Inside the Belly of the Beltway Beast

Direct Action Planned for September 26th & 27th at the U.S. Congress. Peace-loving people are moving to make nonviolent history in September 2006. September will put peace in Iraq back at the top the news agenda of this nation, and in a timely fashion. As national mid-term elections approach in November, the majority of American people now understand the folly and tragedy of the war in Iraq. Every day more and more understand that the war was a mistake and want it ended. Yet Congress is not heeding the voices or the will of the American people. Therefore, the forces of nonviolence are on the move. Nonviolent opposition to the war in Iraq is emerging in many forms that are focused on reclaiming power in Washington, D.C. to end the occupation and bring our troops home. From Voters for Peace to Camp Casey III to Camp Democracy to the Declaration of Peace, people are committing their time, their treasure, their bodies and their energies to end the war in Iraq and redirect the nation

Here is a large part of my involvement with Camp Democracy at this point -- assembling and organizing the nonviolence trainings. On these dates Camp Democracy should either be on The Mall between Air and Space and the National Gallery of Art, or next to the corner of 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW (near the foot of Washington Monument). Sept. 16 -- 10a.m.-1p.m. Nadine Bloch Gordon Clark Sept. 17 -- 12p.m.-3p.m. Mubarak Awad Susan Crane Sept. 18 -- 10a.m.-1p.m. Michael Beer Sunny Miller Sept. 19 -- 10.am.-1p.m. Tom Hastings Judith Kelly Sept. 20 -- 10a.m.-1p.m. A)Ken Butigan Liz Walz B)Art Laffin Judith Kelly As suggested above, the permit situation is still a little bit in flux. But I think it will all work out! This is a great event with some different coalitions coming together -- women's rights groups, immigrant rights groups and plenty of peace and justice groups! There will also be movies, panel discussions, live music and more... Stay tuned!

The following is a citizen report from a native Lebanese on the ground. These are the kind of accounts most of us in America don't know about. I was with a couple friends this evening watching CNN for a few minutes, and the reporting was sickening. There was just this blind acceptance of what the Israeli military is saying and what our government has stated. I encourage everyone to look beyond the corporate, unquestioning mass media in our nation. There are ordinary men, women and children in Lebanon being slaughtered by air attacks, and now by an actual invading ground force! Almost all of these people have very little to do with politics. In other news, four peace activists were arrested for nonviolently protesting and standing in the State Department driveway today. They were demanding the U.S. stop blindly endorsing every thing Israel does and cease funding its military. ___ Dear All: The below email is from a Lebanese friend who is explaining the situation out there.. Plz forw