueled right-wing mobilization for decades?

* Adele Stan - Washington Bureau Chief, Alternet
* Frances Fox Piven - CUNY Graduate Center
* Glen Ford - Black Agenda Report
* Laura Flanders - GritTV
* Richard Kim - The Nation

Left Forum 2011 - The Wisconsin Uprising & Beyond

 


Pace University, NYC
March 18-20, 2011


A discussion from Wisconsin natives and leaders as well as national progressives about the amazing uprising in Madison, WI and what it means for the progressive movement.

* Austin King - SEIU
* Ben Manski - Liberty Tree
* Elizabeth Wrigley - Field—Teaching Assistant Association, International Socialist Organization
* John Nichols - The Nation
* Monica Adams - Freedom Inc.
* Sarah Manski - Journalist, CEO of PosiPair.com, Wisconsin Wave organizer

Left Forum 2011 - Rebellion & Self-Organization in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, & the Eastern Mediterranean

 

Left Forum 2011
Pace University, NYC
March 18-20, 2011


This panel sponsored by ZNet

* Chris Spannos - ZNet, Panel Moderator
* David Porter - SUNY/Empire State College
* Horace Campbell - Black Commentator; Syracuse University
* Nada Matta - New York University

Panel Abstract from the Left Forum 2011 Website:


Beneath recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa exists a rich history of regional radicalism, direct democracy, and self-organization. The panelists explore recent events in Egypt, Algeria, and Tunisia within the context of today's struggles, possibilities for their self-emancipation and conditions specific to each of these countries.

Left Forum 2011 - Creating Leverage: Non-Electoral Strategies for Change in the Obama Era


 
Left Forum 2011
Pace University, NYC
March 18-20, 2011


Panelists:

* Kevin Young - SUNY Stony Brook
* Michael Schwartz - SUNY Stony Brook
* Michael Zweig - Center for Study of Working Class Life - SUNY Stony Brook
* Tod Ensign - Citizen Soldier
* Steve Early - Former Communications Workers of America organizer, Author, Embedded With Organized Labor

Panel Abstract from the Left Forum 2011 Website:

This panel suggests ways in which movements can create political leverage. Schwartz and Young advance three arguments of theoretical relevance: 1) that the primary targets of protest should be corporate and institutional power-holders rather than their representatives in the main branches of government; 2) that movements should focus less energy on lobbying and more on creating “structural leverage”; and 3) that the progressive values of the US working class mean that attempts to build structural leverage potentially have strong allies in workers, including white workers. Ensign analyzes the GI resistance movement in the United States, discussing the challenges and successes his organization has experienced in its effort to organize soldiers. Zweig and Early reflect on recent challenges and opportunities in the union movement, exploring the various fault lines that have divided US labor, efforts to democratize unions, and the pitfalls of subservience to the Democratic Party.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Left Forum 2011 - Opening Plenary: Toward a Politics of Solidarity

 



Pace University, NYC
March 18-20, 2011


A unique phenomenon in the U.S. and the world, Left Forum convenes the largest annual conference of a broad spectrum of left and progressive intellectuals, activists, academics, organizations and the interested public. Conference participants come together to engage a wide range of critical perspectives on the world, to discuss differences, commonalities, and alternatives to current predicaments, and to share ideas for understanding and transforming the world. The conference is held each spring in New York City.

Opening Plenary Moderator: Richard D. Wolff

Introductory remarks by Nira Herrmann

Former Air America Radio host LAURA FLANDERS is the host and founder of GRITtv with Laura Flanders. She is the author of the NYT best-seller,  BUSHWOMEN: Tales of a Cynical Species; her latest book is At The Tea Party.  She also writes for Nation and Huffington Post, and is a regular contributor to MSNBC. Flanders has appeared on shows from Real Time with Bill Maher to The O’Reilly Factor.

PAUL MASON is the economics editor of the BBC’s flagship current affairs program Newsnight and appears frequently on BBC World News America. He has covered globalization and social justice stories from locations around the world, including Latin America, Africa and China. His book, Live Working, Die Fighting, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award.

One of America's most provocative public intellectuals, CORNEL WEST has been a champion for racial justice since childhood. His writing, speaking, and teaching weave together the traditions of the black Baptist Church, progressive politics, and jazz. West has written more than 20 books, and teaches in the Center for African American Studies and Department of Religion at Princeton University.

