People have been asking me for more details about Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, our keynote speaker at our 40th Anniversary Celebration, Sunday, March 12, at First Presbyterian Church.

Many of you know Jack from when he was on staff at Clergy and Laity Concerned, which used to be ICPJ’s partent organization. Jack served the CALC politics of Hunger program, and he worked closely with ICPJ’s Land, Food, and Justice task force.

Others know Jack from his work with Latin America solidarity. Every year he addresses the Vigil to Close the School of Americas at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and he is author of the book: School of Assassins: Guns, Greed, and Globalization.

For those of you who don’t know Jack, here’s more info about him and his work.

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You can read the March-April 2006 ICPJ Newsletter even before the print shop sends it to the presses.  Ahh, the wonders of technology.

After just one week, we’re a quarter of the way to reaching our signature goal for ICPJ’s “Stop the War in Iraq” signature ad.

This ad has a touch of history to it, it’s based on an ad that ICPJ ran back in 1966 against the war in Vietnam. The war-makers don’t want people to see the connections between Iraq and Vietnam, but I think if you take a look at the ad text, you’ll see that they connections are there.

You can read the ad, sign up, then kick in your $10 to help pay for the ad.

New photos of detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq and a blistering United Nations Report calling on the U.S. to shut down the Guantanamo Prison in Cuba have once again reminded us that this chapter in our nation’s history is a moral disgrace and must end.

Recently the National Council of Churches’ General Secretary, the Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, sent a letter to Secretary of State Conoleezza Rice urging compliance with the United Nations recommendations. Edgar also renewed a request to allow an interfaith delegation to Guantanamo to monitor the physical, mental, and spiritual condition of the detainees.

We are asking for your endorsement of this important letter. Please read, then sign. Your name, with thousands of others, will be forwarded to the U.S. State Department supporting the NCC letter.

DETAILS: http://ga3.org/campaign/closeguantanamo

Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit, fair trade store featuring handcrafted home décor and gifts made by artisans in Africa, Asia and Latin America, will host an evening of Shopping in honor of the 40^th Anniversary of ICPJ on Monday, March 13, 2006 from 6pm – 8pm at the Ann Arbor store at 303 S. Main St. Ten Thousand Villages will donate 20 percent of the evening’s total sales to the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice.

“We are excited to offer shoppers the opportunity to purchase quality, handcrafted gifts for their friends and family and make a difference at the same time,” said Store Manager Lia Wiss. “Their purchases during this Shopping Benefit Evening will not only benefit artisans around the world but will also benefit the Council. Please come and enjoy an evening of private shopping in our store. We look forward to seeing you and wishing you continued success for many more years of dedicated work for peace and justice.”

by Yonce Shelton, www.sojo.net

In his State of the Union address last month, President Bush said, “Our greatness is not measured in power or luxuries, but by who we are and how we treat one another. So we strive to be a compassionate, decent, hopeful society,” one that “comes to the aid of fellow citizens in times of suffering and emergency.” He also pledged to “renew the defining moral commitments of this land.”

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Just three days after announcing our signature ad to end the war, we’re already over 10% of the way to reaching our goal of 400 signatures — and this is before the mail-in submissions start to come in.

Read more about the signature ad here.

At the January ICPJ Steering Committee meeting, our steering committee urged the University of Michigan to form an advisory committee to examine if any UM investments are in companies involved in human rights violations in Israel/Palestine.

So far, the U-M has stonewalled this request just to look at the investments, but there’s a strong campaign of faculty, students, and alumni urging the University to look into the issue.

We’ll see where this goes.

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The ‘Michigan Civil Rights Initiative’. That’s its official name, but the name often confuses people—if passed, it will amend Michigan’s Constitution to prevent public institutions from using principles of affirmative action in their hiring and admission policies, and from creating state and local programs that encourage the participation of women and minorities in typically male and Caucasian dominated fields. The folks advocating this initiative want us to believe that the playing field is now level and that the struggle for equality is over. You and I know that this is not the case; race and gender discrimination are still very real problems in Michigan, so it is critical that we take this message to our friends and neighbors.

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We encourage you to sign the petition to Preserve AATA Bus Service to Ypsilanti.

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