Member of Recent Peace and Fact-Finding Delegation to Syria to Speak In Port Townsend

Gerry Condon, the Vice President of Veterans for Peace, recently returned from a week-long visit to Syria as a member of a Peace and Fact-finding Delegation. The delegation met with representatives of numerous NGOs, heads of industry, religious leaders, and high-level representatives of the Syrian government, including a personal meeting with President Bashar al Assad.
Condon, who was a co-leader of the delegation, stated: “Almost everything we read about Syria in the media is wrong. The reality is that the U.S. government is supporting armed extremist groups who are terrorizing the Syrian people and trying to destroy Syria’s secular state. In order to hide that ugly reality and push violent regime change, the U.S. is conducting a psychological warfare campaign to demonize Syria’s president Bashar al Assad. This is a classic tactic that veterans have seen over and over. It is shocking, however, to realize how willingly the media repeat this propaganda, and how many people believe it is true.”
Condon will be speaking about the delegation’s findings in Syria on Sunday, September 11, at 7 P.M. at the Quaker Meeting House located at the corner of Sheridan and 19th. Condon and Veterans for Peace are also sponsors of the historic anti-nuclear peace boat “The Golden Rule” which will be in the 2016 Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival.

We will meet at the Meeting House between 7 and 9:30 on Thursday evening Nov. 17 and Tom Butts will facilitate some practices developed by Joanna Macy that she calls The Work That Reconnects. These practices begin in gratitude, create a safe space where we can express our feelings no matter what they are, and be supported by the group, then move on to commitments of action.

All are welcome. People are encouraged to bring a poem or a song to share. We will begin promptly at 7 and anyone coming later will be potentially disruptive to our process, so out of courtesy to all of us, please be prompt.

People can email Tom at tombutts10@hotmail.com for further information.

We will meet at the Meeting House between 7 and 9:30 on Thursday evening Nov. 17 and Tom Butts will facilitate some practices developed by Joanna Macy that she calls The Work That Reconnects. These practices begin in gratitude, create a safe space where we can express our feelings no matter what they are, and be supported by the group, then move on to commitments of action.

All are welcome. People are encouraged to bring a poem or a song to share. We will begin promptly at 7 and anyone coming later will be potentially disruptive to our process, so out of courtesy to all of us, please be prompt.

People can email Tom at tombutts10@hotmail.com for further information.

Workshop will cover how to calculate your carbon tithe.
Also, will discuss how the meeting might best spend
the monies thus raised to address the climate crisis.
The even will possible include local guest experts on the climate crisis.
For more information please visit the PTFM website
https://ptquaker.org/carbon-tithing-program/.

Heather’s Advisory Committee

Film screening, discussion and action to Abolish Nuclear Weapons!
Historic Sailboat Golden Rule Project Supports UN Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons

In support of the 2017 UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Veterans for Peace members are going to sail the historic Golden Rule sailboat to Japan for the 75th anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Other ports of call include Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, Guam, Okinawa, and Korea. The Pacific voyage will bring attention to the ongoing effects of nuclear bomb testing in the Pacific, and to the environmental and human impacts of hundreds of military bases in the Pacific Islands.

With tensions so high between nuclear armed nations, it is more important than ever to bring a message of peace into the Pacific. “The possibility of nuclear war today is all too real,” says Gerry Condon of Veterans For Peace. “It is time to abolish nuclear weapons once and for all. The U.S. can show leadership by being the first nuclear power to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”

Historic? -How so? Golden Rule Crew member Zoe Byrd will show the 25-minute documentary, “Making Waves: Rebirth of the Golden Rule” about four Quaker peace activists, led by Navy veteran Albert Bigelow, who in 1958 set sail to the Marshall Islands. The sailboat’s crew intent was to stop the bomb tests or die trying. They ended up being jailed in Hawaii, prevented from going on to the Marshall Islands where the U.S. was exploding hydrogen bombs. The crew’s bravery encouraged people to demand an end to underwater, atmospheric, and outer space nuclear bomb tests. The testing stopped in 1963. The historic peace boat later sank, in 2010, and was rebuilt in Humboldt Bay, California by veterans. The Golden Rule, a Project of Veterans For Peace, is once again “Sailing for a Nuclear-Free World and a Peaceful, Sustainable Future”.

Come learn about what you can do to support the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Press interviews encouraged!

Begins at 2PM

Riley Robinson will meet with Port Townsend Friends Meeting, at the Meetinghouse, to describe both the new initiatives and the ongoing work of the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

Please consider attending this informative and inspiring session! Bring your questions, your concerns, and your passion for justice. We would love to have you join us and learn more about this essential Quaker organization. Questions? Call Carla at 360-302-1081

Veterans for Peace activist speaks in Port Townsend on Friday, August 4th, 7:00 – 9:00 pm, at the Port Townsend Friends (Quakers) Meetinghouse, 1841 Sheridan Street.

VETERANS FOR PEACE is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies aiming to build a culture of peace by exposing the true costs of war.

PT Leader article: Veterans for Peace Activist speaks in Port Townsend

(Covid masks encouraged, but not required)

Peter Lumsdaine is a member of the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) national committee to abolish nuclear weapons.

Sponsored by the Peace and Social Concerns committee, Port Townsend Friends Meeting.

Worship Discussion on FCNL Legislative Priorities – 11:30 am

In a time of growing conflict and war in the Middle East, Ukraine, and around the globe, the urgency of the climate crisis, threats to America’s democratic processes, and a desperate need to reckon with historic and ongoing racial injustice, our country faces significant challenges. Thus, your feedback and participation in the legislative priorities process are especially valuable this year.

–The FCNL Policy Committee

Speaker, Kamal Hassan: “PALESTINE ON FIRE! A political refugee’s perspective”

Kamal Hassan spent the first twenty years of his life in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Now he spends his time educating people about what it means to be a Palestinian in today’s world.

Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 3:00 pm

Location: Quaker Meetinghouse, Port Townsend Friends Meeting
1841 Sheridan St (corner of Sheridan & Discovery)

Presented by Jefferson County Palestinian Solidarity; Sponsored by the Port Townsend Friends Meeting Peace and Social Concerns Committee

(setup at 2:30)