BARBARA EHRENREICH is a social critic and essayist, and an honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America. Her book, Nickel and Dimed, was a national bestseller in the United States. She is the the author of twenty books, and has written for the New York Times, Mother Jones, The Atlantic Monthly, Ms, The New Republic, Z Magazine, In These Times, Salon, Harpers, and the Progressive. Her latest book is Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America.

FRANCES FOX PIVEN is Professor of Political Science and Sociology at CUNY Graduate Center. Her books include Regulating the Poor, Poor Peoples’ Movements, Why Americans Don’t Vote, and The War at Home. Most recently, in Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America, Piven examines the interplay of disruptive social movements and electoral politics in generating the political force for egalitarian reform in American history.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Gas Drilling: Economic Impacts on Communities




United Church of Christ, Norwich, NY
February 24, 2011

Part of The Fourth Thursday Speakers Series sponsored by
C-CARE: Chenango Community Action for Renewable Energy

· How many jobs will really be created?
· Are areas where drilling has occurred better
off than areas where it has not?
· What are the true costs and benefits of drilling?

NICOLE DILLINGHAM

Nicole Dillingham is an attorney and the President of the Board of Otsego 2000, a not-for-profit foundation devoted to forwarding intelligent planning for the environment and preventing irreversible change and damage to the unique resources of the region. She graduated from Northwestern University School of Law, practiced commercial litigation for 23 years in California and now resides in Otsego County. Nicole Dillingham has served on the board of Otsego 2000 for the past six years and as President for the last three.

JANNETTE BARTH, PH.D.

Jannette Barth is an economist and the President of J.M. Barth & Associates, Inc., an economic research and consulting firm. Dr. Barth has worked in the field of economic analysis for over 35 years. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and her former positions include Chief Economist of the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Consultant & Account Manager for Chase Econometrics/Interactive Data Corp. As a landowner in Delaware County, Dr. Barth is interested in the economic and environmental impacts of gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing techniques. She authored the report, "Unanswered Questions About the Economic Impact of Gas Drilling In the Marcellus Shale: Don’t Jump to Conclusions" in response to the existing studies of economic impacts of gas drilling in New York and the DEC’s draft SGEIS. Her work in this area is entirely self-funded.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

DRBC Public Hearing on Draft Natural Gas Regulations

 



Honesdale, PA; February 22, 2011

This was the first of two public hearings scheduled by the Delaware River Basin Commission for the same day in Honesdale, PA. The subject was the DRBC's proposed regulations relating to gas drilling. The two sides, for drilling and against, could agree on only one thing: they are both overwhelmingly opposed to the proposed regs.

As for myself, I'm with the "Drill, baby, drill" crowd, because of the obvious economic benefits:

1. Governments will be able to levy huge fines against the gas drilling companies for ignoring environmental regulations. Either that, or politicians will get rich taking bribes to NOT levy fines. Either way, it's more outside money coming into our community.

2. Construction companies will go on a hiring spree to repair the road damage caused by thousands of tanker trucks making thousands of trips at all hours of the day and night.

3. Doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies will reap a windfall treating chronic diseases caused by toxic chemicals released into the water, air and soil.

4. Realtors will have tens of thousands of new listings from residents eager to relocate out of the new industrial zone which was once their home sweet home. Of course, this may not actually result in any money changing hands, because who will want to move here? (Scratch that one.)

5. Lawyers will make millions filing lawsuits against everyone in sight.

6. Bottled water companies will see unprecedented demand from people seeking drinking water that can't be lit with a match.

7. Thousands of jobs will open up in law enforcement and social services agencies to deal with the increase in drug abuse and crime, along with related social problems.

8. Landlords will be able to double and triple rents as the working poor are priced out of the housing market to make room for gas drilling workers.

What are we waiting for? Drill, baby, drill!

PS: I had to edit out a few audience comments made while I was changing tapes in my video camera. Also, there was a PowerPoint presentation early on (which I edited out), and here is a link to the PDF.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Amy Goodman: Independent Media - Speaking Up for Democracy



Insights from Democracy Now's Amy Goodman

Syracuse University's Hendricks Chapel

From the flier distributed by Syracuse Peace Council

Don't miss the dynamic host of Democracy Now! sharing insights about the role of independent media in developing meaningful democracy and transforming our nation and world.

Democracy Now! is the largest community media collaboration in the United States, airing on over 900 stations across the United States and beyond. Hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program. Time Magazine named Democracy Now! its “Pick of the Podcasts,” along with NBC’s Meet the Press.

Co-organized by the Tully Center for Free Speech

Co-sponsors include: Newhouse School of Public Communications, Division of Advancement and External Affairs, Anthropology Department, Communication and Rhetorical Studies, Geography Department, Hendricks Chapel, The Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics, and the Media, Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration, Political Science Department, School of Education, Sociology Department, University College, Women and Gender Studies Department and the Writing Program.

Amy Goodman 

The Independent of London called Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! "an inspiration"; PULSE named her one of the 20 Top Global Media Figures of 2009. Her latest book, Breaking the Sound Barrier, proves the power of independent journalism in the struggle for a better world. She co-authored the first three bestsellers with her brother, journalist David Goodman: Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times (2008), Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back (2006) and The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them (2004). She writes a weekly column (also produced as an audio podcast) syndicated by King Features, for which she was recognized in 2007 with the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Reporting.

Goodman has received the American Women in Radio and Television Gracie Award; the Paley Center for Media’s She’s Made It Award; and the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship. Her reporting on East Timor and Nigeria has won numerous awards, including the George Polk Award, Robert F. Kennedy Prize for International Reporting, and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award. She has also received awards from the Associated Press, United Press International, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Project Censored. Goodman received the first ever Communication for Peace Award from the World Association for Christian Communication. She was also honored by the National Council of Teachers of English with the George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language.

Democracy Now! 

Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Pioneering the largest public media collaboration in the U.S., Democracy Now! is broadcast on Pacifica, NPR, community, and college radio stations; on public access, PBS, satellite television (DISH network: Free Speech TV ch. 9415 and Link TV ch. 9410; DIRECTV: Free Speech TV ch. 348 and Link TV ch. 375); and on the internet. DN!’s podcast is one of the most popular on the web.Democracy Now!’s War and Peace Report provides listeners with access to people and perspectives rarely heard in the U.S. corporate-sponsored media, including independent and international journalists, ordinary people from around the world who are directly affected by U.S. foreign policy, grassroots leaders and peace activists, artists, academics and independent analysts. In addition, Democracy Now! hosts real debates–debates between people who substantially disagree, such as between the White House or the Pentagon spokespeople on the one hand, and grassroots activists on the other.

Legal Rights of Local Governments: Home Rule vs. DEC's Regulatory System



United Church of Christ
Norwich, NY

January 27, 2011

The was the third meeting of the "Fourth Thursday's Speakers Series" informational forums on natural gas drilling issues. This time attorneys Mary Jo Long and Helen Slottje offered their expertise on the rights of local governments to control their land use.

Helen Slottje is a senior lawyer at CEDC, the Community Environmental Defense Council, working alongside Ithaca, NY area municipalities and citizens' groups who seek legal protection from the threats posed by industrial style natural gas extraction. CEDC focuses on sustainable development and the rights of the commons to clean water and air and a healthy environment.

Mary Jo Long has been a lawyer for more than 30 years, and a former legal director at Case Western Reserve. She has experience in constitutional, administrative and municipal law. An elected member of the Afton, NY Town Board, she recently helped pass their new "concentrated heavy traffic" road preservation law, the strongest in Chenango County.

Sponsor: Chenango Community Action for Renewable Energy (C-CARE)

Keywords: Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling

Friday, January 14, 2011

Jim Clune: Olive Harvest Peace Delegation to Palestine

 



Seeking Peace Through Nonviolence

The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the subject of a talk by Jim Clune in St. James Church's Owens Hall in Johnson City, NY on Friday, January 14th, 2011. Jim, a longtime peace activist and member of St James' Peace and Justice Committee which hosted this event, recently returned from Israel and Palestine where he traveled with a delegation of Interfaith Peace Builders. Delegation members met with activists of both peoples working to promote human rights and dignity and justice. Jim said upon returning that "While two weeks is only enough time to get an inkling of what people deal with every day, it is up to us to do reality checks on what are the causes of the conflict and what our contribution to solutions might be."

Links: Fellowship of Reconciliation, Interfaith Peace Builders

Sponsors: St. James Peace and Justice Committee; Broome County Peace Action

This video is underwritten by Jim and Ann Clune.